Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

Railroad_2

My contract with Orange expired at few weeks ago and after having a good look through Martin's advice and seeing what people had posted on this forum though I could see what I could get out of them.

My average bill was around £45 and using lots of the same techniques as Sambarian described I managed to get 600 minutes, Unlimited texts, and Unlimted Data bundle plus a free Samsung F480 Touch (which I love) plus an 8GB microSD card, all for £20 a month. Like Sambarian had also mentioned, they kept on offering me more minutes plus other bundles for more money. At this point I would usually hang-up and then tell the next person I spoke to that I'd been cut-off by one of their operators which seem to really rattle them. I know its sneaky but it definately did the trick.

Rule of thumb definately seems to be when your contract has actually expired they will pretty much do whatever it takes to keep you with them.

From a consumer perspective never accept their first offer. Be persistent and keep on pushing until you are totally satisfied with your offer and like Martin said if your not happy just end the conversation and try again with someone else.

sambarian

Railroad wrote: »

My contract with Orange expired at few weeks ago and after having a good look through Martin's advice and seeing what people had posted on this forum though I could see what I could get out of them.

My average bill was around £45 and using lots of the same techniques as Sambarian described I managed to get 600 minutes, Unlimited texts, and Unlimted Data bundle plus a free Samsung F480 Touch (which I love) plus an 8GB microSD card, all for £20 a month. Like Sambarian had also mentioned, they kept on offering me more minutes plus other bundles for more money. At this point I would usually hang-up and then tell the next person I spoke to that I'd been cut-off by one of their operators which seem to really rattle them. I know its sneaky but it definately did the trick.

Rule of thumb definately seems to be when your contract has actually expired they will pretty much do whatever it takes to keep you with them.

From a consumer perspective never accept their first offer. Be persistent and keep on pushing until you are totally satisfied with your offer and like Martin said if your not happy just end the conversation and try again with someone else.

Good work railroad!!

mzqa395

Vodafone offer me the following deal :

Upgrade from Sim only 15GBP tariff ( 225 mins and 100 text) into 12

month contract

With C902 (paying 4.95 for delivery)

also 90GBP via quidco

annual cost 90 GBP with free phones and minutes

Can anyone beat it????:beer:

tehone

sambarian wrote: »

are you sure? when i upgraded i asked the guy specificaly and he said yes it applies. Infact i asked on one of my previous 6 calls to orange and the lady said 7 day cooling off period applies then too.

Almost 100% certian, I'll see if I can find a link for you. My understanding is:

In store - no cooling off period for anything
Online/Phone - just for *new* contracts

EDIT:

Okay I've now checked and I was wrong (they've changed it from the last time I looked):

For online (and probably phone), you can cancel within 7 days of delivery [and return the phone]

sambarian

tehone wrote: »

Almost 100% certian, I'll see if I can find a link for you. My understanding is:

In store - no cooling off period for anything
Online/Phone - just for *new* contracts

EDIT:

Okay I've now checked and I was wrong (they've changed it from the last time I looked):

For online (and probably phone), you can cancel within 7 days of delivery [and return the phone]

Phew!! i thought it was the case tehone.

The phone arrives today so i will have to have a think about what else i should try and get out of them......

Sheepstar

I always haggle over upgrades, but decided to see just how far I could push it this year. The answer is quite a long way.

I phoned Vodafone's upgrade line, having already chosen the most expensive handset on their website, just to see if I could get it. After being told "no" and "You can't have a £350 phone for free" I said I was going to O2 and was put through to Customer Disconnections. Strangely, I got the phone I was after and am now getting £45 of minutes/extras for £20. The guy was lovely and even said "Thank you for staying with Vodafone". THANK YOU MARTIN

stephierooo

After discovering I was paying way too much (and i mean WAY too much) for my mobile tariff with Vodafone I decided to give them a little ring to talk about it!
Previously I was paying (I'm ashamed to say) £65 per month for 500 anytime/any network mins and 250 texts!!!!!!! I didn't realise until i talked to a couple of friends that this was so much more than other people (and of course the network provider in question didn't think to mention it )
Anyway, after some chat and a bit of haggling I got the same tariff for £40 per month which initially i was happy with. That is, until I saw what 3 were charging so I was back on the phone to Vodafone and now have:
500 mins, 250 texts and FREE anytime landline calls that don't come out of my free minute allowance and all for £20 per month!!! Hooray - it really pays to haggle and be firm and persistent :beer:

bugg_tb

Thanks Martin,

I've been on an Orange contract for 7 years but haven't got an upgrade for the past 3, but have had completely free broadband since the offer started a few years ago(its even uncapped, although I think thats cause orange don't know how to cap properly).
I rang Oranges' `Upgrade` line on Monday and asked for a brand new HTC Touch Diamond they told me it would be an upgrade fee of £69. Not happy with that I said thanks and left it at that. Today I rang the disconnection line, never really with the intention of disconnecting but I thought it was worth a shot, I said whats the point of paying £69 for a HTC Touch when I could get an IPhone 8Gb with twice the storage for an extra £30. He said I could have the phone for free.

I then explained that I didn't want the phone for its music capabilities but its web browsing and I needed to access the internet during the day and wasn't happy with the 2 months free trial and evenings and weekends only, I was told that there are some 'special deals' that aren't yet on the website and that I was allowed unlimited(although I think its 250MB) internet on my phone all day every day, along with and extra 300 minutes talk time and and extra 800 text message above what I already got, for £25 a month, £20 less than I was currently paying! oh and still with free broadband.

The phone is currently out of stock which will give me a chance to check that the deals are all correct when I ring up to order it, but its not bad, and shows how desperate they all are, especially with IPhone mania.

Thanks again

danjaq2004

Hi - can anyone confirm whether new O2 contract handsets are still unlocked please - i.e Nokia N95? I called O2 but they said they "weren't allowed to tell me"!!

Thanks in advance.

phiger

I think i'm about ready to sort my phone deal out. lot of people on here will be horrified but I've been with vodaphone for around 9 years now. I changed tariff around 1.5 years ago to their lowest one anytime 75 for £15 a month and paying on average £50 a month!


I'm thinking of ringing up and asking for the PAC code next week. I've been looking around and seen some amazing deals with free gifts (i know you may have to pay for these someway)

But how is vodafone going to match a free ipod nano/touch? or should i stay away from these kind of deals?

I've certainly not been rewarded for any loyality (then again i haven't rung them) but i've heard of friends that regulary get phoned up by their providers saying they switched there tariff based on usage so they'll save money.. I don't get any of that with vodafone