Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

heygiro

I've been with o2 for 4 years now, starting off with a low £15 a month contract which had risen to £35 due to gradually increasing usage.
When I was on the £25 a month contract I was going over on my minutes & internet allowance so it was costing me upto £45 a month!

I was 100% happy with o2, the service and my contract (600 minutes, 1000 texts & unlimited internet). I never get anywhere near these limits. However, I shopped around for other available deals on the internet.

I looked at http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/ which is an amazing mobile phone review website and found that the LG Renoir was the perfect phone for me! Mainly for the 8megapixel camera & internet speeds.
This website also pointed me in the direction of Mobiles.co.uk & Dialaphone for the cheapest deals available on this phone. ( After further research I found this was the case, but don't rely on it! )

On Mobiles.co.uk I found my o2 contract (but without the unlimited internet) with 14 months half-price line rental (by redemption). Coupled with the £40 cashback you receive for buying from them through http://www.quidco.com/, the Effective Monthly Cost was £19.17.

I called o2 disconnections the day I was elegible for an upgrade (30 days before the contract ends) and quoted this deal to them.
I started with the following sentence;
' My contract is up for renewal now, but I'm concerned that I've been able to find a much better deal elsewhere and so I am thinking of leaving o2 '.
This covers your back if the negotiations don't go well. The o2 assistant knew what I was hinting at immediately and started to ' see what they could do for me '.

I told them about the deal I had found on Mobiles.co.uk and the kind o2 assistant made a few suggestions to reduce my rate e.g. sim only contract or reducing my allowances to what I use on average. Whilst also pointing out the negatives of the Mobiles.co.uk deal (changing number, no unlimited internet & cashback only by redemption), which I was fully aware of.

After remaining undeterred & dismissing all of their suggestions, they offered me the phone I wanted for free and my current contract (600 minutes, 1000 texts & unlimited internet) extending for 18 months at £20 a month. This is a total saving of £270! (£15 over 18 months).

I'm very happy as I will continue to receive the excellent o2 customer service, keep my existing mobile number, get unlimited internet & not have to bother with sending off for cashback. All at a price I am happy with!
A very happy customer! :cheesy:

eljmayes

laurahughes wrote: »

My contract with 02 just came to an end.

They have just introduced today a new 'rolling contract', basically you are on a rolling one month contract so you are not tied in for months on end and you can change at any time.

Only thing is you don't get a mobile phone upgrade with it.

I've got 300 any time, any network minutes, 600 texts and free 02 to 02 calls for just under £15 per month. For £20 a month you get 600 mins and 1200 texts!!!

Sadly O2 are rather ripping you off here- I was offered 600mins/1000 texts and unlimited internet for 15 quid. T Mobiles Solo 20 deal is far better than anything that O2 can offer at 20 quid SIM only.

ohit

Thought I'd report here.

As the completely free (net cost) cashback deals are no longer with us, I moved over to a simple sim-only Vodafone deal through Quidco cashback last Sept. It was decent, for 20 quid a month, but I've always been used to my mobile service costing me nothing. Being sim-only, I wasn't even getting a new decent phone. So I called Voda to ask for my PAC code so I could move to T-Mobile for the G1 (I did really want this phone, which is a big thing for me - I change handsets every 3 years or so).

Anyway, ended up pushing a really good deal out of the guy: 18 month contract, 900 x-net mins, unlimited texts, unlimited internet/email with BlackBerry Bold phone, free paper itemised billing, free delivery, 14 day return policy - 22.50 a month.

Now, I could sell the phone on ebay and cover nearly all of my 18month contract - just like I have been used to in the past, for my mobile service to cost nothing, but I think I will keep the phone. Only paying 2.50 more than the sim-only deal, but now also have more mins, unlimited internet/email and a quality phone to actually make use of those unlimited features.

hilspars

I contacted vodafone as I was due an upgrade. I said that I wanted the £25 tarrif that I had seen in the stores where you get 600 mins and unlimited texts. Initially they said that it was sim only offer. When I insisted, theysaid that I could have it on 18 month contract. I said that I only do 12 month contracts. After consultation, they said tha I could have that deal on 12 month but no phone. I said that I would look elsewhere for a deal and that I had seen a good deal with 3. They guy went away and came back and said that I could have it all - new phone / 12 months / 600 mins unlimited texts. Result !

SuzySF

lol I did this over 12 months ago - with Orange. I was on a basic 100 min calls and 50 text package for £15 pm. Had a look around and found one company that offered 400 mins & 100 texts for the same price. I was due an upgrade/new contract so asked for what I had found....cut it short - I got offered Dolphin 35 with 600 mins and 400 text for £20 a month inc vat. so i took it - good deal, just recently (about last Oct) i was looking at the orange website and picked up that the Dolphin 35 advertised (£35) had UNLIMITED texts so I rung and asked why if i was on that deal did i only have 400 texts, so they upped it to unlimited, and with the VAT reduction my monthly bill is just under £19.00- and with the all the mins I got - my BT bill is virtually nil, only the monthly charge (which I am about to lose when i change ISP) and 084/7 numbers I have to call. they did pull out all the stops to keep me - so hats off to Orange...mind you I have been a customer for well over 10 years !! i think i deserve SOME perks/offers.

also I have an orange internet anywhere broadband dongle for my laptop, I go this via an online site, and just now, in the post I got my first £25 refund (payable retrospectively every 6 months) so my 15pm is actually £7.50 pm deal...however when i did buy this, i rung orange and they didnt/couldnt match the offer...i dont know if they are doing this now or not. my donge came via dial-a-phone website..read the small print and make sure it will work where you are or tell them you want to trial it first as you have problems reveiveing signals off some phone companies (at home the best mobile signal i have is orange which is why i stuck with them vodaphone requires me to walk 100m up to the top of the drive, 3 is non existent)

sooo off to bank me £25 cheque woooohoooo, and when i change isp i will save £7 pm combined on isp/bt charges...

joegw

I don't think I have ever paid for full price - always got a great deal!
When my contract ran out late last year with o2, I just kept the phone and went on a sim only contract. I was paying £25 instead of £30.
After having a few problems and going over my limits (they didn't tell me they had cancelled part of my contract!) o2 agreed to pay for most of my bill. Plus give me a new contact, with what I wanted!!
Sony Ericsson C902 Titanium, 1000 texts, 600 anytime minutes, free internet + treats £27 a month usually £45 (at the time I got the deal).
Depending on how high your contract is with them, will depend on how bigger discount they can offer you with a bit of sweet talking.

adrian8262

I called o2 the other day to see if they could beat a sim only deal that I was considering with Vodafone.

I was currently paying £20 Sim only with o2 500mins/unlimited texts. After a few minutes on the phone, the advisor knocked it down to a whopping £1.67 month on an 18 month contract! I only have to pay £30 in total (in the last 3 months as they have offered £150 cashback!). For that I get 200mins and 400 texts which is plenty for my usage.

If you are currently with o2 give it a shot (they put it down to customer loyalty - although I have only been with them for 15 months).

Adrian

nat3

My deal started off good then after we 'personalised' our phones, by putting the sim in, we found out that 3 were charging us £40 a month instead of £34. Now they say that the deal we got for being a loyal customer and upgrading, doesn't exist and we have to pay more. We're tied into a 18 month contract that we never agreed to. To top it off one of the phone's stopped working after a day, we sent it back and they told us that we broke it!!! They sent us a reconditioned replacement and we don't really know where we stand now, as 3 customer service is non existant they just don't want to know. It feels like they blame us for them signing us up for the wrong contract.

bb21

Finally got a good(-ish) deal from O2 after trying a few times. I was due to disconnect on the 8th and thought would give it another shot today. This time i got through to a nice bloke and I said I would like my PAC code or go on PAYG. He asked about the reason why and I claimed that the assistant last time was very rude over the phone when i asked for an upgrade. He apologised about it and asked me if I would like a new phone and what I had in mind. We then talked about my general usage and then it drifted onto the topic of holiday in Ibiza and the best clubs/beaches to go. After about five minutes, he offered me two options:

1) C902 on 400/1000 for £18/month, or
2) C902 on 200/400 for £15/month

I then complained (nicely) about the fact that I use a lot of overseas texts when on holiday, he immedaitely offered me 1000 extra texts per month for free. Given that i use less than 60 minutes per month, I took the second option. He was also gonna offer me unlimited texts for an extra £1 but i declined as i would never be able to use up all 1400 texts anyway.

I had the option of paying an extra £4/month for C905 but over the course of 18 months that's an extra £72 and given that I was going to keep my phone this time (to replace my already knackered and twice-repaired 5300) instead of selling it, I decided to save the £72. C902 is good enough for me as a poor student. All that for a little over 10 minutes' work.

The moral of the story:
1) Don't give up. If you don't catch them on a good day, try again another time. Don't feel pressured into accepting something that's not good enough just because time's running out. This is the fifth time I rang up O2 in three weeks.
2) Be nice and build a rapport with people. It always helps.

Finally just to say that I've been with O2 about two years now and having been with other networks previously, I feel that O2 do have better customer service overall (if only slightly) than the others I've been with - Vodafone, One-2-One (Now T), and Orange.:D

JenniferAfonso

I have been with Orange for 18 months with the money back scheme via another company. I was 500 mins. and 500 minutes mix n match for £30 per month. At first I was offered one magic number where you could nominate another Orange number to call free (outside your allowance). Then after 12 months I was offered another i.e. my 2nd magic number. When my contract was nearing the end, I was offered unlimited texts which I gladly accepted. Then when my contract was ending I phoned Orange and asked to reduce my monthly fees. I also told them I did not want a new phone but my priority was paying less a month. They said all they could do was offer me 600 minutes and unlimited texts for the same fees i.e. £30. I said I was not happy. I rang 3 times or so and each time I spoke to different persons but kept asking for the monthly charge to be reduced. Then finally one of the staff at Orange agreed to give me 600 minutes, unlimited texts for £10. I had already said that I did not need a new phone but he said dont worry the phone comes with the contract anyway. So I got a real good deal from Orange £10 a month, a new purple Samsung phone, 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 2 Orange magic number where I could communicate either by text or calls to another 2 nominated Orange numbers and talk to those number outside my minutes, unlimited. I believe whatever the network, start checking for deals before your contract ends, talk to different people till you get a good deal. Perhaps a new comer needs a bonus or a sale and gives you a good deal whereas an experienced person may have higher and tighter targets. I dont know. But it worked for me.
Good luck! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: