Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

mainecoon1cats

Hi
My partner was after a phone called an Omnia - some sort of computer type phone does everything, apart from housework. He is a valued customer of Orange has had his number for years and years. One day he went into the Orange shop, just to look around, he asked the question, have you got an Omnia, the shop assistant replied yes great phone but will cost £250 for the phone. I can't believe it but he rung me and said I might buy it. I said hold on that's a lot of money for a phone, wait, so he did for 1 day, he spoke to his brother and friends and went into another phone shop called phons 4 U.

They gave him the phone free of charge on the orange tarriff and 2 months free insurance with £20.00 cash and a digital photo frame free. Not only that but he kept his number he has had for 20 odd years and it was the same tarriff and price.

He said as he walked out of the shop he felt as if he should start running.

Amazing! He told his son and he went into the same shop and the offer was off. They must of lost a lot of money or made a mistake, but good for him.:beer:

lucylockettx

I'm with Orange and I'm was paying £45 a month + VAT, think the plan was called Pantha 45?

I get 1000 minutes and unlimited text now for....... £15 a month!!! Including VAT.:jOh and a new Song Ericsson C902 phone for free.

Yep, I'm rather happy. Now just my credit cards, mortgage, loans and overdraft to sort out.

bryanch

I've had 50% discount for 9 months on my Voda contract for 300 mins/100 texts reducing it to £15/month. (Only Voda gives me fcoverage out here in the styx)

Tried to get them to match Virgin media SIM-only offer of £12/month for same; no joy - "wait untl 2 months before contract renewal, than ring and ask for "Saves" department - they can do much better deals than we (Customer Services can)" .

AMAZED to get call from Voda "Upgrades Dept" two days later who, after my mentioning Virgin deal, came straight down to £9.75/month for 250 mins/100 texts for 9 months.:j Then I'd ring and renegotiate again.

Wish I'd tried harder!!!

sondheimsoc

My T Mobile contract is up today. I was on Flext 30 - either 700 minutes, 1400 texts or a mixture of the two and didn't get a handset last time I renewed 18 months ago. It was costing me £15.32 plus VAT a month (£25.53 less a loyalty discount of £10.21) which comes to £17.35
I'm not a heavy user and spent a little while today analysing my last year's bills. My average call use was 130 minutes a month and average texts 67. I looked at my highest month which was 300 minutes and 89 texts and realised I rarely used my full limit. I phoned retentions and they have now offered me the Combi 25 which is 300 minutes and 300 texts for £12.72 including VAT, which includes a loyalty bonus of just over £12. I think this seems like a good deal.
Now I just need to buy a decent handset which presumably means buying it off of Ebay. I do have the famed Carphone Warehouse £2.88 Motorola phone but would like something with a few more features.
Lynne

dibley999

I have been trying to get 3's Upgrade department to do a decent deal for over a week and just keep getting given the same option to pay twice as much (£30) for the same number of minutes (300 min or texts) and an extra £5 for the internet with a newer phone.
i have pointed out that I can have twice as many minutes (700 min or 1400 texts) and the internet for free and still only £30 with T mobile but their only answer is "well that does seem like a good deal perhaps you should take that."
So guess what I think I will

abinanthanb

I know its a bit late, but nevertheless should be shared here! I was on a contract with O2 through carphonewarehouse, 55 pounds pm, 1200 Xnet mins and 600 txt. Contract ended by November. Spoke to disconnections dept, :money:see what I have got.

35 GBP per month, 18 months contract, 800 mins Xnet, 1000 txts,
17 months rental cashback. Yes, I am paying just 1 month rental and getting 17 months for free, works around 1.95 GBP per month!!! :j

wizzy211080

Hi
I'm on Orange and called them yesterday to try and save some money and the lady said she would do my package but for £25 a month instead of £30, great! Or so I thought. I rang back today to query something and was told that I would have to call back in March to get it activated and that I wouldn't get my 600 minutes and unlimited texts but would only get 400 mins (not nearly enough, its my only phone!)

Anyway stamped my foot a bit and got through to the retention team and a lovely chappie there set me straight with what I could have, basically nothing. The only thing I can do is drop my tariff one level in March and thats it. I would pay less but would get less benefits, he advised me to wait until my upgrade is due in October and then they can do me a good deal.

I tried everything to get something out of them, anything, I quoted other deals, I said I'd leave, I said I'd drop to the lowest tariff and pay it all off in one go (lowest I could go was £25 a month so no chance of that!) and he just wasn't budging. grr.

Oh well, at least I have tried and I know I can get a better deal in October, looks like will have to wait til then.

jonnemesis

It's really very easy. i called orange today, quickly spoke to the first person and declined the offered contract, got through to disconnections and all they wanted to know was what phone I wanted and hey presto- £10 incl vat down from £35. I asked the man and he told me the price is dictated by the phone you want, not the number of minutes etc. The new touchscreen phones would have cost me £18 a month, so i took a slightly older one. i didn't have to be pushy at all.

azza707

I called Orange yesterday and asked to move onto a SIM only deal of £15 per month and was put straight through to the loyalty team, the very nice lady said she may be able to get me a better deal if i stay on a contract. I currently pay £40 per month for 400 mins & unlimited texts. She offerred me a Sony -Ericcson W595, 400 mins & unlimited texts for £10 per month! I then asked if she could get me internet minutes as I always spend a fortune checking football scores, she then added in free evenings after 7pm & weekends unlimited mobile internet & then somehow managed to reduce it to £9.78 per month including VAT! Just goes to show if you dont ask you dont get !!
Result !

Noosentaal

Hi everybody,

This method is still working well, certainly on O2 at least. I rang up today and asked them for a Samsung Omnia as my upgrade (an expensive phone that unfortunately is unavailable through O2) after reading all of the advice on here I was fully prepared to go elsewhere to get this phone. O2 of course put me through to customer retentions and offered me an LG Renoir (another very expensive phone), 600 cross net minutes, 1000 txts and free mobile internet all for the tiny sum of £20 pcm, £5 less than I was paying originally!

I think a good tip that is worth passing on is to ring up after a phone they don't have, that instantly puts you at an advantage in the haggling process!

Good luck to anybody else that tries this method!

Noosentaal