Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

Scott0966

My contract is soon up for renewal. Does anyone have any comments on the following deal? (I'm currently on 250 mins and 250 txts for £5/month (includes a £10 rebate) which I got 2 years ago keeping my existing handset)

HTC wildfire -free
300 any network minutes
unlimited txts
unlimited internet
24 month contract
£20 / month.

I'm not sure if I'm that bothered about a smartphone but it would be handy on occasions. The txts and minutes I had were adequate.

Ideally I need a new phone as mine is getting a little battered now.

I'm off for a quick look on the compare site but has anyone had any joy bartering o2 (CPW) down to a better deal?

Even their sim only deal isn't very special.

Rusty!

That doesn't sound great to me, you ought to be able to get a Desire that that IMO.

Doc_N

Rusty! wrote: »

That doesn't sound great to me, you ought to be able to get a Desire that that IMO.

Any suggestions, perhaps?

Rusty!

Ask for your PAC code rather than talking to upgrades, they seem a bit more flexible then

stefano

Doc_N wrote: »

Any suggestions, perhaps?

O2 are getting stingy with their retentions. Try a different network first, or even, your local Tesco. They are throwing some good deals.

Doc_N

stefano wrote: »

O2 are getting stingy with their retentions. Try a different network first, or even, your local Tesco. They are throwing some good deals.

Sorry - I meant suggestions for Scott0966. I assumed Rusty knew of a better deal.

I've already ditched O2 and moved to Orange (see a few post above) because they weren't offering any decent deals.

timbstoke

I'm coming up to renewal time. Checked the available upgrades on T-Mobile, and they weren’t even as good as what they’d offer a new customer – example, new customers get the Desire HD for £35/month over 24 months. I was offered the standard desire for £120 plus £35/month over 18 months. I’m currently paying £35/month for the HTC Hero

I gave them a call and told them I’d like to give my 30 days notice to cancel (tip: always say you want to give notice to cancel – not that you’re thinking about cancelling). They asked why and I explained that I could get better elsewhere than they were offering for a renewal.

Got the Desire HD, free, with unlimited data, unlimited texts and 600 minutes for £30/month without even trying. I tried to talk myself into an iPad and keeping my old phone, but they couldn’t include a text or calls allowance with that, since they can only sell data tariffs with the iPad. The Desire HD will do me for now though :-)

lucidsheep

Hi, just thought I'd share my experience. My phone contract with Orange was up for renewal. I shopped around on third-party sites (like Phones4U, etc) before phoning Orange to haggle. Prior to phoning them I was paying £25 p/month for 400 mins, unlimited texts and off-peak browsing over 24 months. I was already happy with this deal because when I started it I compromised on a fancy handset and received a 32-inch HDTV (again through a third-party site, not Orange) and the minutes and texts fit me perfectly.

At the moment we are saving for another car so my aim was to either acquire a high value 'free gift' or handset to sell on or reduce the cost of my current plan to save money in the long run.

The initial offering from Orange wasn't good. It was only when I insisted on disconnecting me did they better their deals but even then it didn't really match up to the deal I'd found through mobiles.co.uk. The best offer Orange disconnections department could do was a no frills phone, 800 minutes, unlimited texts, 500MB browsing at £15 p/month. This is actually a very good deal but I rarely use more than 200 minutes and rarely browse so all those minutes would be something I would never use.

I gave my 30 days notice and a few days prior to disconnection I signed up for another contract on mobiles.co.uk.

For £25.54 p/month I received a Samsung Galaxy S on Orange (which I have sold £275), 300 minutes, unlimited texts, 500MB data. Also I went through TopCashBack to claim £40.40 referrall commision, and, I will receive 9 months bill payment back by redemption (£229).

I would never recommend saving money via redemption because I have friends who have been stung with these deals but in this instance, the cashback via redemtion is a bonus 'if' it pays and if it doesn't... I was after this contract anyway because I wanted to release the cash from the value of the given handset. Having said that I have dealt with this site 3 times now and had no problems (probably because they are owned by Carphone Wharehouse). At best I got over £500 worth of 'free' gifts in the past for this same contract over 24 months (Nokia 5800 when they first came out plus an Xbox 360).

In summary:

-£613 Total Cost of Contract (24 months x £25.54)
-£14 Cost of paper bills needed for redemption (9 months x £1.50)
+£229 Cashback via redemption
+£275 Samsung Galaxy S sold on eBay.
+£40 Comission from TopCashBack

---

-£83 This is the total cost of my contract after cashback etc which equates to approximately £3.50 each month for 24 months if I continue using my old handset. I.E, The equivalent of £3.50 per month 'SIM only'.

---

Like I said, you shouldn't go for redemption/cashback deals unless it's 'instant cashback' or 'auto-cashback' because people do get stung including a few of my friends. My reason for this contract is not the redemption, however, I have dealt with this site several times and had no problems which instills a bit more faith.

The redemption value on this is purely a bonus as I wanted something of value to sell quickly to help towards a new car. I saw a better deal that gave £400 instant cashback @£25.53 p/month (24 months, 600 minutes, 500 texts) with dial-a-phone which would have been better for my purposes but that is with T-Mobile which doesn't work well round here at the moment (not sure if you get cut-off mid-call if it switches from T-Mobile to Orange in poor signal areas so, 'better the devil you know.')

The moral of this story is, although it is worthwhile to haggle with your network provider, it's always good to see if there is a better deal out there.

Links below (if they are still active):

Orange/mobiles.co.uk
T-Mobile/Dial-A-Phone £400 Cashback (on page 2!)
TopCashback/mobiles.co.uk

Sorry it won't let me post the links because I am a new forum user and it prevents spamming! Never mind!!!!

Doc_N

lucidsheep wrote: »

For £25.54 p/month I received a Samsung Galaxy S on Orange (which I have sold £275), 300 minutes, unlimited texts, 500MB data. Also I went through TopCashBack to claim £40.40 referrall commision, and, I will receive 9 months bill payment back by redemption (£229).



In summary:

-£613 Total Cost of Contract (24 months x £25.54)
-£14 Cost of paper bills needed for redemption (9 months x £1.50)
+£229 Cashback via redemption
+£275 Samsung Galaxy S sold on eBay.
+£40 Comission from TopCashBack

---

-£83 This is the total cost of my contract after cashback etc which equates to approximately £3.50 each month for 24 months if I continue using my old handset. I.E, The equivalent of £3.50 per month 'SIM only'.

---

Like I said, you shouldn't go for redemption/cashback deals unless it's 'instant cashback' or 'auto-cashback' because people do get stung including a few of my friends. My reason for this contract is not the redemption, however, I have dealt with this site several times and had no problems which instills a bit more faith.

The redemption value on this is purely a bonus as I wanted something of value to sell quickly to help towards a new car. I saw a better deal that gave £400 instant cashback @£25.53 p/month (24 months, 600 minutes, 500 texts) with dial-a-phone which would have been better for my purposes but that is with T-Mobile which doesn't work well round here at the moment (not sure if you get cut-off mid-call if it switches from T-Mobile to Orange in poor signal areas so, 'better the devil you know.')

Well done - a man (or woman) after my own heart.

I did a similar deal with another CPW company (e2save) and, like you, I'm actually being paid by them for my 24 month contract!

It might be even better than you suggest, though, because mobiles.co.uk allow you to email them copies of your online bills, which saves a further £14:

Q: Can I send a print off of my online bill?
A: Yes you can. This should include your current address.
Q: Can I email a scanned copy of my bill?
A: Yes you can. Please email our cashback team with a copy of your bill.

lucidsheep

Excellent, I didn't know that so thank you very much!
A 'man' of your heart hahaha! Thank you very much also for the link!

Doc_N wrote: »

Well done - a man (or woman) after my own heart.

I did a similar deal with another CPW company (e2save) and, like you, I'm actually being paid by them for my 24 month contract!

It might be even better than you suggest, though, because mobiles.co.uk allow you to email them copies of your online bills, which saves a further £14:

Q: Can I send a print off of my online bill?
A: Yes you can. This should include your current address.
Q: Can I email a scanned copy of my bill?
A: Yes you can. Please (link removed) with a copy of your bill.