orange v o2?

pavlovs_dog

hey guys, would appreciate some advice from you experts!

OH has a sony ericcson handset on contract from o2, paying £19 a month. he's had this one phone for three years, and its on its last legs (the joystick thingy isnt working).

i phoned them up yesterday, to see what the options are with regards to cancelling the contract or getting a free upgrade. they were very helpful (even if it was on an 0870 number :rolleyes: ), and explained that there were several phones he could claim as a free upgrade on his current contract.


however, because he is a light user to all intents and purposes, im not sure how much sense it makes for him to stay with 02 at £19 a month. our main use of our mobiles is to each other (sad i know young love eh?! :rotfl: ) - im on orange PAYG, so surely it makes more sense for us to be on the same network, whichever network that may be?


anyhoo, cutting a long story short, being a bloke, he does like his technology, so i know he would get a phone he'd be happier with if we kept him on contract. but being one for making informed decisions, i'd like to know if anyone has any comments on the following

1> upgrade his with 02, and get my phone unchipped. then buy an 02 sim pack (or see if i can negotiate a free one from o2 for staying with them). i only spend £10 a month if that on my phone, because i have that orange 5 free texts a day and 2 emergency phone calls thing - the old one where i dont pay an annual subscription for it - how does the o2 bolt on package compare?

2> cancel o2 contract, and take out a contract with orange

3> cancel o2 contract and buy a PAYG phone, either on orange, or on o2 and get my orange phone unchipped to take an o2 sim card.


all advice/comments much appreciated :beer:

DonkeyKong77

fwiw i don't think Orange contracts are looking that great in terms of value for money. Se the thread on Orange not wanting to keep customers on cheap deals (don't know how to insert the link!)

Wheras O2 seem to get favourable opinions - i think there was a payg sim for o2 which allowed 300txt and 100mins a month - or something like that.

Also, don't know where or with who, but it may be possible to share the talk/texts on one contract via 2 mobiles? - Bit like a joint bank account so never really looked into that!

pavlovs_dog

i knew i could rely on the folks on this site :beer:

thanks for the heads up - definately worth looking into then by the sounds of it.

i have no affinity to orange other than the ornage wednesdays 2 for 1 cinema and my free daily texts.

could always keep my sim though for the conema deal- so long as there is a few pennies on the account it should still work i think

Edinburghlass_2

I would certainly keep your Orange simcard with the 5 free texts a day and use those on an old phone along with the cinema offer.

I found an old one of these simcards and it hadn't been used for months but is still operative, those 5 free sims a day are worth quite a bit if all you do is text.

Darren21

Edinburghlass wrote:

those 5 free sims a day are worth quite a bit if all you do is text.

I never knew you could get 5 SIMS a day!!

Edinburghlass_2

Its Webby got me all confused today as to front door and back door!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1790227

Quite right Darren, its five free texts a day for life!

lucky33

Orange Contracts Are Good At The Mo, It Depends On What He Needs In Mins And Texts.

Alternativley He Could Go Onto Orange Pay-as-you Go And Get 300 Anytime Texts When He Tops Up By £10, The Texts Are Free They Don't Use Up The £10.

*!*HIBS*!*

Yea thankfully after it being on the Watchdog programme a couple of years ago, it went back up to 5 a day instead of 3! :j Those 2 free emergency calls used to be only available on that 5 free text a day, but now it extends to all orange PAYG i think, from what I have read in the Orange magazine literature.

Like what Edinburghlass said, keep that orange sim. Even if you sell it on, you can get a bit for it!

As you said your both low users, I would suggest you go for those cashback deals, as if you both sign up individually in many cases, you can get a new free phone, free calls/texts, free line rental for 12 months and I suppose best of all be paid to take out the contract! :j Just remember to take out a contract with a well established company or one with a good reputation. Note all the dates down onto a calendar/diary and remember to send in the claims each time on time for it to be processed.

If you don't want the hassle of those cashback deal and just want an o2 sim card, a current offer for a free o2 sim can be found here http://o2freesims.co.uk

Jarlawuk

I think staying on o2 is the best option - the handsets are all unlocked which is a bonus. Main thing though is that they are more willing to do a good deal to retain their customers whereas orange are pushing for high value customers. If you switch to a o2 genie sim you would get 300 text a month for your £10 top up so that would work out to be 10 a day so you can afford to text a bit more, then you got the £10 as calling credit.

pavlovs_dog

*!*HIBS*!* wrote:

As you said your both low users, I would suggest you go for those cashback deals, as if you both sign up individually in many cases, you can get a new free phone, free calls/texts, free line rental for 12 months and I suppose best of all be paid to take out the contract! :j Just remember to take out a contract with a well established company or one with a good reputation. Note all the dates down onto a calendar/diary and remember to send in the claims each time on time for it to be processed.

this is new to me - any links you can share/companies you can recommend as i'd be interested in learning more

Stephen_Webber

*!*HIBS*!* wrote:

Yea thankfully after it being on the Watchdog programme a couple of years ago, it went back up to 5 a day instead of 3!

He he, that was me that changed that I knew it was a stupid idea lowering them to 3 and wasn't surprised when I got told to put it back to 5 about an hour before the program went on air. Incidentally, I don't work for Orange now, before I get lynched.

Stephen