orange v o2?

pavlovs_dog

Jarlawuk wrote:

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.

im definately willing to consider switching. im just dubious of tying myself into anything where i have to spend x per month to qualify for my free texts/minutes, especially seeing as quite often i struggle to get through £10 credit a month (mainly because of my free texts - sad isnt it i know).

that said, free texts/mins for a cheap rate would be good as i could talk to my bro more :think:

i guess im just waiting for something to jump out and strike me as a bargian. being an MSEr and the most ultra light fone user going (sad, isnt it )i kinda begrudge paying £10 a month if £10 can often last me 2-3 months.

but im open to suggestions so keep them coming

Jarlawuk

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=147605

There's a 12 month free line rental offer there for a offpeak 1000+ 100 text offer so pay nothing and you can call your bf /family with landlines or o2 for free in the evenings. Plus if you go through quidco you'd make a profit of £25 I think.

So 0 spend + money back = better than £10 per month

*!*HIBS*!*

Hi pavlovs_dog, I'm glad your exploring more options.

For many cashback deals, they do not offer the latest phones, but I think these are pretty good phones anyway. If you don’t want the phone you can always sell them on to make even more money! I agree with Jarlawuk’s comment about o2 contract phones. Their contract phones usually come unlocked so it’s less hassle if you want to sell it or pass the phone on to others so you don’t have to get it unlocked. :j

The easiest phones to get unlocked are the Nokias, as they can be remotely unlocked, whereas other might need a direct unlock or cable unlock. These can be done by the network provider (quite expensive) or a local market stall/shop (which are usually cheaper if you don’t want to do it yourself). Also 0800/0845/0870 numbers are inclusive in their monthly minutes, whereas this is not the case with other networks.

If you want the Motorola L6 phone, IMO, your better off getting it from e2save £31.50 than CPW online because with Quidco you will be paid an extra £1.50 for taking out the contract online (both have the same deal). E2save is owned by the same company, i.e. CPW (Carphone Warehouse so it’s a reliable company knowing that you will be able to get all your cashback further down the line) You can get either colour (Pink/Silver) both on o2.

The deal is 12 months free line rental 1000 mins off peak (These minutes can be used to call mobiles on the same network and landlines during off-peak times only), 25 off peak xnet mins (These minutes can be used to call mobiles on other networks during off-peak times only), and 100 texts. Monthly charge is £20.99 but you have to claim this back after you have paid it at months 4, 8, and 12 (you should get back £251.88 (in total) at the end of the 12 months).

These inclusive minutes/texts are doubled in the first 3 months, so its 2000 off peak minutes, 50 xnet off peak minutes and 200 texts per month for 3 months. No rollover allowed, meaning any minutes/texts that are unused in each month will not be available in the following months. After the 3 months are up, the deal goes back to 1000 minutes off peak, 25 xnet off peak and 100 texts.

To have a view of this deal go here

http://www.e2save.com

(The deal that I’ve mentioned is at the bottom) Cashback details are sent to you or you can get the form off their website. If you want to view them then you click on “12 Months FREE Line Rental)

Two other companies that I would recommend are Phonebox Direct and Cool New Mobile. These are owned by the same company (well the contact us have the same details). You get paid £30 from Phonebox Direct (PBD) if you take out a contract up with them online and £35 from Cool New Mobile (CNM) if you take out a contract up with them online. Here is the link for the 12 months free line rental that PBD are doing at the moment. http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk I would suggest that if both sites have the same phones for the same deal then go for the CNM as you get paid £5 more!

I would like to suggest you avoid the Motorola V220 phones as they have a reputation for poor quality/reliability! However if you really like that phone then its up to you.

In this example I will use the Nokia 3120 on o2. This phone although basic will do the job in most cases, i.e. ring/text.

In this deal you get 200 xnet anytime minutes (meaning you can call others (on mobiles/landline) anytime of the day for free (calls made over the inclusive minutes will be chargeable))

100 texts, 100kb of inclusive data per month (Browsing the internet mobile on the go)

Rollover minutes (meaning any unused minutes will be available for the next months, up to 2 months).

Monthly charge is £30/month. You have to pay the bills first and then claim it by way of instalments at months 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Hopefully, you should get £360 back (in total) at the end of the 12 months. But beware failure to redeem one claim will result in the following others void (with PBD and CNM). :mad: Make sure you can afford to take out this contract as it will last a minimum of 12 months!

This is just part of their T&Cs that you should read before signing up so that you’re aware of the situation you might agree to which can be found here http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/terms.htm.

£201 to £600 claims

Cash backs are claimed in five equal instalments
Instalment 1: - Send us the claim form and original bill that arrives showing you’ve been connected for 120 days. i.e. if you were connected on the 1st of January, you need to send in the bill that is dated around the 1st of May. This is 120 days (4months) after connection.

Instalment 2 : - Send the claim form and original monthly bill dated 180 days (6 months) after connection, showing tariff charges and mobile number.)

Instalment 3 : - Send the claim form and original monthly bill dated 240 days (8 months) after connection, showing tariff charges and mobile number.)

Instalment 4 : - Send the claim form and original monthly bill dated 300 days (10 months) after connection, showing tariff charges and mobile number.)

Instalment 5 : - Send the claim form and original monthly bill dated 360 days (12 months) after connection, showing tariff charges and mobile number.)
5 Part Instalment Chart

If you recommend each other (assuming you order from the same company) then you could be paid a bit extra for doing so.

Lastly, whilst not a list just a few reminders.

Make sure you follow the T&Cs so that both parties (you and the company you deal with) are happy. Photocopy (multiple copies (at least 2??) of the original bills so that if the claim did get lost you would have a spare to send again if required) and send either the original or photocopies of the bill with the claim form and cover sheet (stating which month claim you are submitting for, mobile phone number claiming for, your contact details) by Recorded Delivery (minimum). If you took up 2 mobile deals at the same time or you are making 2 claims from the same company, make sure you send them separately!!!

HTH :wave:

Jarlawuk

Don't know if its different for hi street tariffs vs the net - but o2 charges for 0800 seperately.

lucky33

As Prev Stated Stay On Orange Why Bother Changing When The Deal Is The Same 10.00 For 300 Texts A Month, Top Up By 20.00 Its 600 And 30.00 Its 1000!

pavlovs_dog

so much to think about! thank you all for you wise words :beer:

pingu

Hi
i will be changing providers soon leaving orange by 14 april

cosidering o2 or may be vodfone or other good ones not a heavy user but need a new phone (d600 or w800i)no cashbavk deals unless its from the provider

please can o2 customers tell me about their coverage/customer services etc....

thank you

loates123

i am with orange but am leaving them canceled contract and the deal they offered was poor

think i will go with 02

seanparkin

o2 are good. I switched our 8 work phones over to o2 from Orange last november, and since we have been saving £400-£500 every month. Saving our company probably £6000 over the year. A big up yours to Orange really.

This is because, 0845 numbers etc come out of the call allowance (however it subtracts multiple minutes for each minute of call) rather than instantly being charged extra. Mounts up to lots and lots.

*!*HIBS*!*

Jarlawuk wrote:

Don't know if its different for hi street tariffs vs the net - but o2 charges for 0800 seperately.

You could be right. Just to clarify we are talking about o2 monthly contract phones right? Well I am. I have seen in the CPW monthly brochures under the o2 tariffs, it says that 0800 is inclusive in your monthly minutes, not sure about the other stores on the high streets (have a browse of their o2 T&Cs instore/online for inclusive minutes or ask them to make positively sure before going ahead). o2 online doesn't charge you as details can be found here in the 9th point: http://shop.o2.co.uk/shop/o2uk

As the cashback deal is through online (especially if you want to be paid by Qudico) or by phone (where you are not paid to take out contract deals), it's safe to say that 0800 is included in your monthly minutes. Unless you calling outside of your inclusive minutes then there shouldn't be a charge. If you have been charged you should get o2 to compensate you, as I'm quite sure it's not their policy to charge if these calls are taken out of you inclusive monthly minutes. P.S I don't work for and I am not a salesperson for o2.

lucky33 wrote:

As Prev Stated Stay On Orange Why Bother Changing When The Deal Is The Same 10.00 For 300 Texts A Month, Top Up By 20.00 Its 600 And 30.00 Its 1000!

This is a bonus as the OP already has the 5 a day free messages. However, the OP's partner is on o2 and it will cost the OP more money to call him to talk to if it was decided that he is going to stay with o2 contract. Unless people only conduct a relationship via text (in some cases it could be, but that's another story) calling might be nice as well as texting, preferably not too expensive either.

pavlovs_dog to try decide if he should go on PAYG, one option is to try and view his old bills to see what his average monthly spend is and what it is on, ie. calls/texts etc... If you calculate it more than PAYG tariffs then contract is maybe the better option. If not then PAYG it might be.?

Now, if it was decided that pavlovs_dog went on this cashback route, both would have "new" phones, be on the same network, pavlovs_dog would be able to talk to her family/friends more, hopefully have up to 12 months free line rental (at the end) and as I said before, be paid for it, albeit up to £35. pavlovs_dog would be able to make use of her existing orange sim card and maybe use her free texts in conjunction with her monthly inclusive texts. PS, its cheaper to text on orange PAYG than on o2 contract (after you have used up all of your inclusive monthly texts) by 2p (every penny counts and could amount up to £s if lots of texts are sent).

pingu wrote:

...please can o2 customers tell me about their coverage/customer services etc....

I have not had to call CS so can't comment on that however, when I have emailed them I got a response approximately 24hours (not really important it was just regarding when my double minutes/texts promotion would finished-at the start of my contract).

Coverage can vary between locations, i.e. different parts of the country, towns or rural areas. If your lucky enough to be next to a phone mast then you should get full strength. Anyway here is a link to search for o2 coverage http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk

HTH :j

HIBS