How Do We Get Around The Cashback Offers That..

vansboy

keep you tied in LONGER than the 12 months/18months contract?

I've posted a few comments about my views on the V3i !/2 price 12months O2 http://www.thelink.com/martprd/product/234550 , it looks a good deal - they're more than likely still be around to claim, unlike some of the lesser known disappearing firms, mentioned in other posts.

BUT... reading 'the small print', to claim to remain valid, you need to still be on the same tarriff, when you submit your final bills.

Surely this means it'll run into month 13 - possibly 14, (at full price without cashback applying, here) depending on timing? So your contract is not really 12/18, but possibly 14/20.

Unless there's a Moneysavers get out plan!!

Any thoughts??

VB

seanparkin

y'know, in all my time crunching these numbers, I'd never thought of that.

gt123

Does this apply to CPW too? I was planning on upgrading and getting cashback on 4, 8 and 12 months.

maniac886

As soon as you get your 12month bill send it in, cancel your contract with the company o2,orange....etc as long as you complete the 12 months you are entitled to the cashback and are allowed to end your contract. once the bill has been recieved for the last month you can look for a new deal. it maybe a good idea to cancel a month before then you will recieve your final bill on the 12 month and not be tied to another contract.

gt123

maniac886 wrote:

As soon as you get your 12month bill send it in, cancel your contract with the company o2,orange....etc as long as you complete the 12 months you are entitled to the cashback and are allowed to end your contract. once the bill has been recieved for the last month you can look for a new deal. it maybe a good idea to cancel a month before then you will recieve your final bill on the 12 month and not be tied to another contract.

The guy on the phone at CPW said something along those lines, he said I can cancel as normal in the 11th month, then I receive my final bill (12th) and send that in to claim the cashback. Does that sound right?

maniac886

that is absolutely correct since i have been in that position. cancel on the 11th month and send the final (12th) month bill in.

*!*HIBS*!*

vansboy wrote:

BUT... reading 'the small print', to claim to remain valid, you need to still be on the same tarriff, when you submit your final bills.

I think this just means that you should stay on the same tariff that you originally signed up for, and this tariff must be shown to be the same on the bills that you send in to claim for. For example, usually say after 6 months (on some tariffs for example) you can usually downgrade onto a lower tariff so that you can get extra profit from the cashbacks from the contract you initially signed up for.

The clause you're referring to, tries to stop this from happening as it means you won't get your cashback if you try to claim. If say you signed up for 12 months on o2 200 (an example) but after 6 months you downgraded onto o2 100, o2 paid the link too much commission for the initial contract (o2 200) as you downgraded after 6 months to o2 100. Therefore, o2 may want to try and reclaim some of the commission back from the link as it has overpaid them, commission wise.

durain

you need to give them 30 days notice to cancel, so fone up customer service and ask them when to give them notice so that you can terminate the contract after the minimum 12months. you will get your last 12th month bill as normal.

Anon

On a 12 month contract, the 12th bill is in month 11 because you pay line rental in advance. On o2 this is easy enough to track as the top right of the bill tells you which bill it is (though be careful as some retailers have switched in recent months to want the bill that shows you have actually paid for 12 months, which in this o2 example, would be month 12).

Downgrade issue - CPW, OSPS and some others include in their t&c that you have to stay on the same tariff for the 12 months. Although according to your contract with the network you can change after 6 months (others may vary), your contract with CPW etc states no change. If you change and you loose your cashback. Although this looks like it could be one of those clever terms to catch out the seasoned moneysaver, looking through some of the discussions on here and industry press, it appears that networks are annoyed when people keep changing contracts but even more, they are annoyed when people sign up for more expensive tariffs (on which they base their commission payment to the retailers), only to find customers dropping tariff after 6 months. Some unscrupulous retailers were also playing on this, basing cashback payments on the basis that you signed up for a decent tariff, but had to downgrade in m6 to a lower tariff - still meeting their advertised 12 months free contract, but potentially leaving you on a lower tariff than suited your needs or having to pay the difference for 6 months (therefore not 12 months free).

As always, read the terms of your cashback and the network.

Anon