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12 month contracts with 12 months' free line rental - my experience
I just wanted to share my personal insight into 12 month contracts with 12 months free line rental (by redemption), as they have saved me a HUGE amount of money over the last few years, and I think EVERYONE should know about them.
You will usually be able to get all of the following through these deals...
- Free handset
- Free delivery of handset
- Set number of free minutes (99% of the time these are anytime/any network) and texts per month
- 12 months free line rental (by redemption)
- Usually 1-3 months free phone insurance
- Free number porting (if desired)
These offers, in my experience, really are as good as they sound and as long as you know the ins and outs – like remembering to collect all your redemptions on time and not going over your monthly minutes and texts allowance - what you essentially have is a completely free mobile phone for a year. The handset costs you nothing, the line rental costs you nothing (well, you pay the monthly cost, but the idea is you get it ALL back by the end of the contract), the minutes and texts cost you nothing. All you pay for is any minutes and texts that you use which go over your monthly allowance (and you should also remember that some calls will, as expected, be excluded from your free minutes i.e. 0870 / 0845 calls and international calls).
I discovered these deals a few years ago and have used the following websites successfully so far: BuyMobilePhones.net, Mobiles2YourDoor, Phones 4 U. Remember, these are third party companies. You will still have a contract with one of the standard phone providers (e.g. Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, etc) but it will simply be through one of these websites.
These contracts are hard to come by and, as might be expected, are only associated with pretty rubbish handsets. But if you can get past that, what you’re really looking at is the contract itself. As an example, if you want to see my personal current contract, since I'm a newbie I can't post links but you can view it by going to buymobilephones.net > scroll down the left hand side and click on "Free Money" and then "Line Rental Discount" which will appear underneath it > scroll down to the Nokia 1680 Classic and click on it > scroll down to the T-Mobile Combi 35 with 500 mins and 375 texts and click on it. It’s out of stock at the moment but you can still get an idea of what one of these deals looks like.
As you can see, it is a 12 month contract and you get: a pretty standard phone (free), 12 months free line rental (by redemption), 500 minutes and 375 texts each month. You also have the option to port your old number over for free, and you will have free online billing unless you choose paper billing (which costs a small amount, something like £1 a month, but why bother when you can get your bills online for free!) When you go through the order, the delivery of the phone is free too.
When your stuff arrives...
You can either use the handset if you like it, or, if not, you can always sell it on eBay and keep using your current handset or just keep it as a spare.
With this particular website (BuyMobilePhones.net) which I’m using purely as an example, when you receive your handset you will also receive four redemption vouchers which you send off in months 5, 7, 9 and 12 in order to claim back your line rental. As you are paying £35 a month (£420 for the year) and collecting four redemptions, you will receive a cheque for £105 each time. By the end of the 12 month period, you will have paid out £420 in line rental, but also received that entire £420 back as long as you’ve sent your redemptions on time.
Things to remember...
- MOST IMPORTANT: Always take note of the months in which your redemptions need to be collected and mark these in your diary. Ensure you do not damage or lose the redemption forms/vouchers that you need to send in – some companies will accept photocopies, some will not. Also note that along with the redemption form/vouchers, some companies ask you to send in your most recent phone bill (some request original bills, some take photocopies – make sure you find out what’s accepted). Most of these websites leave you with quite a considerable time frame within which to claim your redemption each time – e.g. mine allows 60 days from the date of the relevant bill. So, for example, if my first redemption is to be collected in month 5, and my fifth bill is dated 1st May, I have until 1st July to collect that redemption. When sending off for your redemptions, I would advise that you take photocopies of everything you’re sending, i.e. the redemption form and any bills. This is just for your own records. Also, it’s probably best to send the stuff by recorded or special delivery. Redemption forms/vouchers are usually non-replaceable, so at least this way you’re safe knowing that they will have received them.
- CANCEL THE INSURANCE (unless of course you really want or need it). They make money out of people who forget to do this. I always cancel mine right before the ‘free’ period is up (usually 1-3 months) – make a note in your diary of when the free period expires and make sure you phone up a couple of days beforehand to cancel.
- When your contract commences, remember to find out the exact date it ends, and the cancellation notice required by your network. For example – Orange require 30 days notice to cancel a contract with them. So if your 12 month contract ends on 20th December, you’ll want to phone them on 20th November to confirm that you DO wish your contract to come to an end on that date. If you don’t do this, the network will keep you as a customer after the 12 month period is up and you will be charged line rental for each additional month which you obviously cannot claim back – I found this out the hard way the first time I did one of these deals.
So, to summarise, as long as you do these things – collect your redemptions on time, cancel the insurance before the free period ends, and cancel the contract with your provider within the necessary time period (usually 30 days notice) before the 12 month period is up – you’ve got yourself a tidy little deal!
When your contract is due to end, just go hunting online for another one!
I’m happy to answer any questions you guys have about all this. I can give advice on finding these deals but usually a few minutes on Google is all it takes! Since I hardly ever go over my minutes and texts allowance, over the last three years whilst I have been doing these deals, I have spent a grand total of perhaps £10-20 on having and using a mobile phone. :jIt is completely worth it. I really hope this helps somebody!
You will usually be able to get all of the following through these deals...
- Free handset
- Free delivery of handset
- Set number of free minutes (99% of the time these are anytime/any network) and texts per month
- 12 months free line rental (by redemption)
- Usually 1-3 months free phone insurance
- Free number porting (if desired)
These offers, in my experience, really are as good as they sound and as long as you know the ins and outs – like remembering to collect all your redemptions on time and not going over your monthly minutes and texts allowance - what you essentially have is a completely free mobile phone for a year. The handset costs you nothing, the line rental costs you nothing (well, you pay the monthly cost, but the idea is you get it ALL back by the end of the contract), the minutes and texts cost you nothing. All you pay for is any minutes and texts that you use which go over your monthly allowance (and you should also remember that some calls will, as expected, be excluded from your free minutes i.e. 0870 / 0845 calls and international calls).
I discovered these deals a few years ago and have used the following websites successfully so far: BuyMobilePhones.net, Mobiles2YourDoor, Phones 4 U. Remember, these are third party companies. You will still have a contract with one of the standard phone providers (e.g. Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, etc) but it will simply be through one of these websites.
These contracts are hard to come by and, as might be expected, are only associated with pretty rubbish handsets. But if you can get past that, what you’re really looking at is the contract itself. As an example, if you want to see my personal current contract, since I'm a newbie I can't post links but you can view it by going to buymobilephones.net > scroll down the left hand side and click on "Free Money" and then "Line Rental Discount" which will appear underneath it > scroll down to the Nokia 1680 Classic and click on it > scroll down to the T-Mobile Combi 35 with 500 mins and 375 texts and click on it. It’s out of stock at the moment but you can still get an idea of what one of these deals looks like.
As you can see, it is a 12 month contract and you get: a pretty standard phone (free), 12 months free line rental (by redemption), 500 minutes and 375 texts each month. You also have the option to port your old number over for free, and you will have free online billing unless you choose paper billing (which costs a small amount, something like £1 a month, but why bother when you can get your bills online for free!) When you go through the order, the delivery of the phone is free too.
When your stuff arrives...
You can either use the handset if you like it, or, if not, you can always sell it on eBay and keep using your current handset or just keep it as a spare.
With this particular website (BuyMobilePhones.net) which I’m using purely as an example, when you receive your handset you will also receive four redemption vouchers which you send off in months 5, 7, 9 and 12 in order to claim back your line rental. As you are paying £35 a month (£420 for the year) and collecting four redemptions, you will receive a cheque for £105 each time. By the end of the 12 month period, you will have paid out £420 in line rental, but also received that entire £420 back as long as you’ve sent your redemptions on time.
Things to remember...
- MOST IMPORTANT: Always take note of the months in which your redemptions need to be collected and mark these in your diary. Ensure you do not damage or lose the redemption forms/vouchers that you need to send in – some companies will accept photocopies, some will not. Also note that along with the redemption form/vouchers, some companies ask you to send in your most recent phone bill (some request original bills, some take photocopies – make sure you find out what’s accepted). Most of these websites leave you with quite a considerable time frame within which to claim your redemption each time – e.g. mine allows 60 days from the date of the relevant bill. So, for example, if my first redemption is to be collected in month 5, and my fifth bill is dated 1st May, I have until 1st July to collect that redemption. When sending off for your redemptions, I would advise that you take photocopies of everything you’re sending, i.e. the redemption form and any bills. This is just for your own records. Also, it’s probably best to send the stuff by recorded or special delivery. Redemption forms/vouchers are usually non-replaceable, so at least this way you’re safe knowing that they will have received them.
- CANCEL THE INSURANCE (unless of course you really want or need it). They make money out of people who forget to do this. I always cancel mine right before the ‘free’ period is up (usually 1-3 months) – make a note in your diary of when the free period expires and make sure you phone up a couple of days beforehand to cancel.
- When your contract commences, remember to find out the exact date it ends, and the cancellation notice required by your network. For example – Orange require 30 days notice to cancel a contract with them. So if your 12 month contract ends on 20th December, you’ll want to phone them on 20th November to confirm that you DO wish your contract to come to an end on that date. If you don’t do this, the network will keep you as a customer after the 12 month period is up and you will be charged line rental for each additional month which you obviously cannot claim back – I found this out the hard way the first time I did one of these deals.
So, to summarise, as long as you do these things – collect your redemptions on time, cancel the insurance before the free period ends, and cancel the contract with your provider within the necessary time period (usually 30 days notice) before the 12 month period is up – you’ve got yourself a tidy little deal!
When your contract is due to end, just go hunting online for another one!
I’m happy to answer any questions you guys have about all this. I can give advice on finding these deals but usually a few minutes on Google is all it takes! Since I hardly ever go over my minutes and texts allowance, over the last three years whilst I have been doing these deals, I have spent a grand total of perhaps £10-20 on having and using a mobile phone. :jIt is completely worth it. I really hope this helps somebody!
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Comments
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I wasn't able to find any 12 month free line rental deals anywhere, do you know anyone who is doing them now? TIA.0
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Thanks for that, I might just go for that, I'm just going to check for some feedback on them
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A couple of small things I would add are:
- Do some research on the company you are taking the contract out with before hand. A 12 month redemption means absolutely nothing if the company goes bust in month 2 (as it did with me and many others!)
- Due to the above (and a small number of unscrupulous companies around) do not take the redemption into account when budgeting whether you can afford the contract. Things do happen (particularly at the minute) and even big named companies are going out of business. If you can't afford the contract without taking the redemption into account, don't sign-up for it. Simples.
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Another couple of points to add - I've been doing this for a few years (with Phones4U, Mobile2YourDoor, and Carphone Warehouse) and have just taken out a contract with buymobilephones.net
1) Buymobilephones.net require you to send in all 12 monthly bills (1 -5 for 1st cheque, 6-7 for 2nd, 8-9 for 3rd, and 10 - 12 for final cheque).
2) Buy through cashback sites (quidco etc.) and get another £20 -£30 back.
3) Do everything recorded delivery and keep a copy/scan of what you send.
4) I've taken out the Nokia 3109 and choose the paper billing option. I got a letter with my contract saying this could not be actioned with instructions on what to do (which are incorrect) so I've currently got a bit of sorting out to do! I'll also be asking them why this is on their website if they can't action this.
5) These contracts do tend to be a bit of work (and only suit the organised) but then you do get a free phone!0 -
Can a mod make this thread sticky?
This is an excellent post by the OP!0 -
Been doing this for years - just this week got 12 month free deal 12 month contract plus quidco
. Naff phone but got the extra texts I wanted as I had used up all mine for month on my other phone.
But please let this thread go to the bottom of the pile as this information is top secret - the retailers have beein cutting back on these deals in last couple of year....:mad:0 -
I have had success with OSPS, M2YD and Phones4u, the last 2 claims through Phones4u I did not even send recorded delivery, as the process is simple to use and I send my claim on the first day, so I have 60 days in case they don't receive it, but they text you when they have validated the claim. I am dubious of any of the other companies due to bad feedback, even of the CPW group of companies. My current 12 month free cashback deal ends in January and there does not seem to be any good deals around on the Phones4u group of companies.
OneaDay
Where did you get your one this week?0 -
OneaDay
Where did you get your one this week?
Shhhh...............:D
...ok what the heck nokia 2323 (carp aint it) - 12 month free buymobilephones.net on t-mobile (got 2 mobiles on t-mobile now).
Both now give me 300 mins, 200 texts each but i had used up my allowance of texts on first mobile, so i went out and got the other deal. lg cookie is main phone.
My bro is o2 till end of jan/early feb - he wanted internet so i got him a nokia 6303 (he had 6300 before) - 300 mins, unlimited texts and 500mb internet - for £40 a month over 12 months - with cashback and quidco and selling old mobile, his total for 12 months is £75 (and if you wanted the 6303 on pay and go, cheapest i seen it is £65 - go figure).0 -
Glad to help guys. I really think everyone should consider these deals - I've never had any trouble whatsoever!Can a mod make this thread sticky?
This is an excellent post by the OP!
Thank you! But what's an OP? I'm new, I don't know the forum lingo yet.But please let this thread go to the bottom of the pile as this information is top secret - the retailers have beein cutting back on these deals in last couple of year....:mad:
Admittedly there's not as much choice as there once was, but you can still find them. And if not, the next best thing will usually be 10 or 11 months free line rental instead, which isn't bad at all.0 -
Original Poster0
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