3 Upgrade - want the htc desire, deals seem rubbish?

eklynne

I have been with 3 for 4 and a half years, I have 2 contracts with them (mine and my daughter's) and I am due my upgrade.
I currently have a £18 per month deal - 300 minutes, 1GB internet, unlimited 3 to 3, unlimited texts and a pretty rubbish phone (LG Viewty).
I really like the Desire but the best they could offer me for it was 100 minutes, 500MB internet, unlimited texts/3 to 3 minutes and all for the whopping price of £29 per month on a 24 month contract!! Does this seem right? I hold my hands up and admit I've never shopped around for mobile deals before, but I'm sure this is pretty unreasonable.
Any advice on haggling/getting a better deal would be helpful. I really need to stay with 3 as the whole family are with them and the free 3 to 3 calls are a godsend for us!
Thanks!

Murmansk

Well I've just ordered a Desire via buymobilephones.net which I was led to via Uswitch.

I've not actually got it yet, as it's in short supply, but my impressions so far are good in that I was able to speak to a sensible human quite easily and they answered my email question well and promptly - more then could be said of mobiles.co.uk who I gave up on.

Mine is on T-Mobile and is costing a lot less than it would if I were to go to T-Mobile themselves.

I think you should take a look at the site and see what you can find, I think they also do upgrades which I guess is what you are talking about. I can't help thinking you'd do better than dealing direct with 3.

King_Ripper

Thats not a great deal at all really, I got 500 mins or texts, free 3 to 3 calls, 500 mb internet and 100 picture mails for £25 a month just over a month ago, although i have seen people on here that have got better deals than that. This is also only my second contract with 3. I was offered the same deal as you for £27 aswell but i turned it down, later i phoned again but chose the option saying i wanted to leave and i asked for my pac code, this was when i was offered the deal above. Might be worth giving that a go?

Wh05apk

That deal is lousy, I have just got 500 mins, unlimited landlines, 250 texts, 500mb internet for £29.58 + £100 quidco (hopefully) from Voda business, personal is 600 mins/u/l text and 1gb internet for £30 (quidco £90) So they are more expensive than Voda, and certainly np loyalty bonus.
Once you are into your last 90 days ask for your PAC code, you will then get offered better (just got 500 m/m free hero for £17, 18mth contract)

nickmack

For the Desire as a retention deal, I would be aiming for a free handset with 300+ minutes, unlimited texts and at least 1Gb internet at £25 for 18 months.

Exhortation

This is a common problem with all network providers. Unless you are willing to stamp your feet and make threats to leave they will never offer you an upgrade deal that is anything like what they'd offer a new customer. Mobile networks aren't alone in this practice, it's common in the car insurance market, too.

Go to www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk and see what deals are available for new customers. Once you've seen the deal you want (it must be directly through 3 and not via a third party) go back to 3 and ask them to match or better the deal or tell them you'll take your custom elsewhere.

Exhortation

£32 a month will get you 500 minutes, 5000 texts, 3000 3 to 3 call minutes, voicemail, picture messaging (not sure how many) and 1gb of internet with a free HTC Desire Graphite and the phone is available for delivery tomorrow. All this via the 3 online shop. Their upgrade department appear to be extracting the urine. It is a 24 month contract but all 3 contracts are now.

Wh05apk

Exhortation wrote: »

£32 a month will get you 500 minutes, 5000 texts, 3000 3 to 3 call minutes, voicemail, picture messaging (not sure how many) and 1gb of internet with a free HTC Desire Graphite and the phone is available for delivery tomorrow. All this via the 3 online shop. Their upgrade department appear to be extracting the urine. It is a 24 month contract but all 3 contracts are now.

Which apart from 3000 3-3 minutes is still more than Vodafone or Tmobile who are both £30!

Exhortation

I didn't say it was a good deal, I was simply pointing out that it was there and that it's a lot better than what the OP was offered for his upgrade. Anyway, isn't that what "haggling" is all about?

liubeliu

eklynne wrote: »

I have been with 3 for 4 and a half years, I have 2 contracts with them (mine and my daughter's) and I am due my upgrade.
I currently have a £18 per month deal - 300 minutes, 1GB internet, unlimited 3 to 3, unlimited texts and a pretty rubbish phone (LG Viewty).
I really like the Desire but the best they could offer me for it was 100 minutes, 500MB internet, unlimited texts/3 to 3 minutes and all for the whopping price of £29 per month on a 24 month contract!! Does this seem right? I hold my hands up and admit I've never shopped around for mobile deals before, but I'm sure this is pretty unreasonable.
Any advice on haggling/getting a better deal would be helpful. I really need to stay with 3 as the whole family are with them and the free 3 to 3 calls are a godsend for us!
Thanks!

Unfortunately customer loyalty counts for nowt, customer profitability is what matters.

You currently pay £18 month, you are unlikely to get any near that with a premium phone like the Desire which retails sim free for £400+. So that takes into account £16/month. This leaves £13 for calls, internet and texts, not to mention the 3to3 calls which by your own admission gives value add. Three's margin will be what it makes from you £13 per month price plan i.e. underusage or charge your for out of allowance usage as I bet if you make exactly 100mins of calls, hammer the 5,000 texts and use exactly 500mb data then Three will probably make a loss on your contract.

The fact that you are being offered a deal which is not competative vs what new customers to Three get means one or both of two things.

You are not in the last 30 days of your contract and/or

You have not been a profitable customer for Three (at the end of the day, with any company bottom line is king, any company telling you otherwise is lying).

If you can afford to buy handset SIM free then you can get a SIM only contract which could give you more minutes, data at around £15 per month.

fiendishlyclever

liubeliu wrote: »

If you can afford to buy handset SIM free then you can get a SIM only contract which could give you more minutes, data at around £15 per month.

Alternatively you can see what the cheapest tariff they can do you will cost - and treat it as a SIM only contract.

I got a 12 month contract with VTT500 and internet bolt on for £5 a month with a free handset. Selling the handset makes the deal effectively free - I treat the contract as a SIM-only deal and buy an unlocked handset (which usually have no features disabled and get any firmware upgrades first).

Of course you need to have the cash to buy a SIM-free handset, if you haven't you are stuck haggling with retentions!