Haggling an upgrade with Orange

kingblah

I am currently on a really good loyalty deal with Orange, and am coming to the end of my 18 month contract. I'm looking to get the HTC Desire, preferably, or a Blackberry, although I think I'd prefer the HTC Desire as it's more feature filled and better value for money.

I'm wondering what I can use as a bargaining tool when I contact orange to enquire about upgrading and getting a good deal. I checked with a comparison site and I can get an HTC Desire through one of the cashback websites for a very good price, but I'm not sure if I could quote this to Orange in an effort to get them to give me a good deal? Should I just stick to quoting prices that are direct from the main phone provider websites (t-mobile, vodafone etc)? Or would it be a good idea to lie, and say that "i've been quoted £x"?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

greytroot

Its hard nowadays to get a real bargain but check what you get from e2save etc, 2 years ago I told them about £80 cashback and they gave me £80 credit (mind you had to phone twice to get it) and £5 discount so got 600 mins unlimited texts unlimited internet (but was limited to orange stuff)for £25. Must admit i am happy with orange but thinking of moving to that giffgaff.

Jon_01

Orange won't match cash back sites or other networks unless you're a high value/high spend customer .

Any offer is based on your spend over the last 6 months. Retentions have some leeway but even they have limits the system won't let them go beyond.

Also remember the cost of the handset has to covered by the minimum term of the contract ....

Guys_Dad

Get Orange to offer you the best deal for any phone that meets your requirements. A couple of reasons.

If the Desire is in short supply or their most popular number, then you will get a worse offer than if they have a similar phone that they have a good margin on.

Remember that you have the contract for 18 months/2 years and in 1 year's time, I bet you would jump at the chance to replace your "old Desire" with whatever is vogue at the time. The point being that the love affair with a handset doesn't las as long as the love affair with a low price 24-month contract.

Also, do the maths over 24 months buying a sim-only from any of the big 4 and actually buying a Desire outright. I don't know the answer to the result, but it is worth doing.