HTC Wildfire, £6.25pm - good deal?

xeena

Hi, I'm looking for a budget smartphone, and the HTC Wildfire seems to fit the bill. It's available on mobiles.co.uk on the following deal:

Orange Dolphin 25 (24 months)
300 mins Any Network Anytime + Unlimited Texts
500MB Data

with 16 months free line rental. Quidco gives a further £50, which means total cost (assuming all goes ok) of £150/24 = £6.25 a month.

Does this deal sound good, and has anyone seen any better ones? Sorry but I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to smartphones and what's out there!

Many thanks

xeena

Have read some other threads now where they recommend double-checking HUKD too, and have now seen an 18 month contract on Vodafone with less minutes, for a total of £6.67 a month, but the shorter contract is very tempting!

OneADay

Wildfire is cut down version of the Desire - so if you can live with that, its cheap enough. Meant to be some new HTC Desire coming soon, I read somewhere.

xeena

Have gone for the Vodafone deal. Seems about the best out there at the mo and should do me nicely Cheers.

bubblesmoney

check out https://www.htcapps.com for recommendations for various apps for your phone.

get netcounter or 3g watchdog apps on the first day itself before you do any surfing on the phone so that you can keep a check on the data usage so that you dont get any huge bills for data use later.

justaskstan

Do you not think that sounds unbelievably cheap? £150??

The phone is worth £250

It costs the Network money to provide the tariff

The company who advertised this aren't a charity either so will be looking to make a profit.

Surely you can see where this is heading?

If you bought online or over the phone within the last seven days send it back under guaranteed delivery.

It is people like yourself who keep these scam companies going.

xeena

I've done plenty of cashback deals over the last 10 years or so, and as long as you're meticulously organised, you're usually ok. Thanks for your concern anyway.

Bubblesmoney, thank for that link - off to browse now!

mobilejunkie

Usually, yes - but not always. Complacency may say "as long as you're meticulously organised, you're usually ok". However, in order to be relatively safe it goes much deeper than that nowadays. I would always advise something more along the lines of, "as long as you follow all the groundrules" (mine not theirs) "and go into a deal knowing who you are dealing with, exactly how the game is played, ensure that you are in a position to sue from day 1" (I've just had one of those despite doing scores of deals in the last three years) "and are prepared to sue you should ensure you get paid.". In fact, had I neglected one of my own basic rules I would not be in a position to sue on day one (or at any later stage) as the dealer "requests" in this case. In my humble opinion very few people would have followed that particular ground-rule and so would immediately have lost ALL their money.

terryya

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Usually, yes - but not always. Complacency may say "as long as you're meticulously organised, you're usually ok". However, in order to be relatively safe it goes much deeper than that nowadays. I would always advise something more along the lines of, "as long as you follow all the groundrules" (mine not theirs) "and go into a deal knowing who you are dealing with, exactly how the game is played, ensure that you are in a position to sue from day 1" (I've just had one of those despite doing scores of deals in the last three years) "and are prepared to sue you should ensure you get paid.". In fact, had I neglected one of my own basic rules I would not be in a position to sue on day one (or at any later stage) as the dealer "requests" in this case. In my humble opinion very few people would have followed that particular ground-rule and so would immediately have lost ALL their money.

Bloody hell, you make it sound like you're planning a trip behind enemy lines to try and bring down a foreign government! :rotfl:

All you really need to be is organised and ready to take it further if they won't pay up despite you meeting all the criteria.

As for the deal I think it is ok, but there are quite a few deals that work out under a tenner after cashback/quidco and I personally would not want a 24 month contract.

xeena

terryya - yep I came to the same conclusion re the 24 month contract so have gone for the 18 month vodafone deal instead. Less minutes, but still fine for my requirements.

mobilejunkie - I've read through your cashback for dummies article in the past and it's very useful, thank you. I already make sure I take screenshots of absolutely everything, so am confident I will fulfil all their criteria, but as you've said, you do need to have your wits about you.

justaskstan

How did it go Xeena?

Can't believe it went anything but disastrously and if I was suspicious I would say you are a plant for the business you plugged at the top of the thread.

If it looks too good to be true, it is. Guaranteed. I speak to 5 to 15 people a day who have been duped by these ridiculous schemes.