Advice on getting a better phone

mattmarchant

Hi there, I'm new to the forums but already love this website.

Basically, I'm absolutely sick of my Blackberry Curve 8520. I bought it only about 3 months ago off mobiles.co.uk, lured in by the £140 "instant" cashback (which actually took several weeks). I am on the Orange Dolphin 25 contract, which means my contract is 24 months and I get unlimited texts, 300 minutes and 500mb internet data for £25 a month.

I've been looking around at other contracts and found better phones (namely the HTC Desire) with better contracts for the same price. I would ring Orange and complain but I'm afraid that they'll just say "no" to my request as my contract is only 3 months old. What does everyone recommend?

nickmack

mattmarchant wrote: »

I've been looking around at other contracts and found better phones (namely the HTC Desire) with better contracts for the same price. I would ring Orange and complain but I'm afraid that they'll just say "no" to my request as my contract is only 3 months old. What does everyone recommend?

I'm afraid there's very little you can do in terms of exiting the contract. Orange will not simply 'give' you another phone. You could sell the Blackberry and then buy another SIM free phone.

mattmarchant

Do you think they might be likely to do me a better contract if I tell them that 3 will do 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB internet and threaten to leave etc or would it be a lost cause what with my contract being so "young"?

MjW5

mattmarchant wrote: »

Do you think they might be likely to do me a better contract if I tell them that 3 will do 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB internet and threaten to leave etc or would it be a lost cause what with my contract being so "young"?

You can't threaten to leave since you have signed up to a legally binding contract for 24 months. They may let you downgrade/upgrade your plan after a certain period of time (not sure when off the top of my head).

I have heard of cases where people have managed to get out of contracts due to signal issues but this is very rare.

If you desperately want to change phone then the best bet would be to do what nickmack suggests and sell your Blackberry and get a different sim-free phone. However, bear in mind that phones such as the HTC Desire are expensive when purchased sim-free and it might be worth riding this one out.

nickmack

mattmarchant wrote: »

Do you think they might be likely to do me a better contract if I tell them that 3 will do 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB internet and threaten to leave etc or would it be a lost cause what with my contract being so "young"?

You have no bargaining power, you are contracted for another 21 months. Tariffs change all the time, so don't be too concerned if what you got three months ago is now available for a bit less.

The only way you can 'leave' the contract is to pay the remainder of the line rental £24x21 = ~£500. You may get a small discount, but essentially you're tied in. If the tariff is ok in terms of allowance, your best option would be to sell the BB, but you still may need to find some extra £ towards a new handset.

cgk1

You are stuck - you can say you will leave but orange will simply point to the fact that you signed a 24 month contract (which is why I am SIM only on a one month rolling contract).