Batter down your mobile contract cost

bungeedood

Quick update for you....

Went into my local Orange shop today and asked for my PAC code (after reading Leejp's post)
Advantage 1 - The shop made the call to Orange, therefore I am not getting billed (I think I get billed for calling customer services)
I was put straight through to disconnections and was asked why I wanted to quit Orange, I explained that 3 were offering a better deal and the operator, who was very polite, explained that I could not obtain my PAC code without buying out my contract which runs till April 05, though when this date comes I can upgrade my phone and they will match 3's package. They then reviewed my account, put me on a different tariff and I am now saving approx £15 per month on my bill (200 anytime minutes and 50 text)
It pays to be persistent, thanks guys...
bunge

samanthagodden

Hi I tried to upgrade my phone with T-mobile a few months ago to the Nokia 6600. I asked what the upgrade price would be, and she explained that they had a points scoring system similar to a credit rating based on spending etc. The higher the socre, the more valued a customer you are and the more money you get off an upgrade. I said ok so what will the price be for me.
The answer? FULL RETAIL. I asked immediatlely to cancel my contract and no effort was made to keep me. My bills were about £25.00 a month. After a very turbulent but short contract with O2, I am now happily with orange looking forward to upgrade time.

rwgibson99

.... They then reviewed my account, put me on a different tariff and I am now saving approx £15 per month on my bill (200 anytime minutes and 50 text)....

Can I ask how much you're being charged for this? You said you're saving £15/month, but you didn't say what they reduced your rate down to. I'm curious to know what "the going rate" for this is.

Cheers
ROB

stinky

Orange want to keep your custom? Fat chance.

As other posts mention, this is all very much based on what you spend on calls with them each month. I'm a low user, I was with Orange for 9 years on their minimum tariff and my monthly bills are always around £20-25.

I wanted an upgrade to my phone, last upgrade was over 2 years ago. No problem, however I wanted a Nokia 6230. Yes sir, that will be £130. There was no way I was paying that, especially since new customers were getting it for free. I was passed on to the great almighty disconnections department, who basically offered me the same deal. I pleaded, I said that I could get the phone free on T-Mobile, with their minimum contract, I even offered to up my Orange contract to £25/month. That merely reduced the price of the upgrade to £80. What a joke. The guy I was speaking to simply had no interest in keeping me as an Orange customer. I explained that I really wanted to stay with Orange, I've always been an Orange fan and they have been my only provider, was there nothing better they could offer me? NO, the offer of £130 stood firm.

So, after a quick call to Carphone Wharehouse as to which networks had which offers. I went to the T-mobile site and found myself a free Nokia 6230, £19/month line rental (actually half price for 9 months i.e. £9.50) 100 free minutes/month (I was on 60 before), £20 cashback as I said a T-mobile customer had recommended me (just gave them a friends number, he also gets £20).

All in all, I end up getting a new phone, the phone I wanted and I save around £80. Orange - you can stick your service mate!

Paul

PS - Orange widely publicise that they will match anyones tariff. I'm sure all the other operators would do the same. However their obviously not so keen at giving out top of the range phones unless you spend a lot with them.

rwgibson99

It gets worse.

Apologies to those readers who know about this website, but these two stories are a real eye-opener into the thought-processes behind the brains at Orange.

Firstly, http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/artman/publish/article_1059.shtml shows that Orange are concerned about the number of customers leaving, only to come back. These are the deal-surfers, who (wisely) are taking advantage of promotional offers available.

Secondly, after reading about a new "London" tariff, only available to dealers within the M25 (but open to all UK customers). This article, http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/artman/publish/article_1019.shtml has this quote concerning the types of commission available to dealers:
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/artman/publish/article_1019.shtml

...commissions...(for) Orange’s established Off-Peak 1000, which costs the customer £25 a month and nets the dealer around £260.

Those Money Saving Experts querying how on-line retailers could offer so much money back to new customers have an answer,

sly_dog_jonah

I managed to get Orange to switch me onto Select 500 this weekend when i called them up (almost 12months to the day since my last upgrade). I had been on OVP O2 Leisure Time Plus on line1 and Talk60 on Line2 with an average monthly spend of a shade under £50 over the past year. Managed to get Select 500 (and line2 deactivated) with a free k700i (P910 would have been £189.99 - will get a real PDA instead for a bit more than that!). Bargainous, and won't have to faff with line1/2 anymore!

Meanwhile my missus managed to get a free upgrade onto Select500 from YourPlan 200 after only ~7/8 months of her contract with a monthly spend of the region of £75.

Freephone number for Orange retentions is 0800 079 2288.

rwgibson99

By your own reckoning, you're giving Orange £1,500 per year. This is not a context in which I would use the word "bargainous".

If you and your wife are happy with Orange, great, but I would imagine that Orange are more pleased.

sly_dog_jonah

Sorry, missus=girlfriend. The way I look at, Orange will get only £600 from the pair of us over the next 12 months. True, she should have moved to a more appropriate tarriff sooner, but there's no better deal I could have had for my usage pattern. My monthly spend was usually £40, it was only bumped up by roaming when on business which was all reclaimed

howardad

My fiancee tried this trick earlier this year and got a great deal out of T-Mobile. So with my contract up in a couple of weeks I phoned some other providers and then went on to O2. They spent a fair bit of time with me and I thought I might be on to something but they couldn't match the offers of vodaphone or orange so I've got my PAC code and just need to pick a phone!

samstar30

Well, I wasn't surprised when I came across this site and read all these stories on cheap mobile phone deals. I've been doing this for years with T-Mobile. Every year when my contract is about to run out, I ring up T-Mobile, threaten to leave (giving any old excuse I can think of), and straight away I'm passed through to the right dept and given some kind of fantastic deal. A few years ago I got the brand new 7650 for £50 as soon as it came out. Ok so i've been with them for 7 years, and built up a good credit history, but this year I managed to get the whole bloody line rental totally free! So all i pay for is text messages, So my mobile phone bill comes to a total of £6 per month! Will ring up again next year and threaten to leave again, interested to see what they offer me this time!