Batter down your mobile contract cost

lorre

Hi

i have read only a few of these replys but anyway my own experince of cash back deals have been good no problems that was with the Carphone warehouse and on 3, recieved 9 months half price line rental back in the fourth month.
My partner is on a latter deal and Carphonewarehouse seem to be taking a lot longer to pay out i recieved my cheque within two weeks my partner returned hers on the 2nd and and has been told it could be another 45 days.
Make sure that when you do send back a PHOTO COPY of your bill, it's special delivery not recorded because recorded delivery items often go missing and the post office will give you very very little compensation.

Also call the dealer before you return your bill becuse they often change the address of the rtns for redemption offers.

The_Machine

My existing deal is 120 xnet anytime minutes plus 30 texts for £15/month to which I added a 120 text bundle costing £8/month.

So, while my package should be costing me £23/month, I have actually averaged over £38/month due to me exceeding either the 120 minutes or 150 texts or both most months; some months I've paid over £50. That might not sound a lot to some of you, but I consider myself a relatively low user.

My 12 month contract expired last week, so I was straight on the phone to Orange complaining that I thought my existing package was expensive, not the right deal for me and told them that I was considering leaving Orange... (sub-plot - I want a new phone and a better deal!).

In short I was told that the package I am on was an offer that was only available this time last year and that the same deal now would cost £19 plus £8 for the text bundle. So, an EXTRA £4 for exactly the same package. When I requested a deal I'd seen on their website of 200 xnet anytime minutes and 500 texts for £30/month, plus a free SonyEricsson K750i and bluetooth headset, I was told that I don't send enough texts and the best they could offer me was the £19 deal, plus it would cost £29.99 for the phone, without a free headset.

Ideally, I would like to stay with Orange because my friends and family are on Orange. While moving to another network wouldn't affect me with xnet minutes, it would cost my mother 4x as much to call me from her Orange PAYG. Also, I would prefer to keep my existing number because I am captain of a local hockey team and my number is published in the league handbook as a contact for arranging matches.

My solution was this - I asked Orange for a PAYG sim card for my phone (Orange do this free of charge, but it can take up to 30 days to come through). Then, if I stay on PAYG for 30 days, I can PAC my existing number back onto a new Orange monthly contract. (I checked this at an Orange Shop and they confirmed I will be able to.)

So, I now have a couple of options. I could stay on Orange and wait up to 60 days to get my new phone, but I'll get the deal I want and keep my present number. And by the time I take out the new deal there might be better phones available anyway!

Another option I have is to just take out a new contract with a new number on Orange and keep the PAYG number, just checking it periodically in case anyone tries to contact me on it.

Alternatively, I could get the same deal on 02 (except that this is even better because MMS messages are included in the 500 texts... 1 MMS = 4 SMS).

Decisions!

big-g_9

I am an Orange everyday 50 customer. Yes it is an old tariff but 50 minutes of offpeak calls per day, 1500 per month, for £15, suits me fine as I work nights, trouble is only landlines or orange phones. Orange don't want me upgrade for free becauase they want customers off this tariff and onto a dearer one. Nearest is 1000 minutes for £20. So if I want to upgrade my phone I have to pay. Very unfair

Duckula

Okay called up O2 and tried to get the nokia 6680 as an upgrade. They wanted 100 quid for it, said no thanks i want my PAC. Unfortunately they didn't try and butter me up with a free upgrade and gave me my PAC code almost instantly. Oh well just signed up to three mobile and got the handset for free on contract. O2s loss I guess.

Chuffy

Voda did this to my wife, however a few days later, retentions phoned her on her mobile and she negotioated a new deal. Bear with 'em, it might be a game of chicken - my wife is a very low user, £15pm, never goes over, but she still won.

Greentea

I have just cancelled my orange contract (after 12 months) and transferred my number to an orange PAYG.

I was wanting to make sure I got the best deal.

After reading a lot of these posts most people seem to call their provider first and try and get a better deal. Ive been looking at E2save and Carephonewarehouse offers that give cash back. Surely these are better when you can get line rental for £7.50 month 500 xnet mins 100 text and a free Nokia 6630 phone on 3? Is is possible orange come anywhere near this?

Is it worth phoning orange, i wont mind staying with them, but i can see how they could beet 3?

thanks

Chuffy

They might beat Orange on cost, but the 3 network is rhubarb.
Cashback deals require you pay up front then remember to redeem your cashback later. The network providers hope you will forget.

The_Machine

The 3 network uses O2 when there is no 3 coverage; however, I was told (admittedly by a spotty young salesperson in Carphone Warehouse) that O2 tend to "drop" a lot of calls made by 3 customers - Im not exactly sure what he meant, but I think he meant that although O2 have done a deal with 3 to let them use their network, they're not really that keen on it and at busy times, they give O2 customers network priority.

Chuffy

I have a 3 contract and I lose connection very frequently. I hardly ever get 2G, but I can lose 3G easily. You certainly don't don't get a smooth transition from 3G to 2G - you get a dropped call then have to redial. With 3G the cells are much smaller (i.e. range of the masts) and you can easily lose a signal going from one cell to another - even though the signal appears to be strong.
Personally I would give 3 another year before I would be happy to use them again.

shaymenRup

Martins methods work,
I've been with orange for years and each year haggled for new phones with a cheaper contract.
This year they refused to budge. Said I wanted a new Nokia phone and current three deal 500 minutes and 100 texts for as little as possible.
Said they couldn't price match, so I disconnected - gave 30 days notice etc.

Two days prior to disconnection - and following a couple of letters from orange. I rang and low and behold.

500 minutes and 100 texts - latest Nokia 3G phone for 15GBP per month (increases to 30 GBP after six months)

I know its not the best deal, but I really wanted the network coverage Orange offer. Have two friends on three and their coverage is pants. Also heard a few rumours about problems with cashback from a few of the lesser known phone dealers- didn't want to take the risk.

Saved me a fortune Martin - Thanks