Lost iphone - 10 months left on Vodafone contract. What to do?

doolahrock

I lost my iphone over the weekend although there is a chance I left it in a taxi but haven't managed to get hold of the driver when he's on. It's an Edinburgh black cab company and dispatch has always been helpful in trying to contact the driver when I have called.

Anyway, what with the not knowing, I have started to weigh up my options should it indeed be lost for good.

Buying a new iphone seems out of the question due to the price....initially

It will cost me £320 to cancel the remainder of my contract with Vodafone. However, I've noted that I can upgrade online 120 days before the end of the contract but that will tie me in to a further 6 months over and above the original 24 month deal. The current deal is sitting at £40 a month.

I've thought about buying a cheaper smartphone in the meantime (HTC Wildfire perhaps) so that I can still take advantage of the internet features of the contract but it's a bit a strain mentally to continue paying £40 a month for something that would be nearer £20 with the HTC model. Cancelling the contract and moving to a more modestly priced phone deal would probably save me around £15 a month or £150 over the course of the remaining contract. So, in theory that would bring my loss down to £170 but of course I would now be tied into a new 18-24 month contract before any upgrade.

Of course I could get a new/used iphone now and then sell it on when I upgrade but with a new iphone supposedly arriving this year, that will decrease the phones value.

Of course, if I kept the HTC in decent condition then at least it would have a decent sell on value come the vodafone upgrade time.

I've been looking at the various redemption deal sites but as expected, there's more negative feedback than there is positive. It's hard to ignore the deals though on the likes of mobiles.co.uk Are these type of deals a no go area altogether? For example, the HTC Desire HD at £25 a month with 10 months free line rental does sound good. Too good though? £15 cheaper a month plus essentially £250 in redemption would wipe out my £320 loss (over time) cancelling the current contract. What to do?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Mr_Thrifty

Make do with a cheap phone off ebay for the next 7 months, then renew your iphone contract before it expires. By then you may be able to get the glamourous iPhone 5.

The iPhone. For you, for me. :beer:

macman

Have you asked Voda to block it? If it or the SIM has been sold on, you are liable for all calls made until you do so.
I presume you don't have any phone insurance on this, but have you checked your household insurance policy, which may cover it?

doolahrock

Unfortunately, we have no mobile cover in the insurance policy. Lesson learned there.

The phone has been blocked as of yesterday morning and other than the first time I tried to ring the phone, it appears to have been switched off.

Apparently the taxi driver is on tonight so will find out once and for all this evening I guess. Nothing turned into police lost or found either as yet although it's more than possible the driver will not have had the chance to do so as they are asked to take all found items to a certain station in Edinburgh.

We will see I guess.