Three - Worth getting out now?

Macks_2

Good afternoon!

After some friendly advice from those in the know.
I'm currently on an outdated Three contract, having signed up for a 24-month contract that I'm about 18 months into.
Basically, I pay £35pcm (which goes to around £39 when VAT is added) for 750 minutes, 2000 texts and 1GB Data.
Firstly, is this still a good deal? I suspect not, as the One Plan is the same price for more.
The other issue is that my phone is now almost entirely defunct. It's also pretty old, so I'm not interested in repairing it.

I've spoken to Three's (abysmal) Customer Service before, who are prepared to let me buy out of the rest of the contract - standard - and start me on a new one, with a new phone, etc.

So, do I:
a) Buy a PAYG low to mid-range smartphone (which is a world away from my current phone, believe me) and grizz out the rest of the contract?
b) Bite the bullet, pay Three, and get out of the current contract enabling me to look around elsewhere?

I'm intrigued by the 1-month rolling SIMs, or SIM-only deals, if I bought a handset.
If I had to suspend the 1-monther for say, ooh, about 6 months, would I be able to pick it up again and with the same number, etc.?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Macks

markdavey

I would say your current deal is not competitive at all. I pay Three £15 per month for 900 Mins or texts (combination of either), 1Gb of data and 5000 3 to 3 mins. As part of this deal I also got a HTC Desire which I had to pay a one off £25 for (new customer around 12 months ago).

Whether it is worth buying yourself out of your deal needs careful examination of current offers but, given you are going to spend the money anyway, why not just see your contract through for another 5 months until you can serve notice and then see what is on offer.

grumbler

Macks wrote: »

Good afternoon!

After some friendly advice from those in the know.
I'm currently on an outdated Three contract, having signed up for a 24-month contract that I'm about 18 months into.
Basically, I pay £35pcm (which goes to around £39 when VAT is added)

I thought that VAT was 20%, i.e. £35+£7

for 750 minutes, 2000 texts and 1GB Data.
Firstly, is this still a good deal? I suspect not, as the One Plan is the same price for more.

The same? 1-month 'One Plan' gives you 2,000 any network minute + 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes + 5,000 texts +All-you-can-eat Data for £25, not £39.

On other networks you can get what you have now for £18-£20.

The other issue is that my phone is now almost entirely defunct. It's also pretty old, so I'm not interested in repairing it.

I've spoken to Three's (abysmal) Customer Service before, who are prepared to let me buy out of the rest of the contract - standard - and start me on a new one, with a new phone, etc.

So, do I:
a) Buy a PAYG low to mid-range smartphone (which is a world away from my current phone, believe me) and grizz out the rest of the contract?
b) Bite the bullet, pay Three, and get out of the current contract enabling me to look around elsewhere?

What's the point in paying the cancellation fee and then paying for a new sim-only contract with 3 or somewhere else? Buy a new handset, use it with the existing contract, then switch when the contract ends. Don't forget to give them 1-month cancellation notice.

If I had to suspend the 1-monther for say, ooh, about 6 months, would I be able to pick it up again and with the same number, etc.?

No, you cannot suspend it. You can give 1-month notice and switch it to PAYG.

Hammyman

Macks wrote: »

Good afternoon!

After some friendly advice from those in the know.
I'm currently on an outdated Three contract, having signed up for a 24-month contract that I'm about 18 months into.
Basically, I pay £35pcm (which goes to around £39 when VAT is added) for 750 minutes, 2000 texts and 1GB Data.
Firstly, is this still a good deal?

No. I get more minutes than that from 3 for £15 a month on a SIM only contract.

However if you got a shiny new phone then the extra you are paying above me is to cover the cost of that "free" phone.

There is no point buying yourself out of your contract. Any money you spend doing this (£210) would wipe out the savings of the new one.

If you want the ONE plan, change to it at upgrade time.