What is the catch - Free Three mobile?

actionman007

Hi,

I have found an offer online where you can get a free Sony K608i and 12 mths free line rental on a 12 mth contract.

It says everything is free... - surely there is a catch somewhere...

Details here!

http://www.simply3g.co.uk/handsets/three/sonyericssonk608i.htm

patwa_2

Hi, usually with these offers there isn't a 'catch' as such. The affliate (the company offering the deal) is paid royalties and credits by the phone network.

The 'catch' is that the offer is not free at the time of purchase. You still pay your monthly line rental as usual, but at predefined times, e.g on receipt of bill 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, you'll send the affiliate your bill and they'll pay you back the cost of your line rental. Of course, you pay any additional call charges, or charges for extra texts, GPRS or video calls. The affiliate hopes that you'll forget to send in your bills, or send them in late, upon which they can quite validly refuse to pay you. Also, many affiliates now have a policy that should you be late with even one bill, all of the future bills will be void and you won't receive any cashback for the remainder of the contract term.

These offers are great if you:
a) have the money to pay the monthly contract, at least for the first 4 months
b) Don't mind not having the latest phones (although sometimes it can be cheaper to buy the latest phones outright + they come unlocked)
c) Are disciplined enough to keep to the schedule for sending back your bills for re-imbursement.

Hope this helps.