O2 Upfront for Life - Free Upgrade

redux

Leopard wrote: »

O2 added "My Europe" to my PUFL SIM without problem - that's free and is worth having.

My Europe doesn't formally exist any more, as they lowered everyone's roaming tariffs last summer

Leopard

Millie,

I've just received my first bill since the handset upgrade and its tariff is still listed as "Net 50 - Pay Up Front for Life" which I hope you will find reassuring - I did!

(Mine has always been the 50 minutes Anytime deal, not the 200 minutes Off-Peak deal.)

I originally chose a blue K850i for my upgrade at the O2 shop. Like you, however, I had a slight issue with it when I examined it at home (it had somebody else's photographs on its memory card!). I took it back to ask how this had come about and they immediately swapped it for a brand new (fully sealed!) black K850i with additional 8GB memory card (Sandisk M2) which had since become a special offer bundle for customers new and old.

So, all in all, I'm a very happy bunny - thanks to PiratePete and, of course, MSE and O2! :money:

PS. Like the blue one, the new black one was also unlocked.
The 8GB memory card is provided separately, as a free extra and in addition to the one already in the 'phone.

crystal_clear

About 5-6 years ago I purchased an o2 upfront 50 phone contract which cost me £50 a year for first 2 years then jumped up to £119.99 per year same contract but that included the free phone upgrade each year.
Is this only me or are you guys seeing the same or similiar thing each year ?
if i choose no phone upgrade i get renewal for £44.99 still same contract upfront 50 = 50 mins to landlines and o2 numbers per month at no additional charge !

What are your renewal fees with the phone ?
What are your renewal fees without a new phone ? and for what mins ?

regards
crystal

millie

Leopard wrote: »

Millie,

I originally chose a blue K850i for my upgrade at the O2 shop. Like you, however, I had a slight issue with it when I examined it at home (it had somebody else's photographs on its memory card!). I took it back to ask how this had come about and they immediately swapped it for a brand new (fully sealed!) black K850i with additional 8GB memory card (Sandisk M2) which had since become a special offer bundle for customers new and old.

So, all in all, I'm a very happy bunny - thanks to PiratePete and, of course, MSE and O2! :money:

I took mine back to the shop on Sunday and got it sorted, but because my sim card was so old (Ihave had it for about 13 years) it would not work in the new phone. They gave me a new sim card and, did something on the computer that was supposed to move my existing number on to the new sim, they said it would take 24 hours. That was on sunday but it still has not happened my old sim is still working in my old phone and the new one says sim card registration failed. I am taking the whole lot back to the o2 shop tomorrow as I do not want to phone o2 incase it causes any problems with my existing contract. I was assured when I had the new sim that it would be OK it was the same as if I had lost it they would replace it in the same way. I will see what happens tomorrow.

Leopard

Crystal Clear,

You're posting to the wrong thread.

This one is for people who took out a special deal, several years ago, with BT Cellnet (as it then was - it's now O2) under which, in return for a lump sum payment, we get free line rental for life, on a monthly contract, with included minutes at no charge.

There aren't any renewal fees. The whole thing is free.

Sorry if that wasn't crystal clear.


Millie,

My PUFL SIM works fine in the Sony Ericsson K850i 'phone they gave me. I've just tried it.

Ask for one of those if you're having problems. It's a nice 'phone with MP3, radio and a 5MP camera.

My neighbour, who bought the same deal as I did on the same day, seven years ago, chose a Nokia 6300 and that works perfectly, too, with his.

Whatever you choose, don't leave the O2 shop until they've got it it up and running for you. That's what they're there for: they were all very friendly and helpful in my own local shop.

Don't call O2 at all: go to the shop and get the 'phone completely sorted and working for you to your satisfaction. Then get everything confirmed with O2 in writing - keep copies or use fax.

therev_4

Got upgraded to a nice new K850i for absolutely no cost yesterday. O2 store in Stockport were very helpful. Didn't manage to get the free 8Gb memory card, as they claimed they were out of stock, but nevertheless I am a very happy customer.

Thanks to all who posted info on this forum - without it I would have just assumed that an upgrade was out of the question.

marko4ever25

ajax wrote: »

Hi Folks,

For you people who have an O2 sim card which was a pay upfront for life, it should now be possible to get a free upgrade to the original phone by going to an O2 shop or phoning them up.

One of my friends has managed to get an upgrade and I am going to try on Thursday by going to the O2 shop.

Good luck

Ajax:j

out of interst what was the 02 upfront for life deal???

millie

[quote=Leopard;11312825

Millie,

My PUFL SIM works fine in the Sony Ericsson K850i 'phone they gave me. I've just tried it.

Ask for one of those if you're having problems. It's a nice 'phone with MP3, radio and a 5MP camera.

My neighbour, who bought the same deal as I did on the same day, seven years ago, chose a Nokia 9300 and that works perfectly, too, with his.

Whatever you choose, don't leave the O2 shop until they've got it it up and running for you. That's what they're there for: they were all very friendly and helpful in my own local shop.

Don't call O2 at all: go to the shop and get the 'phone completely sorted and working for you to your satisfaction. Then get everything confirmed with O2 in writing - keep copies or use fax.
[/quote]

I have been back to the shop today and my old sim card does work in the phone the guy who did the upgrade was there and he could not work out what they were on about when I went back on Sunday. He tried the original sim card and it works ok even though the other guy on Sunday tried it and said it did not. I have all the new paperwork and they even wrote on it existing contract. I also have the email they sent me saying I could upgrade and it would not affect my existing contract so they will have a fight on their hands if they try to change it after the 12 months.

Leopard

Millie,

Well done! When you want something done properly it's usually best to go to the shop during the week; they're less busy and you get the regular full-time staff who are more informed. Often, the part-timers at weekends are not fully trained.

Which 'phone did you choose?

Anyway, good for you!

---

marko4ever25 wrote: »

out of interst what was the 02 upfront for life deal???

There were two ways to get it.

One was to go to a BT Cellnet shop (as it then was) and pay £200 for something called a "Phone-in-a-Box". The 'phone itself was a fairly mundane Nokia job but the gem was the SIM which came with it. You chose either 50 minutes a month Anytime or 200 minutes a month Off-Peak and this you would receive forever, with no line rental.

I got mine the other way. That was to point out the above deal when your ordinary monthly account came up for re-negotiation and observe that there would be no point in renewing you existing contract that was costing £180 every year. This prompted them to offer the same airtime deal with my existing SIM for a one-off payment of £99.

The offer was available for a few months in 2001/2 and was then withdrawn.

Those of us who bought into it have received our free minutes, with no line rental charges, ever since.

It was a very sweet deal but the free minutes are not Cross-Network and we have never been allowed to get even GPRS/EDGE, let alone 3G/HSPDA data enablement added to it.

It's well worth having for free voice calls to geographical landlines, though, and, of course, you can receive incoming calls on it from any 'phone.

It has been speculated on here, by me and by others, that whoever conceived the idea at BT Cellnet in 2001 was probably fired for it.

millie

I had a Nokia 6500 slide model. The shop was in fact busier today than it was last weekend. I was the only customer in the shop both on Saturday & Sunday last week. I was on a contract with them prior to this PUFL one, just paid up front for each 12 months, I had been doing that for about 4 years and they just offered me the PUFL one when I called them to renew it. That was in August 2001.