upgrading and getting a deal with 3

davidreesevans

I was just after some tips and advice on upgrading. I'm nearing the end of my first contract with 3mobile which was a £30 24mth iphone 4 16gb contract. (£99 for the phone) [I have since lost it and bought an iphone 4 32gb from 3] for that I get 500mins 5000 texts unlimited internet.

They rang me yesterday and offered me a free phone (inc. iphone 4s 16gb) with a reduced line rental. I had two options one was £22 a month for 2000mins unlimited texts and internet, the other was £20 for 500mins 5000 texts unlimited internet. (which is all I need as thats what i'm on and I tend to use NEARLY all of my plan each month but never go over, and thats without even trying to limit myself.

This to me already sounds great, but if thats the original offer, what do you think I can get out of them, and how. ideally I would want to hold my upgrade until the iphone 5 comes out (guesstimated in 6 months time.) but I was told I cant change my plan at a separate time to the upgraded phone.

So can I get it cheaper? can I persuade them to not give me a phone yet but send me the iphone 5 upon release? I read on this forum a signal booster was offered for in the home, the one place I get poor signal is in my house, how/can I get one of these?

Also my sisters contract finishes with orange this month, can I use that to my advantage if we are prepared for her to switch to 3 (or on the flipside, me go to orange)

Basically i'm just after some advice for bargaining with 3mobile as I have never done it before.

Thanks!

smartphone

Hi David

As with all upgrades, if the network thinks they are going to lose you and you're a good customer (pay a decent amount each month, don't miss payments), then they will work hard to keep hold of you. Three work particularly hard on their retention.

They are only likely to offer you the signal booster if they think you're leaving because you have a bad signal. If you haven't been complaining throughout the previous term of your contract, they're unlikely to throw that in to the offer, but you can try.

They won't be able to do anything on a phone that doesn't currently exist. For a start, although they will know before the public what Apple's plan's are, there will be no guarantee that Three will range the phone (although due to demand, it's likely they will).

If the iPhone 5 is key, why not ask them to change to a monthly SIM only deal, keep hold of your current handset, then upgrade when it comes out? Then you have built up more time with them, trading history so to speak, so you may get a decent deal out of them when the iPhone 5 come out.

Hope that helps.