Martins latest email - checking your mobile phone costs

Gromitt

A bit suspicious of one of the websites feature in Martin's latest email. The ones talking about checking your mobile phone costs. The first asked me for my username and password (yeah right, like I'm going to enter them into another site) and the second gave me a page of offers which seemed unrealistic. I mean, £21/month for 24 months with a cashback of £427 ? No one is ever going to offer that much cashback, so either they just want payment details, or you'll never get the cashback, or ?

So, are these sites real or not? Normally I'd not even bother to post about them, assuming they are scamming sites, but with them being inside an MSE email, I thought I'd at least post about them.

SnowTiger

Gromitt wrote: »

A bit suspicious of one of the websites feature in Martin's latest email. The ones talking about checking your mobile phone costs. The first asked me for my username and password (yeah right, like I'm going to enter them into another site) and the second gave me a page of offers which seemed unrealistic. I mean, £21/month for 24 months with a cashback of £427 ? No one is ever going to offer that much cashback, so either they just want payment details, or you'll never get the cashback, or ?

So, are these sites real or not? Normally I'd not even bother to post about them, assuming they are scamming sites, but with them being inside an MSE email, I thought I'd at least post about them.

Bill Monitor is approved by OFCOM and I've never heard of any problems with it. However, if you're concerned about parting with your account details it's probably best not to use their service.

As for your worry about cashback: 24 months x £21 = £504, so that's a total cost over the minimum term of £76.08. That's not the best offer that's available. Some cashback deals work out at £0 over the minimum term of the contract. This one for example.

The deal I'm currently on offers cashback of £575 on a 24 month contract that will cost me about £615. I'm due to claim my last cashback of £115 next month.

It may be best to purchase from one of the CPW group of companies because they're probably most likely to still be around in a couple of years, and go via a cashback website such as TopCashBack to save even more.

mobilejunkie

Easy peasy - unless they stuff up or CPW start playing tricks, of course. Then they could lose the lot instead.

Stuart_W

Well, this may work for most people, but I'm not sure that I would value the advice that it gives me...



Of course, It doesn't take into account my current cashback deal and quidco commission anyway, or selling a free handset I didn't want, but given that I said I didn't want a new handset, I'm a little worried that the best thing it can do is suggest I increase my monthly cost at the end of my contract. I know a whole host of SIM-only options that for my usage that would be far less than £8.42/month I do not trust it at all I'm afraid.

Even if it is daft enough to think my cheapest alternative option at the end of my contract is 42p a month more expensive, why does it suggest I switch? Surely, I'd just stick on the same deal out of minimum length contract, wouldn't I? Why doesn't it suggest that? Could it be this site is driven by commission fees or am I just too sceptical???