Are ANY of the sites like mobiles.co.uk or buymobilephones.net actually reliable?

RosiePose

My boyfriend recommended mobiles.co.uk to me some time ago and I was planning on getting my next phone contract from them... And then I saw the reviews (not to mention all the threads on here!). Some of which were shockingly bad, especially in relation to customer service and cashback claims. And the similar websites I've seen like buymobilephones.net and onestopphoneshop.co.uk seem to have similar problems.
Is it just a case of their prices being too good to be true? Or that they can only offer those prices because they do their best to screw over their customers?
But if that's the case, why are they recommended on moneysupermarket (and then, by extension, MSE)?
Thank you

mobilejunkie

There is such a thing as a free lunch - provided you know what you're doing. Currently Mobiles.co have messed up the cashback on three of my contracts, but they will sort it out quickly (I'll make quite sure of that). Anyone relying purely on them always following the rules of the game shouldn't complain if/when they don't. If you follow the groundrules you will get paid. I currently have 10 (all cashback) contracts and look after as many for several other people. It's a game - play it like a pro and you'll win. Be lazy and take shortcuts without preparing for the worse from day one and you'll playing roulette.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/558661

smartphone

Agree with mobilejunkie on this. The cashback schemes are set up by companies usually with a redemption calculation built in, ie assuming that a certain percentage of customers will forget, can't be bothered with the hassle etc... That said, if you are organised and do things exactly as specified, they are very good value. Mobiles.co.uk is owned by Carphone Warehouse, so should be reputable. Buymobiles has grown massively in recent times and they have a lot of very experienced people from the industry working there, so shouldn't be a problem either.

jb66

Even without redemption you might find mobikes.co.uk is cheaper, well that's the case for the Samsung s3