Advice on upgrading early/ending contract

MR__2

Hi, I have only just joined the forum to create this thread so don't be too hard on me.

I currently have a contract with Orange which ends in August 2013 but the phone that came with the contract is completely broken and is a write off. I have decided to get the iPhone 5 but my upgrade isn't due until around May 2013. Can anyone give some advice as to which of these is my best option? :

A- Request an early upgrade from Orange, would they be likely to grant me this if i increased the cost of my monthly bill dramatically ?

B- End the contract early for a one off fee and take out a new contract. I'm not sure on price but I'm guessing it'd be quite expensive to buy out of the contract?

C- Buy the iPhone 5 outright and use the sim for my current contract in the phone. If I was to do this would Orange be happy to exchange my Blackberry internet package (currently in my contract) for a different internet package suitable for the iPhone?



Or does anyone have any alternative ideas/solutions?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.

grumbler

A - very unlikely.
B - very expensive. Just multiply the monthly cost by the number of the remaining months. Reportedly they will give you 1/6 discount though.
C - the most realistic option. Orange like to rob iPhone owners though and cutting your current sim is not an option for iPhone 5.

How the hell can Orange do this?

MR__2

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare then.

I was hoping the hike in monthly bill from £20>£35-40 would be enough to persuade them to allow me an early upgrade. They will be getting more money out of me after all!

Techhead_2

MR_ wrote: »

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare then.

I was hoping the hike in monthly bill from £20>£35-40 would be enough to persuade them to allow me an early upgrade. They will be getting more money out of me after all!

No they won't, they won't be getting the money they were expecting for your current contract . So the cost of the new handset will have to come out if the difference between new and old. With something like the iPhone, they would make a loss somewhere.

JethroUK

Are people going to get iPhone 5 for less than £50 month?

thescouselander

JethroUK wrote: »

Are people going to get iPhone 5 for less than £50 month?

Yeah - plenty of deals about for about £35 a month.

MR__2

Techhead wrote: »

No they won't, they won't be getting the money they were expecting for your current contract . So the cost of the new handset will have to come out if the difference between new and old. With something like the iPhone, they would make a loss somewhere.

Ah ok, I see your point. Looks like I will have to phone them and beg them to transfer the BB internet package and give me an iPhone sim


@Jethro, As the other poster said there are lots of decent contracts for £35/month.

pullenuk

Why go for the latest and most expensive phone? There are many cheaper and just as good choices out there which can keep you going until your contract end date. Also in May you be able to upgrade to the iPhone 5 (which I bet you won't as you will realise androids will be better as many more models will be out then) and get a discount on your contract. Getting early upgrade or cancelling your contract is expensive and not money saving.

If your phone been damaged, claim it on home insurance?

diamonds

Hmmmm you maybe in luck !

When EE 4G starts & you can sign upto a new EE plan as a new transferring customer with maybe free/cheaper temination of your current Orange term & a/c Sit tight, buy a cheap as chips payg for now.

MR__2

pullenuk wrote: »

Why go for the latest and most expensive phone? There are many cheaper and just as good choices out there which can keep you going until your contract end date. Also in May you be able to upgrade to the iPhone 5 (which I bet you won't as you will realise androids will be better as many more models will be out then) and get a discount on your contract. Getting early upgrade or cancelling your contract is expensive and not money saving.

If your phone been damaged, claim it on home insurance?

Buying the iPhone makes sense for me as I need a new phone aswell as a new iPod. I find the music players on other phones to be far worse than the iPhone's. I also have purchased a lot of content from iTunes which would definitely not be easy to transfer.

As for claiming on insurance, I don't want to get involved in that. Especially as my old phone would only be worth <£100 now.

MR__2

diamonds wrote: »

Hmmmm you maybe in luck !

When EE 4G starts & you can sign upto a new EE plan as a new transferring customer with maybe free/cheaper temination of your current Orange term & a/c Sit tight, buy a cheap as chips payg for now.

This sounds a little more promising Any word on when EE 4G will be starting? I also thought this was just for existing iPhone plans or am I wrong there?