Reducing Orange Contract?

_andrewstewart

Hiya, I've been with Orange for about 12 years and now, with 6 months remaining on my current contract, wish to reduce my tariff by as much as possible as I have a baby due in the next few weeks and need to cut down on non-essential expenses!

However I've just spoken to them and they tell me there is no way to reduce my monthly bill (approx £37), even when I offered to go down to the absolute minimum terms (for example 50mins, 50texts - I'm hoping to pick up a cheap pay as you go phone or GiffGaff it)

Is there really no way I can reduce it even by £5 or so??? Or are they fobbing me off.

Thanks!

iritchie

Most mobile companies stopped allowing you to downgrade tarriffs about 2 years ago.
It used to be fairly common, but because of the rising cost of handsets etc they stopped it.

Given the recent price RISES they've pushed through, I think it's a bit of a liberty, but hey, that's why I won't be taking out a mobile contract again.

_andrewstewart

Swines! I'd have thought they'd let me pay off the handset plus perhaps a nominal fee for the inconvenience. Definitely won't be tying myself down to a similar contract in future. 12 years brand loyalty counts for nothing I suppose

iritchie

If you have any "bolt ons" you can remove them (i.e. are you paying for extra data or anything considered premium, or is everything in your base tarriff?)

But yeah, bar the usual fight to keep you when your contract expires, they offer very little nowadays and don't make the slightest effort to help.
Handsets used to be a lot cheaper, so there was plenty leeway to reduce or haggle on contract cost, but the latest handsets are eating up almost all of the cost now, so I can see where they're coming from.
If you had to pay a portion of the handset cost now, it may not be far away from what it will cost you for the last 6 months anyway, so at least you're not a lot further from the end of the contract.

If the handsets worth any sort of money, you can always flog it and pick up a cheap sim free one, taking whatever the difference is off the cost of the contract.

Guys_Dad

Well -andrewstewart, let's say you made a loan to someone for £720 and they were to pay you £30 per month over 2 years. You got them to sign a contract for that as well.

After 18 months, they came back and asked you to be let off £5 or £10 per month saying they had been a loyal and punctual payer.

If you then said "No. I want what we agreed", would you expect to be called a swine and then cursed on a forum?

Don't make contracts if you can't keep them and don't complain if the other party wants to keep to what was agreed.

latecomer

Sell your phone, buy a £10 one and use the proceeds to pay the monthly bills

grumbler

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Well -andrewstewart, let's say you made a loan to someone for £720 and they were to pay you £30 per month over 2 years.

If £36 is the monthly cost of the contract with a phone, then the 'loan' is usually smaller than £720 and only a part of £36 is the loan repayment.

_andrewstewart wrote: »

...I'd have thought they'd let me pay off the handset plus perhaps a nominal fee for the inconvenience.

Guys_Dad

grumbler wrote: »

If £36 is the monthly cost of the contract with a phone, then the 'loan' is usually smaller than £720 and only a part of £36 is the loan repayment.

I was comparing the concept of contracts per se, not trying to allocate a mobile bill between service and notional handset cost. The same would apply with a sim-only.

If you sign a contract, you should not bleat if the other party demands that you adhere to what you agreed to and the other party does not deserve to be slagged off for sticking to what was agreed.

Now I know your views well enough by now for you to agree to that, surely?

grumbler

Yes, I agree. I was just trying to say that in this thread a loan wasn't the best example of a contract in general.

_andrewstewart

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Well -andrewstewart, let's say you made a loan to someone for £720 and they were to pay you £30 per month over 2 years. You got them to sign a contract for that as well.

After 18 months, they came back and asked you to be let off £5 or £10 per month saying they had been a loyal and punctual payer.

If you then said "No. I want what we agreed", would you expect to be called a swine and then cursed on a forum?

Don't make contracts if you can't keep them and don't complain if the other party wants to keep to what was agreed.

a. I can keep the contract, I'm just seeing if there's any way to reduce it so I can get a better deal elsewhere

b. That's an absolutely ridiculous comparison, a better comparison would be:

Buy a car off someone and pay in 24 months instalments, along with a monthly service included in the price
18 months later, say you no longer require the monthly service and asking if it's possible for them to cancel your monthly service, but you still pay off the balance of the car.

I don't think that's too much to ask, and nor do the thousands of people who have in the past been able to reduce their tariffs in this way.

c. Where have I cursed them? The 'swines' comment was in reference to how they used to allow people to do it (which largely convinced me to stick with them all of these years) but no longer do so.

Thanks for everyone else's comments, there's always some smart !!!! who thinks he's being clever...

diamonds

My 24 months I was told by retentions could downgrade at 12 months (see reason below), but they offered me a better deal with 50/50 mins and text on Racoon with 50% off at £7.50 as at times I am not using them abroad but roaming, got threw in 500 loyalty mins for life as a reward for not cancelling, kept my magic numbers.

April 2011 the 12 month route was still available, unless they gave you 30 days notice of its removal it still applies if it was available when you commenced the 24 month term you are in now.