need a new phone

Nicky321

My daughter inherited an iphone 4 from her elder sister, and was using a PAYG tariff, however last night the screen went black and her sister took it to get it fixed today. The shop said it wasn't worth repairing as it would cost a lot, due to water damage & corrosion.

Can anyone point me in the right direction, she is looking to get an iphone 4 on a pay monthly tariff as cheap as possible.

Thanks in advance

Cisco001

iphone 4 is a bit old...

What is the usage?

Nicky321

She just wants to replace the phone she had. Shes looking to spend roughly £20 per month on contract. Mainly used for texting, wifi, with calls and data minimal usage.

Nicky321

We have looked at the following, but been left a little confused.

Purchased from Carphone Warehouse

Phone cost - Free
NetworkTariff - O2 £17/month
Contract length - 24 months
Minutes - 300 minutes Anytime Any network
Texts - Unlimited Texts
Data - 500Mb

Purchased from O2

NetworkTariff - O2 £17/month
Phone cost - £289.99
Contract length - 24 months
Minutes - 300 minutes Anytime Any network
Texts - Unlimited Texts
Data - 500Mb
Extras - Upgrade 1 month Early

Whats the catch?

ZhugeEX

The catch is that carphone warehouse are legitimately cheaper and you should go with them.

In other words there is no catch.

But just remember you're signing up your daughter to a 24 month contract. So you have to be with O2 for 24 months. I'm not sure how old your daughter is but O2 cannot cap accounts. This means that if she goes over the allowance you could be faced with a bill shock. It also means that the warranty with the phone is only for 12 months, so if the phone stops working after 12 months they'll charge to repair/replace. (unless it was an inherent fault). Also it might be worth getting a different phone than the iPhone 4. £17pm is expensive for a 3 year phone...

No insurance in that price either.

greenlightluke

I would not recommend a 2 year contract with an iPhone 4 - contracts for this phone are so cheap because it is coming to 'end of line'

In another 12+ months you will notice support for this device to decline. Apps like Facebook, won't support this device, software updates won't support this device. The phone will therefore not be as reliable, crash, freeze etc.

It happened with the 3GS and it will happen with the 4. I work for O2 and I do not recommend it to a customer unless they want to buy it on pay as you go (even though I do get stick from managers)

A great deal from Carphone warehouse is the iPhone 5 £27 a month - £99 up front. Otherwise look at the iPhone 4S at the very least.

Nicky321

Why is Carphone warehouse so much cheaper than O2?

greenlightluke

Carphone Warehouse buy airtime off O2 but provide their own phones. So contract wise, they follow O2, but handset cost is something set by CW which O2 have no control over.

CW take a hit on the handset, but obviously make up for it in custom.

Bear in mind as well although network service is provided by O2, any handset problems you may encounter will have to go through CW - we have customers coming in saying CW and P4U have sent them to us, and we can't do anything about it.

If you've been with O2 for a while you could always ring up and ask if they can do any offers for you - the worst they can say is no.

Nicky321

greenlightluke wrote: »

A great deal from Carphone warehouse is the iPhone 5 £27 a month - £99 up front.

That seems a very good deal, and insurance would be an extra £69.99/year Covers accidents, liquid damage, theft and unauthorised calls and loss of phone.

she wants it on O2 network, just realised the offer is on TMobile isn't it?

greenlightluke

Nicky321 wrote: »

That seems a very good deal, and insurance would be an extra £69.99/year Covers accidents, liquid damage, theft and unauthorised calls and loss of phone.

she wants it on O2 network, just realised the offer is on TMobile isn't it?

The CW in my town was offering it on the O2 network. I advised a customer to ring O2 to see if they would match it (which they did)

And insurance is a good idea, unless of course you can get it elsewhere - the amount of cracked screens we see come though is really heart wrenching.

Frozen_up_north

Contract length - 24 months
Minutes - 300 minutes Anytime Any network
Texts - Unlimited Texts
Data - 500Mb

That isn't many minutes of talking and the data amount is very limited for a smart phone. Also, a 24 month contract is a very long time in a volatile market...

Have you thought of going down the SIM only, 1 month rolling contract route? You would have to buy a phone but the choice is much greater, for example £15 a month with Virgin would give you unlimited calls, texts and data on their "VIP SIM", although I haven't read their small print and it doesn't include tethering (using your phone as a modem), it may not include using VOIP services such as Skype either...