New Iphone 5s on contract

scar1971

Hi - I'm currently an existing customer of Vodaphone and pay £36 a month on 24 month contract which has come to an end. I want the new IPhone 5s and my average uase is Calls 100 mins/Text 300/Data need 6gb.

Vodaphone want £79 for phone and tarrif is £47

When I look on Mobilephonesdirect.co.uk I can get the tarrif with all I need for £42 a month and free handset. On Vodaphone network!

But what I'm struggling with is the network, is it the same number of mast etc etc as if you went to vidaphone direct...???>?> just seems very odd that I cant get that deal with Vodaphone myself?

[Deleted User]

Always irritates me when someone writes Vodaphone. More so when they are a Vodafone customer.

grumbler

scar1971 wrote: »

...But what I'm struggling with is the network, is it the same number of mast etc etc as if you went to vidaphone direct...???>?>

Yes. Your airtime contract will be with Voda directly. Mobilephonesdirect supply you with their own handset. If it develops fault you deal with them or with Apple.

just seems very odd that I cant get that deal with Vodaphone myself?

Why odd? Vodafone pay huge commission to third parties for new customers. Third parties 'share' this generous commission with you.

NFH

Buy the iPhone SIM-free from Apple and buy a SIM-only service. If you get your iPhone from a mobile network, then:

• The low or zero upfront price of the iPhone will be funded by a disguised loan from the mobile network, and you will usually pay more overall, effectively paying a high rate of interest through an inflated monthly charge.
• You will be tied into a long service contract, often for 24 months, rather than one month or 12 months with a SIM-only contract. You will then be unable to switch networks when the market changes, for example if you move home to somewhere without coverage or your network removes coverage in your area (EE does this a lot) or simply if prices come down over time, as is likely for 4G.
• You will continue paying the inflated monthly charge even after you have paid off the cost of the iPhone, unless you remember to take action at the end of the minimum contract period.
• The iPhone will be SIM-locked, making it more difficult to switch networks and impeding you from using local SIM cards abroad, allowing your UK network to impose unreasonably high roaming charges by excluding foreign competition.

If you cannot currently afford the upfront cost of a SIM-free iPhone, then you should either save up in advance or it is often cheaper to get a loan from Apple than a disguised loan from a mobile network.

Cycrow

3rd parties can often have different pricing to the networks, they can source their phones differently and therefore get them cheaper, they also dont have the costs to run the network.

however, if you have any problems, its the 3rd party you will need to deal with, not the network.

The coverage will be the same, no matter who you get it from.

if your an existing customer, you can sometimes get a better price if y ou contact the correct people. However, with iPhones, they are generally fixed prices and little room to offer discounts

scar1971

I can’t afford to pay for the phone outright now, that’s why I'm looking for a monthly contract!

I guess my question now is, the guy I spoke to at VODAFONE (sorry Lee, guess you work for them!!!!) said that if I went with Mobilephonesdirect that the coverage they have is inferior to VF, which I questioned as surely they just allow access to them and they get the same as people who buy direct from VF?

grumbler

scar1971 wrote: »

I can’t afford to pay for the phone outright now, that’s why I'm looking for a monthly contract!

Usually this means that you cannot afford it at all.

Anyway, a credit card or Apple Finance can be a far cheaper option for borrowing money than a phone contract.

E.g. see this recent thread: Three contract iPhone 5S - flexible upfront cost

NFH

scar1971 wrote: »

I can’t afford to pay for the phone outright now, that’s why I'm looking for a monthly contract!

Why not save up until you can afford it then? Failing that, why not get a 14.9% APR loan from Apple?