Cashback Guide for Dummies

mobilejunkie

I've had terrible experience with repairs in cpw stores several times. There are pockets of good service, but generally it's abysmal. My advice is, never take a phone to them with a minor fault; put up with the fault or you'll end up with worse faults than you started with and endless trips back and forth for repeated "repairs".

Mobiles2YourDoor and Phones4U had been exemplary ever since I started using them. cpw is getting better with cashbacks, but they are very much a second choice and following the groundrules is very wise.

Decent cashback deals are very rare now; I am down to only 6 current contracts for myself and struggle to get new ones for the people I look after. They do still crop up, however and Mobiles2yourdoor/phones4u are always my first port of call.

mobilejunkie

It seems to me that a new flock of small cashback dealers is starting to appear. They also seem to sound very familiar in their descriptions about themselves and the promises on their deals. It is perhaps therefore timely to remind everyone of the thousands of people - more probably tens of thousands - who have lost thousands of pounds each using cashback deals in the past.

With such a dearth of decent (and hardly ANY totally free) contracts around now it will be very tempting for people to plunge into new deals with these companies. I will not be doing so unless and until I understand the risks and accept them and there are no better alternatives. Much as I have attacked cpw and E2save/Onestopphoneshop during the last two years because of their utter contempt for their customers and blatant dishonesty (having once been at the top of my list for safe and reliable cashback dealers), they are still the most likely organisation NOT to go bust. THAT fulfils one of the vital groundrules for cashback deals which the newer names certainly do not. I must be clear though - I would still advise against anyone who is not a harderned veteran from jumping into a cashback with cpw.

In summary - don't be blinded by the relative cashback deal and the hype. Only ever enter into any cashback deal with complete understanding of the t&c, the way the particular dealer operates AND being prepared and able to sue if they don't pay up. Unless it is a truly large company like Phones4u and cpw (and they are not totally free from the risk of oblivion - no company is!) you must accept that there is always the possibility that the dealer will go bust - in which case you will have NO comeback against the network. If this is something you couldn't live with then, again, don't embark on any cashback deal - especially with a smaller dealer.

Froggitt

Good point. Remember that a M2YD cashback deal, in the small print, it actually says your contract is with P4U.

Great deal backed up by a large plc is the way to go IMHO.

M2YD have an 11 month free £30 (one year) deal, with £30 quidco makes it free......give the J700 or T303 to charity. Its only 100 mins and 500 txt, but if you ring up Vodafone and ask nicely, they will put you onto the 700 mins/unlimited landlines/250 txt package......and M2YD have confirmed this wont affect your cashback claim as its still a £30 a month deal.

mobilejunkie

Interesting. Quite true - but something I hadn't thought of for once! Nice one!

I would add though that it is necessary to get written confirmation in each case that it won't affect cashback claims, since the t&c actually state "To qualify for your Cheque Back, you must: .... Have maintained contiunous usage on this network and tariff...". Technically, you would therefore be breaching the t&c - so written confirmation is still essential in each individual instance (although I wouldn't anticipate problems with this company E2Save proved that anyone can change to stuff the customer mode at any time!).

stripee

Having recently ended my last 12 month cashback deal with OSPS (and incidentally been very happy with their service, speed of payment and cashback customer service team over the phone and by email), I'm now looking for a new one.

I'm concerned about which company to use for "reliable" cash back. Take on board all that you've said in the past about reliability of companies not going under, but it also occurs to me that the majority of bad (or even terrible) reviews on review sites such as ciao etc are written by people who have had such terrible experiences that they've been driven to tell everyone about it. What proportion of happy customers get straight on to the net to post good reviews after good experiences vs. the negative?

With that in mind, is there anywhere you'd receommend that would give me an information hit list of the goodies from the baddies. From doing a bit of reading last night, it sounds like beepy and affordable are worth giving a wide berth to. but what about mobiles.co.uk, or OSPS, or e2save, or M2YD or buy mobile phones.co.uk, or any others come to that?

Some reliable advice would be helpful. All of this assuming that I have the ability to keep track of bills, paperwork and "play the game" by sending stuff off at the right time. I've been impressed with the relative simplicity of OSPS, and don't want to get into a horribly complex cashback situation where the company makes it too difficult to claim.

Also, I'm looking for a deal which works out for under a tenner a month on a 12 month contract giving me around 4-500 xnet mins and 4-500 texts. Happy to pay around £30 a month up front before cashback.

Any ideas, advice or otherwise would certainly be appreciated

Many thanks

Stripee

Froggitt

mobilejunkie wrote: »

I would add though that it is necessary to get written confirmation in each case that it won't affect cashback claims, since the t&c actually state "To qualify for your Cheque Back, you must: .... Have maintained contiunous usage on this network and tariff...". Technically, you would therefore be breaching the t&c - so written confirmation is still essential in each individual instance (although I wouldn't anticipate problems with this company E2Save proved that anyone can change to stuff the customer mode at any time!).

Agreed. I had the written confirmation from M2YD before calling Voda that I could change to any tarrif of the same value or more.

Froggitt

stripee wrote: »

With that in mind, is there anywhere you'd receommend that would give me an information hit list of the goodies from the baddies. From doing a bit of reading last night, it sounds like beepy and affordable are worth giving a wide berth to. but what about mobiles.co.uk, or OSPS, or e2save, or M2YD or buy mobile phones.co.uk, or any others come to that?

Read MJs comments throughout this thread.

stripee wrote: »

Also, I'm looking for a deal which works out for under a tenner a month on a 12 month contract giving me around 4-500 xnet mins and 4-500 texts. Happy to pay around £30 a month up front before cashback.

Read my comments a post or three back.

mobilejunkie

It's actually an easy answer. Mobiles2Yourdoor are Phones4u and both offer simple and reliable cashbacks - Onestopphoneshop are E2Save and aren't to be trusted (despite some people having no problems). The former have better deals in any case - though not as good as they used to be.

It is also not quite true that only disgrunteld punters put posts on here - find and read the Mobiles2YourDoor thread and you will find a different type of feedback to that on a typical E2Save/Onestopphoneshop thread during the last couple of years.

However - any cashback deal involves accepting a dgree of risk and no matter how a dealer is operating when you take out a deal it is no guarantee they will continue to do so throughout the contract. I always advise following the groundrules and avoiding complacency; if a dealer stays honest you should have no need of enforcing your rights but if they don't you will be armed and prepared to ensure you don't get bullied out of the cashback (which is exactly what E2Save started doing with many of its customers 2 years ago when it still had decent deals).

stripee

Froggitt wrote: »

M2YD have an 11 month free £30 (one year) deal, with £30 quidco makes it free......give the J700 or T303 to charity. Its only 100 mins and 500 txt, but if you ring up Vodafone and ask nicely, they will put you onto the 700 mins/unlimited landlines/250 txt package......and M2YD have confirmed this wont affect your cashback claim as its still a £30 a month deal.

This sounds like a great deal.

It's a real shame that M2YD don't do T Mobile contracts and seem to have the 12 month deals only with Vodafone, and the rubbish thing about Vodafone is you can't port your number. As I've had my old one for over 7 years, I don't really want to get rid. If I change my mind, could you share the link please as I can't find the deal you talk about on their site.

Are there any other similar deals that you've found with equally reputable outfits, as everything but the "Vodafone" factor of the Vodafone deal seems perfect - especially the switching to another tariff - very cunning!?

Thanks for the spot anyway

Stripee

TREVORCOLMAN

Froggitt wrote: »

Good point. Remember that a M2YD cashback deal, in the small print, it actually says your contract is with P4U.

Great deal backed up by a large plc is the way to go IMHO.

M2YD have an 11 month free £30 (one year) deal, with £30 quidco makes it free......give the J700 or T303 to charity. Its only 100 mins and 500 txt, but if you ring up Vodafone and ask nicely, they will put you onto the 700 mins/unlimited landlines/250 txt package......and M2YD have confirmed this wont affect your cashback claim as its still a £30 a month deal.

Hi could you please direct me to this deal. Best I can find is 10 months free (via Quidco). The 700 mins/unlimted landlines/250 texts on the list shows up as £35 per month?

Thanks