Mobile Phone Monthly Contracts

Privado

Has anyone contacted mobile phone companies and asked for reduction in monthly tarrif during lockdown.  If families have internet at home and they are staying at home then they will presumably be using less data than they are paying for.  It would be an idea to have same refund offer as with car insurance where some companies are offering a % refund of premium based on less mileage done due to lockdown.  This principle could be applied to mobile phone companies and their charges for data? 

jimi_man

I’m going to take a wild stab and suggest they are going to tell you to xxxx. Of course I might be wrong, but it seems pretty unlikely. I certainly wouldn’t approach them to ask. 

Of course there is nothing stopping people from amending their contract for lower data/cheaper tariff. 

[Deleted User]

Privado said:

Has anyone contacted mobile phone companies and asked for reduction in monthly tarrif during lockdown.  If families have internet at home and they are staying at home then they will presumably be using less data than they are paying for.  It would be an idea to have same refund offer as with car insurance where some companies are offering a % refund of premium based on less mileage done due to lockdown.  This principle could be applied to mobile phone companies and their charges for data? 

If things are that tight, look at making cuts in your food bill or other areas, rather than a couple of quid on a phone bill.

Grumpy_chap

There has been a lot in the press about people using far more data and a scheme where the mobile companies are providing enhanced data for some students / schoolchildren.  If that needs to be funded, then discounts for people using a bit less data as well is really quite tough on the mobile companies.  Always shop around though when the contract is up for renewal.

Thrugelmir

Privado said:

 If families have internet at home and they are staying at home then they will presumably be using less data than they are paying for. 

Perhaps they'll be using more data as neither at work or school. 

Jeremy535897

It doesn't really cost a mobile phone company any more whether you use 1Gb a day or 10Gb a day, but they have to pay for all their costs somehow, and charging by usage is how they do it. Of course if everyone suddenly used ten times as much data, it would be a different story.

Mnoee

Most of the big monthly phone bills you're mostly paying for the phone - the are a few sim only contracts where people may have been paying over the odds, but there are plenty of rolling monthly contract options too. It's just a choice you make, I've always gone monthly rolling as I prefer the flexibility. 

Marvel1

Maybe instead of paying for monthly contract for a new phone, keep the phone and opt for sim only and pay £5 a month.

adamp87

Marvel1 said:

Maybe instead of paying for monthly contract for a new phone, keep the phone and opt for sim only and pay £5 a month.

Probably not what Op’s position is. Most likely probably like the majority it’s a contract for the phone/data. So they can’t do that till the contract ends

MattMattMattUK

Mnoee said:

Most of the big monthly phone bills you're mostly paying for the phone - the are a few sim only contracts where people may have been paying over the odds, but there are plenty of rolling monthly contract options too. It's just a choice you make, I've always gone monthly rolling as I prefer the flexibility. 

Exactly this, I am with Vodafone on a SIM only contract, I pay £22 pm for unlimited calls and texts and 100GB of data (which I never get close to using) and "free" Spotify. I bought my phone upfront from Amazon, if I had not then the same contract with the phone would be around £75 pm and over the 24 month contract period would have cost several hundred pounds more than the purchase outright and SIM only route.

Jeremy535897

I always buy the phone separately, and never pay more than £6 a month for the usage, which gives unlimited calls, texts and 1Gb data, fine for the occasional (non-existent now) use of Google maps, and occasional internet query.