Orange Retention Offers

T_T_2

sterlingstash wrote: »

I've had another go with retentions, after deciding to splash out a bit more than the previous Samsung Ace deal I was offered. This is what I've now agreed to:

£18.50 per month
Samsung Galaxy S3 - £70
750 X-minutes
unlimited texts
1.25 Gg data

That seemed pretty good as it works out at around £22 a month with better allowance than the cheapest cashback deals.

BUT - I wanted the titanium colour which the guy said was 4G and £40 more. Should I have paid the extra? I don;t use internet much, but would this make the phone much more valuable to sell on - I've wondered about selling it straight away and carrying on using my existing phone.

I couldn't possibly say for sure if you should have gone the extra £40 for the 4G but the answer is 'probably'. Either way you have gotten yourself a pretty good deal when all is said and done, you should be pleased.

sterlingstash

Thanks T-T. I've done a bit more googling and it sounds like 4G will be on new tarifs which I wouldn;t be interested in paying for. And also I only chose the S3 because it rates high on battery life (according to Which? anyway). Apparently the 4G one drains quicker so another reason it wouln;t be a good choice for my own use.

It was only really getting a higher price for it if I chose to sell immediately. I think I'll stick with the order.

robbies_gal

it still a good deal and not all areas will get 4g for another year anyway

samizdat

sterlingstash wrote: »

Thanks T-T. I've done a bit more googling and it sounds like 4G will be on new tarifs which I wouldn;t be interested in paying for. And also I only chose the S3 because it rates high on battery life (according to Which? anyway). Apparently the 4G one drains quicker so another reason it wouln;t be a good choice for my own use.

It was only really getting a higher price for it if I chose to sell immediately. I think I'll stick with the order.

Hi sterlingtash, You have a good deal there, but I'm pretty sure the 4G handset deal would be even better value, even if you have no intention of using 4G yourself (e.g. due to cost of plans when announced).

I'm not convinced the battery will be a huge problem, because Samsung are using Qualcomm's latest modem chipset for 4G (MDM9215), which is built on a 28nm process and consumes less power than previous 4G modems.

Meanwhile, even if you never use 4G on the thing, its resale value will potentially remain over £40 higher than the 3G-only version of the S3 for quite some time (I am obviously guessing here, but it is true as of now while the 4G handsets are the latest must-have gadget.)

T_T_2

On a side note, for anyone else who wants a smartphone with exceptionally good battery life - consider the Motorola Razr Maxx. It's a mid to high end android phone with the best battery amongst it's peers.

chrisst170

T_T wrote: »

Just took a retention deal with orange. £13.50/month for a Galaxy S2. 500mins, 500mb and unlimited texts - 24 months.

Hi T_T,
Can you tell me how you were offered (or how you negotiated) the above offer? I'm just coming out of a 24 month contract with them, have 2 pay monthly accounts with them, usually spend £60-70 per month with them in total (a fair amount of roaming charges on business).

I've just contacted them to see what was on offer and was only offered the deals which were on the website to the public, I asked for my PAC code and they said "yeah OK", no real attempt to retain me .

I gather they sometimes call back a day or so after you request a PAC to try again to retain you... any tips on how to get the same (or similar) deal as you negotiated?

Thanks,

Chris

T_T_2

chrisst170 wrote: »

Hi T_T,
Can you tell me how you were offered (or how you negotiated) the above offer? I'm just coming out of a 24 month contract with them, have 2 pay monthly accounts with them, usually spend £60-70 per month with them in total (a fair amount of roaming charges on business).

I've just contacted them to see what was on offer and was only offered the deals which were on the website to the public, I asked for my PAC code and they said "yeah OK", no real attempt to retain me .

I gather they sometimes call back a day or so after you request a PAC to try again to retain you... any tips on how to get the same (or similar) deal as you negotiated?

Thanks,

Chris

Hey Chris, Like you I called up, asked what they could offer and was given deals available to everyone on the website. Told them that I was a happy orange customer who would be very pleased to them but that they weren't giving me any reason to stay. A slightly better but still terrible offer was made and I asked for my PAC (it was always my intention to request a PAC regardless of what was offered). 3 days before my PAC expired the offers got a little a better but still not great. They offered me a series of complicated deals with charges of x amount for the first 12 months and charges of y amount for the last 12 months. I said that all I wanted was a simple, straight forward deal and after a bit of haggling was offered the deal I mentioned earlier.

chrisst170

T_T wrote: »

Hey Chris, Like you I called up, asked what they could offer and was given deals available to everyone on the website. Told them that I was a happy orange customer who would be very pleased to them but that they weren't giving me any reason to stay. A slightly better but still terrible offer was made and I asked for my PAC (it was always my intention to request a PAC regardless of what was offered). 3 days before my PAC expired the offers got a little a better but still not great. They offered me a series of complicated deals with charges of x amount for the first 12 months and charges of y amount for the last 12 months. I said that all I wanted was a simple, straight forward deal and after a bit of haggling was offered the deal I mentioned earlier.

Cheers, so you'd suggest holding my nerve on the PAC code? Do you call them or let them call you?

Chris

T_T_2

chrisst170 wrote: »

Cheers, so you'd suggest holding my nerve on the PAC code? Do you call them or let them call you?

Chris

Ask for the PAC, it will last for 30 days. If you don't use it your contract will continue on a rolling monthly basis. If they don't call you within 3 days of the PAC expiring then call them yourself. Let them know you are about to use take up an offer with a different supplier and ask them if any new deals have come up recently. This is your last chance to strike a deal. The first person you speak to will be in a non-uk call centre. They will transfer you to a UK based call centre to discuss deals. This person isn't retentions. If you get transferred a second time then you MIGHT be with connections, the deals will speak for themselves.

hbomb

I've been bashing away with Orange for the last few days, having requested my PAC about a week ago, and I think I've got as far as I can - still not sure if I have spoken with the real Retentions dept yet, the people I have spoken with have said they are either in the "Loyalty" or "Upgrades" department. And one of them said that he was the "last link in the chain" so to speak. Who knows.

Anyway, what I am being offered is a new Motorola Razr i, which I really do want and have been asking for. The best they can offer is the phone at £50 upfront cost, and then £20.50 per month (24 months) for 400 mins, unltd texts and 350mb.

Total cost over 2 years = £542, and as the phone costs approx £340 simfree, that works out at approx £200 over 2 years for the connection. I don't really know if that's any good!?!

I rarely go over my current £20 per month allowances, although the CS did keep on mentioning my "loyalty balance", but then when I asked what was the best sim-free deal he could do, he just read off the website...

I figure that I could, by buying the phone outright and switching to someone like 3, claiming cashback etc, get it for about the same, or possibly a tiny bit less, but I kind of just want someone at Orange to phone me up and make me a sweet deal (like they did 3 years ago). Not sure that is going to happen - I guess too many people have been buying the new iphone and so swelled Orange's coffers.