Mobile retailer contracts - how do they compare to going direct? 20 September 2021 at 7:23PM in Mobiles 5 replies 117 views

hazzeryoda

I am looking to upgrade my 6 year old phone and so contacted Vodafone's retentions department. I went in armed with a few deals found using the mobile contract comparison tool on this site. I was met with advice that all third party retailers pay for Vodafone's branding but effectively sell an inferior product as they limit internet speeds and signal and you won't be able to contact Vodafone's customer services.

I was surprised by this to say the least. It did not seem entirely right to me, but then again it is conceivable that these cheaper deals may be the result of some sort of limitations hidden in the Ts & Cs.

Is there any truth at all in what I've been told? Or is it just a ruse?

Cheers,

H

anniecave

It's logical that you wouldn't be contacting Vodafone's customer services department, you'll be contacting another provider's customer services
This article  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/cheap-sim-only-contracts/   says that some providers don't offer 5G but that's not the same as limiting speeds on either 3G or 4G. The article does mention that services such as wifi calling may not be available also on all networks.  
I'm unaware that any piggyback provider can either limit speeds or that the signal strength would be different. 

hazzeryoda

Sorry, Annie, I don't think I've made myself entirely clear. What I mean is that the better deals came from third party retailers such as Carphone Warehouse or mobiles.co.uk - not the piggyback networks like giffgaff or ASDA.

I can understand the piggybackers limiting customer service or speeds but how about the online/high street retailers/resellers?

JenB79

Absolutely no difference wrt network quality/speeds if you use a reseller such as mobiles.co.uk or carphonewarehouse. I took out a 12gb Vodafone sim only plan through Carphonewarehouse and no issues with speeds. Its basically a 1gb Vodafone plan but with an extra 11gb data each month (CPW exclusive).

username

hazzeryoda said:

I am looking to upgrade my 6 year old phone and so contacted Vodafone's retentions department. I went in armed with a few deals found using the mobile contract comparison tool on this site. I was met with advice that all third party retailers pay for Vodafone's branding but effectively sell an inferior product as they limit internet speeds and signal and you won't be able to contact Vodafone's customer services.

I was surprised by this to say the least. It did not seem entirely right to me, but then again it is conceivable that these cheaper deals may be the result of some sort of limitations hidden in the Ts & Cs.

Is there any truth at all in what I've been told? Or is it just a ruse?

Cheers,

H

No difference in quality of service compared to what you would get from a dealer vs. direct. You'll still have the same network coverage, speeds etc and still pay the direct debit to the network. The dealer does not collect line rental payments on your behalf.

It's just poor sales tactics on behalf of the network operator because they'll be losing a subscriber from direct to indirect.

The salesperson will try and use such rubbish to try and dissuade you from going with the dealer (no doubt because they have KPIs to achieve or commission to make).

Although, do check the package offered via the dealer contains what you require.

Sometimes, variations thereof are offered by the networks to dealers which may not have all the bells and whistles that the network has directly, like for example, certain bolt ons like entertainment or sports packages. So, check before you commit.

The only thing you'll probably need to do is get yourself a pay as you go sim on another network if you are wanting to keep your same phone number but stay on the same network (ie. you are on Vodafone and want to go for a Vodafone package via a dealer).

That is because all of the packages will come with a new number from the dealers (unless it is specifically marked as an upgrade).

You get a PAC, transfer your existing number to the pay as you go SIM for a few days, and request anther PAC from that SIM's operator to then transfer the number back to the new contract.

A PAC is designed for changing networks so can't be used on the same network (e.g. Vodafone to Vodafone). If you try and "fudge" the system it will fail.

Andy7856

Nope sounds rubbish.  Based on my experience with O2, the dealer will simply be acting an introducer to the network.   Once they have sold you their product all customer services/charges will be down to Vodafone and yourself. The dealer has no further interest in you  until its renewal time- ££££   You may get a slight different tariff (ie extra data) but it will still be a Vodafone tariff  (just not available on their own website).