3 Retention Deals

fiendishlyclever

I phoned this afternoon to see if I could get the cheap HTC Hero as mentioned previously in this thread. I'm currently on VTT500 (300 mins, 150 txt, 25video mins, 25 mms, £5 downloads) plus X-Series Silver - all for £10 a month but with a sim-free Nokia 5800 (I gave my upgrade handset away). I've been out of contract since January and with Three for around 5 years.

If I wanted a HTC Desire I was told they couldn't offer one unless I went through the website and took the deal on there (not through the contact centre).

First deal I was offered:

HTC Hero
100 mins
unltd texts
inclusive 3-3 calls
unlimited internet
30 pic msgs (?)
24 month contract
£17 per month

I declined this as I wasn't really interested in the Hero (I knew I'd end up swapping it soon).

Then I was offered

Sim free contract
100 mins
unlt text
voicemail
£10 per month
Rolling contract

I pointed out that this wasn't nearly as good as what I already had. I tried to use deals off the internet to push them down but the sneaky team kept telling me that I wouldn't use all the minutes and would pay £xx more over the life of the contract than I would with them.

As a last resort I asked what the cheapest deal they could do me would be (and I mentioned a deal that I had been offered before). I took the first handset they offered me - I was only after the contract to use with a SIM free phone.

Nokia 5230
(VTT 500)
300mins
150 txts
25 video mins
25 mms
£5 downloads
free unlimited internet
£5 per month
12 month contract
£5 per month
£1.95 delivery fee - waived because I'm a long term customer.

Needless to say after 40 mins on the phone I was losing the will to live and accepted this contract - £5 a month to use with an unlocked phone (effectively free if I sell the handset!)

asandwhen

Just been offered Iphone 3gs 16gb - £28 per months for 18 or £24 per months 24 months.

900 mix and match unlimited internet ect

Is this a good deal? how much would i get for this phone if I sold it on?

Also will it come locked to 3?

Sandrine_2

I went to a 3 store on Saturday near my home to find out about the htc desire and saw they were doing a deal for £19 a month 100 mn / text mix and 500Mb data. Unfortunately they didn't have any in stock so I added my name to their (rather long) waiting list. Yesterday I went to another 3 store in Basingstoke and asked about that deal and if they had any htc in stock. They had one left! The sales person started taking down my details etc, etc... then he phoned the 3 customer service to cancel my current contract so I could take out the new one. As I had to give them some details about my current contract, he handed me the phone and the person i spoke to told me they could offer me the htc desire free on the £15 a month contract (300mn, 300 text and unlimited internet) to be delivered this Tuesday if i did not cancel my current contract. I said "even better! how can i do that?" he said "call us back on 333 when you get home and we'll sort it out then". So I explain the situation to the guy in the shop and made a hasty exit. I called back later and spoke to one of their rep who, after conversing for some time with her manager, told me that she was very sorry but that they could not give me that deal, but "however as a value customer i could have the experia x10 for £35 a months or a £49 iphone 3gs for £40 a month". I was gutted and absolutely fuming but there were nothing she could do. She said the demand is very high for the htc desire and they don't know when it is going to be back in stock (what with the ash cloud put into the equation...). All I can do is wait for the phones to be delivered to the 1st shop I went to or order from 3.co.uk as the same deal is now £17 a month, but I would still need to cancel my current contract.
I really wanted to request my PAC code yesterday because the 1st person i spoke to on the phone lied to me and wasted my time. I also think they are very pushy in their sales tactics (ie, the lady was really trying to flog me the experia x10 or the iphone but for a much higher price than the one I am willing to pay - all in all I spent about 40mn on the phone for nothing!). Unfortunately for my pride, their £17 / £19 deal is the best I've seen...

Sandrine_2

asandwhen wrote: »

Just been offered Iphone 3gs 16gb - £28 per months for 18 or £24 per months 24 months.

900 mix and match unlimited internet ect

Is this a good deal? how much would i get for this phone if I sold it on?

Also will it come locked to 3?

I think it is a good offer. I guess you could sell it for £350 - £400. I don't think iphones can be locked to a network but you'll need to have that clarified as 3 seem to do their own thing. I was offered the same phone yesterday for £49 for the handset then £40 / month, 24 months contract. I didn't take it because I don't want to be stuck in a £40 contrat for 2 years and also because iphone will be bringing out a new phone this summer (4gs) which mean the 3gs will be devalued. If you take this offer, I would suggest you sell the phone straight away if you want to get your money back.

Sandrine_2

KTF wrote: »

Whilst you can upgrade in store they are the full price and not the discounted ones on the website i.e.the £20 300 M&M online one is £22 when upgrading in store.

For this reason I am waiting until retentions eventually get more stock in which they also said to me would be the end of the month. My local store (Basingstoke) said they might get some in tomorrow but I wont upgrade unless they will match the web price.

Hey, I went to that store (Basingstoke) yesterday and they had one left, albeit in a not so attractive creamy/white colour! I didn't take it because basically three lied to me when i asked to cancel my current contract (see my post on the next page). Also, when i spoke to retentions, the rep told me i can request the web price when going to a 3 shop (i'm after the £17 100mn/text mix + internet deal) which is £19 in my local 3 store.

KTF

Both the managers of the Basingstoke and Southampton stores have told me that they cannot match the web price unless the promotional offer becomes permanent. Southampton (on Saturday) had plenty of Desires in stock.

Retentions are (shall I say) not always correct. If it was such a great deal they could have signed you up there. You should have called them on 333 from your phone in the store rather than wait till you get home and got them to transfer you to the guy for the 'great' offer.

Sandrine_2

KTF wrote: »

Both the managers of the Basingstoke and Southampton stores have told me that they cannot match the web price unless the promotional offer becomes permanent. Southampton (on Saturday) had plenty of Desires in stock.

Retentions are (shall I say) not always correct. If it was such a great deal they could have signed you up there. You should have called them on 333 from your phone in the store rather than wait till you get home and got them to transfer you to the guy for the 'great' offer.

Yes, you are right about Retentions being misleading. What i've found with them is they talk non-stop and hardly leave the customers any time to get their point accross. Don't know what to do now... either wait for my local store to get their delivery and pay £19 a month or order online and get the phone 'whenever' for £17 a month. Problem is the deal online is only valid until the end of May (that's probably because there won't be any deliveries until June then...so that deal is only to attract potential customer who will order only to be told 'sorry the deal is no longer valid' when their phones are delivered in June. Am i being too mean???).

KTF

Most 3 online deals roll over for a few months (or are replaced with something of equal value) so dont let the fact that it is only valid until the end of the month sway your decision.I am in the same boat and waiting for retentions to get some more in stock.

They are saying next month as well and I have no doubt that they will still be able to offer me a deal on the Desire when they get some.

behindtheeye

Three called me yesterday to say that they could now offer me the HTC Desire after I'd expressed interest last week. The guy was only offering the same tariffs as available on the website, no discount, but they're better then what other networks seem to be offering so I didn't mind.

I went for the £25 per month internet texter option - 300 mins, unlimited txts and "unlimited" data (actually 500mb!)

It should be delivered today.

asandwhen

Well my Iphone has been delivered - Before I started using it I called 3 and asked what deal have I been put on - They have confirmed 18months £28 per month 900 mix and match - unlimited internet (500mb) - 300 3to3 -

So appears all good -