3 Retention Deals

Sarfaraz

Just called to get an update to see if my unlock code for my SE K610i was available and got into ANOTHER 30 min chat with the Three rep to get me to sign up to a new 18 month contract. No matter how many times I said I don't need a new handset, all the deals he was offering me included a new handset! I said if you could better the O2 £15 sim only deal I may just stay (i.e. trying to see if the £5 offer would materialise) and his final offer was: 500 mins, no texts, new handset (even though I said I didn't need one!) for £21! The cheek!

I am now out of contract and my PAC expires on Dec 3rd. I am not overly optimistic about getting the £5 deal. :embarasse

Should I speaking to someone in a different dept?

Ferris

Quentin wrote: »

Ferris, you still have to give notice to cancel.

The best retention offer comes right at the end of your notice period.

If it doesn't materialise then you can contact them and rescind your notice just before it expires and try again the following month.

(If you ask them they do refund any unused line rental after disconnection)

thanks for that. what I meant about disconnections is that in the past i've cancelled contracts either by giving 30 days notice or just by getting and using my PAC (as you can't do both at the same time). now it seems to me that if you get your PAC and sit on it for 26-odd days, then from a retentions point of view, it could be that you're just lazy/indecisive/letting the clock tick down - until it's used, a PAC doesn't cancel the contract. so i was wondering if actually giving notice to cancel instead is more definite and thus more likely to get a response from the big guns with the big offers.

(having said that, my mate on the £1.XX/month contract only requested a PAC)

my current plan is to give 30 days notice, then if i haven't had a call within 2 days of the end of the notice period, to request a PAC. this should rescind the notice but allow me to kill the contract off within 7 days (as i will then be out of contract) if i use it, as long as 3 still refund unused line rental.

as you can see, i've put far too much thought into this plan, and it is probably still full of holes...

Ferris

Old_Gold wrote: »

It could be a very dodgy marketing policy though for three unless generally call charges come down. If so many are on a 'for life' plan then to make a profit 3 will have to cover this with its other users paying for that shortfall. Would you want to pay more for the benefit of the lucky ones? So if you move to another network offering better terms 3 will only be left with its non viable customers which can only mean one thing. Time will tell.

i suspect, as with cashbacks, three support this sort of thing on the basis that the vast majority of people who take out contracts will not think about going through the headache of cancelling them each year to ensure the best deal. the fact that a lot of people on here have great deals is no surprise, as it is a moneysaving forum!

Ferris

in other news, i went into the three shop in town today to look at handsets and overheard another customer asking about getting a new handset to go with his "£5 a month for life" contract. on hearing about this, the assistant laughed and said (paraphrase) "i know what three are like, they say it's for life but after 12 months it will go back to your standard line rental". i asked the assistant about this after the customer had gone and he said the same thing to me.

now i'm fundamentally and universally bigoted against any sales staff in technology stores and so naturally assume he doesn't know his stuff and is talking out of his elbow. but he might be telling the truth. has anyone had a "for life" deal last longer than 12 months as yet?

the other thing he said (which rings slightly truer and concerns me more) is that if you've had one good retentions deal, you're unlikely to get another one. i had quite a good £8 a month thing over the last year so i wonder if i'm bound to miss out this time round. anyone here had two consecutive decent retention deals? (of coruse that would make a true "for life" deal even more valuable )

sorry to go on :P

GunJack

ferris - don't believe that you only get one good deal. My new £5 a month one follows on from 100 mins + 100 txts for a total cost of £6-odd for the year deal I got last year. So, I'm going into the third consecutive year with the same number, cb deal in year 1, £6-odd for the year for year 2, and now into year 3 with my £5 a month....yes, it does happen

ichilton

GunJack wrote: »

bumpity-bump.....ferris see your PMs...

I'm also interested in the answers to the questions Ferris asked - are you able to tell me?

Thanks

Ian

s100_2

ooh - i need to know too please!

ichilton

Hi,

I've just put my notice to cancel in - contract ends on Jan 8th.

When do the people who do the deals normally call? - sounds like 2 days before??

If they don't call, how late can I leave it and still stop them cancelling it? - the day before?

If they dont call shall I say I want another month to decide and hope they call the 2nd time around or am I unlikely to get a call if they dont call the 1st time and i'm better off just finding another deal?

Anyone else had any good N95 deals recently?

Thanks

Ian

Ferris

ichilton wrote: »

Hi,

I've just put my notice to cancel in - contract ends on Jan 8th.

you gave two months' notice of cancellation? now why didn't i think of that...

Ferris

was on the phone to three for 20 minutes earlier. only thing they offered (spoke to CS assistant and her 'manager') was a Nokia 6288 on T&T600 for £24/month, or the same phone on 300 mins 150 texts etc for £19/month, or, bizarrely, no handset on that latter contract for £24/month. a random selection. they denied any knowledge of a £5/month deal from 3 (as i expected they would) but said they had not had this deal "in november" (despite what GunJack might have to say on the matter).

so, i've given my notice, and i've been told my PAC code plan from my earlier post won't work (PAC code now requires 30 days notice of itself, which is a change from how they used to do it). so if you're out of contract and you get a PAC and use it immediately, they will still take ~23 days worth of line rental off you even though you'll be paying for no service whatsoever, which is a bit rubbish.

anyway, i guess i'll call to convert to PAYG at some point in the notice period, which doesn't require notice.

here's hoping i get the £5/month call...