02 Retentions thread 2

iwanttosave_2

opas wrote: »

Ginger J can I ask how you picked up the phone in the local store - did you literally have to sign a new 18 month contract (getting a new sim card/number I assume) and then phone retentions to activate your deal and cancel the old one?

I wanted to do this a month ago (mid Feb) and both the store and the retentions team said it wasn't possible. The store said the only way I could walk out with the phone for free would be to sign a new contract. It was never given to me as a possibility by retentions but if it was I'd have been worried that I'd end up stuck with the store contract too!

But well done, I'm glad it worked out for you - my slight paranoia with trusting the retentions team on things like this is because I've had issues with my retentions deals with O2 before and not getting what I was originally offered. I wouldn't say that their customer service is awful but those kind of things are annoying when it happens, particularly when you don't get one of the better advisers to help rectify any mistakes..

Ginger was extremely lucky to be able to do that because it isn't something they allow at all.

On the absolute rare occasions it happens what will happen is hopefully the phone will be free on the customers tariff (going off the banding the spend falls into), if it isn't then it would have to be put through the tills at a higher price and then rectified after when the customer calls through to retentions. You don't need a new sim card or anything (unless you're going to a 3g phone and you only have a 2g phone and they'll do a sim swap).

Ja, is April your out of contract date or contract renewal date? I'd expect if its your contract end then you're due now, if not then it will be April you're due.

The £150 is called a resign credit, basically if you're happy with your phone and don't really want a new one then you can have £150 instead, this is then placed on your bill and can be used to pay off your bill every month. If you tell them you're happy with your phone they'll offer you the resign.

JaRocks28

Thanks - i thought people where taking a new retentions deal and the £150 too... so they get a better deal!! Might consider that, and buy a pay and go phone.

iwanttosave_2

Yeah you get a retention deal but instead of the phone you get the money.

lewt

phones can be worth more money. if you want the £150 get a phone, PM me and we'll talk about which phone you can sell to me for £150

Doc_N

JaRocks28 wrote: »

My contract ends in April, I got logged into the "upgrade section" of o2. So i am guessing im not far off getting a rententions deal. Do i need to wait until the final day of my contract (1st april)? Whats the £150 credit i hear people are getting? does everyone get it, or selected few?

You need to talk to Retentions to get a deal. You won't get it through the website. Call 202 and go to the cancellation option, or call 0800 977 7711 from a landline.

You need to make it clear that you're planning to leave O2. Asking for the PAC will show that, but bear in mind they could call your bluff at that point. Personally, I found the best option was to cancel the contract by email just over a month before the 12 months was up (my contract required 30 days written notice anyway). Once that was done I had a month in which to negotiate with them. They knew I'd cancelled, but I was able to opt back in at any point.

Not everybody gets the £150 credit (which, incidentally, is normally in place of a 'free' phone). I did, but only by going for a 24 month deal. It was a good deal for me, because my usage is quite low, but others have got far better. That's not surprising, and I'm quite happy with that, because I know I must be an unprofitable customer. Your usage creates a profile, and that profile determines the deals that they can offer you.

Call them now (I'd personally cancel first, as above) and tell them you're planning to leave because you can't afford to continue. Having another deal from another network to quote helps. See what you can get - your usage mainly determines that, but your negotiating skills are also key. If you don't like the deal offered, say you'll think about it (it stays open for 7 days normally) and try again the next day.

Good luck.

Ginger_J

opas wrote: »

Ginger J can I ask how you picked up the phone in the local store - did you literally have to sign a new 18 month contract (getting a new sim card/number I assume) and then phone retentions to activate your deal and cancel the old one?

I wanted to do this a month ago (mid Feb) and both the store and the retentions team said it wasn't possible. The store said the only way I could walk out with the phone for free would be to sign a new contract. It was never given to me as a possibility by retentions but if it was I'd have been worried that I'd end up stuck with the store contract too!

But well done, I'm glad it worked out for you - my slight paranoia with trusting the retentions team on things like this is because I've had issues with my retentions deals with O2 before and not getting what I was originally offered. I wouldn't say that their customer service is awful but those kind of things are annoying when it happens, particularly when you don't get one of the better advisers to help rectify any mistakes..

Hi

To be honest with you I think I was very lucky with the operator I got hold of on the day. I explained that I'd been having some problems with my old phone and also said that I knew people had done this before (from reading forums etc.) so she just said she wouldn't recommend that I do it, but if I did then I should go to the store, upgrade there to the £35 a month contract (so no new number, just a straight upgrade) and that then I could call her so she can ammend the tarrif cost. So I did that and it's all sorted. In fact, as I said, I think I got a better deal on the texts in the end too.

I was really nice on the phone too and I think that helps!

Good luck with everything!

:beer:

Doc_N

Does anyone in here know whether it's possible for a defecting Orange monthly contract customer to pick up a decent O2 retentions-type deal as an inducement to switch?

bullterrier_2

JaRocks28 wrote: »

My contract ends in April, I got logged into the "upgrade section" of o2. So i am guessing im not far off getting a rententions deal. Do i need to wait until the final day of my contract (1st april)? Whats the £150 credit i hear people are getting? does everyone get it, or selected few?

You can upgrade from 30 days before the end of your contract minimum term (i.e. at month 11 or 17 or 23). This matches when you are eligible to give notice to leave.

Depending on your spend so far, there will be a "budget" to be used to keep you. This will allow retentions to offer you a discount on the tarriff and also either a new phone or a credit on your bill (the credit will be up to £150).

opas

Thanks for the responses iwanttosave and Ginger J, yeah remembering back now I think I remember the store said I could come and upgrade - however I wouldn't get the retention discount I was being offered (1200 mins 1000 texts, unlimited bolt on etc for £27). The regular price for this tariff is £45 I think! I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck with that price for the next 18 months.

I guess it does depend on who you speak to but as mentioned the retentions person I spoke to was lovely but said it wouldn't be possible. Knowing my luck even if I was offered it as an option and I went for it, the second person would have probably said it wasn't on my notes and there is nothing they could do, I accepted the store upgrade. Considering my last retentions palaver where things were only resolved when supervisors listened to my previous conversations with advisers to simply honour a deal as offered (I had the pleasure of getting through to one of the more unhelpful advisers that day) I'd rather err on the side of caution and avoid certain grey areas with O2 retentions.

As a side note, their retention deals don't seem as generous this month as they were in Feb. My sister was offered the 1200 min deal for £30 - and she spends more than me per month - v.strange. Plus the phones being offered were not as good. She is looking at a possible move to another network, maybe orange. Are the deals drying up?

crystal_clear

Doc_N wrote: »

Does anyone in here know whether it's possible for a defecting Orange monthly contract customer to pick up a decent O2 retentions-type deal as an inducement to switch?

You cantget a retentions deal on o2 if you are with another network and want to use that to get these type of o2 deals...

But what you could do is go on a comparision site looking for phone and deal u want on o2 network then taking the offer with a pac code from orange to keep your number and with any cashback (automatic ones are good) then when u have run that contract off you are entitled to use o2 retentions to get another contract offer at every renewable occassion.