T-Mobile Retentions

vintagegirl

immy wrote: »

had this contract for around 4 or 5 yrs now. Been on FF for about 4 of those years.

Not worth my while leaving for anyone else as no one can match the 50% FF discount....and i always get a pretty decent handset for free come upgrade time.

Think i will go for the free iphone 4, on the 30 pound deal (£60 normal tariff).

you wont get a discount of 50% on the iphone

getti

You will get it. Only plan available on F&R is £60 a month with a free iPhone 4 but you get that deal at £30 a month

immy

Deal Done....£30 p/m on a 24month contract, unlimited calls/txt/web, free iphone4.

Best iphone4 deal around if you can get yourself on the FF discount from TMobile.

Lit_Up

OK folks. Me and my partner started off with T-Mobile in 1996 (I think it was called something else then? Maybe not). Anyway, we have had two contracts with them for many years. My partner has been paying both bills and I have been letting them do it. It was only the other day when I was thinking of getting a new iPhone 4, that I thought it would be a good thing to check out the deals on offer to see if we could get something cheaper. I was aghast to discover how high our bills were.

Part one: my partner's phone bill.

Your monthly plan charges
Flext 35 (18) £29.79
Itemised Billing £0.85
Web'n'Walk Booster £6.38
Monthly charge total £37.02

What you used outside of allowance -
UK Calls 561:59 mins outside of allowance £95.46
Video calling 00:23 mins outside of allowance £0.05
Texts 13 texts outside of allowance £1.11
Total charges outside of allowance £96.62
This all adds up to: £133.64

VAT charged at 17.5% on £133.64 £23.39 Amount due £157.03

Having found out the password for our mytomobile account online and visited it for the first time, I discovered the amount she has been paying over the past years and beyond. Note that this is monthly and only ONE phone contract.




01-Sep-2010 Direct debit £157.03
02-Aug-2010 Direct debit £44.78 Payment
04-Jul-2010 Direct debit £137.23 Payment
02-Jun-2010 Direct debit £171.73 Payment
03-May-2010 Direct debit £121.20 Payment
30-Mar-2010 Direct debit £88.95 Payment
03-Mar-2010 Direct debit £135.51 Payment
02-Feb-2010 Direct debit £122.98 Payment
03-Jan-2010 Direct debit £47.68 Payment
02-Dec-2009 Direct debit £154.40 Payment
02-Nov-2009 Direct debit £97.75 Payment
04-Oct-2009 Direct debit £135.41 Payment
02-Sep-2009 Direct debit £92.99 Payment
02-Aug-2009 Direct debit £179.25 Payment
01-Jul-2009 Direct debit £150.06 Payment
02-Jun-2009 Direct debit £60.63 Payment
03-May-2009 Direct debit £73.47 Payment
01-Apr-2009 Direct debit £116.51 Payment
04-Mar-2009 Direct debit £170.12 Payment
02-Feb-2009 Direct debit £150.43 Payment
31-Dec-2008 Direct debit £51.31 Payment
03-Dec-2008 Direct debit £75.26 Payment
02-Nov-2008 Direct debit £66.42 Payment
01-Oct-2008 Direct debit £62.06 Payment
02-Sep-2008 Direct debit £102.99 Payment



I spoke to my flatmate who said that he was paying £40 per month for his t-mobile phone (which has always on internet and other such things). I literally couldn't believe it, but seeing as she's been paying the bills I've never had to look at them.


Part 2: My bill

My partner also pays my bill. That is a little more reasonable although probably higher than what the clued up people are paying. A bill for June:



Your monthly plan charges £34.89 New charges this month outside plan £28.57 Your new balance £63.46 VAT charged at 17.5% on £63.46 £11.11 Amount due £74.57
And the previous months:

08-Sep-2010 Direct debit £89.20 Payment
10-Aug-2010 Direct debit £44.90 Payment
11-Jul-2010 Direct debit £74.57 Payment
09-Jun-2010 Direct debit £72.81 Payment
11-May-2010 Direct debit £41.00 Payment
11-Apr-2010 Direct debit £41.00 Payment
14-Mar-2010 Direct debit £62.40 Payment
10-Feb-2010 Direct debit £329.90 Payment
10-Jan-2010 Direct debit £40.12 Payment
09-Dec-2009 Direct debit £37.47 Payment
10-Nov-2009 Direct debit £52.36 Payment
11-Oct-2009 Direct debit £64.23 Payment
09-Sep-2009 Direct debit £57.32 Payment
10-Aug-2009 Direct debit £64.53 Payment
12-Jul-2009 Direct debit £184.10 Payment
10-Jun-2009 Direct debit £90.92 Payment
11-May-2009 Direct debit £98.00 Payment
07-Apr-2009 Direct debit £55.57 Payment
11-Mar-2009 Direct debit £53.67 Payment
10-Feb-2009 Direct debit £52.80 Payment
11-Jan-2009 Direct debit £52.36 Payment
10-Dec-2008 Direct debit £59.83 Payment
10-Nov-2008 Direct debit £54.91 Payment
12-Oct-2008 Direct debit £48.77 Payment
10-Sep-2008 Direct debit £77.80 Payment


Now. I then saw, having logged into my t-mobile account, that there was an option for a flexible booster for £4.95 each per month. If me and my partner had had the unlimited landline and tmobile boosters, then our bills would have been something like £45 a month. She has phoned up t-mobile on several occasions asking them why her bills are quite high and they never told her about flexible boosters. Why is this? Happy to just see these huge sums of money coming in?

So now it's time to lay the smackdown. OK we should have been a bit more on top of our bills but enough is really enough of getting ripped off. We've had two contracts with t-mobile for years, the first one back in 1996, and now it's time for us to get what we deserve. I want us both to get an iPhone 4. What do I say to t-mobile? give us a free iphone 4 for all the money you've ripped us off with and for never telling us about flexible boosters?

Anticipating that they say no, we will up and leave. Can somebody please tell me the cheapest way to operate an iPhone 4? We can afford to buy two handsets from apple, and then... get a sim only contract? or can you operate an iphone 4 on pay as you go?

would appreciate some input folks.

Snakeeyes21

how is it any of t-mobiles fault that your bills are high? I assume you negotiated on new contracts every 12 / 18 / 24 months to get what you thought would cover your usage?

561 minutes used outside of her allowance? thats nearly 10 hours on the phone, plus whatever her allowance was, I would say be a money saver, buy a 50p reel of cotton and sew your partners mouth shut, she obviously talks too much!!

You havent been ripped off, you used what you used and got charged for it.

T-mobile may class you as a higher spender and give you 2 free phones if you try to cancel both contracts but I very much doubt they will, they will probably give you a slight discount on the monthly cost and a few quid off the upfront costs but thats about it.

Your choice of phone will be your downfall, the tariffs / upfront costs are pretty much set in stone for an iphone, and expencive for the allowances you get.

Have you considered other models, that are IMO alot better than the iphone, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S, the HTC Desire HD thats going to be hitting the shelves soon, theres a whole world outside of the Apple bubble.

gjchester

Lit_Up wrote: »

OK folks. Me and my partner started off with T-Mobile in 1996 (I think it was called something else then? Maybe not).

121

Lit_Up wrote: »

She has phoned up t-mobile on several occasions asking them why her bills are quite high and they never told her about flexible boosters. Why is this? Happy to just see these huge sums of money coming in?

So now it's time to lay the smackdown. OK we should have been a bit more on top of our bills but enough is really enough of getting ripped off.

Unfortunatly I would have to side with T-Mobile and Snakeeyes. You've used far more minutes than your allowance, and you've been charged accordingly.

Have you or your partner ever asked if there was a more suitable tarriff?

You don't say what you were on but it sounds like you too have gone way over your allowance.

The smackdown really is why on earth have you and your partner not kept on top of the bills? If I had a £200+ mobile bill going out each month I'd want to know why.

Lit_Up wrote: »

O
Anticipating that they say no, we will up and leave. Can somebody please tell me the cheapest way to operate an iPhone 4? We can afford to buy two handsets from apple, and then... get a sim only contract? or can you operate an iphone 4 on pay as you go?

Depends what you call cheapest.

You will not get an iphone 4 for free on a £35 a month tarrif, that said you probably don't want that. Flext T does not give you a set no of minutes, it gives you £180 of allowance.

Given that they charge calls at 20p a minute on that tarrif then thats a manimum of 900 minutes on that tarrif, Calling forign mobiles or chargable 08** numbers will reduce that limit. Sending Texts are charged at 10p a text, so it could be she's a big texter

Add that 900 minutes on to the 600 over and it means she must be on the phone AT LEAST 20 hours a month, or half an hour a day.

You could got to the T-mobile £60 iPhone plan with unlimited texts a s a booster, that would give you the free phone, but with the useage she seems to have anythink less than 1500 minutes a month will result in charges.

If you want to buy the phone and get a Sim it will still be expensive, the amount of minutes mean you'd have to pay £500 for the phone from Apple and £40 PCM for a SIM.

Exhortation

£40 per month will get you a 12-month sim-only deal with O2 that gives you unlimited minutes, texts and O2 to O2 or landline calls. If you get an iPhone, however, you will need to add a data bolt-on to this. I believe you get 1gb per month for £5 on this plan. For an extra £5 a month you can have the convenience of the same deal but with a 30-day rolling plan instead. I have to say, I agree with gjchester and snakeeyes that T-Mobile have not ripped you off. You and your partner chose the plans and it was up to you to make sure you both adhered to it.

Before you commit to any future contracts I suggest you sit down and thoroughly go through the T&Cs to make sure it is exactly what you want. Don't forget, also, that if you are in the middle of a contract then T-Mobile probably aren't going to let you just walk away. They'll most likely want you to pay up for the remaining months. May I also respectfully suggest that either you or your partner keep better control over your finances in future. Some of those bills (£184!!!) are scary.

Edit: If you take out the 12-month plan on O2 mentioned above then don't forget to go through a cashback site to get £75 back. Box clever and get your partner to do the same, giving the pair of you a total of £150.

daindian

well my sister was in a similar situation with high bills on flext 30 she got £30 a month free galaxy s 900 mins inc 0845 unlimited texts, unlimited t mobile calls, unlimited internet, and unlimited evening and weekend calls 24 months

Lit_Up

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

how is it any of t-mobiles fault that your bills are high? I assume you negotiated on new contracts every 12 / 18 / 24 months to get what you thought would cover your usage?

Hold on a sec folks. It looks like you haven't read what I wrote.

My partner phoned them up on several occasions asking them why our bills were so high. They never told us about FLEXIBLE BOOSTERS eg unlimited landline calls and unlimited calls to other tmobiles for £4.35 each. My partner doesn't really use the internet, so she never did her own research. But now that I've taken the reigns, I've realised that paying an extra tenner a month would drive our bills down by nearly a hundred pounds a month. Why couldn't they have told her about the flexible boosters when she was asking how to drive the costs down? Because they looked at the payment history and saw that here was a woman who could afford large bills and they wanted to keep the money coming through. Cynical !!!!!!!s. No way are we staying with T-Mobile unless the compensate us for their greed.

Lit_Up

gjchester wrote: »

121


Unfortunatly I would have to side with T-Mobile and Snakeeyes. You've used far more minutes than your allowance, and you've been charged accordingly.

Have you or your partner ever asked if there was a more suitable tarriff?

You don't say what you were on but it sounds like you too have gone way over your allowance.

The smackdown really is why on earth have you and your partner not kept on top of the bills? If I had a £200+ mobile bill going out each month I'd want to know why.

Yes if you'd read the post in full. She phoned up on several occasions trying to get the bills down. They never told her about flexible boosters.

Lit_Up wrote: »

Now. I then saw, having logged into my t-mobile account, that there was an option for a flexible booster for £4.95 each per month. If me and my partner had had the unlimited landline and tmobile boosters, then our bills would have been something like £45 a month. She has phoned up t-mobile on several occasions asking them why her bills are quite high and they never told her about flexible boosters. Why is this? Happy to just see these huge sums of money coming in?