Is there anything wrong with this scheme?

trelloskilos

Hi all. A new poster here.

I'd like a critical/devil's advocate view of the following scenario. At the moment, my brother is trying this out, and while it's not a money-making scheme, it seems to make a little sense, but I know little about the ins and outs of phone contracts.

My brother is currently on the 3 mobile network, and has recently got an upgraded phone. The contract stipulates £15 monthly line charge, and £2 per month for the phone itself.

My brother's idea is to sell the phone itself on Ebay, and use the proceeds to get a different (read: newer, better, more gizmo-packed) model. The one he was looking at would have been £12 per month instead of £2 as far as the 3 contract is concerned..

In other words, he gets a 'free' new handset that costs a total of £36 over his 18 month contract, instead of the model that he wants, which would cost £216. He sells the new, unsealed phone he got from 3 for whatever, and buys the model he wants, using whatever he gets from Ebay. - He pays a total of £17 per month during his contract, and ends up with the better phone for less.

I hope that anyone reading this understood it all.

However, are there any problems, risks, or legalities that my brother must consider before taking this course of action?

(And seriously, it is my brother, not me...! Honest...!)

bringmeshoes

if your brother has upgraded to a handset then this is the handset he should use with his contract, really the handset doesn't belong to him until he has paid the full 12 month contract on it, Legally 3 probably wouldn't do anything but if your brother has insurance on his handset or if the handset he does use breaks or is lost he wouldnt be able to claim for a replacement as he has not been using the handset supplied for his sim card

fas3robinj

Hope this doesn't get me into hot water but ......

Telloskillos, I've done what your brother does several times, and saved a fair amount of money doing so. The service provider knew I was not using the supplied phone, because I told them (they can tell what phone model you are using anyway). Whilst they may not have been happy with me doing so, they never raised any issues.

I agree with bringmeshoes, that the phone isn't technically yours until the fixed period of the contract has expired. If there had of been any issues with the contract resulting from me switching phones I would have paid the full amount of the fixed contract period in full and upfront. As for insurance, I never take out insurance on a mobile, so there was no concerns in that respect.

I'm now outside of my fixed contract period and using a Nokia N95 on a contract that was initially taken out (2 years ago) with a Sony Ericsson K800.