18 month contracts - why so bad ?

yorkiebar

OK, simple question. I see comments on here saying that 18 month contracts are the devil's spawn. Why ? I must be missing something, if the deal if a good one but happens to be 18 months rather than 12 then what's the "catch" ?

Cheers.

Sid_Harper

well, it means you are tied in for 18 months rather than a year. So if you are one of the following you might not be so happy:

- in 12 months time you're not using the phone so much so maybe a PAYG is more suitable, you're still stuck for another 6 months (and so you may even prefer to go for a virgin 6 month deal, or a SIM-only rolling contract if you already have a phone)
- you have to have the latest phone, and have to wait 6 months for an upgrade unless you pay through the nose for an offline phone

Otherwise, there's no catch. It's about whether or not you're happy with being tied in for 18 months. I've just renewed a contract with T-mobile for 24 months because I'm happy with the priceplan discount they gave me for something they don't offer any more. If I want a new phone, I'll just go and buy one off ebay.

lawbunny

Hey,

A lot of people on this forum feel that 18 month contracts are the devil's spawn because networks appear to be slowly fazing out 12 month contracts in an effort to lock you to them for longer without having to give you an upgrade.

I have to say, I tend to sit on the fence a bit on this argument. I've just reached the end of an 18 month contract which I've been happy with and my phone is still very good after all that time. I reckon if you are getting a better deal on 18 month contracts (ie often you get more mins/texts for your money and a better phone) then that is fair enough. However, if networks start thinking they can reduce the value of their 18 month contracts because they are slowly doing away with 12 month contracts then obviously this would be different.

yorkiebar

Ah OK, so if you're not too bothered with keeping up with phone fashions and get a good deal then there is no problem.

Cheers!

lawbunny

Pretty much.

If you look at it this way: if you were on PAYG would you buy a new phone every year? Or would you probably keep your phone for 18 month / 2 years / longer? If you're not too fussed with getting the newest phone every 12 months, and the network offers you a good price plan for 18 months then it can sometimes be worth it.

elljay20

the networks want less churn. 12 month contracts will be pretty hard to come by over the next few months. as a retailer i'd prefer 12 month my self, as i can churn them sooner, but it's not going to happen any more!!

mobilejunkie

Bad because over any given three year period I end up with just 2 free phones instead of 3 (since I have 10 current contracts that means the 20 instead of 30 on current performance) - plus higher risk exposure, inferior cash-flow and less profit on the deals! Lol!

chipbuttyman

24 month contracts will be the norm soon

eljmayes

To be honest I can never see 24 month contracts coming here- the price of Pay As You Go phones are so cheap (100 quid will buy you a decent phone nowadays) and SIM only deals are such good value that to sign for two years would be lunacy. I think that anyone signing up to 18 months with a network should look to see if they really need the latest phone, if you don't then go on SIM only.

If a phone came along that was so advanced and expensive to produce that it needed to be on a 24 month contract then we may see it- but the market is so suturated now the networks I believe are more bothered with keeping customers locked into any type of contract on their network.

Sid_Harper

24m contracts have existed for a few years! I've just renewed mine for another 24 months due to to getting a good deal. Some things are getting less fair - e.g. T-mobile charge for voicemail and charge a minimum of one minute on newer plans... my old one is substantially discounted and doesn't have those problems.

zx2011

The latest trend seems to to be SIM only deals and sometimes for contracts that can be ended with as little as 30 days notice. These deals are great if you don't need to upgrade your handset every 12 or 18 months.

http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/paymsim
http://www.o2.co.uk/mobilestariffs/tariffs/paymonthly/simplicity
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm?go=simpacks.paymonthly
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/sim-card/?ref=newhome_justsim
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/simCardOnly.do