Database Users

Cheapest way to buy a TyTn over 12 months in the UK?

I think I've finally worked it out:
Orange SPV 3100 from Scancom on 12M Business 200 contract
Phone £100
6 months line rental (£15.275 per month) £91.65 (half price offer for 6 months)
Switch to Business 120 after 6 months.
6 months line rental (£25.85 per month) £155.10
Total £346.75 (including the VAT and free insurance)
I'm just after a basic phone function with a smaller PocketPC (I'm using a Dell Amin X3 at the moment) so phone contract extras don't interest me.
I've not seen any Vodaphone deals that come under £400 which are just for 12 months and I suspect the T-Mobile Vario II may not be cheaper but I'll wait until it comes out - assuming it's before the end of the month.
Anyone know of a cheaper way?
Regards
Bill

hmm
I was offered the v160 for
£180 and same price as my current contract was (£15pcm).. but as i was on a 50% discounted package i dont think I would have been paying £15.
I managed to get the following deal
Handset £120
Anytime 125 @ £20 pcm x 9 months
Anytime 125 @ £25 pcm x 3 months
With this i get the £40 extras pack completely free which the voda rep told me can equate to 40mb pcm for gprs..
total price was £375..
Just need to get my moneys worth out of the free mins now

htc_dom: that's a nice deal. Is that for rentention then, were you renewing your contract, or starting as a virgin subscriber?
V

I got the v1605 for £72 plus 18mth Anytime 200 contract with 250 texts and 6 months half price.

Maybe i'm missing the point here, but the whole point of this device is high speed data access.... so data bundles are the major concern...well, its my major concern.
Which is why i'm trying my best to hold out for T-Mobile.

Yeah V, it was retention (suppose i could have got a better deal if i had waited longer but i aint too greedy.. lol well try not to be) I think i shot myself in the foot because before i agreed to the contract over the phone i stated i wouldnt pay anymore than £120 for the handset and the retention guy stated he couldnt go lower than £120.. hmmm
bydandie said:
I got the v1605 for £72 plus 18mth Anytime 200 contract with 250 texts and 6 months half price.
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I was told voda only do 18mnths now.. and when i made a fuss the rep said "Ok i will do it for 12mnths this time only.. (yeah right!)"
Id like a shorter contract to get out of it quicker if i need to... I like getting the best deal (or trying to who doesnt!) And i onlyu use the free mins usually after 7pm to make use of the stop the clock tarrif
gazzrenn: yeah high speed data access is good.. but t-mobile do have a fair usage policy of 2gb bandwidth pcm.. they also say that you cannot use msn or skype etc with their services...
now if im paying say £35+ pcm for the contract, Id want what i pay for..
I actually rang t-mobile up and asked the release date for the vario2.. didnt get one (Suprise Suprise).. asked for the MDA Pro (universal) and was told £299 on a 3g data ONLY package @ £30pcm thats quite a bit for me... and was told no voice calls at all on that number.. but cant 3 (hutchinson3 that is) do 3g data and voice with video all on the same tarrif??
Most devices now use wifi and there are so many hotspots about.. i cant see me using over 40mb pcm via gprs or 3g (even though im not in a 3g enabled area yet) so i aint gonna moan.. and I like many other have got the device well below what the rrp is including the contract.
I think new customers would get a better deal on this device as I've been told a few times by retentions that they get subsidised for new customers so can give better deals..

UK Tariff/Network advice please!

I'm one of the many waiting for the Leo. It's popped up on a couple of sites already with networks and tariffs attached to buy now with Nov 11th despatch.
I'm on O2 but there's a lot of speculation about them raking the price of the tarrifs up. I would like to stick with them because they are reliable in terms of reception.
So lets cut to the chase:
T-Mobile are offering it on 18 month with 700 mins talk time, unlimited texts and internet for £35. Oh and the device is free!
Vodaphone are doing a similar package but for 24 months.
What is reception like for these two in comparison to O2? Or should I just be patient to see what they offer?

For signal reception, that's entirely down to your location.
My expectation is that the device will be free on a £45/month contract for 24 months.
Maybe £50 for £35/month over 24 months.
Maybe £97 for £35/month over 18 months.
That is my prediction, not a statement of fact.

This is what I was thinking. A bloody rip-off compared to other networks IMO. T-mobile wasn't very good reception wise but as we all know, they are set to merge with Orange. I presume this means better reception for all?
As an existing O2 customer they should price-match tariffs, surely they won't want to start losing a customers too?

Mobile Phones Direct http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk is offering it for free on T-Mobile for £34.26 a month / 18 months / 700 minutes / unlimited texts & Web 'n' Walk / 3 months free insurance. It's the best deal I've seen on the web. Be patient! Wait until just before Xmas (I have to anyway) when the price war starts and you'll get a good deal...

aiwama said:
Mobile Phones Direct http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk is offering it for free on T-Mobile for £34.26 a month / 18 months / 700 minutes / unlimited texts & Web 'n' Walk / 3 months free insurance. It's the best deal I've seen on the web. Be patient! Wait until just before Xmas (I have to anyway) when the price war starts and you'll get a good deal...
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That's the one I put in my first post Thanks though I'll try patience

Does anybody know whether T-Mobile are going to muck up the HD2 with its own (horrible) widgets or leave it well alone and original? Is the mobile going to be MDA'd or going to stay HTC'd? I KNOW this website is precisely to "sort out" any dislikes, BUT I would personally prefer that T-Mobile offers an HTC instead of an MDA.

Mobile phones direct sell their phones unlocked, so there wont be any T mobile branding at all.

Mobile phones direct have awesome deals, but their customer service is less than ideal. Expect your order to be canceled from them for minor issues that wouldn't take more than a phone call to resolve. Their automated notifications were innacurate (they blame the carrier for anything that might go wrong). I had to be very persistent when I ordered my TD2 a couple of months ago! The guys seemed to be on a race against the clock to hang up, and in not much mood to help.
Once my order went through (after four attempts I think), I had it next morning All in all, you need to be patient, but noone else can beat their price!

Mobile phones direct does look like the best deal out there at the moment, but if you use them remember to cancel the "free" insurance. 15-20 clicks and the sacrifice of a goat will reveal the extra small print of the extra charges that come "free".
But hey, once you have the phone, you never have to deal with them again, which is good.

pangel83 said:
Mobile phones direct have awesome deals, but their customer service is less than ideal. Expect your order to be canceled from them for minor issues that wouldn't take more than a phone call to resolve. Their automated notifications were innacurate (they blame the carrier for anything that might go wrong). I had to be very persistent when I ordered my TD2 a couple of months ago! The guys seemed to be on a race against the clock to hang up, and in not much mood to help.
Once my order went through (after four attempts I think), I had it next morning All in all, you need to be patient, but noone else can beat their price!
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Just a quick question about Mobile Phones Direct. Once I order my phone, I'm assuming my contract is then with Vodafone (who I will be getting my HD2 with hopefully) and I can phone Vodafone to increase and decrease my contract and change texts etc yes?
Just want to make sure, before I go placing an order with them.

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-htc-touch-hd2.html
O2, £25 per month for 24 months with 600 min unlitmed Text and £99.00 for phone, or same for £39 at £35.00 per month.

mec1234 said:
http://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-htc-touch-hd2.html
O2, £25 per month for 24 months with 600 min unlitmed Text and £99.00 for phone, or same for £39 at £35.00 per month.
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What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!

vinokirk said:
What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!
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That's a 24 month pay-per-MB contract on a data-centric phone, too.
To be fair, 24 month contracts as absurd as they are, are probably ok for casual phone users. For enthusiasts (which presmably 90% of the people on a site such as this are), that last 12 months is going to make you feel like you're handcuffed to a piece of junk when next year's devices come around.
I'm even wary of 18 month contracts!

vinokirk said:
What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!
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Someone who is planning to sell his phone in 3 months, use the money to buy another one SIM-free, and then use the new phone with his contract SIM card, repeating as necessary until the term of the contract is up. Doing it this way means you can upgrade whenever you like, and you don't have to pay the full SIM-free cost of the first phone up-front; you pay it off over 2 years instead.
It can work out quite cheap. You can get a TP2 from Vodafone on a £30-a-month contract with no charge at all for the first three months. A comparable SIM-only contract would probably cost £20 a month, which means you effectively get a TP2 for a total payment of just £150, paid off at £10 a month, with 2 years' interest-free credit.
The only problem is if you think you might want to change carriers within the 24-month period; that's a real pain.

mr_Ray said:
That's a 24 month pay-per-MB contract on a data-centric phone, too.
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It £6.50 for the unlimted Data bolt on.

mec1234 said:
It £6.50 for the unlimted Data bolt on.
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So an extra £156 on top of a 24 month contract, makes it less attractive.

HD2 available on Virgin Mobile UK

Just in case you hadn't noticed (well I hadn't anyway!) the HD2 is now available on Virgin Mobile in the UK
http://bit.ly/6tBFFr
The deals seem to blow some of the established ones away

Hardly blown away, to get the free phone you need to sign up for a 2 year tariff and the £35, 18 month tariff isn't much better than what I got from O2. Except I got the phone for less than £2 and they want £20.
Still, some good deals on there, especially if they have good stock levels.

Fair comment. I haven't seen that deal on O2.
It's just that I was about to commit to either a £35 18 month contract or £45 12 month (handsets £free - £90). So £25/m (+£80) seems ok.
But as you say, let's see what the stock levels are like.

this IS the best priced company out there, i ordered mine last night.
18 months, virgin £25, 500 mins, unlimited text and internet to 1gb fair usage, phone cost £80 + £5 postage. with this i got 2 months free so £50 because i am a virgin media customer.
you can get £30 cashback through quidco.com or another cashback site.
even the customer service at tmobile couldn't believe it (when i was getting my PAC) and had to go online to check lol.
25*18 = 450 - 50 = 400 + 85 = 485 for 18 months.
that about the same cost if you took this on vodafone through a third party company (dial-a-phone) but here you can port your number (which i think is an important thing).

iandooley said:
Just in case you hadn't noticed (well I hadn't anyway!) the HD2 is now available on Virgin Mobile in the UK
http://bit.ly/6tBFFr
The deals seem to blow some of the established ones away
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Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this. It is a good deal.
Sunil_237 said:
this IS the best priced company out there, i ordered mine last night.
18 months, virgin £25, 500 mins, unlimited text and internet to 1gb fair usage, phone cost £80 + £5 postage. with this i got 2 months free so £50 because i am a virgin media customer.
you can get £30 cashback through quidco.com or another cashback site.
even the customer service at tmobile couldn't believe it (when i was getting my PAC) and had to go online to check lol.
25*18 = 450 - 50 = 400 + 85 = 485 for 18 months.
that about the same cost if you took this on vodafone through a third party company (dial-a-phone) but here you can port your number (which i think is an important thing).
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Click to collapse
You are right. It's the best deal I've seen so far and I haven't seen anything close from anyone else with those minutes and Internet included. Add the 2 months free and cashback and it's an outstanding deal.
Do you have your phone yet? If so can you use Skype on it to chat and talk?
Any issues with it?
Also, did it come with the case and an SD card?
Thanks.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
my virgin contract was up this month aswel!

I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.

Pagnell said:
Hardly blown away, to get the free phone you need to sign up for a 2 year tariff and the £35, 18 month tariff isn't much better than what I got from O2. Except I got the phone for less than £2 and they want £20.
Still, some good deals on there, especially if they have good stock levels.
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Hardly a reason to say the Virgin offer isn't a good deal - show me where O2 advertise a HD2 for £2 on a £20 per month contract? I'm going to say that you can't because it was a retention offer which they probably only offered you because you spent £30+ the previous 18 months with O2.
To concentrate on getting a 'free' phone also shows your naivety in thinking - no handset is offered for free as they are all subsidised according to how much you are paying over the term of the contract (it's funny how the handset becomes 'free' when the monthly price is £35+ over 18+ months isn't it?).
The Virgin mobile tarrifs are extremely good value in comparison to everyone else especially when you compare the overall costs. Now if someone can find out if they are sim unlocked directly from Virgin this will become a stonking deal.

kai_ said:
Now if someone can find out if they are sim unlocked directly from Virgin this will become a stonking deal.
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I'll let you know later. Mine's due to be delivered today

arfster said:
I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.
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I don't think it's way more expensive. In fact I think that it will still be cheaper on Virgin.
How many minutes and texts does your deal come with and what network is it on? Is the Internet "unlimited" on that network and could you please let us know how much you actually paid for the phone? £98, £120, £101?
Thanks.

My deal with T-Mobile was
16GB SD -
£25.00 cashback
Free phone
900 Mins / Unlimited txts and internet
18th Month contract.
£35.00 per month
I moved from 3 to T-Mob to get this phone..

arfster said:
I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.
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Virgin Mobile Tariff (best value/cheapest that I can see):
500 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet:
18 months x £25 + £79.99 for handset = £529.99 total cost.
Your tariff:
12 months x £34 + £100-'ish' for handset = £508'ish'
No idea how much 'ish' is and also no idea how many minutes or texts you are getting either for your £508'ish'. Neither can it be said that £22 for 6 extra months usage is 'way more expensive'.
When I was looking for my HD2 I think at the time MobilePhonesDirect were offering the best value for me, can't remember the exact pricing and tariff but overall cost was something in the region of £520 but with only 300 minutes and 200 texts, unlimited data on T-Mobile. That was over a 12 month term I think and also required £102 up front for the handset.
Now considering that the cheapest you're going to get a HD2 outright for is about £450 from Carphonewarehouse (reported by someone, but no idea if it's sim free or not) you can't say that the value of calls/texts/data isn't worth £80? After all, even if you buy the handset outright you've still got to pay for a phone plan of some kind.

kai_ said:
Hardly a reason to say the Virgin offer isn't a good deal - show me where O2 advertise a HD2 for £2 on a £20 per month contract?
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And show me where I said it wasn't a good deal. Take your time.
kai_ said:
To concentrate on getting a 'free' phone also shows your naivety in thinking - no handset is offered for free as they are all subsidised according to how much you are paying over the term of the contract (it's funny how the handset becomes 'free' when the monthly price is £35+ over 18+ months isn't it?).
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You're talking to someone who worked for O2 IT for four years, I'm well aware how this works thanks and that phones are subsidised. And I'd wouldn't say I 'concentrated' on anything, merely talked about something that was relevant.
Still, feel free to continue being patronizing, I'm sure you feel a whole lot better for it.

but ....
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me

kevb said:
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, now I'm very interested.
If possible could you let me know what your fastest download rate is when you have good coverage. Also if possible could you test out Skype (if you use it).
Thanks again.

DuoM said:
Thanks, now I'm very interested.
If possible could you let me know what your fastest download rate is when you have good coverage. Also if possible could you test out Skype (if you use it).
Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
I don't use skype, never felt the urge, i never max my tariff out as is
don't have any any other apps loaded on it yet except for resco explorer and sbp backup.
this is only my 2nd day with it, ordered it online from virgin at about 2:30pm and it was delivered next day by DHL
it was my intention to run the phone "as is" for a while to make sure there are no problems, which means i will not be installing any other software just yet.
if i download any large files files i will try and time it manually if thats any good to you?
any other info you need feel free to ask.
apart from getting used to a (very)sensitive screen compared to my last resistive screen i am still feeling the love for it

kevb said:
I don't use skype, never felt the urge, i never max my tariff out as is
don't have any any other apps loaded on it yet except for resco explorer and sbp backup.
this is only my 2nd day with it, ordered it online from virgin at about 2:30pm and it was delivered next day by DHL
it was my intention to run the phone "as is" for a while to make sure there are no problems, which means i will not be installing any other software just yet.
if i download any large files files i will try and time it manually if thats any good to you?
any other info you need feel free to ask.
apart from getting used to a (very)sensitive screen compared to my last resistive screen i am still feeling the love for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you could try and time it manually or you can use the website: http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed
which should allow you to test the download speed.
The only thing is that I'm not to sure about how accurate it is and their servers seem to be in the USA so that's probably not too good.
I was going to ask about the keyboard but it sounds like it's super sensitive, like others I've tried on the HD2. Can you type on it?
Oh, perhaps you could tell me which ROM version you have and if it came with an SD card and a case (not that I normally use one)?
Thanks.
EDIT: Oh, just saw the ROM in your sig. Did it come with that one?

I was really tempted but then realised you cannot downgrade tariffs at anytime. I personally think going via mobilephonesdirect with topchashback and vf maybe the better option.
Scott

kevb said:
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect!
My T-Mob contract is up in a week, and Virgin was by far the best deal I could find.
Virgin £25pm 18mths + £79.99phone = £529.99
The closest I can get is:
TMob £22.50pm 18ths + £169.99 = £574.99
Virgin give more 300 more minutes and unlimited texts (versus 200), both having unlimited web. I can't find a better deal really. I would perfer O2, but I can't get anywhere near Virgin for mins/txts and phone price. Closest is £20pm + £7.50Web 18mths + £250 phone, making it £745 in total! And you only get 75 minutes!
I was worried about being locked into operator provided updates only (my Diamond was bought from Expansys, so fully unlocked), but this is great news! Thanks!
Quick question: Do I need my PAC code when I order, or can I do it after ordering? I was able to do so when I moved to T-Mob...

I was close to considering...
Tried to coerce O2 into getting near to the Virgin offer but the best they could offer was £35/month 18 month contract, 600 mins, 1000 texts, unlimited wi-fi (after I forced the issue) and unlimited internet with £90 for the phone.
Total cost £720 over the life and although Virgin is £190 cheaper I have broadband with O2 so leaving them would increase my monthly payment by £5 and therefore £90 over the life so Virgin only worked out £100 cheaper for me (though I could've got £30 from Quidco).
£100 is a lot of money but I have no experience of Virgin whereas O2 have always been good to me (and normally very generous with my renewals) and I know I get good reception wherever I need it.
Ordered it around 18.45 and supposedly should receive tomorrow according to the email and text they sent me - weather permitting - though I was told Friday by the guy on the phone.

Why do people sign contracts?

I realize many people sign 2 year contracts because they see "free phone" and think the carrier subsidizing the phone somehow works out in their interest over the course of 2 years of paying $80-100 per month. But, considering the attractive prepaid/pay as you go/no contract options available now, why don't people take the time to do some simple math and realize paying $300 for an unlocked phone and $30-50 a month thereafter is much cheaper than getting a free phone and an expensive contract plan?
Thoughts? Personally, the notion of signing away your life for 2 years just to get phone service is absurd.

Not necessarily, I'm on contract for three years but I got my skyrocket for 200 new. My plan is only 50 tax in and has everything I need, including unlimited texting, 6 Gibson of data, 500 daytime, evenings & weekends after 6, call I'd, voicemail and unlimited network calling. Mind u, some people are paying more for less, but that doesn't mean that EVERYONE is paying 100 per month. Most people can't afford the 600 upfront for a good smartphone, and carriers know this

icenight89 said:
Not necessarily, I'm on contract for three years but I got my skyrocket for 200 new. My plan is only 50 tax in and has everything I need, including unlimited texting, 6 Gibson of data, 500 daytime, evenings & weekends after 6, call I'd, voicemail and unlimited network calling. Mind u, some people are paying more for less, but that doesn't mean that EVERYONE is paying 100 per month. Most people can't afford the 600 upfront for a good smartphone, and carriers know this
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That's not bad, really, but contract plans in the U.S. tend to be more expensive. Like, T-Mobile's standard 5GB contract plan with however many minutes and unlimited messaging is $80 a month, and you're throttled after 5GB down to dial up speeds, as far as I know.
I mean, you can find fairly new smartphones on the Internet (ebay, et al) for $200-400. Expensive, sure, but cheaper than a 2 year contract in most cases, even with a subsidized phone. Consider paying $200 or $250 for a subsidized phone, and you're still locked into a contract. Seems kind of out there, especially with the Draconian data usage policies all carriers here are implementing.

Pretty good deal, but I wouldn't commit to a carrier for 3 years (at least not in the states) because the landscape can change so much. I especially wouldn't commit to the same phone for 3 years now that they're releasing more powerful ones by the droves (sure, you can get an upgrade, but that leads to a contract extension anyway).

I just did it because the ''free'' HTC Desire HD when it was just released and I took an contract where I could change it after 3 months and that resulted that I right now pay € 22,79 before inflation correction this was € 22,50.
So for about € 600 I have unlimited mobile internet with a fup and € 20 credit each month which I can call 100 min with, but my contract is fishy, I take that € 20 to the next month if I not use it, but most time it will just get lost so my family often borrow my phone because I don't use much off those mins.
But when I took my contract the HTC Desire HD had still a new price between € 500 and € 550 so if we go calculate then I just pay about € 100 for the mobile internet and call mins.
So that would make € 4,16 for each month. That is really cheap as aslong i'm in my country i have internet, if i'm in another country I can use call and sms from within that € 20.
But in October 2012 my contract will end so I will not make it new but end it and then I will just use no sim card or a prepaid for being reachable. Because mobile contract are not cheap anymore in my country.
But this contract is my second where I have high end smartphone for free with and pay around € 600 after two years, my first was with iPhone 3G but that contract cost some more, but still in € 600 I guess something like € 650 maybe, but I forget it.
These contracts are so made that if you go over your bundle that you will pay much more, so that's why you get phone for free, but they will also charge you more if you send a text message to another country, for example, if I send a text message when I log on to a german network it cost me € 0,13 and goes off from my bundle, but if I send that same text message from my provider inside my country then it cost me € 0,39 and that is charged extra.
So i'm smart and whenever I send my gf a text message who is staying in another country, then I log my phone on the German network, it has saved me alot already.

This is almost like asking why do people go to mcdonalds?

I have both a postpaid contract account (standard 2yr in US) and a prepaid account with the same carrier. (TMOUS) (long story, don't ask)
I FEEL (note the caps phrase, please) that not only is customer service better on the postpaid account, but the data speeds are faster (comparing SIM to SIM not, device to device).....
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

radlink14 said:
This is almost like asking why do people go to mcdonalds?
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Yeah, it is, considering the abundance of other options.

Probably because most carriers try their damndest to prevent people from getting on postpaid no-contract plans. I'm currently fighting with T-Mobile over this and have since left for AT&T which had no issue giving me a postpaid plan without a contract (since I bought my device outright).

Contract worked out cheaper for me.

synaesthetic said:
Probably because most carriers try their damndest to prevent people from getting on postpaid no-contract plans. I'm currently fighting with T-Mobile over this and have since left for AT&T which had no issue giving me a postpaid plan without a contract (since I bought my device outright).
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Oh boy. I'm curious now--what'd T-Mobile do? I haven't heard many horror stories about their postpaid stuff, but to be honest I haven't heard much about T-Mobile lately at all.

pottedplant73 said:
Oh boy. I'm curious now--what'd T-Mobile do? I haven't heard many horror stories about their postpaid stuff, but to be honest I haven't heard much about T-Mobile lately at all.
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I left T-Mobile for a month to go to Sprint because coverage was terrible at my home (I've since moved). Sprint wasn't much better, so I canceled during my 30-day trial and went back to T-Mobile.
In the intervening month I was with Sprint, T-Mobile had canceled their Even More Plus (postpaid no-contract) plans and brought their current plans instead. I told them specifically I didn't want a contract, that I had my own devices and didn't need subsidized or financed phones. The rep agreed to all of this and signed me back up on what should have been the closest approximation of what I had before (500 minutes, unlimited SMS, 5GB internets).
Except it wasn't. It was a two-year contract on both lines, even though I never got a subsidized device out of the deal. So I called them and complained about this and tried to get them to fix it. The only thing they were willing to do was to give me a cheaper option by condensing my two lines into a family plan. I was not happy but I saw little choice outside of paying two lines' worth of ETF fees.
After that I didn't really have many complaints. The service was great, speeds were wonderful and the price was pretty damn low. So I didn't press the issue of being set up on a contract without my initial consent.
But then in November, T-Mobile began to heavily compress all JPEG images on the internet when using mobile data.
I don't just mean minor compression to save a few bits here and there. This was major, significant compression where JPEG filesizes would be reduced by 350%. The end result was, of course, incredibly poor image quality all across the web--and even in the Android Market. The transparent image-compression proxy caused apps like Google+ to force-close when viewing pictures.
This looked awful on my old Nexus S 800x480 display. It looked far, far worse on my Galaxy Nexus's 1280x720 display. Naturally I called and complained. Long and loud. Nothing ever changed. Nobody ever even attempted to solve the issue--indeed, if it was even an issue and not just an underhanded way to try and conserve bandwidth.
After over a dozen calls to customer service and tech support spanning nearly ten hours of phone conversations, a huge number of factory resets done on both devices to placate their reps, and two SIM card replacements, I was done, fed up with the lot of them. Went to AT&T and transferred both lines over. Now T-Mobile's trying to charge me ETFs.

(Lack of) Orange loyalty if you want to move to EE - experiences

Hi,
I have been with Orange for 12 years, with the current contract being in high 30/low 40 quid range. So far I've been reasonably happy with them and thought I'd upgrade to a HTC One (from a Sensation) and take advantage of EE's LTE (as my phone, etc now brands itself as EE). (contract end in 1 week)
Basically, no matter what I discuss with them they will not offer a single thing (not a penny, add-on, anything) if I move from Orange to EE (even though they are the same company more or less). They have said that because I would move to EE I would effectively be a new customer and that 'there is no loyalty offers/bonuses for existing Orange customers wanting to move to EE' and 'EE is a new company, we offer no loyalty offer to customers because all EE customers are new".
Can this be true? They offer no incentive for Orange customers to move? It'd not like I wanted to move to something the same price (it would likely to 5Gb contract as I would use it tether for work (London area)). I asked about 12, 18, and 24 month contracts and they said the same. It's the price stated on the web, no discount, no handset discount, nothing (18 month isn't on the web but you can ask for it and it's a £5 more a month plus the cost of a 12 month handset price!). I even pointed out that CwP and P4U had (slightly) better handset price offers on their website and they didn't care. Also said that if I was to treated as a completely new customer there was very little incentive to stay with an EE company then - again, nonchalance in all calls (three in total - upgrades and retentions)
I've search the other threads and they don't seem to answer my specific question, which is: Has any who moved from Orange to EE got them to give you any type of loyalty offer/bonus based on your time as customer on Orange?
Cheers
PS - are EE really doing that well at conversions...?

Are you within 3 months of contract end date? If not then they will not offer you anything. I tried.

Can't you stay with Orange and buy a phone without contract?

Screw what you can out of Orange on a new contract then, after 2 weeks I think it is, you can get a free transfer to EE.
Edit: last time I read the Ts n Cs I think the only drawback was that you had to sign for a new contract with EE that had to be the same length or longer than your existing contract.
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Dharkan said:
Can't you stay with Orange and buy a phone without contract?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One problem with this though,
He wants to use LTE. . . faster internet, Orange and T-Mobile cant offer this in the Uk as of yet (Even though there the same Company as EE) and dont know how long we have to wait, so the only way to get 4G LTE is switching to EE. . . It Sucks. . .
I feel sorry for ya man, but on the same subject, if you went to CPW or P4U or something, wont you be able to get a better deal? Free handset etc etc. . . i find these companies never give me a Upgrade deal, so i always get a PAC code and take out a new contract. . . unless you spend and extra £30 a month on top of your bill they dont wanna know!

There is no such thing as loyalty and hasn't been for a long time. Shop around & save yourself some money.

I moved from TMobile to EE and got the HTC One and 5gb of data for £46 for 12 months. 4G is amazing with the phone.

How did you get 5gb for £46? That's the tariff for 3gb
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EE are **** for customer service.
Also their contracts are a god damn joke! 41 a month and still pay for the HTC One!? Can piss right off!
Mate if you want LTE I would go with O2 or Vodafone as they will have LTE by Summer
OR buy the phone SIM Free, then get a SIM Only 12 month contract from EE £26 a month 1gb data unlimited minutes/texts

Hi,
Thanks for all the responses. So, it does look as if Orange really aren't offering anything at all for existing customers to switch to EE. A shame as before with Orange I have always got some sort of loyalty deal (it's got worse over the last three years mind). Normally no handset fee, up to 10% of the monthly fee, and 18 month contracts at the same price as 24 (and once a free MMS package but then never managed to resolve the issue that I couldn't send MMS on that phone throughout the whole the contract - I did try(and apparently so did Orange, hmm))
Just to reply to some posters.
I only have just over a week left on my contract.
It'd be great to get a the phone not on contract but £500+ is a pretty big chunk to pay in one hit (I know you end paying it anyway, but it's easier if spread over the months)
I don't think Orange or T-mobile will ever get LTE, EE as the parent isn't going to let them IMO
I had thought about this, getting it on Orange and switch but their offer only lasts until 30/04, and knowing Orange the delivery will either get delayed until 01/05 or they'll be some hidden gem of a T&C. I might look into it though and if it works out cheaper try and talk to them. (though the cc these seem to be so gleeful that can't do anything for you...). Also, because I am looking for a 18 month deal it might be difficult.
£46 for 5Gb! If that's a 12 month contract that £16 cheaper per month! How!?! Did they charge you for the handset? I'd double check with them that you're on the right contract (I've had '18 month' deals that when processed became 24, leading to two weeks of irate conversations and then them finally conceding - sometimes I think they have a policy of mistakes and obstruction in resolving them in the hope you give up, but maybe I'm being old and cynical.)
I had talked to them about waiting for O2 or Vodaphone (I had thought about 3 but not sure if their rural coverage is any good, I do spend a bit of time up in Yorkshire) and they don't seem to care a jot. Also O2 and Vodaphone have announced their intention to make 4G a 'premium' product so can't see their prices being dramatically different. Especially as HTC One on O2 and Vodaphone with 4Gb (of 3G data) is £47 pm (24 months). I have a feeling that as EE have set their prices at this the level the others won't be dramatically different (think the big energy companies). Three might be an option but as I said I do worry about outside of urban area coverage. Also O2 4G spectrum purchase wasn't great IMO.
Anyway, if anyone has managed to get anything more (or not), let me know or feel free to rant about Orange/EE. If I ever do manage to get a deal I'll let you know so you use it a bit of a stick to beat them with (but I wouldn't hold your breath).

Pads: I haven't looked today (well, this week to be honest) but check out TopCashBack for cash-back deals.
I switched from 3 to Orange to get HTC One on day of release. Went through P4U initially on £36 for 24mths with beats plugs. Next day saw TCB offering same deal, through P4U for any 18mth contract AND £101 cashback. Phoned P4U, changed to the 18mth with plugs AND they threw in £100 cashback as well.
All because the cretins at 3 refused to offer me the phone for free (I'd been with them on top contract for 10 years.)
There's no point me paying for 4G ad I'm in Wales. We might get it in 2015.
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Quite a while ago (ive been out the country a year and a half, so probably 3 years) I moved from Orange (to T-Mobile, so that doesn't help you) because they wouldn't offer me a sensible deal.
You're better off on a cheap tariff and over spending rather than getting an all inclusive package if you want a good deal.
Screw 'em, just go with the best deal you can find.

Better wait for other companies to roll out 4G, the monopoly of EE is just stupid and the prices are rip off.
Sent from my HTC One X

I finished my 3 phone contract with Orange (after 10+ years) at the end of my contract. They basically shrugged their shoulders when I said I must have unlimited data. So ended, preordered two HTC Ones from mobile phones direct. Because of HTCONE delays just took temporary PAYG Sims for a month. Now have 2 year T mobile full Monty 1000 mins talk, unlimited text and data for £31 a month phone free. Only 3G. but who cares they haven't got 4G where I am anywhere. Walk with your feet everybody loyalty means nothing in phone business. PS keeping original numbers is easy now.
I think Orange are overpricing their 4G and when people start getting their over the limit charges are they going to get some stick.
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