Mobile Phone Charges

[securespark]

I am searching for a new smartphone handset and the best value monthly allowances for Mrs Secure, but am not sure which route to go (yes, I know I have to either pick up the phone or go on the internet or get myself to a mobi shop...!)

What do you pay each month for your mobile and what do you get?

How many minutes, texts and how much data is included?

Which company is it with?

Are you tied to a 12/18/24 month contract with a handset included?

Or have you bought your handset and SIM separately?

If so, do you have a 1 month rolling contract?

What is your opinion of 3? Or Talk Mobile?

It has been suggested to me that if I wanted to avoid a long contract, then buying the handset and having a 1 month contract would leave me free to play the market.

Looking back at the last 6 months of statements on-line, Mrs Secure has paid, on average, £29 per month on O2 PAYG.

 

[snico]

I pay just under £30 per month for my contract with T Mobile, have been with them for years so get a good deal.

I get unlimited calls to all networks, unlimited texts, and unlimited data, now 4G too!!! which is fast

I alsy got a phone worth at the time just under £380, and all on an 18 months contract. So a very good deal all round.

Best go into a few shops and haggle with them, bounce them off each other to get the best deal.

When my contract ends, I usually put my phone on Ebay and it pays a lot towards my next deal.

 

[securespark]

Great, thanks.

Best I can come up with to compare with yours is this:

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/SAMSUNG_GALAXY_S_ADVANCE_TF364_FCONS

But it does not match yours! Truly unlimited useage across the board comes out at £61/month!

As Mrs S is with O2, wonder if it's worth ringing them, telling them she'd like to upgrade from PAYG to monthly and see what they can do?

Some markets are backwards: if you wanted car insurance, you'd do better to be disloyal. But with mobiles it seems that they would offer more to keep you. Is that the case overall or just in some circumstances?

 

[chapeau]

When my contract ends, I usually put my phone on Ebay and it pays a lot towards my next deal.

Just looked on Ebay and Galaxy SII are only worth £175 now so I'd get one of those and pay monthly.

 

[snico]

Usually if you have been with them a while you get good deals and its never worth leaving them, tell them you got a better deal elsewhere and they offer you more.

The contract I'm on, the phone was £100 extra. I told them I get it free from another provider, the bloke said to me " lets sort the contract out first, you can what ever phone you want for free anyway!"

Always haggle

 

[chapeau]

You need to take any deal you haggle at the time. if you call back later and try to get the same deal they will say they have no record of the previous offer they made. Mobile phone companies are more likely to lie to you than most I have found.

 

[enyam]

Looking back at the last 6 months of statements on-line, Mrs Secure has paid, on average, £29 per month on O2 PAYG.

Check to see how many text's/minutes/ data did she use on average each month then find a contract to suit, whats the point of paying a monthly bill if not using a fraction of the allowance.

 

[securespark]

Enyam, that's a bit tricky, as she's PAYG.

The easiest way (I'm just knee-deep in statements at the moment) is to total up what she's paid over the years, then average it out.

Mobile phone companies are more likely to lie to you than most I have found.

Just been to Stockport town centre and visited all the phone shops.

Unexplained behaviour at phones 4U.... Had a chat with a girl about my options, compared their deals with one 3's shop gave me, then as I was about to leave, another assistant approached and tried to get me to sign the bit of paper (that the shop were keeping) the girl had written the info. on.

I declined, saying I was not entering into a contract with them so why should I sign anything?

I'm gobsmacked. Why would they want my signature after asking advice on deals if not for nefarious purposes?

Think I upset them by mentioning 3's deal: 2 Galaxy Ace's with 100 mins, unlimited data, 5000 texts and 2000 3 to 3 mins. for £25. Or, 1 Ace and 1 Ace II for £32.

 

[crank39]

I think to bring all that info together into something understandable is this...

You want a smart phone FOR FREE, you want/demand unlimited calls to any network, unlimited texts to any network, at least, the very least 1gb of data although 3 is unlimited, free landline calls too, if you can get all that for £30 a month you've got a good deal.

I got my galaxy S3 on orange and all the above, didn't pay a penny for the phone, demanded a got an extra gig of data = now 2gb, discounted the standard £36 done to £30.......18months as well

Been with them for 15+ years, i have been told by one of their operators i am a gold customer (on their screens) and they will deal, which is nice to know

 

[securespark]

So although 3's deal is not unlimited across the board, do you think it's good?

Either 2 x Galaxy Ace with 100 mins, unlimited data, 5000 texts and 2000 3 to 3 mins. each for £25 per month/24.

Or, 1 x Ace and 1 x Ace II for £32 per month/24 same allowances.

 

[gregers]

im on the 3 network,fine where i am.

i pay around £34 p/m
and get 5k 3 to 3 minutes
5k of texts
2k of voice minutes
all you can eat data
free phone 'galaxy s3'
iirc 18 mth contract.

 

[securespark]

So is my his 'n' hers deal overpriced?

Do you use your allowance??

 

[gregers]

well my missus has exactly the same deal as i have.
i think its a pretty good deal.

er no not a cat in hells chance do i use all that,but its nice to know i have it.

 

[crank39]

It doesn't sound too bad without scouring the net for deals, one thing i would query with them is the 100mins of calls, me personally i'd want at least 600 but a 1000 would be better, this gives me/you peace of mind that you won't go over and incurr silly charges

I nearly went with 3 after trying it on with orange, can't remember the minutes they were offering but defo 5000 texts, 2000 3 to 3, unlimited data, free handset all for £31.50/24, went back to orange to get my pac code and thats when they matched everything APART FROM the data, orange don't do unlimited so i asked for an extra gig, my average monthly data is 700mb, again i know if one month i go mad on apps or whatever i'll still be within

 

[securespark]

Thanks.

I'm not sure O2 would match this as Mrs S is PAYG at the moment...

But it's worth a shot.

One thing I'd like to check is that 3's coverage is OK. He did check my postcode and said it was fine for indoors and outdoors.

You have any issues, gregers, aside from coverage? CS OK?