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Thread: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

  1. #1
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Well, last year I switched to vodafone because they were one of a few companies still doing 12 month contracts (with new phones), now they are not doing them anymore, I've switched to SIM only, here's the price difference:

    SIM only £10, 12 month contract, vodafone, 300mins, unlimited texts (12 months/£120) (24months £240) phone: £439.99 (expansys, new, sim free, may be cheaper elsewhere), total: £679 - £200 saved, so you can change your phone after 12 months if you want, or contract etc... vs

    24 month contracts, £30/month, 24months, 600min, unlimited txt, internet, £150 phone (24 months/£870)

    Anyway, personally I don't understand why the UK population is going along with this false economy, 18/24 month contracts!? They are a rip off, limit consumer choice, especially if the phone only comes with a 12 month warranty, you could potentially be stuck with a broken phone for 12 months, and still be in contract, and there's no way I'm going along with it...

    In fact you can get sim-only deals for £5 a month (with 1 month contract, t-mobile offered me this once).

    Why do we put up with this kind of treatment?

    Josh

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    Squeeler Vini's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    It's all about GiffGaff if you ask me.

    Owned by O2, using O2 transmitters; run by the public.

    Unlimited == unlimited!

  3. #3
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by Vini View Post
    It's all about GiffGaff if you ask me.

    Owned by O2, using O2 transmitters; run by the public.

    Unlimited == unlimited!
    Um...

    * NOW £5 (month - special offer)
    * 100 minutes
    * Unlimited texts
    * Unlimited Internet

    That's INSANE! Might be time to cancel my vodafone 12month sim only thing (got 7days to do this), ans switch to these people. So it's normally £10/month?

    Cheers,

    Josh

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    Squeeler Vini's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by joshwa View Post
    Um...

    * NOW £5 (month - special offer)
    * 100 minutes
    * Unlimited texts
    * Unlimited Internet

    That's INSANE! Might be time to cancel my vodafone 12month sim only thing (got 7days to do this), ans switch to these people. So it's normally £10/month?

    Cheers,

    Josh

    Read more into GiffGaff (before jumping ship) as they're a 'social network' - literally. There's no CS, other than their forum/userbase.

    But also ask yourself, how often do you actually speak to your providers CS?

    ...

    If you sign up in July it's £5 for your first month, and £10 after... You'll have the same signal etc as O2, without the CS, high price and contract tie in.

    Also, for those interested the SIM can be cut down and used in an iPhone 4 if you're gutsy...

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    Theoretical Element Spud1's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by joshwa View Post
    ... especially if the phone only comes with a 12 month warranty, you could potentially be stuck with a broken phone for 12 months, and still be in contract, and there's no way I'm going along with it...
    Just to clear up on this point - in the UK the sales of goods act (combined with goods and services act) actually means that even if they say it has a 12 month warranty, they have to honour it for the entire duration of the phone contract. So if its a 24 month contract, they have to honour it for 24 months.

    All the operators will argue against this but if you complain a few times they will conceed..even Apple have been known to do it. I went through the process when my nokia n73 broke after 16 months on a contract with 3 - they said "no way" at first but then I quoted SOGA to them, and got a call back offering me a replacement.

    ON the 12 month issue - i do believe that Tesco still offer 12 month contracts too..

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    ALT0153™ Rob_B's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Not read much into giffgaff myself, looks cracking

    Personally I went for 18months with a HTC Desire over SIM only as...

    Phone £0 + (£28*18) = £504 (- £90 Quidco but thats now not guaranteed, £28 tariff due to a discount I get)
    600mins, unlim txt, 1GB data

    or

    Phone ~ £380, leaves me ~ £124 to get 18months service, with the tariff I've got (even including a discount I'd get on SIM only) that just wasn't looking possible

    Some are still a good deal, most...not so much!

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Free Mobile Internet:
    You lucky giffgaff pioneers can even enjoy free UK mobile Internet up to the 1st of October 2010. After that date, mobile Internet will be charged at 50p a day (if you use less than 2.5MB/day you'll pay less than 50p and if you go over 30MB you'll be charged extra at 20p/MB).

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    ALT0153™ Rob_B's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    Free Mobile Internet:
    You lucky giffgaff pioneers can even enjoy free UK mobile Internet up to the 1st of October 2010. After that date, mobile Internet will be charged at 50p a day (if you use less than 2.5MB/day you'll pay less than 50p and if you go over 30MB you'll be charged extra at 20p/MB).
    I was just going to post that!

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    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    24 months at £16/month, 100 mins/texts + 500MB per month with HTC Hero phone included. Total £384, phone is about £280 sim free new so that basically gets me 2 years of voice+data for 100 quid. Could have gotten a better deal using cashback, but that seemed like a faff and this way spreads the cost compared to buying the phone upfront.

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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Moved away from contracts to sim only worked out cheaper even after buying the phone. £12 300 min £10 200 min with virgin and £15 200 min unlimted internet.
    Last edited by petercook7; 23-07-2010 at 03:01 PM.

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    Squeeler Vini's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    Free Mobile Internet:
    You lucky giffgaff pioneers can even enjoy free UK mobile Internet up to the 1st of October 2010. After that date, mobile Internet will be charged at 50p a day (if you use less than 2.5MB/day you'll pay less than 50p and if you go over 30MB you'll be charged extra at 20p/MB).
    That's on the "£5" no internet goodybag, or those without actual goodybag 'contracts'.

    Without a goodybag, you pay the prices you see online - as is the same when you run out of minutes.

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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Still find that part a bit suspect, no matter how many times I read it. How difficult would it be to get a PAC code from them if they change their package to one that's no longer competitive? Last thing I want is to lose my number. Also, how many Goodie Bags can you buy in one go?

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    Squeeler Vini's Avatar
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    Re: Goodbye 12 month contracts...

    Quote Originally Posted by TooNice View Post
    Still find that part a bit suspect, no matter how many times I read it. How difficult would it be to get a PAC code from them if they change their package to one that's no longer competitive? Last thing I want is to lose my number. Also, how many Goodie Bags can you buy in one go?
    The billing cycle is manual. There's no direct debit or anything. You just add a payment card and everything you choose to buy comes straight off it. So when your goodybag ends, you have to manually add (or queue) a new one. This is the only real downside.

    Maximum Goodybags you can buy at once is 2, one Active (30 days) and one queued (to continue for 30 days)...

    Getting a PAC shouldn't be an issue, I believe its regulated.

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