Let's talk mobiles
Friday 5th October 2007 02:15:38 PM
My T-Mobile contract expires this month and boy was I glad to get rid of it or what! A few reasons as to why ... I was on the Flext 25 plan where you get £60 worth of credit to use as calls or text (or any mix of the two). This worked out to be 300 minutes or 600 texts, yeah not bad but not when you consider that I mostly went over the allowance and instead of paying £25 per month ended up paying double (or more). It didn't help that it was an 18 month contract either.
So I rang up T-Mobile customer service and asked for my porting authorisation code (to keep the same number) and the guy tries to persuade me to stay on. I wasn't interested in the offers he put forward, let me tell you they weren't even competitive. Ever since mobile phones became common I've always been tuned into the market (I even get friends asking me which deal they should get) anyway this was first hand experience that customer loyalty doesn't get you anywhere.
The very same day I popped into my local phone retailer The Phone Market (crap website but excellent deals) and walked out with a contract with Three 3. Now before you subliminally dismiss this network and think "Oh no, not Three!!" here's the thing, they used to be absolutely pants a few years back but now they're on par with the rest of them (well maybe except the customer service).
I was happy to find out that Three were directly competing with T-Mobile's popular Flext service with their very own Mix n' Match offering. The contract I signed up for is a duration of 18 months (slight eek but then again it's not like I'm going to do without a phone am I?) and it's £18 per month for 500 units where one unit equals a text message or one minute of call time. Think that should do me fine, I know the £18 per month will :)
One notable beef that people have with Three is that they offer restricted sim cards (can't be used on other phones) and mobile phones which can't be used with other networks. Kind of like the thing that Apple is doing with the iPhone on AT&T. I specifically wanted to use my existing Nokia 6300 with any contract that I was going to buy, and guess what? The Nokia 6300 works on Three! That's something they don't want you to know because they make some of their money from the "addons" and this phone doesn't allow that ;)
Yup that's me talking about mobiles and to tell you the truth I could talk about them for a while (did someone just say BORING? Why you ...) would be interesting to know which phone you guys are using at the moment!
Posted by Piniyini
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one thats better than yours :D
Hmm!! Currently really wishing i never got an orange 18 month contract! Tho in comparison to your 18 pound one, i think i got a better deal! :p 18 quid for 500 units is pretty rubbish no?
I pay 35 quid, have unlimited text, 550 anyone minutes, and unlimited any time minutes to 2 magic numbers, which i use ALL THE TIME.
Bobster I'm the one who gave you the phone and no it's not better than mine :)
B, "I pay 35 quid" - exactly, that's what it all came down to for me ... the money! Plus I'm one of those that doesn't like talking on phones much so it was ideal.
Oh and I could get loads more anyone minutes for that price!
im on pay as you go just cos cant be bothered with a contract, my phone is better than toseef's. ha ha
I'm on 02, and pay £20 a month. My contract is all about off-peak minutes, I get 2000 off-peak minutes and 200 texts. It works for me cause I don't chat on my mobile throughout the daytime, but in the evenings I can talk for hours :) my highest ever phone bill has been £6 + the standard £20
I can't wait to get rid of my T-mobile contract...
I always go over my allowance too....
Yep, my iphone wouldn't let me put the sim in. Didn't know that and it sucked entering all the numbers again.