Phones4U

Dr Lobster* · Sat 29 Mar, 2008 22.18

sorry, second thread in less than a week.

my mobile contract ran out a few weeks ago and my phone was starting to get a bit weird (calls keep cutting out) so i thought i'd go into town and see what was about. happy with my tariff (only £22), just wanted a new handset.

i went to vodafone, and the young lady at the door asked me what i wanted and, i said i was looking for a handset upgrade and then she stated that after i'd made my mind up, i'd need to get a 'ticket' to speak to somebody. a fucking ticket in a mobile phone shop?

so i went to phones4u. they kept me on my same tariff, and gave me £40 in cash. it's waiting to be spent on women and guns. i couldn't believe it. the catch is that the 40 quid is to pay for the insurance (which i've apparently got free for 4 months, but there is no contract or minimum term, so as soon as the direct debit appears, i'll cancel it and be £40 quid up. i had never held phones4u in particularly high esteem, but after a recommendation from a friend i decided to give it ago (ordinarily, i probably would have been a pleb and waited in the shop).

Nini · Sat 29 Mar, 2008 23.49

Dr Lobster* wrote:sorry, second thread in less than a week.

Yep, popped your wad all over after months of no action there haven't you?

Seems you've fared better than I have with Phones4U then, last time I went in there considering a PAYG mobile for the occasional phone call or longhand text one of these greasy sales monkeys went all hard sell on me for a top level contract Blackberry because I knew a smattering about mobile phones. Don't look that much like a bimbo so heck knows, must have strong thumbs.

Still don't have a phone and knowing me will be attacked for the wrong package if I go loitering inside a phone store again when I just need to communicate every month or less when not at my 'pooter.

barcode · Sun 30 Mar, 2008 00.21

If I could type better, I would be able to tell how bad phones 4U really are and and utter a waste of space there to public, and there only out to make money for them self, ( yes it a shocker! )

Carphone are no better with there talk talk, but there for another thread

Stuart* · Sun 30 Mar, 2008 03.38

Dr Lobster* wrote:...so i went to phones4u. they kept me on my same tariff, and gave me £40 in cash. it's waiting to be spent on women and guns. i couldn't believe it. the catch is that the 40 quid is to pay for the insurance (which i've apparently got free for 4 months, but there is no contract or minimum term, so as soon as the direct debit appears, i'll cancel it and be £40 quid up.

I hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but I think you will find that you've just signed up to a new 12, 18 or 24 month contract with a mobile service provider. The £40 you are merrily reserving for 'women and guns' is simply a small part of their commission for both the phone and insurance.

You will no doubt receive details of the contract, but usefully after the "cooling-off period" has elapsed. Your signature wasn't required, as many of these contracts are agreed over the phone, so the mobile networks don't require a signature before they assume there is a valid contract.

I could be wrong, and I would be surprised if Phones4U were operating in a way which didn't fully explain what you were getting into. However, I would advise you to go back to the store and ask for full details of the tarriff you have, tie-ins and the insurance contract details in full. Nobody gives an upgrade or cash-back for nothing!

If you have been very lucky and found the perfect profit-making upgrade scheme then I expect a flurry of Metropollers to decend on Phones4U within days.

Dr Lobster* · Sun 30 Mar, 2008 11.20

sorry, i perhaps didn't make that clear in the original post- i am fully aware that i have signed up to a new contract, i had to sign two copies of it - it's basically an extension of the contract that i'm already on - that's why i took it out as i am quite happy with the tariff. 3 is slightly cheaper, but they don't have so good coverage here and a friend can't get a signal in part of his house so i just stayed with what worked.

Stuart* · Sun 30 Mar, 2008 12.37

Dr Lobster* wrote:...i am fully aware that i have signed up to a new contract, i had to sign two copies of it - it's basically an extension of the contract that i'm already on

You now have insurance which you may find you cannot end prematurely. I could be wrong, of course. Somebody covered the cost of your 'freebie' £40, and I am certain it's not the phone company or the salesperson who went sniggering back to his till to claim his commission.

That only leaves you!

Sput · Sun 30 Mar, 2008 12.51

Lobster wrote:the 40 quid is to pay for the insurance (which i've apparently got free for 4 months, but there is no contract or minimum term, so as soon as the direct debit appears, i'll cancel it and be £40 quid up

Tsk stu.

RDJ · Mon 31 Mar, 2008 21.35

I've had a lot of bad experiences with Phones4u and just percieve them as money grabbing.

I'm with Orange and i've found that dealing direct with them on the phone has come up trumps all the time.

For example I've just been able to get myself on to their Dolphin £30 contract for £17.50 a month and a free phone of my choice. They said they were able to do this for me because i've been with them since 2001.

But yeah, I don't know what the other networks are like but anything that works for you I guess is a good deal.

cwathen · Fri 04 Apr, 2008 23.51

I'm quite happy with Phones 4U atm. 3 weeks ago I got myself a new phone. At the time, I had a Samsung D900 and was only 12 months into an 18 month contract with Orange on Dolphin 35. I wanted:

* A Nokia N95 Handset
* Buyout of my existing contract
* The new contract to be the same or similar tarrif to my existing one
* To port my number - and being able to do that is a deal breaker

I knew I wanted more than could reasonably be expected to happen, but thought I'd ask around anyway. After being laughed out of several phone shops, Phones 4U amazed me by coming up with a deal where I'd get all I want and only have to pay £5 more per month.

Fair enough it was a bit messy; as always, you are given money to buy yourself out and have to pay off your old contract yourself (but it was at least cash in hand) and as the new contract was also on Orange I had to port off to another network and then back on to Orange again (but they threw in a free O2 pay as you go SIM so that I wouldn't be out of pocket doing this) and I ended up with the older Silver N95 rather than the newer black 8GB model (although I've since decided that the original is a better product anyway).

Fair point, Phones 4U might be a bunch of hard sell moneygrabbers (I got caught short by one of their 'deals' a few years ago) but their 'sign up at all costs' attitude also means that they can make things happen which the 'nicer' phone shops will tell you is impossible.

Stuart* · Sat 05 Apr, 2008 02.33

cwathen wrote:I'm quite happy with Phones 4U atm. 3 weeks ago I got myself a new phone. At the time, I had a Samsung D900 and was only 12 months into an 18 month contract with Orange on Dolphin 35. I wanted:

* A Nokia N95 Handset
* Buyout of my existing contract
* The new contract to be the same or similar tarrif to my existing one
* To port my number - and being able to do that is a deal breaker

I knew I wanted more than could reasonably be expected to happen, but thought I'd ask around anyway. After being laughed out of several phone shops, Phones 4U amazed me by coming up with a deal where I'd get all I want and only have to pay £5 more per month.

I can't believe you walked away with the idea you'd got a good deal! I'm still laughing, and I had to read your post 4 times to make sure you were being serious!

12 months into an 18 month contract with Orange you can renew (ie upgrade - read the small print)

your mobile number is portable to any network anytime (by Ofcom rules)

not sure what the messing about was with O2, but my mate in Saltash has a pocket full of O2 SIMs he got on t'internet for nothing with a £10 credit on them; you find them dropped in cracks in the pavement they are so commonly available around here!

cwathen wrote:Fair enough it was a bit messy; as always, you are given money to buy yourself out and have to pay off your old contract yourself (but it was at least cash in hand) and as the new contract was also on Orange I had to port off to another network and then back on to Orange again (but they threw in a free O2 pay as you go SIM so that I wouldn't be out of pocket doing this) and I ended up with the older Silver N95 rather than the newer black 8GB model (although I've since decided that the original is a better product anyway).

cwathen wrote:Fair point, Phones 4U might be a bunch of hard sell moneygrabbers (I got caught short by one of their 'deals' a few years ago) but their 'sign up at all costs' attitude also means that they can make things happen which the 'nicer' phone shops will tell you is impossible.

They saw you coming alright!

So you are now on an Orange contract (which you were before) but now probably 24months. You didn't get the phone you wanted, and your number was strangely ported to O2 and back again (even though the process takes 2 days minimum). And you stayed on Dolphin35 at only an extra £5 a month!

PLANK!

Sput · Sat 05 Apr, 2008 08.22

This reminds me of a post of mine that you once replied to, stu...

Do you have to mock everything Sput?

Alexia is going on his (no doubt well earned) holiday. But you can't be happy for someone can you?

It's sounds quite a nice active holiday, whether inside a dome or not.

Hypocrite. These guys are happy with their deals but oh no, you can't let that stand can you! I dearly, DEARLY hope you're not as annoying in real life as you are on here, because no-one would want to be around you.