Mobile phone contracts, why so many???

Ok, im due an upgrade, hardly front line news i know but im getting increasingly annoyed.

Ive been with o2 for over 14 years and i want to upgrade now to a iphone 4S 16gb.

I dont want to increase my monthly contract from the £36 i pay now, no problem, o2 are doing their best ever tariff...
Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of data but with £99 fee for the phone based on a 24 month contract.

Been on carphone warehouse website, they are doing the same o2 contract with identical minutes etc but without the £99 fee for the phone

Please can someone explain this?
Ive been in contact with o2 and they said they cannot offer same deal? yet its still o2 network

Second question...

On carphone warehouse site, the above deal was on pay monthly new deals, if i click on upgrades it wont offer as good deals, so if i wait until 13 August when my o2 contract runs out will i be able to qualify for the new deals?

People have to be mad to pay £99 for exactly the same deal surely?

No matter what you do go through quidco, I was looking at a Vodafone contract for an S3 last month and it was the same 31quid a month as the Vodafone website but £150 cashback ontop. Not bad for a few extra clicks on a mouse. I'm sure they will have similar deals on all networks!

[DJ123]

I haggled with my network over the cost of the phone, got them down from £100 to £20. CPW can give it away as it is 'new' business and so can probably afford to take a hit on it/subsidise the cost. Best thing to do is get the new contract a day or so before yours runs out and get it all activated. Then when yours comes to an end get the PAC code and transefer it across to the new contract.
Have you told O2 you want to leave in a month, most require 30 days notice

[Stuuk1]

Read up first.

Why the 4S? You will pay top dollar for that at the moment (Apple's most recent phone).

The iPhone 5 should be out in a matter of months and you will be stuck with the 'old' 4S for possibly two years.

If you have been a customer for that long then they will do you a good deal if you are good at haggling. They wont want to lose you as a customer so find a ridiculous deal (way over your budget) and tell them that you want that for (x) amount otherwise you will be going elsewhere. Use it to your advantage.

I'm not that bothered about getting latest iPhone, I got my current 3GS not long before the new one came out and it's been fine.

[joshwalker094]

Go with three, £35 month, 5000 texts, 2000 minutes, unlimited data and 5000 texts and minutes to anyone else on 3, aswell as unlimited internet tethering, how ever i payed a £99 deposit aswell, but well worth it

Threaten to leave, ask for your PAK (sp?) code, get transferred to the terminations department, get the phone for free. Worked for me 2 years ago with the Nokia n8 and they gave me a better tariff than the one I was on. Just be prepared for them to call your bluff.

Originally Posted by joshwalker094

Go with three, £35 month, 5000 texts, 2000 minutes, unlimited data and 5000 texts and minutes to anyone else on 3, aswell as unlimited internet tethering, how ever i payed a £99 deposit aswell, but well worth it

No offence mate but I'd rather sever my own testicles than use 3 network, I don't know a single person who has anything good to say about them, they are cheap for a reason.

[Fluffer]

I love three they officially rock. Squillions of minutes texts and data for a great price. Tethering is so useful and I get thru atleast 10gb a month. Friend of mine been having trouble getting bt into his newbuild house - Last update he'd downloaded 57gb in 3 and half weeks via tethering on three and still going strong. Weird how so many massively differing opinions on all networks really!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Originally Posted by Fluffer

I love three they officially rock.

Do they fook. Was an O2 customer for over five years, their terrible customer service drove me away to Three. Little did I know!

Now, when Three had first launched in 2003, many of my friends worked for CPW so I agreed to take up Three on their 'two week money back guarantee'. I got to try the phone, they (friends) got a commission and bought me a pint. The phone was terrible (NEC thing with about a 30 minute battery life) and the coverage was even worse. Returned the phone but they still charged me, Three customer service told me to get an indemnity from my bank to get my money back quicker, which I did, and continued being a brand new O2 customer.

Fast forward to December. Decemmber 2011. A letter from a debt collection agency turns up, demanding payment of the outstanding balance I owe to Three, or else.

After a lot of confusing conversations with their Indian call centre, work out that my current contract with them (started 2008 ) is paid and in good standing, and that they are really, honestly, trying to get back the money from eight years ago that they themselves told me to claim back through my bank.

Several very tense weeks later where I ran around like a blue a***d fly gathering paperwork and sending faxes with the assistance of CPW and having to explain again and again to a different imbecile each time in Three's Indian call centre, I get a text - A TEXT - from Three confirming that yes, they did in fact tell me to get the indemnity and that there's no outstanding debt, yadda yadda yadda. The letter (so I'd have it in writing) that I repeatedly requested and was repeatedly promised has never arrived.

They are without question the biggest bunch of scumbags in an already unsavoury industry and if I hadn't known I was leaving the country next month I would have ended my contract with them back in February when this whole sorry affair got resolved.