current cashback line rental free deals - getting risky?

It is just me or are the 12-month line rental cashbacks getting a bit
risky?

For the past 6 years I've done line-rental at free (or almost free)
for the year, with way more minutes that I ever use. They used to be
just SIM only deals, but couple of years it's got slightly better,
with phones thrown in. Not that I want the phone, I just want the
minutes.

Last year there were offers from pretty much any network, for 12 month
deals on their £30/month and even lower tariffs. This year, apart
from a couple of exceptions, the selection is very limited! Some e-
shops are doing loads of vodafone £40/m some Orange £35/m, and even
pricier O2 tariffs.

With these tariffs, the resulting penalty of a retailer going skint,
or refusing to pay is higher ever before. Having been on the losing
side a couple of times (mobileshop.com, cellular operations) I'd
rather keep to a cheap tariff just in case it all goes wrong.
Cashback terms seem to be tighter than they used to be too, and e-
tailers are getting less impressive on customer service (e.g. phonebox
direct have helpline is a 0901 number!).

I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All I
need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give me
a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no problem,
everyone wins....

Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?

In message <1193323163.892259.247930@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups .com>,
harvey-1@rocketmail.com writes
>
>I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All I
>need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
>SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give me
>a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no problem,
>everyone wins....
>
>Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
>round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?
>
Have you tried asking your current provider what they would offer if you
kept your phone. They might not want to do anything but if you don't
want to take the risk of a cash back it must be worth asking them what
they would offer.
--
Paul Harris

Paul Harris wrote:
> In message <1193323163.892259.247930@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups .com>,
> harvey-1@rocketmail.com writes
>>
>> I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All I
>> need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
>> SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give me
>> a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no problem,
>> everyone wins....
>>
>> Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
>> round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?
>>
> Have you tried asking your current provider what they would offer if you
> kept your phone. They might not want to do anything but if you don't
> want to take the risk of a cash back it must be worth asking them what
> they would offer.

T-Mobile advertise a 5% line rental discount (after committing to
extending the minimum term with no new handset).

I think I read that Orange do a 10% discount in the first year/minimum
term, with additional 5% per extra extension up to max of 25%.

D

Try one of the comparison sites,

I've done a search on this one and you can get a LG U300 on orange mix and
match 300 mins or 300 text for a cost of £8.61, this is the cheapest deal as
of today on a instant cashback deal, which means you don't have the hassle
or risk of trying to claim.

http://www.mobilephonecontract.co.uk...25&sortby=&i=s

the only way you will get a lower tariff is by having to take the risk of a
claim cashback deal! afterall someone has to make some money and it sounds
like you have been very lucky and managed to get you money back over the six
years, many others haven't been so lucky either fobbed off by the phone
dealers or just forget to claim the money or the phone dealer going
bankrupt!


<harvey-1@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:1193323163.892259.247930@d55g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
It is just me or are the 12-month line rental cashbacks getting a bit
risky?

For the past 6 years I've done line-rental at free (or almost free)
for the year, with way more minutes that I ever use. They used to be
just SIM only deals, but couple of years it's got slightly better,
with phones thrown in. Not that I want the phone, I just want the
minutes.

Last year there were offers from pretty much any network, for 12 month
deals on their £30/month and even lower tariffs. This year, apart
from a couple of exceptions, the selection is very limited! Some e-
shops are doing loads of vodafone £40/m some Orange £35/m, and even
pricier O2 tariffs.

With these tariffs, the resulting penalty of a retailer going skint,
or refusing to pay is higher ever before. Having been on the losing
side a couple of times (mobileshop.com, cellular operations) I'd
rather keep to a cheap tariff just in case it all goes wrong.
Cashback terms seem to be tighter than they used to be too, and e-
tailers are getting less impressive on customer service (e.g. phonebox
direct have helpline is a 0901 number!).

I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All I
need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give me
a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no problem,
everyone wins....

Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?

<harvey-1@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:1193323163.892259.247930@d55g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All
I
> need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
> SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give
me
> a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no
problem,
> everyone wins....

Have you asked them? Often they have exactly that sort of tariff which
they don't advertise, but they offer to people who say they're
leaving.

> Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
> round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?

You may find you're better off on PAYG. Don't make the mistake of
comparing a 100 minute contract with what 100 mins would cost you on
PAYG - that's only a valid comparison if you use exactly 100 minutes
every month. I bet some months you use less than 100 mins (even
though you're still paying for 100), and some months you simply waste
your minutes just to use them - like using your mobile at home when
you could have used the landline at trivial cost.

Tesco & T-mobile have reasonable PAYG deals, Vodafone are worth
looking into if you're use is mainly off-peak. Tesco use the O2
network.

--
Andy

David Hearn wrote:
> Paul Harris wrote:

>> Have you tried asking your current provider what they would offer if
>> you kept your phone. They might not want to do anything but if you
>> don't want to take the risk of a cash back it must be worth asking
>> them what they would offer.
>
> T-Mobile advertise a 5% line rental discount (after committing to
> extending the minimum term with no new handset).
>
> I think I read that Orange do a 10% discount in the first year/minimum
> term, with additional 5% per extra extension up to max of 25%.
>
When I called Three, they reduced my bill to £5/month to keep my handset
(on a £35 tariff).

"Thomas Kenyon" <tom@art-it-services.co.uk> wrote in message
news:TfiUi.106322$j16.81407@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> When I called Three, they reduced my bill to £5/month to keep my
handset
> (on a £35 tariff).

Shows how much a 'free' phone really costs!

--
Andy

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:09:02 +0100, "webmaster"
<froggleaccount-02@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>Try one of the comparison sites,
>
>I've done a search on this one and you can get a LG U300 on orange mix and
>match 300 mins or 300 text for a cost of £8.61, this is the cheapest deal as
>of today on a instant cashback deal, which means you don't have the hassle
>or risk of trying to claim.
>
>http://www.mobilephonecontract.co.uk...25&sortby=&i=s
>
>the only way you will get a lower tariff is by having to take the risk of a
>claim cashback deal! afterall someone has to make some money and it sounds
>like you have been very lucky and managed to get you money back over the six
>years, many others haven't been so lucky either fobbed off by the phone
>dealers or just forget to claim the money or the phone dealer going
>bankrupt!
>
>

Like me .I had CB deals for last two years and only problem was with
Mobileshop.com not paying the last CB so I took their Argos offer at
+10% to get it out of the way and in the meantime forgot to send my
first voucher back to buymobilephones.net .GRRRR !!!!

Anyway as a forlorn hope I have sent the 2nd to 6th bill ( should
have been 1 to 5) in with my first voucher and stapled them all
together and hopefully it will be a numpty who looks at the claim and
doesn't notice.....No I don't think so either but you never know
Stuart

froggleaccount-02@yahoo.co.uk declared for all the world to hear...
> I've done a search on this one and you can get a LG U300 on orange mix and
> match 300 mins or 300 text for a cost of £8.61

Mix and match? On Orange? Don't think so. 3 maybe.
--
Regards
Jon

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I did do a look at the comparison sites,
yeah there are some deals worth trying for instant cashback. With a couple
more cashback retailers going under recently I tried my current operator to
see what they would give.

I'm glad I did - the deal seems astounding! O2 were very helpful, no
persuading needed to get the deal. By keeping my phone, I've got a tariff
of 100 mins + 100 texts for £10/month on 12 month contract. But the killer
was 10 months line rental credit applied to my account. So for less than £2
a month I get 100 mins!! Seems like a bargain :-)

Thanks all for your advice!

Ta
H



"Andy Pandy" <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:5odotfFmeotkU1@mid.individual.net...

<harvey-1@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:1193323163.892259.247930@d55g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> I've ruled out anything over £30, the risk is simply too high. All
I
> need is a 100 anytime minutes, SIM only, pref on O2. The current O2
> SIMplicity is still OTT - £15/m for 200 mins. Why can't they give
me
> a £7/m option halving the minutes?? No cashback hassles, no
problem,
> everyone wins....

Have you asked them? Often they have exactly that sort of tariff which
they don't advertise, but they offer to people who say they're
leaving.

> Those in the know, any ideas that this is going to change, or ways
> round the e-shop cashback risk factor? Or is it time for PAYG?

You may find you're better off on PAYG. Don't make the mistake of
comparing a 100 minute contract with what 100 mins would cost you on
PAYG - that's only a valid comparison if you use exactly 100 minutes
every month. I bet some months you use less than 100 mins (even
though you're still paying for 100), and some months you simply waste
your minutes just to use them - like using your mobile at home when
you could have used the landline at trivial cost.

Tesco & T-mobile have reasonable PAYG deals, Vodafone are worth
looking into if you're use is mainly off-peak. Tesco use the O2
network.

--
Andy