T-Mobile upgrade costs

I'm in month 17 of an 18 month contract with T-Mobile. I have a Friends
and Relatives discount (50%), so unwilling to jump provider if possible.

I went into the My T-Mobile account to look at upgrade prices, and the
price I'm seeing on handsets is very high (£280 for the handset I'd
like). You cannot get prices for upgrades until you've entered your
17th month, and I did this a day into month 17 and re-checked a couple
of days later - no change.

What I'd like to know is whether doing any of the following would reduce
the handset cost:
1.) Moving up a tariff. Currently on a £32.50 (before discount) tariff.
Next one up would be £42.50, though would only cost me an additional
£5 per month due to discount - I don't use my full allowance so I don't
want to do that if it will not have any difference to the price - but if
it was guaranteed to reduce the upgrade price, then I might consider it.

2.) Waiting longer. Would waiting until I've entered month 18 make a
difference? Should I expect that waiting even longer than that would
make a difference?

For me, the discount is worth nearly £300 over the 18 months - so it's
probably worth staying, as the handset is about £80 for new customers on
this tariff. I'd save £200 on the handset price, but pay £300 extra in
rental, so £100 worse off.

Basically, I'd like to know if there is anything I can do to affect the
upgrade price? Not trying to be unfair to T-Mobile (I do get a nice
discount after all) but just want to know whether being patient or
giving them more money will have an effect. I've never had an upgrade
before (always switched providers for best deal), so not personally had
any experience at this.

I'm happy to wait a bit as I'm hoping they might introduce a particular
replacement handset (how long it would then take to make it to upgrade
customers (and then its price) is another matter!)

Thanks

David

Hi David

I renewed my contract with tmobile in june, ignore there upgrade price
I phoned and spoke with a nice lady , i said what phone i wanted ,
what tariff (flex 25 quid) and i also said that new customers were
getting free weekend mobile and landline calls . She said i could have
that too for 18 months ..................and as a bonus when the bills
have come in I find I'm getting a £5 quid loyalty bonus for life of
contract . In short speak to them nicely and the world is your oyster

good luck

Steve






David Hearn wrote:
> I'm in month 17 of an 18 month contract with T-Mobile. I have a Friends
> and Relatives discount (50%), so unwilling to jump provider if possible.
>
> I went into the My T-Mobile account to look at upgrade prices, and the
> price I'm seeing on handsets is very high (£280 for the handset I'd
> like). You cannot get prices for upgrades until you've entered your
> 17th month, and I did this a day into month 17 and re-checked a couple
> of days later - no change.
>
> What I'd like to know is whether doing any of the following would reduce
> the handset cost:
> 1.) Moving up a tariff. Currently on a £32.50 (before discount) tariff.
> Next one up would be £42.50, though would only cost me an additional £5
> per month due to discount - I don't use my full allowance so I don't
> want to do that if it will not have any difference to the price - but if
> it was guaranteed to reduce the upgrade price, then I might consider it.
>
> 2.) Waiting longer. Would waiting until I've entered month 18 make a
> difference? Should I expect that waiting even longer than that would
> make a difference?
>
> For me, the discount is worth nearly £300 over the 18 months - so it's
> probably worth staying, as the handset is about £80 for new customers on
> this tariff. I'd save £200 on the handset price, but pay £300 extra in
> rental, so £100 worse off.
>
> Basically, I'd like to know if there is anything I can do to affect the
> upgrade price? Not trying to be unfair to T-Mobile (I do get a nice
> discount after all) but just want to know whether being patient or
> giving them more money will have an effect. I've never had an upgrade
> before (always switched providers for best deal), so not personally had
> any experience at this.
>
> I'm happy to wait a bit as I'm hoping they might introduce a particular
> replacement handset (how long it would then take to make it to upgrade
> customers (and then its price) is another matter!)
>
> Thanks
>
> David

"Steve" <righty@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
newsuMpi.2874$vi3.1929@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
> Hi David
>
> I renewed my contract with tmobile in june, ignore there upgrade price
> I phoned and spoke with a nice lady , i said what phone i wanted , what
> tariff (flex 25 quid) and i also said that new customers were getting free
> weekend mobile and landline calls . She said i could have that too for 18
> months ..................and as a bonus when the bills have come in I find
> I'm getting a £5 quid loyalty bonus for life of contract . In short speak
> to them nicely and the world is your oyster

Same applies for most mobile companies. Ring them up, state what new
customers are getting, and preferably have details of what another network
is offering and simply give them the choice to either offer you the same
deal as new customers or cancel the contract. They'll offer you the deal
every time.