New mobile phone contract - Cash back, who benefits?

bushmins · 23 Nov 2016 at 09:36

I just took out a contract with 'talkmobile' through Mobilephonesdirect. I'm on the same tarrif as if i had gone direct to TM, but I am able to claim cash back through MPD.
How does this work? Do I pay my monthly DD to MPD or TM? Why do I get cash back?
MPD dont seem to handle any activation problems, this is all done through TM. I also have to have a TM account to see my bill. The only thing MPD do is give me my cash back.

So do MPD give my bank and card details to the supplier? Or do they pay on my behalf?

Im new to this cash back stuff...

cheesyboy · 23 Nov 2016 at 09:46

Mobilephonesdirect basically give you a portion of their agent fees - they get a kickback for selling you a contract and give a bit of it to you as an incentive. The contract is with Talkmobile, and works in the same way as any other.

For cashback, usually you need to go through a slightly annoying and possibly obtuse system to make the claim. I use mobiles.co.uk and need to send in invoices for particular months and they forward a cheque. The process has become easier and more transparent over the years, but is still a little fiddly. I guess they make most of their money from the people who don't bother to claim.

bushmins · 23 Nov 2016 at 10:13

Ok Thanks. It makes more sense now. I have to claim for my cash back, which goes directly into my bank, on various bill dates (and within 60 days of that bill date).

Tuvoc · 23 Nov 2016 at 14:11

cheesyboy said:
For cashback, usually you need to go through a slightly annoying and possibly obtuse system to make the claim. I use mobiles.co.uk and need to send in invoices for particular months and they forward a cheque. The process has become easier and more transparent over the years, but is still a little fiddly. I guess they make most of their money from the people who don't bother to claim.

It is a total pain. I used to have a couple of these years back, I simply don't do them now. Way too much hassle. As you say, they do very well from people who can't be bothered, or from rejecting claims which weren't filed in time. I'd rather just seek out a competitive deal WITHOUT cashback.

lmfy2k · 23 Nov 2016 at 15:03

been on a cash back deal with MPD for last 11 months

mine was a sim only with EE, so cash back was payable at 4, 6 8 and 12 months,

I pay EE my full bill price monthly

i put a calendar entry in my Google for the dates and all you need to do it fill out the form on MPD and upload the bill from provider, in my case this was EE, so go onto EE website and download the bill and upload it to the form.

You get a confirmation email from MPD right away, then a day later they email you again to let you know it was successful and they send money into your account within a few days.

A minor inconvenience but worth it for the savings.

they have always payed and I have never had any issues