Poll: Contract lengths? Poll Request...

How long is your phone contract period?

  • 12 months

    Votes: 19 10.1%

  • 18 months

    Votes: 77 41.0%

  • 24 months

    Votes: 62 33.0%

  • 24+ months

    Votes: 2 1.1%

  • Pancake.

    Votes: 12 6.4%

  • 1 month rolling

    Votes: 16 8.5%
  • Total voters
    188
fretted said:
I'm on an 18 month contract and got a phone I don't like... have to wait until next August before I can move off, unless I buy a second hand phone
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Thats why I always buy my phones outright. Shame they don't make it easier to return the phone and cut short the contract.
 
K@rl said:
Thats why I always buy my phones outright. Shame they don't make it easier to return the phone and cut short the contract.
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Same here. I've had an o2 simplicity 1 month rolling contract since 2007, and whenever I want a new handset, I just buy it outright.
 
fretted said:
I'm on an 18 month contract and got a phone I don't like... have to wait until next August before I can move off, unless I buy a second hand phone
Click to expand...

Just pay it off early? You might even make a profit by doing so.

Going by my recent experience, if you can drop down to an ~£8 contract before you cancel then your early "fee" (ie paying off all the months left) will only be £80. You get £90 cashback for signing up for a contract with Vodafone/Quidco, so that cuts your costs instantly. Then you've got your old phone to sell/recycle.

Like I said, you're not as tied down as you think you are.
 
Saundie said:
Same here. I've had an o2 simplicity 1 month rolling contract since 2007, and whenever I want a new handset, I just buy it outright.
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Assuming the minutes/texts/etc I use would cost £15 on a Simplicity contract, I've only paid £250 for my HTC HD2. Which is also what I'll sell it for. Compare that to buying it outright for £500 at the time.

I just don't see the point of buying outright unless you've got enough money to not care about the difference.
 
Still in an 18 monther for a HTC Magic I got last year. I've had two phones since then. Hate being locked into paying for something I no longer even have, lol.
 
I have 3 24mth contracts at the moment...one is being used by my mum which is on vodafone...only costs me £25pm for 300mins, unlimited texts and internet although she doesnt use the internet part.

I then took out another 24mth contract with tmobile for the HTC Desire, 100 mins, unlimited texts and internet for £10pm..which i now use with my iphone4 so other than texting and internet...i dont use that line for anything else.

My last and main contract is another 24mth which i had no choice but to upgrade to as i wanted an iphone4 from Tmobile...which i then sold for £550:p...costs me £60pm with unlimited calls...FUP is 3000 mins per month, unlimited texts and my blackberry internet service which gives me 1gb of allowance....thats my main line and the one i use to make calls and texts with.

Personally i hardly ever ever upgrade through networks...i buy my phones sim free/unlocked so the length of a contract doesnt really bother me all that much...even if i was on a rolling 30 day contract id still be paying quite a bit as i use my phone quite a bit ie calls and texts.
 
I was alway on a 12 month contract for years just kept renewing it. Upgraded fo an iphone though so switched to a 24 month contract. I would have preferred a 18 month deal but thd phone was cheap this way (£100 cash back and over the 2years it worked out i pay the same)

I can see with smart phones newer phones coming out to replace and better the ones today but I wouldnt say they are going to be obsolete in a couple of years.
 
I'm in an 18-month contract with my HTC Desire - believe I'm due for renewal around October next year.
 
Would never do a 24 month contract for a phone. I only took an 18 month to get a 3GS and even then I had to haggle hard to get it free. Dropped into my local O2 store the other day, saw the chap who I hasstled like mad before and told him I want to upgrade to the iPhone 4 early next year. He was all :/

2 years is too long for a device that lives in my pocket :)
 
I on a 18 months contract with an iPhone 4, i absolutely hate 24 month contracts, I think next time round I just buy the phone outright and just get those rolling monthly sims as I don't use many minutes or texts I just use the net.
 
18 month but I won't be touching another one with a barge pole, far too long to have the same phone. In future I'll be going for 12 month SIM only + cashback and buying the handset off ebay. Cheaper and not tied down whatsoever.

How people get 24 month contracts is beyond me.
 
£15 Sim only rolling contract with 3, bought handset.

Lets break it down...

£360 for the HTC Desire, then say I keep it for 24 months by choice thats 24x £15 = £360

Total £720

Cheapest contract on 3 website is 24 months at £30 with free HTC Desire..

24x £30 = £720

Its a no brainer really, with the rolling contract and buying the handset outright I have the flexibility of being able to sell the desire and buy another handset easily anytime I want, cancel my contract with 1 months notice if I found myself out of work, and with the added bonus of a generic handset getting the updates first without having to root.

Ok so the £30 contract is 500 minutes and 5000 texts, and the sim only is 300 minutes and 3000 texts, but thats enough for me so makes no difference. Both have 1GB of data.

I just dont think some of the contract offers out there justify signing up for 24 months compared to buying the handset and getting a rolling contract.
 
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