Funny upgrade prices

Amp34 said:
Yet your previous posts say you will never get the same upgrade offers as new contract users do...

Either way I'd rather havd 3-4+ years of 50% line rental/free phones and having to go with a new contract at the end than spending an extra £100-200 a year extra for that period. Especially when all it takes is a 5-10 minute call every year!
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i said that new is better than upgrade, which in most cases it is. for some people you can get plenty of phones free, of which the one you want might well be free already. would be mad not to check first.
i get 50% line rental for life, so maybe thats why i dont feel the need to try and squeeze every penny out of them each time i call for an upgrade.
 
Amp34 said:
But you're an idiot if you don't go straight to retentions, or at least see what they have. Going to retentions doesn't mean you have to cancel or accept a deal.

As for the lack of good deals O2 have taken a turn for the worst in the last year or so, used to get great deals with them up until this time where they wouldn't budge, and as mentioned that means my custom goes bye bye.
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Excuse me? Why would I need to go as far as retentions and even threaten to cancel my account just to get a good deal? I actually found that when I used to be on O2, that was the only way to get a good deal with them.

How is that good customer service? The customer service is good when both the dedicated customer service and upgrades team are fully capable of handling their customers well without the need of having to go as far as retentions and threatening to leave your contract, which has always happened for me (I've never once had to speak to retentions, or threaten to cancel on T mobile, both CS and upgrades handle my account really well, I just worry that they might make a mistake one day with my discount).

To me, my 50% reduction, and 10 Gb data tariff are far more important than getting a free phone. Last time I upgraded, the phone I wanted (LG Arena) was only free on new connections from £45 pm, hence when I wanted that phone as an upgrade on £28 a month, I knew I would have to pay a lot. Of course this turned out to be a big mistake as I didnt like it very much, and I chose not make that mistake again from then on. I wouldnt have sat there and tried to argue getting it for free, when it was around £160 on a new tariff for £25 pm, and £90 on a tariff for £35 pm, and only free on £45 pm. That was pretty much back when large touch screen phones were a rare and highly expensive luxury, and the only decent touch screen out there was the original I Phone, with its less than impressive spec. That LG Arena was pretty much one of the first handsets available combining a top specification on a touch screen, though I absolutely couldnt get used to the texting, and the browser was rubbish.

The prices today are a lot better, though I would have actually had to pay the same amount for the latest flagship handset (£190 for a full X10 Xperia, as opposed to £200 for the LG Arena 18 months ago). Im not exactly going to go crying to retentions and threaten to leave my account because they wouldnt give me the X10 for free, they would literally think 'Well GTFO then, we dont need you on a 50% discount and begging to get the most expensive handset for free'.

Prices may be cheaper on other networks, however the tariffs never are. Even without my discount, I have always found T Mobile to have the best tariffs, particularly for heavy data and mobile internet users. What I have is a pure tethering and modem use / MMO tariff, and I took it out with that intention. The only way it can still be had is by paying the full £22.50 on top of any normal price plan, which would be too expensive.
 
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Wow stirred up a hornets nest here apparently...

It's quite common, on here as well, to go to retentions to get the best deal. You can still get your discount but you usually get more off (this is the same no matter what provider you use).

As an example about 2 years ago when the X1 was just released I phoned up when my contract had just ended. Went to upgrades and was offered it for £100 on a £45 a month contract, reduced to £40... No way in hell was I going for that so I went to retentions. Straight off, without any haggling they offered me the same deal, £45 a month contract and the X1 for £30 a month and the phone for £50. A wopping saving of a couple of hundred+ over the 18 months if I'd taken the deal, just for being passed through to another person...

Makes sense too, companies are only going to give as much as you push, why would they give better deals if you're happy to pay more? "threaten" to leave/be unhappy with the deal offered and you'll probably get more...

Either way have a look at the various "how should I haggle for my new phone" threads on this forum...
 
^^

That is still entirely situational based on your tariff and network provider, and normally only works if you genuinely would have ended your tariff without a better upgrade deal, and can get a similar tariff on a new connection with a cheaper handset. T Mobile upgrades will still easily haggle you a good offer based on the cost of the handset at other places, they are very good at customer service. It does however work on O2, and I did do it twice before with them when I got a K700i, and K750i, the reason being that O2 upgrades wouldnt listen at all for reducing prices to match what could be had on a new deal for cheaper. However on T mobile, the upgrades people actually do listen and haggle you better prices anyway. You can still haggle a good deal on T mobile through upgrades using sim free and new connection prices as comparisons.

I wouldnt go to retentions and threaten to end a T mob 50% discounted and also discontinued tariff, they would most likely catch my bluff very easily on this current contract, and would prefer to let me cancel the tariff anyway as they already lose a lot of money on them. They actually do try to cancel these half price tariffs whenever they possibly can, they wouldnt ever give you a better deal as opposed to letting you just end it. The only thing I would go to retentions about is if upgrades tried to cancel, and wouldnt let me keep my discount, but they have let me keep it with no problems for all 3 of my upgrades so far.

You cant get £180 worth of calls, SMS, and MMS, plus 10 Gb of data limit with modem and Voip use for £28.75 anywhere, or anymore even on T mobile. T mobile know that as well - they arent thick, and to even have offered me a free X10 Mini Pro, or a HTC Desire for £110 on this tariff is brilliant enough to me, and I would have to be a whiney cry baby 6 year old if I went to retentions to try and haggle a cheaper upgrade than that :p

I also doubt they would have haggled the HTC desire any lower when they already have so much demand, and as upgrades replied when I asked if they could reduce it due to the wait time, they said - 'No, we really wouldnt be able to do that as we still have people that have been waiting for several months for this handset and are willing to buy them at the same price we have offered you'.



Anyway, my X10 Mini Pro just arrived:



First impression - I really cant believe how much better the UI is, and how easy the phone is to use than all the ones I've had before, even for such a small android device. Navigating on the touch screen and typing on the slide out keypad is quicker and easier than any standard T9 phone I have used before, and is far easier than I would find typing on a touch screen. The phone is also very nice nice looking, and came with all the accessories I would need, including a screen protector, case, and 2 Gb Micro SD, although I already have an 8 Gb one.
 
Robboftw said:
As long as you are happy with it I guess, but you really should have got the Desire :(
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I went into the T mobile store today to ask if they had any desires, and the reply was a huge 'Oh no, we dont have any and dont know when they will be back in stock', along with a look on their face saying 'Damn all these customers that keep on coming in asking for HTC desires'.

Anyway, the reason why I went into the store was because my X10 mini has a scratch underneath the screen cover, and I wanted to get a replacement in store so that I could check to make sure the new one didnt have the scratch, but they wouldnt let me as I had ordered it through t mobile direct, and told me I would have to post it back.

I called up customer service and they confirmed that I couldnt swap it in store and I would have to post it back. The problem with this is that I cant check to make sure that the replacement doesnt have the scratch as well.

I told them I would take a day or two to think about it then call them back, however I were just looking through unboxing reviews of the phone and found this picture:



Its the same scratch I have, but this one is 2-3 times longer :eek:

Its right on the rim underneath the plastic screen cover. I really dont like the scratch on my phone, but I wouldnt want to send it back only to get a replacement that has an even longer one! :(
 
I agree with the techradar review, defiantly a cracking phone and worthy of its 4th place spot. If battery life and a qwerty is your priority then there's none better.
 
I agree its a very nice phone, and unbelievable quality for its size.

So much that I dont want to return it as I would have to be without it until the replacement arrives :(

The scratch is very small, but it cant ever be repaired as its underneath the screen shroud, but I really should try and get one thats spotless.
 
Oh wonderful, Sony Ericsson do direct replacements for T mobile in the first 7 days.

On tuesday a courier arrives with a new phone, and then I give them my current one boxed up.

I'll just make sure to check the replacement first and make sure it isnt scratched.
 
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