How do I haggle a contract?

Azuse05

Azuse05

Azuse05

Associate
Joined
24 Apr 2009
Posts
1,940
Location
Aberdeen, Scotland
At the beginning of August my (first) O2 contract expired and I've got around to (Samsung wave - it suits my needs) but O2s "upgrade" offers seems a bit, well crappy price wise, e.g. (all are 18 months)

O2: phone £59, 300min, unlimited text/web @ £30pm

Upgrade: phone free, pricing as above.

Vodafone: phone free, 300min, unlimited text/500mb web @ £30pm

T-mobile: phone £76, 600min, unlimited text/web @ £25 pm

Now while I've not had problems with O2, I know a few people who've been through retentions and got good deals from them. Considering the upgrade I'm being offered is the same as Vodafones normal offer I'm slightly annoyed. Also since I'm currently on a £25 pm plan, T-mobiles makes more sense* (also a normal offer).

How difficult/what are the odds of being able to have O2 match T-mobiles offer, or at least drop to £25 pm and how would I go about it? Any haggling tips would be appreciated, before I make an ass of myself :D Anyone got any success stories?

*I've heard their "unlimited" web is ~3GB, which is also a huge plus.
 
Last edited:
Samsung wave is a pretty cheap phone, so shouldn't be too hard to get a decent deal.

Samsung wave isn't an android device, so on T-Mobile it would have 1GB allowance not 3GB.

O2 did have a very good allowance, but recently have changed it so not as appealing as before.

Ignore prices on there website, speak to retentions instead (not upgrades as they are useless).

Search online for other retailers deals for the phone you want as most of these will be cheaper than network providers and then mention these deals to the retentions team and see what they can do for you.
 
Just barter with them. I currently pay Vodafone £25 for 600 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited (or at least when I took it out, no idea what the limit is now) mobile internet, vodafone passport, vodafone stop-the-clock, and got them to give me a suresignal.
 
o2 are not very good when it comes to improved deals for existing customers, which is pretty annoying. The tactic I use most of the time is just ask for the PAC code when you first get through retentions then they try to convince you to stay... see if that works.

From my experience, they never match other operators offers. :(
 
When I were on O2, it was always required to go through retentions to get a good upgrade offer.

Never had to go as far as retentions on T - mob though, their customer service and upgrades team have always managed to sort everything out brilliantly.
 
1) Go on internet, find deal you want for the right price from mobiles.co.uk or something similar
2) Phone up CS, ask to speak to retentions
3) Tell them to meet the deal or you're going
4) Either i) They meet the deal and you stay or ii) you ask for the PAC code and then go buy it from someone else.

If they wont meet the deal just go, you'll probably save £100 even if you just stay with provider X buy using an online site and some cashback.
 
clv101 said:
Not sure how bartering will help... what do you suggest the OP offers O2?
Click to expand...

Lols.

I hear O2 are running short on goat and cattle.

Although bartering can also mean haggling, it's normally in the context of the exchange of those goods or services.

OP - always be prepared to leave. Your deal sounds awful, and if there is far better to be had out there, be ready to jump ship. If you call their retentions as mentioned and ask for your PAC code (having found the deal that you want, in case they call your 'bluff'), they will ask why you're leaving and you can tell them you've found a much better deal, you feel in these times you need to be look for the best deal, you no longer feel that you need to be loyal when the price difference is so large, etc. etc.

They either match it or they don't.
 
Heh, I'd hoped there was more I could do than that but fair enough. I've been with O2 since BT cellnet days but I'm quite happy to leave. Their cashback offers are lower than the other networks, their prices higher (including on mobile sites) and after looking around it seems since April they've been happy to drop people without any sort of offer, despite being the least competitive since then. The op was just an example but it seems all their pricing is similar.

Idk what happened at the beginning of the summer, but I hope they turn themselves around :(

Edit: quidco's cashback states the sim has to be active for 3 months before they pay out. Do this mean I'd have to keep the new number another network give me or would I be able to have my current number transferred to the new sim and still make the saving?
 
Last edited:
Yep they seem terrible now. Last time I rung up (in July) to see about matching a deal online for a Desire, I told them, woman went quiet for a couple of minutes at other end of the phone, checking, and then told me the T-Mobile website (the provider the deal was with) didn't have that deal. Said it was from a third party (buymobilephones) and she said they don't match third party sites/deals...

Good luck with the haggling but it seems they don't really care any more and you may only get a deal if you are a very big spender or a matchable deal is on a network website.
 
I had to leave o2 as they would not budge and offer me any sort of decent contract/phone, think theres a thread on here about a few others doing the same.
 
Reason I asked was Vodafone & t-mobile have £90/80 chashback on quid co, but it's worthless if I can retain my current number. Pac code it is :(
 
Amp34 said:
Yep they seem terrible now. Last time I rung up (in July) to see about matching a deal online for a Desire, I told them, woman went quiet for a couple of minutes at other end of the phone, checking, and then told me the T-Mobile website (the provider the deal was with) didn't have that deal. Said it was from a third party (buymobilephones) and she said they don't match third party sites/deals...

Good luck with the haggling but it seems they don't really care any more and you may only get a deal if you are a very big spender or a matchable deal is on a network website.
Click to expand...

I managed to get them to match a 3rd party deal, but not for the desire (this was also in July).

Guy came straight out and said they've been told under no circumstances can they discount it (probably due to popularity of the handset and supply issues, same reason they wont shift on latest iphone releases, they know quite a lot of people are stupid enough to accept it and pay through the nose for it), he was able to make offers on other handsets instead though.

Made do with an X10 instead which was price matched to cheapest deal I could find online.

To the OP:

Have you spoken with retentions yet?

(I never ring upgrades, always go straight to retentions as upgrades will only offer you what there website does)

I'd be very surprised if they wouldn't do a deal on the Samsung Wave, it's a fairly cheap phone compared to what others try to get out of them.
 
Last edited:
Azuse05 said:
Reason I asked was Vodafone & t-mobile have £90/80 chashback on quid co, but it's worthless if I can retain my current number. Pac code it is :(
Click to expand...

Just get it downgraded to a PayG sim.
Use yer Quidco to sign up to a new contract then ask to have the number ported over later. AFAIK most networks are fine with this.

Orange and Tmob have both been great for me on retentions offers, hell even the last contractr I took was just an extra line and I got a discount and handset discount on that too.

Phoned up 02 for a mate, they didnt want to know, staff were rude, didnt seem to take onboard any of the examples given either... contract cancelled beter deal from pretty much every other provider as a new customer lol
 
Ofc I spoke to retentions, I always skip the upgrades people (nothing personal, but it always seems like no on tells them anything.

Anyway it looks like t-mobile sadly, same minutes and texts as o2, double the data of o2 (1gb) and a voucher that fund a micro sd for £25 pm instead of o2s £30pm. There is a £40 charge for the handset, but that's still cheaper over 18 months even before selling my current phone will cover the cost, plus quidco.

I hope whatever management changes o2 made in the summer are reversed by the time I'm able to switch again. After all I've been with them since they were BT cellnet, and retentions were very polite, but it just doesnt make financial sense right now (not even close).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom