How do I haggle a contract?

Azuse05 · 30 Aug 2010 at 23:43

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

Anyone got any success stories?

*I've heard their "unlimited" web is ~3GB, which is also a huge plus.

Azuse05 · 1 Sep 2010 at 17:44

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?

Azuse05 · 1 Sep 2010 at 19:38

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

Azuse05 · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:50

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).