O2 upgrade question - virtually no free handsets?

valve90210

valve90210

valve90210

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Ok, this is quite a long post because I want to give as much info as I can to see if anyone can help....



I have been due an upgrade on my contract phone (currently a SE W810i) from O2 since August last year. At the time I was very interested in a new model from Sony Ericsson which had not long been announced, the W902. I went into my local O2 shop to see what phones I could ugrade to for free and to see if they knew when the W902 was coming out.

At that time, I was told that with the exception of the Iphone, Blackberries and a couple of their own smart phones, I would be able to have any of the phones in their catalogue for free, including the N96, W880I etc etc. As mentioned, I was interested in the W902 which was due out fairly soon so I decided to leave my upgrade for the time being.

A few weeks later, in September, I was in a different town and as there was an O2 shop, I popped in to again to see whether the W902 was available yet, it still wasn't, so I asked what other phones would be available to me free. Again, I was told I could have any model except the Iphone, and Blackberries etc. I had a bit of a play with a few handsets but wasn't particularly taken with any of them so again decided to leave it in the hope that the W902 would be out soon and I'd be able to get it free.

Roll on to the end of October, the W902 had been released and was apparently available in Phones 4 U etc on O2, so I went back into my Local O2 shop to see if they had it, again they did not and again I looked through the catalogue to see what other models I couyld get for free, again I was told I could have virtually anything except the Iphone.

I still didn't do anything about it because I was still interested in the W902 and hoped that it might be available on O2 around Xmas time.

Since then, the W902 has disappeard into nothingness and I still haven't upgraded however I would now very much like to upgrade because following me dropping my phone whilst it had a java game minimised, and the memory card springing out, Java now no longer works, meaning no games or apps will run, the camera has stopped working and the battery cover now simply falls off with very very little encouragement.

Last weekend I went into my O2 shop intent on upgrading, thinking I'd probably go for another SE phone as they just work, however, after checking my upgrade was due, etc etc, I was told that there were only a couple of phones of any make that would be free for me as I had been on a 12 month contract. Even the most basic of the SE walkman phones was going to cost me £50. This seemed odd so I questioned why this was so different from when I had been in last year and was told that it would have been the same case back then also. Rather annoyed I left it and went to Phones 4 U and asked what I do re upgrades there, they would be happy to do me a free upgrade on all but 5 of the handsets they stock....and were rather bewildered by what O2 had said to me.

I decided to wait and see what would happen if I went back into O2 and spoke to someone different, so I went in yesterday and again was told that there were only a tiny handful of phones I could get for free, again they said it was due to having been on a 12month contract.

So now, I am really rather confused as to what has changed with O2 and why I can no longer get anything more than the cheapest lowest spec models for free, I've not changed my contract, I'm not spending anymore of less on calls etc than I was back in the summer, so I am completely at a loss as to why there has been such a huge change. Can anyone throw any light on this for me?

I'm tempted to go with Phones 4 U who said that I could upgrade my phone for free with them and I'd stay on the same contract etc etc and just get a new phone, however, they wanted my bank account details for setting up a new direct debit...why do they need this if everything is supposed to be staying the same?

Any help or advice very very much appreciated.

Valve
 
O2 shops are rubbish, (only good for having a hands on demo). Ring up O2 instead and say you want to quit (want your puk code), and when you get through to retentions I can almost guarentee they will give you a free phone (and better contract).

Just don't accept the first deal they throw at you. :)
 
I did wonder if it was worth giving them a call and telling them the situation and that I'm thinking of leaving, though having spoken to O2 on the phone before, they seemed even more useless than the shops.

I started going to the shops for my upgrades in the past because on the phone I was only ever offered one or two free options.

Valve
 
support_bae said:
Don't listen to Amp34. Asking for a PUK code will not get O2 to offer you a better deal.

Ask for a PAC.
Click to expand...

:o

I could try and play that I wanted him to ask for comedy value, but TBH I just plain got them confused...

Rest of the advice is correct though.:p
 
valve90210 said:
I did wonder if it was worth giving them a call and telling them the situation and that I'm thinking of leaving, though having spoken to O2 on the phone before, they seemed even more useless than the shops.

I started going to the shops for my upgrades in the past because on the phone I was only ever offered one or two free options.

Valve
Click to expand...

If you don't go to retentions the upgrade lot give you next to nothing extra. For example last october I asked the upgrade department what their best deal they could do me for the xperia and that was £35 (rubbish minutes and texts) and £200 for the phone (ish). Said no, go to retentions and they instantly offered me something like the £45 tarriff (1200 mins+texts (ish) and free web) but discounted to £30 with the phone for £50.
 
Hmmm, sounds like I'll have to give that a try, I'm currently on a £20 per month tarrif, with 300 free texts and 300 ish free minutes (I can't remember exactly how many cos I hardly ever use my phone for calls).

Don't really want to spend anything much more than that to be honest. Will see what I can get. Is it just the normal O2 customer service number I call and ask for retentions? What if they don't try to get me to stay?
 
I had the same issue upgrading last week,

Previous year i got a n95 8gb for free but now they wouldn't offer me ANY free phone just £75 credit. The woman told me to upgrade to 18months contract or simplicity deals.

There is an option to upgrade online and I used the to get a free a W980i which isn't half bad bet really but I think the upgrade days are gone.

sid
 
They will try and keep you, although with that contract they won't offer a huge amount of discount. When they offer you something you can just ask to think about it and ring them later. Have a look round as well before you go on to them to have an idea of what the cheapest deals for the phone you are looking at is.

O2 don't do 12 month contracts any more :( (I had to go to an 18 month one too)
 
what about if I was to go to Phonesd 4 u and get a free phone upgrade there, they said it's be the same tarif, same number, etc etc, everything the same just a new phone, but then they wanted my bank account details to set up a new direct debit, why was that?

Is it really as simple as they said, just get a new phone from them and everything else stays the same?
 
I’m not quite sure what you were expecting to get on a £20 per month contract, or is it just me that thinks that :confused:

I think gone are the days of o2 throwing phones at customers, and it seems to be hit and miss if you get what you want when threatening to cancel and speaking to retentions department.

I’m on a £35 contract and recently only just managed to get the SE C905 for free on an 18 month contract, if i was on a lower priced contract i would have had to pay for the handset, which to be honest is probably fair.
 
It's not so much what I was expecting to get, so much as the fact that 6 months ago I was offered the pick of any phone except the Iphone and Blackberries, and now even for the most basic phone it'll cost me £50!!!

It basically defeats the point of being on a contract, after all I, like a lot of people, went on to a contract as it would work cheaper in the long run than payg as I wouldn't have to pay for a new phone when the old one broke and I'd get more free texts than on payg!!!
 
I agree it does seem that they are limiting the phones they give away for free to the people that are on higher priced packages.

I guess it’s either up the amount you can pay per month to get the phone you want for free, or pay up the £50 they are asking for on your current priced package.

What about CPW or the likes, if you take a new contract out and port your number from o2 does your choice of free phones increase, just as a comparison against o2 to see if its just o2 that are doing this or if its all mobile companies ?
 
well, that's the odd thing, I went into phones 4 U and they would be happy to give me pretty much any of the phones they stock as a free upgrade, with apparently no change in my contract or payment details or anything, which just makes the situation with O2 more odd..
 
I got a free 5800 last month free from o2 on a £25 a month contract with a £10 a month discount and free internet, so it is quite easily possible.
 
I posted this earlier in another thread but its relevant to this discussion so ill post it here also rather than link it.

------------------------------------------------

I just went to o2 retentions and mentioned the sort of deals mobiles.co.uk were offering on O2.

I was paying £25+vat before for 400mins 1k texts and 4mb data with the n95. I told them that i wanted a nokia 5800 ( new ) for free and was going to pay no more than £20 a month ( inc vat ) or i was leaving.

After some heated debate i got a brand new sealed Nokia 5800, 800anytime/network mins, 1200 texts and unlimited internet plus free o2 to o2 calls for £20inc a month. All on an 18month contract and comes with the 8GB memory card.

They kept trying to get me to take a reconditioned unit but wouldnt promise that it contained the nokia slip case and spare stylus etc so i held on for a new phone. At one point i said i was done and to give me my code as i was going to get the mobiles.co.uk deal and he had me wait while he put me on hold. Came back with the new phone and free internet deal as outlined above.

I have never been a big spender but i pay on time and have been with o2 for about 10 years now, wether that makes a difference i dont know.

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At one point he was offering a reconditioned phone ( full warranty etc- like new supposedly ) with the same other stuff for £15 a month!... however having been stung once with a recon i will not take them anymore.
 
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Are you looking to stay on a 12 month deal or would you move over to 18 month? what is your monthly spend like? It sounds to me like O2 are weighing up the cost of the device against your monthly spend and contract length, its pretty common practice for upgrading customers. They need to make sure that when they give you this free handset, they're going to recoup the loss they make in giving that away, and still make a tidy little profit, for keeping you signed into a contract. It is certainly possible that this has changed from when you last spoke to them, its a very fast moving industry, and things change from day to day. Upgrade quotes are generally only valid for the one day on which you are given them, I can remember certain situations where I've been able to offer a customer the earth one day, and a week later they're entitled to nothing due to policy changes, new handset costing, or a shift in group strategy.

As others have already suggested, find the handset you're after, find the package you want, and then speak to the retentions team. If it is profitable for them to do it, they will do whatever they can to keep you signed up.

Also, I'd avoid 4u like the plague. In my eyes, and the eyes of many others, they symbolise everything that is wrong with the mobile industry as a whole, all about box shifting, no emphasis on customer services, and will send you running back to the network shops the first problem you have. Network shops will then send you running back to them, because if you're not going to give them the business, they're not going to go out of their way to help you out.
 
I'd be happy to move to an 18 month contract as long as it didn't mean having to spend more than I currently do, and I still got as many free texts (or more) as I do now, that'd be fine.

Really looking for one of the walkman phones, maybe the W705, which isn't exactly a huge leap forward in tech from my W810i.

Do you know what sort of deals there are for something like 300 or so free texts a month?
 
valve90210 said:
I'd be happy to move to an 18 month contract as long as it didn't mean having to spend more than I currently do, and I still got as many free texts (or more) as I do now, that'd be fine.

Really looking for one of the walkman phones, maybe the W705, which isn't exactly a huge leap forward in tech from my W810i.

Do you know what sort of deals there are for something like 300 or so free texts a month?
Click to expand...

It's NOT free texts you are getting. You are paying for line rental therefore you are paying for the texts.

I wouldn't be suprised if I were you getting no free handsets. You have a phone that has been released over 3 years ago and from the looks of it, you're not on one of the expensive contracts.
 
support_bae said:
It's NOT free texts you are getting. You are paying for line rental therefore you are paying for the texts.

I wouldn't be suprised if I were you getting no free handsets. You have a phone that has been released over 3 years ago and from the looks of it, you're not on one of the expensive contracts.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do realise I'm paying my line rental and hence paying for my texts that way - maybe I should have said included texts - that said, the amount of texts I get included does give me a lot of 'free' texts that wold cost me more per month than the line rental.
 
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