O2 UK's Poor Attitude Towards HTC Touch HD Prospective Users - Touch HD General

I'm with O2 and have been for 12 months + 2 which means I'm due for an upgrade.
Because the Touch HD is with Mobiles.co.uk, they won't transfer my upgrade privileges (£100 - £150 credit, free bolt on) to a new account.
I have made it clear to them that I'm not interested in any phones that they have. I also said that they can just give me £50 credit but I want my bolt on (which would obviously be for 'unlimited' data).
After a week of being transferred between upgrades and retentions, people shouting at me, me shouting at people and being refused to talk to any person of authority, I am exasperated.
The sticking point is apparently that because I am entering into a new O2 contract, they won't transfer any upgrade privileges "because it's a totally new contract". I probably spend £35 - £60 a month with them but they have no concept of what 'customer lifetime value is'.
In fact, all the people from complaints, to retentions (or the F**K off) department and upgrades seem pedantic, deluded, totally unempowered to do anything and idiotic.
So I still want the Touch HD. What would you do?
Attached is a PDF file of what I think my options are. Not included in Option 1 and Option 2 is the £35 (£40 less Quidco membership of £5) discount.
This whole saga almost makes me want to go to Orange or even wait for the Blackberry Storm which is exclusive to Vodafone.
Comments?

Alternative?
If you can afford it, buy the HD yourself and switch onto a Simplicity contract at £20 per month for a rolling 30 day contract with 600 minutes, 1000 texts and a free bolt on, e.g. unlimted web.
I have done that and it retains my relationship with O2 (and benefits) plus once I have been on the new tariff for 30 days I can still upgrade to a new phone on a different tariff. Don't plan to do so for a while as I like my HD but it's nice to have the option!

iain.fraser said:
If you can afford it, buy the HD yourself and switch onto a Simplicity contract at £20 per month for a rolling 30 day contract with 600 minutes, 1000 texts and a free bolt on, e.g. unlimted web.
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Thanks for the suggestion, but I just priced it over 18 months and seems uneconomical - see the JPG attached.

I've been doing the same through-life calculations to try and work out the best deal for myself. My Orange contract completes in February and I can't wait to leave their unreliable network and go back to O2, whose network actually gives me reception here in the sparsely-populated south east of England
Buying the phone + the SIM-only contract gives me an 18-month cost of £860 (excluding the insurance you've added to your calculations).
Buying from mobiles.co.uk with a £35 per month O2 contract plus a £7.50 web bolt-on gives a total cost of about £560. This is the best deal by far for me, but I can't get through to their sales phone line and I get the feeling their customer service is non-existant.
I think I'll be waiting until Orange lose their exclusivity in the new year and see what deals are available then.

PS. Shouting/arguing with call centre drones is the quickest way to get yourself blacklisted and denied any kind of deals or benefits. Two of my neighbours work in bank call centres and they tell me some very interesting stories about what happens to angry customers.

SingaporeAirlines said:
I'm with O2 and have been for 12 months + 2 which means I'm due for an upgrade.
Because the Touch HD is with Mobiles.co.uk, they won't transfer my upgrade privileges (£100 - £150 credit, free bolt on) to a new account.
I have made it clear to them that I'm not interested in any phones that they have. I also said that they can just give me £50 credit but I want my bolt on (which would obviously be for 'unlimited' data).
After a week of being transferred between upgrades and retentions, people shouting at me, me shouting at people and being refused to talk to any person of authority, I am exasperated.
The sticking point is apparently that because I am entering into a new O2 contract, they won't transfer any upgrade privileges "because it's a totally new contract". I probably spend £35 - £60 a month with them but they have no concept of what 'customer lifetime value is'.
In fact, all the people from complaints, to retentions (or the F**K off) department and upgrades seem pedantic, deluded, totally unempowered to do anything and idiotic.
So I still want the Touch HD. What would you do?
Attached is a PDF file of what I think my options are. Not included in Option 1 and Option 2 is the £35 (£40 less Quidco membership of £5) discount.
This whole saga almost makes me want to go to Orange or even wait for the Blackberry Storm which is exclusive to Vodafone.
Comments?
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Click to collapse
Here is your answer stuff o2 there customer service is awfull .
Get this contract http://www.expansys.com/c.aspx?f=76 comes to £730
Never had any trouble with t-mobile customer service spot on

What's the attraction of staying with O2?
They have terrible customer service (as you've found out yourself) also their 3G coverage is probably the worst of all the networks (unless they have made drastic improvements in the last 12 months).
Good luck if your going to buy your phone from Expansys, they've really screwed me around, been told many times my phone was in stock and promised it would be out for delivery, then the order suddenly shows 9 days lead time! I cancelled and picked one up at a shop in London today.

Philio25 said:
also their 3G coverage is probably the worst of all the networks (unless they have made drastic improvements in the last 12 months).
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They haven't. I had a datacard tariff for my laptop and left them last month for that exact reason.

SiliconS said:
PS. Shouting/arguing with call centre drones is the quickest way to get yourself blacklisted and denied any kind of deals or benefits. Two of my neighbours work in bank call centres and they tell me some very interesting stories about what happens to angry customers.
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Click to collapse
I was genuinely friendly, then genuinely nice, then fake nice, then firm, then confused as to why they weren't doing what I told them and then they just became rude and I reciprocated.
Philio25 said:
What's the attraction of staying with O2?
They have terrible customer service (as you've found out yourself)
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Click to collapse
They seem to have a relatively good brand.
I think I'm going to go with the Mobiles.co.uk route. I'll also get Quidco cashback £35 and I applied and got approved for a Halifax credit card for no reason so I'll get a Quido cashback of £20 for that too.
Still, would have been nice for O2 to have valued my loyalty.
They are just plain rude.

SingaporeAirlines said:
I was genuinely friendly, then genuinely nice, then fake nice, then firm, then confused as to why they weren't doing what I told them and then they just became rude and I reciprocated.
They seem to have a relatively good brand.
I think I'm going to go with the Mobiles.co.uk route. I'll also get Quidco cashback £35 and I applied and got approved for a Halifax credit card for no reason so I'll get a Quido cashback of £20 for that too.
Still, would have been nice for O2 to have valued my loyalty.
They are just plain rude.
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Or, if you have the patience, do what I did.....
I joined Vodafone on their SIM only tariff about 6 weeks ago. Tariff was £25 per month for 700 mins, 250txt and Unlimited Landline Calls, plus an extra £5 for unlimited internet, so £30 in total.
Last Wednesday, I was in the Vodafone store, and asked about an upgrade and to my surprise, offered me the same tariff for 18 months and a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 for £45!!!!!!! (If you try to get this online or via Vodafone telesales, the Handset is £30, but the line rental is £40 per month for the same deal)
Cue the fastest withdrawal of a debit card the world has ever seen. £45 later, I have my X1 which I took home played with and decided I didn't like and is currently on Ebay, with a day to go at £370.
Hopefully will nicely subsidise the Touch HD I received on Friday morning and if I decide to return the HD (Need Qwerty, don't like the X1 keypad), it will essentially be 12 months free line rental.
Yes, I am tied to a contract for another 18 months, but since the deal is good, and Vodafone is the only reliable network where I live, it's win-win for me.

Where did you get the HD from and how much did you pay for it?

SingaporeAirlines said:
They seem to have a relatively good brand.
I think I'm going to go with the Mobiles.co.uk route. I'll also get Quidco cashback £35 and I applied and got approved for a Halifax credit card for no reason so I'll get a Quido cashback of £20 for that too.
Still, would have been nice for O2 to have valued my loyalty.
They are just plain rude.
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I used to spend up to £1000 a month on O2, loads of international calls (home/abroad) and data usage etc.
I asked them to transfer my contract over to a business contract, they refused, so I asked them to cancel, (got transfered etc) I explained again why I was cancelling, they didn't seam to care!
I moved to T-Mobile, not had any problems - great customer service (business CS is UK only, answer usually immediately although I think personal contract calls are routed to India). The 3G/HSDPA coverage is outstanding compared with O2 as well.

Philio25 said:
l....
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I would have gone with your suggestion. It's just unfortunate that T-Mobile's insurance is so expensive (£8.99 a month) and you have to pay £99.99 on Expansys for the unit itself.

carphone warehouse are able to upgrade O2 contracts, whether you'll keep your bonuses im not sure, but i managed to get £10 off per month 'after' i'd upgraded my contract just by phoning O2 and asking for it as other friends had had this loyalty deal. (I didnt upgrade via cpw though, but just an idea to get your bonus loyalty back - GOOD LUCK!).
carphone warehouse upgrades: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/co...ERNET.PRODDISPLAY.UPGRADES.HOME&NODE_ID=10368

SingaporeAirlines said:
I would have gone with your suggestion. It's just unfortunate that T-Mobile's insurance is so expensive (£8.99 a month) and you have to pay £99.99 on Expansys for the unit itself.
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Yer I wouldn't pay that for their insurance, it's ****! I had a TyTN and their insurance wouldn't replace it as they considered me dropping and breaking it wear and tear... WTF??? I had to buy a new phone myself and got the TyTN II. Then when I asked them to move the insurance to the TyTN II they refused so I just cancelled it (and because it's actually a 3rd party company I still receive a credit on my contract every month).
We did at least get the insurance free on business contract as we have 6 handsets and a couple of data cards with them, would be expensive otherwise!

EViS said:
Where did you get the HD from and how much did you pay for it?
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Got it from Handtec.co.uk, £506.35 shipped, next day delivery. Ordered Thursday 12pm, received Friday 11am.

Related

Mines Gone Back

Hi
My X1 has gone back to vodafone UK.
Not for any fault of the X1, not due to the coverage, but due to a mad vodafone policy that means that if you don't give them your PAC code when you order, you will never-ever be able to port a number in later.
This differs from all other UK networks on which you can port numbers in ad-hoc during the contract.
The reason, of course for not porting a number in at the time of order is that I wanted to check out the phone/network before switching from T-mobile.
The only way to port in not is to return the phone under the 14 day policy, then re-order it (entering your PAC) - (and have them do another credit check on you).
I shant be re-ordering, its back to my MDA Vario III for me. Maybe one day, t-mobile UK will get some phones worth having in...
Nigel
Why don't you just buy the phone, unlocked from clove.co.uk I think its like 525 w/ VAT which is pretty steep, but I don't know what you paid from Voda either. Also..I am pretty sure even the Vodafone "branded" ones are infact unlocked anyway and useable on tmobile-UK.
Or do what I, and Orange customer, did.
Order it new on Orange (mobiles.co.uk and E2save are selling them on Orange contracts)
Got a PAC from Orange for my existing Orange number.
Port it onto a pay as you go sim like Virgin.
Get PAC from Virgin and port number back onto Orange within the first 3 months.
You have just 'upgraded', but got a deal as a new customer
@mlinz: I would never, ever pay £525 for a phone!!! Mine was £50 on a contract through vodafone.
@kr00t0n: I've done the port elsewhere then back to get the same deal as a new customer trick before - but its too much hassle + you have to cart 2 phones around for a while. I'd rather cough up the additional few quid and save the hassle.
I had the phone I wanted on the network I wanted @ the price I wanted, but they would not port in my old number (of 15 years).
Nigel
Play
Or you can buy from play.com @ 499 GBP
veletron said:
@mlinz: I would never, ever pay £525 for a phone!!! Mine was £50 on a contract through vodafone.
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When people are buying their phones outright they're usually going to use it with a pay as you go sim or a cheap contract they already have. Depending on your useage, this can work out much cheaper for you than £50 "for the phone" and, for example, an 18 month £35 contract.
Myself I got mine from Vodafone on an upgrade by calling them up and telling them I was leaveing. It seems to be the only way I can get a decent phone from them, because if I walk into a shop and ask them for an upgrade all they offer me is seriously bog standard phones, worse than the K800i I was on previously.
I pay £27 a month contract, and a £5 per month for 500mb data. Granted this is a 24 month contract, but the phone was free, and I can upgrade after 9 months.
Over 24 months that's a whole £768 I've paid to vodafone.
Compare that to, say, paying £500 for the phone and having a simple £10 contract for 24 months... £740.
I just don't have the money up front to stup for an unbranded phone, so I went with what I already had setup and got what I wanted, and I'm happy. It's just that £500 for a phone sounds extortionate, but when you factor in how much you actually pay to the carriers over the lifetime of a contract you can see that there isn't much difference in paying upfront or taking out a contract in the end.
I got mine from mobiles.co.uk on O2 (yeah I know NOW the reception is poor) for £29.99 then £35/month for 18 months (600mins, 500text, unlimited [yeah right] web).
I can confirm its unbranded, unlocked and quite silver.
I didn't think I would like the silver one but actually I love it. Only catch is as others have mentioned, the battery cover keeps coming loose.
SquidgyB said:
When people are buying their phones outright they're usually going to use it with a pay as you go sim or a cheap contract they already have. Depending on your useage, this can work out much cheaper for you than £50 "for the phone" and, for example, an 18 month £35 contract.
Myself I got mine from Vodafone on an upgrade by calling them up and telling them I was leaveing. It seems to be the only way I can get a decent phone from them, because if I walk into a shop and ask them for an upgrade all they offer me is seriously bog standard phones, worse than the K800i I was on previously.
I pay £27 a month contract, and a £5 per month for 500mb data. Granted this is a 24 month contract, but the phone was free, and I can upgrade after 9 months.
Over 24 months that's a whole £768 I've paid to vodafone.
Compare that to, say, paying £500 for the phone and having a simple £10 contract for 24 months... £740.
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Click to collapse
I dont think £10 contract will get you internet access so you'll be paying at least £15 per month, so the deal isn't as good.
I went through all this when I changed and decided to go with a new contract.
I also got the phone for free, free headset and pay less than you with VF, sweet talking in the shop works wonders when there's sales targets to meet!
Hi
I use the phone as a modem every day on the train, transferring about 2.5-3GB/mnth. I HATE to think how much that would be on P&G!!!
I've had t-mob stores bend over backwards to meet or exceed the deals that are available from the online crowd, so its worth haggling.
Nigel
Expansys will sell you one on a t-mobile contract
Hi
Looked into this suggestion (sim free phone then cheap contract) further. I never use the phone for phone calls, only for texts/internet.
Comparing Voda with Voda...
Voda do a base SIM-Only 30-day rolling contract for £10/mnth (75 mins/500 texts), then you can add their 'unlimited' (aka 500MB/mnth) internet for £7.50/mnth. Works out quite favourably:
Sim Free Phone: £500, 12x10+12*7.50 (for internet) = £710
Voda 12 month contract for phone:
Phone: £300, 12x30+12*7.50 (for internet) = £750
Voda 18 month
Phone: £150, 18*35 (internet included) = £780 (but your getting an extra 6 mnths line rental here)
So... I never thought I would buy a phone sim-free, but that's what I am doing. There is a saving over a 12 month contract for me (I don't use many minutes) + I can tell voda to get lost with 30 days notice. Of course, if you take the contract out over 18 months then you are essentially getting an additional 6 months service for 780-710 = £70 quid - in 12 months i'll be wanting a new phone anyway.
I pay T-Mob £35/mnth at the moment including WnW Plus (3GB/mnth). I'll get a USB dongle from them for my on-train internet access (£15/mnth). Saving myself 2.50/mnth over what I pay at the moment. This has several advantages:
- Non carrier branded phone - fetches more on ebay when I am bored with it!
- Don't have to wait for voda to release SE's updates
- Just a 30 Day contract with voda
- No Messing with bluetooth-pan for net access while on the train
- If no T-mobile coverage, I can use laptop with vodafone via BT PAN
- Superior 2G coverage for weekends in remote parts of Scotland
- Still enjoy superior 3G coverage and speeds of t-mobile on laptop
- No more feeling that I have to wait for contract to expire before upgrading - and finding that upgrade deals are poor!
Only trouble is, clove.co.uk have sold out and expansys want to rip me off (£584). I ordered from SuperTrader.co.uk (£500) (reasonable pricegrabber etc ratings). I phoned before and agreed that they would ship fri for delivery sat (today), paid the extra £8 for Sat AM special delivery, and the barstuards never bothered to stick it in the post - despite having charged my card for the device and for £15.99 SAT AM delivery.
So... DON'T buy from SuperTrader. I have cancelled my order, and will wait for clove to get them back in again.
Nigel

Orange Tarrifs for the Touch HD

Post the deal you got here... Lets work together to make sure we all get the deal we want out of Orange!
What were you offered and how much?
For example today I got offered 3gig fair usage but i'm sure thats a load of rubbish!
Phone £49.99 - with £100 rebate in credit on account
Panther 45 - £20.00/month (long term customer discount)
free upgrade to 500mb/month data.
however i called orange today to ask about data usage as I have seen 1000mb else where and I was advised that there is no additional charge for use over my 500mb a month and that I would only receive a text message telling me I had gone over the fair usage amount - when asked what would happen if this was to continue I was told there was no penalties what so ever. (I asked that this conversation was adequately recorded on their system) In practice I think they are using the fair use system as a sales tool when in fact it does not really exist.
It does sound like it very much depends on your previous usage / length of time with Orange / your bartering skills LOL
I've been with Orange forever, but my bill is generally quite low - I got a deal which wan't quite as good as that cost wise (also on Panther 45), but did include the unlimited data usage.
Orange have a 'Blackberry connect' deal running at the mo, which offers unlimited data use for £5 a month - I guess they might have the option to apply this to non-Blackberry phones too?
Took a couple of "I need to speak to my manager" breaks, and I was on the phone to them for an hour.
But I was happy with the resulting deal
Great idea for this thread, I was just about to start one up however it would be appreciatied if all tariffs offered are marked as "New Contract" or "Upgrade".
I popped into town today to buy the Touch HD from Orange as a new contract and see how well I could do.
Well I've gotta warn people DO NOT BUY FROM NOTTINGHAM (Broadmarsh) unless you want to PAY FULL PRICE. Completely un-negotiable! 'Area Manager' refused to offer any discount what so ever because it was a 'just release handset'. Still can't believe that I suggested that I move upto £40p/m and was met with the same contempt!
Whilst chatting to the other staff, the lad let it slip that the 'area manager' has already given as many discounts as she's allowed for the month and its unlikely that I'll get anywhere even talking to her. Unfortunately, she then told him to get rid of me since I wasn't going to get anything (obviously she didn't like the look of me, loitering in the shop waiting for her to deal with some OAPs buying a topup).
I can't fault the lad I was talking to, since he's got no authorisation and was very apologetic but despite saying that he's practically got a sale on his hands and its effectively ££££ walking out the door and ends up as lost revenue, neither the him or the area manager would offer any kind of discount.
Oh well, next place is Derby I guess - hopefully the manager hasn't spent their quota of discounts
TTDegs said:
Orange have a 'Blackberry connect' deal running at the mo, which offers unlimited data use for £5 a month - I guess they might have the option to apply this to non-Blackberry phones too?
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Click to collapse
Hmmm I was informed in-store that the only data tariff they have is the 250mb @ £7.50p/m - I repeatedly asked if there was any other options, teirs, or offers which would increae my limit and he responded everytime with "the all we've got, we are really uncompetative with out data charges".
Mine was sort of new (I've got to cancel my previous [expired] contract), as I believe that Orange don't officially have stock for upgrades at the mo.
I've always found that I get the best deal by phoning them.
You might (if you're lucky) get a better deal face to face in store - but only if the manager likes you / has deals left.
And if they have any in stock anyway.
Obviously, you stand a chance of physically walking away with one in your hand doing it that way - but at least the call centre people have access to centralised stock, not just the 3 (or however many) that have been delivered to the store that week
Are these 18 month or 12 month contracts? I can't get a good deal on 12 months (They have conveniently lost a good 12 month offer i was made on Saturday!)
Mine was 18 month.
Anything else I forgot to add?
I'm on an 18 month contract (had to move from 12) This is why they offered the £100 credit.
Also i cant imagine getting a better upgrade deal from the store as they operate on a commission basis, the store would only offer better terms on a new contact for low use customers.
touch hd
I'm currently paying about £40 a month including the mobile internet option, contract finishes in a month.
I was offered £15 a month for 1000 mins, loads of texts and apparently unlimited internet. I have to pay £120 for the phone though.
I'll believe it when I get the phone in my hand; still waiting for them to get more stock, I was told it should be tomorrow (Wed Nov 10th).
This was over the phone btw.
They aren't even making me quit Orange and start a new contract like the have every time for the past eight years.
Sounds like a good deal to me but I'm wondering if they will "lose" this offer when they get more stock
£35/month, panther 45
250MB data (grrr)
£100 for phobe with £100 cashback.
I'm not sure how you guys got much better deals than me... :/
My deal:
Phone cost: £199 but will get £60 credit on bills so no bill for a few months!
Data: Unlimited data (FUP Capped at 500MB)
Mins: 300 X Network Mins
100 Txt Messages
Unlimited Landline calls
£20pm - 18month contract
7 Days DSR / Cooling off
This was the best deal I could get since my last 3 bills were quite low.
There was no negotiating with them on the handset price, although I did try - including threats to leave as I was out of contract. Sometimes that works and sometimes not.
Touch HD in stock for upgrades - just got a text. However they will not discount from £199 for the handset (although I could get £20 a month for Racoon)
Think I may buy out of the contract I'm on, and go with either the Expansys deal or the mobiles.co.uk instead
Doh!
Just called up Orange and they couldn't find the 15 p/m offer on their system.
Apparently it was from a different department so I'm waiting for a call back with someone from disconnections rather than retentions.
Will keep you all updated
got it ordered
It's now ordered and should be delivered tomorrow or maybe Friday.
Panther 45 for £40 a month with a £25 discount getting it down to 15 for the duration of the 18 month contract.
Free broadband if I want it (i don't), 1200 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited (250MB) internet and £129 for the phone.
And I get to keep my number. Looks like Orange have got over their "brand new customer only" mindset.
Out of the four people I spoke to there was only one muppet, a definite improvement and they now tell you how long you will have to wait to speak to someone instead of keeping you on hold for thirty minutes.
After years of slagging Orange I'm now actually happy with them.
Woo hoo!
brilliant
been playing with it all day and i've got to say i'm impressed.
only gripe so far is landscape doesn't work for all apps. GSen fixes this though and also turns it off when you put it face down.
touchflo i pretty cool but i miss spb diary so am experimenting with it turned off.
the options for claunch don't render on the big screen but appart from that it's a wicked bit of kit.
phoned orange for the pac code as I'm thinking of moving to O2 home broadband, so moving my mobile as well(to get the ~£5/month reduction the broadband). after asking for the pac code(they offered their broadband for £8/month(as I don't have orange at my exchange so can't get it free) on their home start(only 10gb usage), the home max(40gb) for £23/month) I asked to see what offer they could do on the touch hd(wasn't expecting much as the experiance back in october asking for the omnia wasn't fruitful(wouldn't go under £110 on £30/month contract), £25/month(500mins(quite a bit more then my needs), 100texts(not a big texter) & unlim land line(most of my calls are to land line)), handset for £175(with £130 credit to my following months bill, so £45 for the handset) + £5/month for 'unlim' web(500mb, used to be 250mb. apperently increased from boxing day). I'm going to see if I can get a couple quid more off a month and/or the handset down to £150(not hopefull on that).
I'm tempted to go ahead and get the touch hd from orange, but tryin to decide due to the O2 brodband. also thinking of waiting till the N97 comes out next year(1st half of 2009 according to what mobile).
The deal I ended up with is:
£49.99 for phone
£50 rebate
1200 Minutes
500 Texts
Limited to 250mb fair usage ... (but they always say unlimited when I call ??)
£30 a month
Amazing phone. Well worth it.
AlexEv said:
The deal I ended up with is:
£49.99 for phone
£50 rebate
1200 Minutes
500 Texts
Limited to 250mb fair usage ... (but they always say unlimited when I call ??)
£30 a month
Amazing phone. Well worth it.
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Click to collapse
Thats a cracking good deal for 30 quid a month you got there... just hope you didnt have to get on your knee's for it lol .
Anyways....you guys forget about orange and their rubish about not available for upgrades etc and head on to mobiles.co.uk and grab it from there either as upgrade or new contract (free hd ) ...either way I found it nuch simpler than dealing with the lovelly people at orange and bagged a unlocked and unbranded HD through my Mrs upgrade for 60 quid (shes quite happy with her trusty pink nokia ) and now running my o2 sim that is due for upgrade in february but will just change it for the simplicity tariff since wont need a new phone for now but will keep it as a contingency plan for the HD successor :-D
NEVER EVER EVER buy a phone from your local orange shop - they are a useless set of twits who have no idea of half of the capabilities of the phone and then try to rip you off - for example:
couple of weeks ago I visited them (under the impression the Touch HD was exclusive to them) - They could only offer me either £200 for the handset on a £35 per month contract OR £50 for the handset on £45 per month handset (18 months). At the time I was happy to pay this, but put a deadline on them for the next following day as they didnt have the device in stock and said they would have to procure it.
That night I went on teh interwibble and Carphone warehouse were doing them for £137 for the handset on £35 per month contract. Phones 4 U however were doing them FREE on £35 per month contract.
I visited the orange shop next day ready to bargain - but luckily they didnt get the Touch HD in stock, so told them where to go and ordered it from Phones4U over the phone. 2 Days later a VERY happy bunny having saved £200!!!
Moral of the story - tell orange to go play with themselves and goto a third party provider like Phones4u
300£ for phone
270£ cash back
800 min, unlimited texts and unlimited landline
500mb/month fair usage policy.
also received a samsung g600 to keep my other orange number.
35£/ month

UK - Orange Dumping HTC Touch and my probs getting an upgrade!

I've been with Orange for the best part of 10 years, my average bill is about £30 but Orange shops would only offer me an uograde to HTC Touch for about £300!!! I'm wanting to sign an 18 month extension and take out their broadband package, so I'm surely worth something to them, but thats the best they could offer.
So I called Orange direct and now they tell me they are no longer offering the HTC Touch HD!! Operator wasn't sure why but suggested it was too expensive and thereofre not popular enough.
I've even been to many 3rd party folk like phones 4u and carphone warehouse and none of them offer the handset as an upgrade, only to new customers.
(for a number of reason I am unwilling to start a new contract)
damn, I'm a windows developer so I was looking foraward to making myself some apps :-(
none of the other HTC on offer right now interest me (HTC Diamond, 3g and Magic are available) and very few other makers offer windows mobile
I got myself put through to the "retentions" department and made a lot of noise about hos
a) orange were supposed to offer the same things to existing customers as new ones
b) why should I renew with orange when I can go elsewhere (there was an offer on the Touch HD at the time though)
c) I'd been them for well over 10 years
d) return to a)
got my Touch HD for about £30 on Panther 45 (which admittedly is more calls/texts than I need, but was the lowest they'd go at the time).
UK Orange upgrading
I have been with Orange 10yrs +.
I upgraded to the Touch HD from the SPV M3100.
They first told me it would be £290 to upgraded.
I asked if they could do adeal and was told i could upgraded for £50 if I did it there and then. I said no.
Waited a couple of days then phoned "retentions" again and stated that i would leave if they didn't do the same deal as Carphone Warehouse who where offering the HD on Orange for FREE at £35/month.
They relented and give to me for FREE.
I did the same with my wifes phone two weeks later.
You just got to force there hand.
yes, I considered calling retentions but was told they were no longer offering the HTC at all so I din't bother, perhaps I ned to do it anyway and see what they come up with
Riceburner said:
I got myself put through to the "retentions" department and made a lot of noise about hos
a) orange were supposed to offer the same things to existing customers as new ones
b) why should I renew with orange when I can go elsewhere (there was an offer on the Touch HD at the time though)
c) I'd been them for well over 10 years
d) return to a)
got my Touch HD for about £30 on Panther 45 (which admittedly is more calls/texts than I need, but was the lowest they'd go at the time).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rinsed and repeated that approach with Retentions on 3 different occasions in March this year. I got no satisfaction whatsoever.
Their best offer was £50 for the handset plus Dolphin 35 for £35pm 18mo. Online they had a deal Free handset plus Dolphin 35 for £30pm 24mo which they would not let me have.
Went via phones4u for took out Dolphin 30 @ £30pm for 18mo's. Took me about 5 days to swap my old Orange number out to T-Mobile then back to my new Orange contract.
I love my HTC Touch HD and Orange's great reception but hate Orange customer service and crappy internet tarriffs.
I got mine, after many arguments and bartering.
i paid £194 for the hand set.
And they put me on a £10 a month contract.
200mil
Unlimited texts
AND they put a £200 credit on my account, so 18 bills at £10 = £180. i pay no bill, aslong as I dont go over my 200min (Which i will never do!)
i got my htc touch hd for £107 on £21.50 a month
700mins
500texts free landline callin
n my existing magic numbers
2 months free internet trial
not bad loving my phone but wished they gave me the internet unlimited but oh well!!
You can get one for less than £300 on ebay - no contracts to sign!
I bought one in January for £370, then paid £15 to unlock it. I then cancelled my Vodafone contract and signed up to O2's SIM only tarrif, where I pay £20 a month for 1000 texts, 500 mins, and unlimited internet.
Sorted!
They gave me one for free when they first got them in, but then I do have a couple of contracts with them (my girlfriends is in my name) so maybe I'm a valuable customer.
I didn't have too much trouble getting what i wanted.
I paid £46 for the handset, and pay £26 a month, down from £50 a month before hand, for that i get...
700 minutes
Unlimited Texts
500mb Web browsing
Insurance
I've always had great service from Orange.
I had to start a new contract with orange to be able to get the phone for free.
Picked it up from phones4u website in the end.
I used to be with Orange but left due to customer service problems. Bought the HD on ebay for £300, £15 to unlock it and am on O2's sim only deal. It's a good feeling knowing I can leave the network whenever I want (or whenever they piss me off)
i phoned retentions and told them i wanted to go O2 for the iphone if they didnt offer me a Touch HD. they gave me 900 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited internet for £26 and i had to pay £50 for the phone. about double on everything i had previously for £14 a month cheaper!
they seemed to suddenly accept anything i wanted as soon as i threatened to go to O2 for the iphone so maybe give that a go!
Guys and Girls,
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the THD when they released it in early October last year - been loving it ever since.
The only observation that I would make is........................
Don't get yourselves tied into 18 / 24 month contracts with any of the airtime providers on the strength of this handset as it is already "end of life"!!!
This may be a good reason why some of you are struggling to get a great deal or get one at all! Wait with your current handset and see what is going to replace it.
On that point - I also have a Blackberry 9000 (bold) which I have got to say outperforms the THD at every turn, and more importantly has a keyboard! Anyone who is wanting to upgrade from any HTC product that has a keyboard currently (TyTn / TyTn ll / Touch Pro etc etc) be warned, I missed that functionality!
Anyway - good luck.

[Q] Buymobilephones.net

Has anyone received their handset through Buymobilephones.net yet?
I placed my order 3 weeks ago on a £25 T-Mobile tarrif and just keep receiving Stock Expected Soon e-mails.
I phoned them today as my O2 PACnumber expires soon and they told me that they were not expecting stock for a few weeks as T-mobile had pulled the phone for software issues. This is strange as I went to my local T-mobile shop at the weekend and they had 2 in stock which they were keen to sell me (well one of them at least) but I wasn't willing to pay the additional £10 per month or the £150 phone cost to keep the £25 contract.
So what's going on?
Buymobilephones.net defined a few weeks for me in case I needed any help in that regard as 4-6 weeks - that's a lifetime.
I think it might be time to cancel your order and buy elsewhere.
Judging by comments here on XDA and elsewhere, the vast majority of UK users experienced no more than a few days of waiting for their Omnia 7s, a week in some cases, but very rarely more than that.
3 kept me waiting for ten days before I cancelled my order with them and went with T-Mobile; my own experience with T-Mo was that the handset was out of stock when I ordered, but 24 hours later I was told that the handset was back in stock, and the morning after that, I received my handset, and that was ten days ago.
It's also worth noting that T-Mobile hasn't installed any software on the phone, so the usual network customisation delays don't apply here; the only soft customisation they've applied is a T-Mo logo splash screen on start-up.
Seems to me that you can either accept buymobilephones.net's explanation and sit tight until they deliver (£25pm with a free handset is a pretty good deal after all, and you can always request a new PAC from O2 once you've got a delivery date); or you can get on to buymobilephones.net and ask them why they're keeping you waiting when T-Mobile have been shipping these things out to their customers for a while now.
By the way, looking at the small print of that deal you've got, it appears that you can either have the unlimited text booster that they've 'included' in the £25pm price, or you can swap that for a web ('unlimited internet') booster. If you want to have both the unlimited texts AND the web, you'll have to get an additional booster for an extra £5 a month, so the total cost will be £30pm, not £25pm. You WILL need a web booster though, you can't do without it on this phone - but as long as you're happy to live with web but without the unlimited texts (you'll still get 500 texts included), you can keep the price down to £25pm.
If you need BOTH web and unlimited texts, maybe you can find an alternative deal elsewhere with a free handset for £30pm?
Right - you prompted me to act.
I phoned T-mobile and asked if they could improve their £35 per month Tarrif - they agreed to reduce it to £30 per month (600mins, 500texts, unlimited internet +an additional booster). Then I agreed and proceeded with the order and informed them that I was an existing customer - so they agreed to reduce it further. In the end I had to pay £35 for the handset but I received the above tarrif for £25. And better than that - my phone will arrive tomorrow.
Big fat smiley face.
Just hope the phone is good now.
de5perate said:
Right - you prompted me to act.
I phoned T-mobile and asked if they could improve their £35 per month Tarrif - they agreed to reduce it to £30 per month (600mins, 500texts, unlimited internet +an additional booster). Then I agreed and proceeded with the order and informed them that I was an existing customer - so they agreed to reduce it further. In the end I had to pay £35 for the handset but I received the above tarrif for £25. And better than that - my phone will arrive tomorrow.
Big fat smiley face.
Just hope the phone is good now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an excellent deal.
I noticed today that the 10 day delivery had gone from the T-Mobile website so I rang them up to check and stock was back in but the best they could do for me was 30 pounds, the phone free, 3gb but at 2 years
I am never ever going to be tied into a 2 year contract, I hate having to sign up for 18 months as that is too long really. So I will have to wait until buymobilephones get them in stock as at least I can get 18 months at 25 pounds with the phone costing 10 pounds.
A plus for you is that you get the 3gb and high speed without having to phone the sales reps until one switches you over - they shouldn't really as its only for T-Mobile sales and not resellers.
Have fun tomorrow with your new phone.
de5perate said:
Right - you prompted me to act.
I phoned T-mobile and asked if they could improve their £35 per month Tarrif - they agreed to reduce it to £30 per month (600mins, 500texts, unlimited internet +an additional booster). Then I agreed and proceeded with the order and informed them that I was an existing customer - so they agreed to reduce it further. In the end I had to pay £35 for the handset but I received the above tarrif for £25. And better than that - my phone will arrive tomorrow.
Big fat smiley face.
Just hope the phone is good now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the exact same boat. Decided to call Orange (who I'm currently with) and quoted my "friend's" (your) t-mobile deal.
I managed to get 600mins, unlimited texts, internet, 3 extra magic numbers (I'm now on 6) and orange wednesdays ofcourse for £22.50 a month with the phone costing £15! Thanks "friend"!
I have a feeling that I may be on the rubbish 500mb internet but she didn't day. If I am then I will moan and see if I can get it to 1gb.
Phone arrives tomorrow. Can't wait. And buymobilephones.net, I want my 3 weeks of missed WP7 awesomeness back!
Think of it this way, by waiting 3 weeks you have saved money each month over the next 2 years
And anyone waiting on buymobilephones they have said the T-Mobile Omnia 7 is in Monday with enough stock to clear all back orders.
Looks like buymobilephones are expecting them from Tmobile on monday . Can't wait to play with mine. Check out their twitter feed!
Edit: As posted above by root beer.
Does anyone know if Tmobile know that the phone has been bought from a 3rd party reseller? I'm wondering because I want to try and get moved onto the 3gb fup. If I pretend I bought direct they might be more cooperative.
c-bone said:
Does anyone know if Tmobile know that the phone has been bought from a 3rd party reseller? I'm wondering because I want to try and get moved onto the 3gb fup. If I pretend I bought direct they might be more cooperative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, surely they'll know that you didn't buy it from them, as there will be no record of the transaction. A third party reseller is a shop, don't forget. Buying from shops is normal.
Yes but the contract is with T mobile regardless of where I bought it from. I will be paying them directly for my contract. Its just I will only get the 1gb fup for buying from 3rd party.
Just called Orange and got the data increased to 1GB from 500MB free of charge with no hassle. If anyone here is on Orange and is a returning customer it should be no problem as you can't really expect to fully utilise this operating system with 500MB and I think the highest they have on their online plans is 750MB. Just be polite to the person on the phone.
i asked at upgrades and they said they couldn't do that for me but gave me a dongle for mobile internet for 500MB instead??
i guess i won't need the mobile wifi hotspot feature now but i think i still would have prefered 1GB or more
Chimp Safari said:
I was in the exact same boat. Decided to call Orange (who I'm currently with) and quoted my "friend's" (your) t-mobile deal.
I managed to get 600mins, unlimited texts, internet, 3 extra magic numbers (I'm now on 6) and orange wednesdays ofcourse for £22.50 a month with the phone costing £15! Thanks "friend"!
I have a feeling that I may be on the rubbish 500mb internet but she didn't day. If I am then I will moan and see if I can get it to 1gb.
Phone arrives tomorrow. Can't wait. And buymobilephones.net, I want my 3 weeks of missed WP7 awesomeness back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one friend - another happy Omnia 7 owner - mine should have been delivered yesterday but I am working in Milan so I won't get to play with it until tonight - try and get mtself a few Xbox achievements.
Chimp Safari said:
I was in the exact same boat. Decided to call Orange (who I'm currently with) and quoted my "friend's" (your) t-mobile deal.
I managed to get 600mins, unlimited texts, internet, 3 extra magic numbers (I'm now on 6) and orange wednesdays ofcourse for £22.50 a month with the phone costing £15! Thanks "friend"!
I have a feeling that I may be on the rubbish 500mb internet but she didn't day. If I am then I will moan and see if I can get it to 1gb.
Phone arrives tomorrow. Can't wait. And buymobilephones.net, I want my 3 weeks of missed WP7 awesomeness back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd. When I phoned them, they said they couldn't price-match. Maybe it's cause I'm not on orange at the moment.
Had pre-ordered the HTC Mozart, but it's still out of stock on orange. Might see if I can swap it for the Omnia 7 on T-mobile, seeing as it's in stock.
Well after 4 days using my new toy and after all that messing with BMP.net I have phoned T-Mobile to arrange for it to be shipped back to them. I am not happy - primarily with WP7. I hope it will improve given a few updates but having used various incarnations of WM6 I am not hugely confident.
So my phone is going back and I have ordered an HTC Desire HD to replace it - I love my Desire so I am sure the Desire HD will be fantastic. I will miss the AMOLED screen most of all - I do so like black to be black.
Do not buy from these people if you want proper internet!
I just got mine from them, and it's brilliant. Got a T-mobile 18 month contract with 600 min and 500 text and unlimited internet for £30 and free phone! Also, 5 month rental is half price! I just couldn't find a better deal than this!
sergioiacobucci said:
Do not buy from these people if you want proper internet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate?
I wouldn't order from anyone else.
Ordered an Omnia 7 on H3G at 2.30pm and received the phone at 1pm the following day. Superb, quick service.
I really like WP7. The interface is clean and very quick. Internet, e-mails, text etc are all lightning fast.
I can't understand all those people who get a WP7 based phone, and then complain it doesn't do this or that. If you want a customizeable phone, go with Android or WM6.5.
WP7 devices are brilliant IMHO. At the end of the day it is a PHONE. If you want all the other bells and whistles.... Get a laptop!!!
geddeeee said:
I wouldn't order from anyone else.
Ordered an Omnia 7 on H3G at 2.30pm and received the phone at 1pm the following day. Superb, quick service.
I really like WP7. The interface is clean and very quick. Internet, e-mails, text etc are all lightning fast.
I can't understand all those people who get a WP7 based phone, and then complain it doesn't do this or that. If you want a customizeable phone, go with Android or WM6.5.
WP7 devices are brilliant IMHO. At the end of the day it is a PHONE. If you want all the other bells and whistles.... Get a laptop!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got mine on Virgin, 800 mins Unlimited SMS, 1Gb data for £30 per month.
Ordered online late on a Thursday and delivered on Saturday morning.
Love the phone...

(Lack of) Orange loyalty if you want to move to EE - experiences

Hi,
I have been with Orange for 12 years, with the current contract being in high 30/low 40 quid range. So far I've been reasonably happy with them and thought I'd upgrade to a HTC One (from a Sensation) and take advantage of EE's LTE (as my phone, etc now brands itself as EE). (contract end in 1 week)
Basically, no matter what I discuss with them they will not offer a single thing (not a penny, add-on, anything) if I move from Orange to EE (even though they are the same company more or less). They have said that because I would move to EE I would effectively be a new customer and that 'there is no loyalty offers/bonuses for existing Orange customers wanting to move to EE' and 'EE is a new company, we offer no loyalty offer to customers because all EE customers are new".
Can this be true? They offer no incentive for Orange customers to move? It'd not like I wanted to move to something the same price (it would likely to 5Gb contract as I would use it tether for work (London area)). I asked about 12, 18, and 24 month contracts and they said the same. It's the price stated on the web, no discount, no handset discount, nothing (18 month isn't on the web but you can ask for it and it's a £5 more a month plus the cost of a 12 month handset price!). I even pointed out that CwP and P4U had (slightly) better handset price offers on their website and they didn't care. Also said that if I was to treated as a completely new customer there was very little incentive to stay with an EE company then - again, nonchalance in all calls (three in total - upgrades and retentions)
I've search the other threads and they don't seem to answer my specific question, which is: Has any who moved from Orange to EE got them to give you any type of loyalty offer/bonus based on your time as customer on Orange?
Cheers
PS - are EE really doing that well at conversions...?
Are you within 3 months of contract end date? If not then they will not offer you anything. I tried.
Can't you stay with Orange and buy a phone without contract?
Screw what you can out of Orange on a new contract then, after 2 weeks I think it is, you can get a free transfer to EE.
Edit: last time I read the Ts n Cs I think the only drawback was that you had to sign for a new contract with EE that had to be the same length or longer than your existing contract.
Sent from my 2.4.0 Trickdroid HTC One via xda-developers application
Dharkan said:
Can't you stay with Orange and buy a phone without contract?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One problem with this though,
He wants to use LTE. . . faster internet, Orange and T-Mobile cant offer this in the Uk as of yet (Even though there the same Company as EE) and dont know how long we have to wait, so the only way to get 4G LTE is switching to EE. . . It Sucks. . .
I feel sorry for ya man, but on the same subject, if you went to CPW or P4U or something, wont you be able to get a better deal? Free handset etc etc. . . i find these companies never give me a Upgrade deal, so i always get a PAC code and take out a new contract. . . unless you spend and extra £30 a month on top of your bill they dont wanna know!
There is no such thing as loyalty and hasn't been for a long time. Shop around & save yourself some money.
I moved from TMobile to EE and got the HTC One and 5gb of data for £46 for 12 months. 4G is amazing with the phone.
How did you get 5gb for £46? That's the tariff for 3gb
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
EE are **** for customer service.
Also their contracts are a god damn joke! 41 a month and still pay for the HTC One!? Can piss right off!
Mate if you want LTE I would go with O2 or Vodafone as they will have LTE by Summer
OR buy the phone SIM Free, then get a SIM Only 12 month contract from EE £26 a month 1gb data unlimited minutes/texts
Hi,
Thanks for all the responses. So, it does look as if Orange really aren't offering anything at all for existing customers to switch to EE. A shame as before with Orange I have always got some sort of loyalty deal (it's got worse over the last three years mind). Normally no handset fee, up to 10% of the monthly fee, and 18 month contracts at the same price as 24 (and once a free MMS package but then never managed to resolve the issue that I couldn't send MMS on that phone throughout the whole the contract - I did try(and apparently so did Orange, hmm))
Just to reply to some posters.
I only have just over a week left on my contract.
It'd be great to get a the phone not on contract but £500+ is a pretty big chunk to pay in one hit (I know you end paying it anyway, but it's easier if spread over the months)
I don't think Orange or T-mobile will ever get LTE, EE as the parent isn't going to let them IMO
I had thought about this, getting it on Orange and switch but their offer only lasts until 30/04, and knowing Orange the delivery will either get delayed until 01/05 or they'll be some hidden gem of a T&C. I might look into it though and if it works out cheaper try and talk to them. (though the cc these seem to be so gleeful that can't do anything for you...). Also, because I am looking for a 18 month deal it might be difficult.
£46 for 5Gb! If that's a 12 month contract that £16 cheaper per month! How!?! Did they charge you for the handset? I'd double check with them that you're on the right contract (I've had '18 month' deals that when processed became 24, leading to two weeks of irate conversations and then them finally conceding - sometimes I think they have a policy of mistakes and obstruction in resolving them in the hope you give up, but maybe I'm being old and cynical.)
I had talked to them about waiting for O2 or Vodaphone (I had thought about 3 but not sure if their rural coverage is any good, I do spend a bit of time up in Yorkshire) and they don't seem to care a jot. Also O2 and Vodaphone have announced their intention to make 4G a 'premium' product so can't see their prices being dramatically different. Especially as HTC One on O2 and Vodaphone with 4Gb (of 3G data) is £47 pm (24 months). I have a feeling that as EE have set their prices at this the level the others won't be dramatically different (think the big energy companies). Three might be an option but as I said I do worry about outside of urban area coverage. Also O2 4G spectrum purchase wasn't great IMO.
Anyway, if anyone has managed to get anything more (or not), let me know or feel free to rant about Orange/EE. If I ever do manage to get a deal I'll let you know so you use it a bit of a stick to beat them with (but I wouldn't hold your breath).
Pads: I haven't looked today (well, this week to be honest) but check out TopCashBack for cash-back deals.
I switched from 3 to Orange to get HTC One on day of release. Went through P4U initially on £36 for 24mths with beats plugs. Next day saw TCB offering same deal, through P4U for any 18mth contract AND £101 cashback. Phoned P4U, changed to the 18mth with plugs AND they threw in £100 cashback as well.
All because the cretins at 3 refused to offer me the phone for free (I'd been with them on top contract for 10 years.)
There's no point me paying for 4G ad I'm in Wales. We might get it in 2015.
Sent from my 2.4.0 Trickdroid HTC One via xda-developers application
Quite a while ago (ive been out the country a year and a half, so probably 3 years) I moved from Orange (to T-Mobile, so that doesn't help you) because they wouldn't offer me a sensible deal.
You're better off on a cheap tariff and over spending rather than getting an all inclusive package if you want a good deal.
Screw 'em, just go with the best deal you can find.
Better wait for other companies to roll out 4G, the monopoly of EE is just stupid and the prices are rip off.
Sent from my HTC One X
I finished my 3 phone contract with Orange (after 10+ years) at the end of my contract. They basically shrugged their shoulders when I said I must have unlimited data. So ended, preordered two HTC Ones from mobile phones direct. Because of HTCONE delays just took temporary PAYG Sims for a month. Now have 2 year T mobile full Monty 1000 mins talk, unlimited text and data for £31 a month phone free. Only 3G. but who cares they haven't got 4G where I am anywhere. Walk with your feet everybody loyalty means nothing in phone business. PS keeping original numbers is easy now.
I think Orange are overpricing their 4G and when people start getting their over the limit charges are they going to get some stick.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

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