12 Month Contracts

Parthiban · May 11, 2009

Anyone got a decent deal on a 12 month contract recently? For the first time in a while I've been really struggling to get a decent deal out of Vodafone on my upgrade - is this the sign of the current financial times, or have people stopped pushing for 12 month contracts so they're not bothered unless you're looking for an 18 month?

It was only last year that I upgraded to my N95 8GB for free @ £25/month on a 12 month contract, and if anyone remembers my other thread, 9 months into that contract they offered me an Xperia X1 or Touch Pro for £50 if I renewed another 12 month contract.

Now I'm trying to get an HTC Magic on another 12 month contract @ £30/month and they won't go lower than £100 (same for other phones too).........has anyone got any decent 12 month contracts or do I just need to either give up and pay the extra, or succumb to the 18 month contract?

Mike_B · May 12, 2009

You get more minutes and more texts than ever before for your money, and mobile phones aren't getting any cheaper to manufacture, because they are getting more and more complicated. So something had to give - that's why you now have to keep it for 6 months longer...

Chosen One · May 12, 2009

I'm with Vodafone and have been for a few years. Each year i tell them I am leaving them and so at not to lose a customer each year they upgrade my phone AND reduce my payments by half for 9 months out of the 12. Tell them you're leaving.

Parthiban · May 12, 2009

Ok after badgering them a few times, I think I wore them down, and I got a little bored too so accepted the following deal:

HTC Magic for £50, 12 month contract, £32.50/month for 500 mins, 100 texts and unlimited internet. Not as good as I was hoping for, but a decent deal all the same given the current shift to 18 month contracts.

Finally someone explained why I couldn't get the really great deals anymore though (like the £50 upgrade a few months ago) and that's because they used to outsource that outbound retentions team and now it's just VF retentions that does it all. He claimed that that team was promising customers stuff they weren't going to get, but seeing as I got great deals for a few years, and was never let down, I get the impression that this was more of a cost cutting exercise.

Ellz · May 12, 2009

Ok after badgering them a few times, I think I wore them down, and I got a little bored too so accepted the following deal:
HTC Magic for £50, 12 month contract, £32.50/month for 500 mins, 100 texts and unlimited internet. Not as good as I was hoping for, but a decent deal all the same given the current shift to 18 month contracts.

Finally someone explained why I couldn't get the really great deals anymore though (like the £50 upgrade a few months ago) and that's because they used to outsource that outbound retentions team and now it's just VF retentions that does it all. He claimed that that team was promising customers stuff they weren't going to get, but seeing as I got great deals for a few years, and was never let down, I get the impression that this was more of a cost cutting exercise.

I got a good 12 month contract with the G1 but I was switching companies.

Let us know how u get on with the Magic, i found a really cool app for racing the other day, uses googlemaps and the GPS to do lap time and splits etc on a race track.

hodaz · May 13, 2009

I get 500 mins and unlimited texts off Vodafone for £15, and no contract. But thats just with a normal phone, nothing flashy. I was looking at getting an Iphone or similar but couldn't really see the point in spending all thhe extra money on a monthly contract and being tied in to a contract, seems like there isn't many good deals around at the minute.

Parthiban · May 13, 2009

Let us know how u get on with the Magic, i found a really cool app for racing the other day, uses googlemaps and the GPS to do lap time and splits etc on a race track.

Will do mate, initial thoughts are very promising :)

Where's the best place to get apps - is it just the proper android site or are there other places to get stuff?

Parthiban · May 25, 2009

Following the trouble I was having with T-mobile trying to sort an upgrade out for my dad, I gave Vodafone a ring today asking if they could offer any deals as I've been a customer for ages..........

Anyway, I didn't really have to do much haggling at all, and they gave me the following deal:

Free Sonyericsson W595, 250 minutes, 100 texts - all for £12.50/month for 9 months, £24.47 thereafter on a 12month contract

Obviously I said "yes please" as that's better than most of the deals I could find online, and this one's better purely because there's no redemption/cashback nonsense.........I'm still really surprised, so hoping the paperwork comes through exactly as described but I was pretty happy with that :D