Chris: Geek Guy » haggling http://chris.gg Tech news and other stuff from a UK-based web developer and all-round geek Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:40:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Get a better mobile deal http://chris.gg/2007/06/get-a-better-mobile-deal/ http://chris.gg/2007/06/get-a-better-mobile-deal/#comments Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:48:03 +0000 Chris Barnes http://chris.gg/2007/06/get-a-better-mobile-deal/ Inspired by an article by Martin Lewis, I recently contacted O2 (my mobile provider) to renew my mobile phone contract and instead of going through Customer Services, I called their Customer Retentions department on 0800 0288 151. As a result I was able to get a a shiny new Sony Ericsson W880i for free on an 18 month contract priced at £25/month including 1000 any time/any network minutes and 200 texts. This would normally cost £40/month (Online 40 Talker) and that’s with 100 fewer texts.
The key is to be persistent – I asked for my PAC code (which is needed if you want to migrate to another network) on a couple of occasions and was on the line for a total of 35 minutes, so it’s a good job that O2 foot the bill for the call (as long as you phone from a landline – remember that 0800 numbers are not usually free from mobiles and sometimes don’t even count towards your free minutes allowance).
I really wanted a 12 month contract so I could upgrade again after year but O2 weren’t forthcoming with any particularly good deals and I’m happy to wait the extra 6 months for the amount I’ve saved.

I was also offered insurance for £7.50/month which I declined, then £6/month with a £25 excess which I still didn’t bother with – over the term of the contract it works out at over a third of the value of the phone which seems very pricey.

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