Advice 12 month contract - mobile phones

[Bahumat]

I heard a few people on here mention 12 month mobile phone contracts. I like the idea that you can sell the phone after a year and it will still (kind of) hold its value as opposed to being worth bugger all.

I checked some of the websites today and they are all for 24 month contracts.

Did you get a 12 month contract via a phone call to the provider? Also how does it work? Do you buy the phone outright and then a standard 12 month sim? Or get the phone and contract together as a 'deal'?

 

[Litmus]

i dont think you can get a decent phone on a 12 month contact anymore, well not without paying a silly price for the handset anyway.

 

[soze]

Mine is a SIM only contract I buy the phones myself as until recently I have not kept a phone past 6 months so the expensive subsidized contracts were a false economy. You can put the phone on a 12 month interest free credit card if you want to split the payments.

 

[Bahumat]

Mine is a SIM only contract I buy the phones myself as until recently I have not kept a phone past 6 months so the expensive subsidized contracts were a false economy. You can put the phone on a 12 month interest free credit card if you want to split the payments.

What phone did you buy recently and how much did it cost? Also do you just say "I want a 12 month sim only contract with x minutes/data/texts"?

 

[Overdriven]

The 12 month contract is very odd. If you damage the phone (etc) you have to pay for the whole thing..

EDIT: IIRC that's what one of the phone4u people told me.

 

[dysfunction]

I've always had 12 month contracts since 2001.

Never had to pay silly amounts either.

Mainly been on O2. They just offer me the option whenever I upgrade.

I got my S3 for £50 and a monthly amount of £40. Loads of minutes and texts and data...and I could upgrade 3 month before end of contract.

 

[Ch3tan]

As you can see with the example above, you pay a large monthly fee for a 12 month deal with a phone.

 

[Bahumat]

Ah I was expecting a sim only contract and buying the phone outright.

Will have a think about the costs vs benefits etc

 

[soze]

What phone did you buy recently and how much did it cost? Also do you just say "I want a 12 month sim only contract with x minutes/data/texts"?

My contract is unlimited calls and unlimited texts and 1gb internet. It is £20.50 but it has 9 months half price and I got £50 back from TCB so it is about £8-£9 a month all in. And it is only 12 months. An iPhone 4s contract from Vodafone with the same contract is 24 months at £37. As I got the iPhone for £450 over the 2 years I save £200+ assuming I can get the same 12 month sim only deal next year.

 

[Ch3tan]

Or alternatively, haggle with your network for a two year contract with a phone you want or can sell easily, and buy your own new phone as and when you want.

I have for example negotiated a 16 quid a month two year contract with three with a free nexus 4 which I sold 330, and use an s3 which cost me 370.

 

[Ch3tan]

As soze points out, it's about working out cost of total ownership and factoring in how much you will save by not going with a subsidised contract.

 

[Bahumat]

Yeah I'm screwed when it comes to negotiating with Vodafone because their signal is so poor where I live and work. I will have to leave them for either orange (been with them before) or 3 or O2.

 

[Ch3tan]

My only advice is free pay as you go sim so you can test network performance for a month or so before you commit.

 

[Aoami]

http://shop.tescomobile.com/mobile-phones/pay-monthly/nokia/100?deal=5601