Are you paying too much for your mobile?

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  • Vodafone, EE and Three are continuing to charge customers for the mobile phones they buy as part of a contract, even after the cost of the handset has been paid off, research suggests.

    Citizens Advice found that customers who do not take out a new contract are paying an average extra £22 a month.

    Having never owned a smart phone and only ever had a pay-as-you-go mobile, mobile phone contracts are not something I have ever had the "pleasure" of experiencing, but many have.

    Mobile phone companies mask the cost of the phones by providing them for "free" while adding the cost of the equipment into higher monthly charges, but if the contract auto renews, the cost of the equipment is still charged even when its paid off. Many people either don't know or care that they could get a cheaper tariff once their initial contract has ended.

    Do you think the current trend of zero upfront cost for mobiles in exchange for higher monthly costs is fair? What about when the initial contract ends, do you shop around for a better deal? Are prices just too high for using a mobile phone?

  • Ive been with O2 for years. I do shop around but without going into details their overseas offers and service beat all the others.

    Then I came across this story. For some time O2 split your bill into handset charge and usage charge - when your handset is paid off e.g. 24 months, that bit stops and you only get a usage charge. I'm surprised they were the only ones doing it. This time I bought a phone in full and separate SIM which will almost always be cheaper but not always possible for everyone.

  • Was in hospital most of the tail end of last year and sending texts home was a nightmare from my old phone - pushing buttons so many times for the letters, buttons that were becoming worn

    A friend suggested that I get a smart phone with a keyboard which would be a lot easier, so I did

    I only use the phone for texts and calls and have no need for games or anything else. Bought a Motorola on Tesco mobile pay as you go, and topped it up with a big balance

    It started eating that balance and they discovered that it had signed me up for a "Rocket package" which I did not want or need, and they put me back on a "Light package"" which is just for texts and calls

    Now the mystery of this that defies out local Tesco phone shop and Tesco on line is that every day it reduced my balance by 1p, and sometimes by £1.01p but always puts the £1 back the next day

  • Hmmm...:/

    Are you paying via a debit or credit card? Perhaps it's some kind of cashback scheme from your bank card?? I would get this looked into, for fear of getting a nasty bill at some point.

    Yes, I top up with our Barclaycard in just the same way I did with the old mobile

    Am seriously thinking of buying another one, a Nokia, and flogging this one off the Cash Generaters

  • giffgaff have just increased (doubled) the pay as you go prices and changed their bundle deals to benefit those that buy the more expensive ones more the cheaper bundles.

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/04/g…ut-boosts-allo/

    I have a giffgaff account and have had about £10 on the phone for the last 2 years. I only ever have to make one phone call or text every 6 months so they don't think I'm dead and cut the connection. I never use phones unless I have to and certainly not a mobile phone / tracker. As Al Qaeda said 'we stopped using mobile phones because every time we used them we ended up dead'. I also don't want to help encourage a push for digital currency only or silly apps to work a TV or something instead of an older style IR remote control. I don't want a mobile phone controlling my life. I shall leave that for all the dumbed down zombies.

  • We have a mobile and regularly text relatives in Europe as well as messaging on Facebook. Its instant communication and very cheap

    Can't imagine going back to "snail" mail to correspond, imagine the cost and delay

  • I have been with the same Mobile supplier for 20 years because their back up support has always been excellent. The measure of a good supplier is when you need their assistance and need to talk to a person for help. At the end of 2019 I found their willingness to assist me as a paying customer for 20 years, not so keen and not very good so I will search for another supplier when this contract ends.

    its a shame really but they now behave like Ryanair instead of BA.

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