Mobile Phone Deals Explained
by: Sophia Hayes
There is no doubt there is a plethora of UK based sites offering
some exceptional mobile phone deals. But how do you decide which
is the best deal for you, particularly if you are short of time
to search the web?
First, decide whether you want a contract
or PAYG phone. If the latter, your options are much more
limited, so here, we will only consider contract options.
Second, decide which type of deal you
require. Are you looking for a 12-month contract or longer?
Are you looking for free gifts such as an Ipod or a small lcd
television? The freebies have certainly improved over the last
few years as the competitiveness of the market has increased,
but logic suggests the better gifts come with the more expensive
or longer contracts, or with the cheaper rather than the more
expensive phones. This may, or may not be the case, but it
certainly pays to do your homework!
Third, if you are not basing your decision on the type of phone
you require make yourself a short-list of two or three phones.
This will cut your search time down if you already know roughly
what you want.
Of course you may already have such things as an Ipod or maybe
you are more cash-driven, so what deal can benefit you the most?
The answer is to watch for the free cash deals. By this, it is
meant the deals whereby you can get a free mobile phone, but
instead of a physical gift, you get part or full refunds on the
line rental, calls and texts. These deals in themselves differ
from ½ price line rental for a period of months, to full price
free line rental for the duration of the contract and the latter
often include free calls and texts as well. The downside is that
the phones are often not the very newest, typically having been
released around 6-months previously.
How does the free phone, line rental and calls deal work?
Firstly, know how many minutes you spend on the phone on average
during a month and how many texts you send. This is important,
as for the maximum benefit, you need to match your usage to the
tariff, if you don’t, you’ll be penalised by the extra high cost
per minute of going over your pre-paid time for which you will
not be reimbursed. However, stay within your ‘free’ minutes and
texts and your phone, line rental, calls and texts will be free
for the 12 months, in the occasional deal, this may be for 18
months (have only seen this on an Orange deal).
The most important caveat in these deals is to realise that you
do have to pay the monthly tariffs first and then claim the cash
back usually in 4 or 5 stages over the period of the contract.
Also, some companies will charge extra for itemised billing
which you may have to take. In addition, watch out for
mobile phone insurances, often
obligatory in the free deals and free for between one and three
months. If you don’t want this, it is up to you to remember to
cancel it or you will charged automatically. It is worth
checking your home contents insurance as these often cover loss
or damage to the phone itself but not for unauthorised usage.
Finally, find a site that has already done a lot of the footwork
in finding the ideal mobile phone deal for you. Good luck with
finding your deal!
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