• Re: Mobile phone contract

    From Timatmarford@21:1/5 to The Natural Philosopher on Sat Jul 19 15:08:55 2025
    On 19/07/2025 14:57, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    I would imagine that you will no longer be able to make calls

    Apparently not so!

    I have done some more digging and it appears the previous charge and
    limits will continue.

    I very rarely use any data so my usage is within their allowance.

    i phones are designed for people with time to waste learning obscure
    finger taps, slides etc.:-(

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Timatmarford@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 19 14:47:38 2025
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Tim

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sat Jul 19 14:57:09 2025
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    I would imagine that you will no longer be able to make calls

    Tim

    --
    "When one man dies it's a tragedy. When thousands die it's statistics."

    Josef Stalin

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Tricky Dicky@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sat Jul 19 14:16:25 2025
    Timatmarford <[email protected]> wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Tim


    You will probably continue to pay the agreed monthly fee and use the phone
    as normal even though you will have paid off the cost of the phone unless
    you are already on a SIM card deal already.

    If you are on a deal which involves paying off the cost of the phone apply immediately for a SIM only that will reduce your payments.

    If you are on a SIM only deal already it means you can close the account
    with one months notice without a penalty fee.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From David Wade@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 19 15:59:48 2025
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.


    Best o2 deals at present seem to be via uswitch, even if not switching.
    You get a free trial of something that you probably don't want.
    I assume o2 get a kick back if folks sign up.
    I didn't choose any of the offered offers but still got the lower rate.

    Dave

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Timatmarford@21:1/5 to David Wade on Sat Jul 19 16:10:05 2025
    On 19/07/2025 15:59, David Wade wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.


    Best o2 deals at present seem to be via uswitch, even if not switching.
    You get a free trial of something that you probably don't want.
    I assume o2 get a kick back if folks sign up.
    I didn't choose any of the offered offers but still got the lower rate.

    OK Dave.

    I'll have a look at uswitch.

    I tried to login on to the O2 site and got run around by Virgin. Surely
    they know if the login attempt is from a Desktop!

    There doesn't seem any urgency as my monthly bill is currently around £7.0

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From mm0fmf@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sat Jul 19 15:52:16 2025
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From GB@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sat Jul 19 16:35:05 2025
    On 19/07/2025 16:10, Timatmarford wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:59, David Wade wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate
    if you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.


    Best o2 deals at present seem to be via uswitch, even if not
    switching. You get a free trial of something that you probably don't
    want.
    I assume o2 get a kick back if folks sign up.
    I didn't choose any of the offered offers but still got the lower rate.

    OK Dave.

    I'll have a look at uswitch.

    I tried to login on to the O2 site and got run around by Virgin. Surely
    they know if the login attempt is from a Desktop!

    There doesn't seem any urgency as my monthly bill is currently around £7.0



    You could check Lebara, too.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Spike@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sat Jul 19 15:41:44 2025
    Timatmarford <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:59, David Wade wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.


    Best o2 deals at present seem to be via uswitch, even if not switching.
    You get a free trial of something that you probably don't want.
    I assume o2 get a kick back if folks sign up.
    I didn't choose any of the offered offers but still got the lower rate.

    OK Dave.

    I'll have a look at uswitch.

    I tried to login on to the O2 site and got run around by Virgin. Surely
    they know if the login attempt is from a Desktop!

    There doesn't seem any urgency as my monthly bill is currently around £7.0

    You don’t say what your monthly data usage is.

    If it’s very low, you could try Spusu’s Special: £2:90pm, unlimited (UK) calls and texts, 500 minutes + 500 texts (EU and Switzerland), 1GB of 5G
    data, runs on the EE network, e-sim available (be ‘on the air’ in minutes).

    --
    Spike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Timatmarford@21:1/5 to Spike on Sat Jul 19 16:53:54 2025
    On 19/07/2025 16:41, Spike wrote:
    Timatmarford <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:59, David Wade wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2. >>>>>
    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if >>>> you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.


    Best o2 deals at present seem to be via uswitch, even if not switching.
    You get a free trial of something that you probably don't want.
    I assume o2 get a kick back if folks sign up.
    I didn't choose any of the offered offers but still got the lower rate.

    OK Dave.

    I'll have a look at uswitch.

    I tried to login on to the O2 site and got run around by Virgin. Surely
    they know if the login attempt is from a Desktop!

    There doesn't seem any urgency as my monthly bill is currently around £7.0

    You don’t say what your monthly data usage is.

    If it’s very low, you could try Spusu’s Special: £2:90pm, unlimited (UK) calls and texts, 500 minutes + 500 texts (EU and Switzerland), 1GB of 5G data, runs on the EE network, e-sim available (be ‘on the air’ in minutes).

    Unknown:-)

    Currently very low as I am new to roaming data. Wi-Fi for home use as well.

    Probably limited to route planning and what three words. Ample texts and
    calls built in to the old contract.

    Modest saving with Lebara but some effort to save £25 or so per year.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Sam Plusnet@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 19 19:57:38 2025
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.

    I don't understand why they do this.
    The network has to pay wages[1] for all those people with whom you
    haggle to try and get a cheaper deal.
    Couldn't they save costs by just having a reasonable rate in the first
    place?

    [1] Wages, or commission or...


    --
    Sam Plusnet

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From David Wade@21:1/5 to Sam Plusnet on Sat Jul 19 21:02:23 2025
    On 19/07/2025 19:57, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.

    I don't understand why they do this.
    The network has to pay wages[1] for all those people with whom you
    haggle to try and get a cheaper deal.
    Couldn't they save costs by just having a reasonable rate in the first
    place?

    They do it because the vast majority don't shop around, but it allows
    them to retain those who do...


    [1] Wages, or commission or...



    Dave

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From alan_m@21:1/5 to Sam Plusnet on Sat Jul 19 21:19:06 2025
    On 19/07/2025 19:57, Sam Plusnet wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 15:52, mm0fmf wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    It's nearly always possible to get a better deal by talking to the
    provider. You are now a "valuable customer" and they will negotiate if
    you tell them you can get better elsewhere.

    Staying put is usually the most expensive option.

    I don't understand why they do this.
    The network has to pay wages[1] for all those people with whom you
    haggle to try and get a cheaper deal.
    Couldn't they save costs by just having a reasonable rate in the first
    place?

    [1] Wages, or commission or...



    Often the low cost supplier uses the same network as the higher cost
    supplier.

    --
    mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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  • From SteveW@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sun Jul 20 00:38:31 2025
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Normally, you'll just carry on being billed each month. However, the
    price of mobile phone contracts is often based on getting a new phone at
    the start and once you reach the end of the contract period, you are
    still paying the inflated rate for the calls AND a phone. If this is
    your case, then you should either get a new phone and start again or
    keep the existing phone and switch to a cheaper, SIM only deal.

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as
    they all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to SteveW on Sun Jul 20 07:58:22 2025
    On 20/07/2025 in message <105ha9r$306np$[email protected]> SteveW wrote:

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as they
    all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.

    ID Mobile are worth a look too.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    There are 10 types of people in the world, those who do binary and those
    who don't.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From David Wade@21:1/5 to SteveW on Sun Jul 20 10:49:12 2025
    On 20/07/2025 00:38, SteveW wrote:
    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Normally, you'll just carry on being billed each month. However, the
    price of mobile phone contracts is often based on getting a new phone at
    the start and once you reach the end of the contract period, you are
    still paying the inflated rate for the calls AND a phone. If this is
    your case, then you should either get a new phone and start again or
    keep the existing phone and switch to a cheaper, SIM only deal.

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as
    they all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.

    But do you get the same internet performance? I assume these all have
    heir own internet connection somewhere in the "cloud"? My biggest gripe
    about mobile coverage is poor internet performance. On O2 even with a
    good signal, at time it can be sluggish..

    Dave

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  • From fred@21:1/5 to SteveW on Sun Jul 20 12:07:02 2025
    SteveW <[email protected]> wrote in
    news:105ha9r$306np$[email protected]:

    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Normally, you'll just carry on being billed each month. However, the
    price of mobile phone contracts is often based on getting a new phone
    at the start and once you reach the end of the contract period, you
    are still paying the inflated rate for the calls AND a phone. If this
    is your case, then you should either get a new phone and start again
    or keep the existing phone and switch to a cheaper, SIM only deal.

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as
    they all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.

    For clarity Lebara is actually on Vodafone which is fine (IMV better
    nationwide coverage than O2) but the o/p will need to verify that he has
    good local coverage which can be done with a PAYG sim as well as via the coverage maps.

    Whilst Tim is going contract, Pete Foreman's excellent PAYG provider
    guide is useful to see which secondary provider (MVNO) uses which main
    carrier:

    https://payg.pythonanywhere.com/

    Gifgaff is the obvious O2 alternative.

    Also worth considering on Vodafone are Talkmobile, IMV good service,
    prompt support responses:

    https://talkmobile.co.uk/

    The current deal at �7 doesn't sound as if it had a phone purchase
    attached (too cheap) but it doesn't do any harm to shop around. MVNOs
    tend to offer monthly contracts.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Roger@21:1/5 to fred on Sun Jul 20 15:30:04 2025
    On Sun, 20 Jul 2025 12:07:02 GMT, fred <[email protected]> wrote:

    SteveW <[email protected]> wrote in >news:105ha9r$306np$[email protected]:

    On 19/07/2025 14:47, Timatmarford wrote:
    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?

    Normally, you'll just carry on being billed each month. However, the
    price of mobile phone contracts is often based on getting a new phone
    at the start and once you reach the end of the contract period, you
    are still paying the inflated rate for the calls AND a phone. If this
    is your case, then you should either get a new phone and start again
    or keep the existing phone and switch to a cheaper, SIM only deal.

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as
    they all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.

    For clarity Lebara is actually on Vodafone which is fine (IMV better >nationwide coverage than O2) but the o/p will need to verify that he has
    good local coverage which can be done with a PAYG sim as well as via the >coverage maps.

    Whilst Tim is going contract, Pete Foreman's excellent PAYG provider
    guide is useful to see which secondary provider (MVNO) uses which main >carrier:

    https://payg.pythonanywhere.com/

    Gifgaff is the obvious O2 alternative.

    Also worth considering on Vodafone are Talkmobile, IMV good service,
    prompt support responses:

    https://talkmobile.co.uk/

    The current deal at �7 doesn't sound as if it had a phone purchase
    attached (too cheap) but it doesn't do any harm to shop around. MVNOs
    tend to offer monthly contracts.

    With some MVNOs months are 30 days rather than calendar months.
    --
    Roger

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  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sun Jul 20 16:27:08 2025
    Timatmarford wrote:

    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?
    They keep charging you every month, the phone stays working, the only
    change is that you can cancel any time you like (or move providers
    without penalty).

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Timatmarford@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Sun Jul 20 20:01:08 2025
    On 20/07/2025 16:27, Andy Burns wrote:
    Timatmarford wrote:

    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?
    They keep charging you every month, the phone stays working, the only
    change is that you can cancel any time you like (or move providers
    without penalty).

    Does seem the best solution currently.

    My bigger problem is wrapping my diminishing brain cells around a system
    that has had 10 or more years evolution while I stuck to a simple mobile telephone!

    Also, elderly farmers fingers are unsuitable for swipe controls:-(

    I have a Motorola Moto E5 play in a drawer somewhere. At least I have a
    written manual for that.

    Thanks all for the suggestions.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From David Wade@21:1/5 to Timatmarford on Sun Jul 20 20:30:22 2025
    On 20/07/2025 20:01, Timatmarford wrote:
    On 20/07/2025 16:27, Andy Burns wrote:
    Timatmarford wrote:

    As said earlier, I have upgraded to my wife's old i-phone.

    Along the way, I have come to the end of my 2 year contract with O2.

    What happens if I do nothing?
    They keep charging you every month, the phone stays working, the only
    change is that you can cancel any time you like (or move providers
    without penalty).

    Does seem the best solution currently.

    I thought that but saved about a third by using uSwitch and not
    switching. The deals on there are not on the O2 web site.


    My bigger problem is wrapping my diminishing brain cells around a system
    that has had 10 or more years evolution while I stuck to a simple mobile telephone!

    Also, elderly farmers fingers are unsuitable for swipe controls:-(

    perhaps look at a doro


    I have a Motorola Moto E5 play in a drawer somewhere. At least I have a written manual for that.

    Thanks all for the suggestions.



    Dave

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  • From me9@21:1/5 to SteveW on Tue Jul 22 00:54:08 2025
    SteveW <[email protected]> wrote:

    If you go SIM only, take a look at GiffGaff, LeBara, Tesco, etc., as they
    all run on the O2 network, but usually at a lower cost.


    Lebara is on Vodafone, I have it as an alternative sim in my phone, the main sim is O2.

    --
    braind

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