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Anyone upgraded to iPhone 4s with 3? Cost?
craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 10:11 PM

Hi,

My daughter wants to upgrade her iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4S for her 18th birthday (tomorrow). At the moment I hold the account with 3 for her as she is under 18 but she wants to get her own contract in her own name. I've got no objection to this at all - one less direct debit for me to pay... Her current tariff is £25pm so moving to £35pm and getting a new phone isn't a bad deal.

However, I was wondering if she might get a better deal if I was to conduct an upgrade for her as the contract has expired and is now on a rolling 1 month deal. Obviously I wouldn't be continuing the existing contract if she got a new one and it would save having to transfer the phone number to the new contract.

Has anyone out there upgraded an expired contract with three to the iPhone 4S and if so, did you manage to get a better upfront cost deal than the £99 offered for new customers? This is for a 16GB iPhone 4S on a £35pm tariff.

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to transfer account ownership to another person mid-contract?

Finally, if she does try to get a contract herself, is she likely to have problems with the credit check given that she will only just be 18.

Just trying to cover all the bases before we get to the 3 store.

Thanks,
Craig.

zilspeed - 4/1/12 at 10:28 PM

I must confess.
3GS for £20 / month is more than enough for me.
That's with 250 mins, 5000txt, 1GB.
No upfront charge. I won't say the phone was free, because it never is in reality.

That's with Tesco.

I know, contributes nothing of value to the discussion.

There you go.

DavidM - 4/1/12 at 10:36 PM

I would never have a contract with 3. A couple of people I know have switched contracts when their 3 contract has finished and have then been pursued by 3 for an outstanding balance that they did not owe. Having failed to show any evidence that the money is owed, 3 then sell on the "debt" to a debt collection agency. As each debt collection agency fails to collect the "debt", they in turn sell it on to increasingly venomous collectors. It is generally small amounts of £20 to £30, and I think they pursue it on the basis that eventually people will pay the money just to stop the hassle. I know one case that has gone on for four years now, even though once 3 sold on the debt they admitted that they could not show that it was owed, and agreed that all outstanding money that was owed was paid at the end of the contract. They also said that the debt had been sold on, so it was out of their hands.

Tell all of your friends.

David

craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 10:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by zilspeed
I must confess.
3GS for £20 / month is more than enough for me.
That's with 250 mins, 5000txt, 1GB.
No upfront charge. I won't say the phone was free, because it never is in reality.

That's with Tesco.

I know, contributes nothing of value to the discussion.

There you go.


I got my iPhone 4 through Tesco but the coverage was crap compared to three who I am now with. I pay £25 a month for unlimited data and thousands of minutes and texts (effectively unlimited everything). The 3GS is a good phone, my younger daughter has one of those. I used to own the 3G my older daughter currently has until I got my iPhone 4. It's been going strong since the day the 3G was released (July 2008). During the same time period my wife has had 4 phones and two of those have had to be replaced (a samsung soul was repaired twice and a sony erikson of some sort). Before my daughter got my old iPhone she had a Nokia 6700 which went faulty twice with the same display fault. First time they replaced it but second time they accused us of liquid damage despite no evidence. At least the iPhone's seem to last pretty well so are a good deal in the longer term. As you say, even "free" phones aren't free and you get what you pay for.

Cheers,
Craig.

craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 10:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DavidM
I would never have a contract with 3. A couple of people I know have switched contracts when their 3 contract has finished and have then been pursued by 3 for an outstanding balance that they did not owe. Having failed to show any evidence that the money is owed, 3 then sell on the "debt" to a debt collection agency. As each debt collection agency fails to collect the "debt", they in turn sell it on to increasingly venomous collectors. It is generally small amounts of £20 to £30, and I think they pursue it on the basis that eventually people will pay the money just to stop the hassle. I know one case that has gone on for four years now, even though once 3 sold on the debt they admitted that they could not show that it was owed, and agreed that all outstanding money that was owed was paid at the end of the contract. They also said that the debt had been sold on, so it was out of their hands.

Tell all of your friends.

David


I'm not that easily intimidated thankfully and am quite happy to take on anyone who thinks they can intimidate me. I've heard these stories before and I couldn't care less to be honest. All contracts (me, wife and 2 daughters) are paid using direct debit so can be stopped at any time. It's more of a problem with credit card payments as it is more difficult to stop them. Even closing the card account doesn't stop them in some cases.

In the meantime we are getting excellent coverage and value with equally good speeds. I've had to hassle customer services a couple of times in the last 5 years but it's not that bad these days.

Cheers,
Craig.

BigLee - 4/1/12 at 10:43 PM

You may get a better deal by phoning Three and asking to leave. I doubt you'll get cheaper than £35 a month, but they may waiver the upfront charge on a 24month contract. I may be wrong, but as I understand it, Apple have a certain control on prices on iPhone contracts.
Can't fault Three though. We have 4 contracts with them in our house (2 iPhones + 2 iPads). I guess there are horror stories for every network if you speak to enough people.

Lee

zilspeed - 4/1/12 at 11:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by BigLee
You may get a better deal by phoning Three and asking to leave. I doubt you'll get cheaper than £35 a month, but they may waiver the upfront charge on a 24month contract. I may be wrong, but as I understand it, Apple have a certain control on prices on iPhone contracts.
Can't fault Three though. We have 4 contracts with them in our house (2 iPhones + 2 iPads). I guess there are horror stories for every network if you speak to enough people.

Lee


There are indeed.
Bad news travels ten times faster than good news when it comes to customer service opinions.

mangogrooveworkshop - 5/1/12 at 12:15 AM

Consider the following deal

Get phone from wickedgadget in Falkirk
http://www.wickedgadget.com/

And stuff a giffgaff sim in it
http://giffgaff.com/


Even with the apple warranty 40 you are still quids in


My mate have all got Iphones from them and have reported great service.


Now think hard before you get suckered into the flashy retail store with bright lights Its all paid for by you.....

craig1410 - 5/1/12 at 12:18 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
Consider the following deal

Get phone from wickedgadget in Falkirk
http://www.wickedgadget.com/

And stuff a giffgaff sim in it
http://giffgaff.com/


Even with the apple warranty 40 you are still quids in


My mate have all got Iphones from them and have reported great service.


Now think hard before you get suckered into the flashy retail store with bright lights Its all paid for by you.....


Trouble is, gift gaff are O2 and the coverage at our house is hopeless. I was with O2 with my original iPhone 3G and then with Tesco for the first year with my iPhone 4 and I could hardly get a signal unless I was upstairs hanging out a window. It's zoo much easier with three and I can get 3-4 Mbps through 3G with it. It comes in handy as a backup for the broadband and I have used it for this a few times.

Thanks though, a good suggestion otherwise.
C.

mangogrooveworkshop - 5/1/12 at 12:21 AM

Still does not exclude you from the phone deal and a sim onlydeal from virgin or orange or three

craig1410 - 5/1/12 at 12:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
Still does not exclude you from the phone deal and a sim onlydeal from virgin or orange or three


I just had a look at the site. No sign of any iPhone 4S (in white) either unlocked or with a three lock.

splitrivet - 5/1/12 at 10:24 AM

Been with 3 for yonks as have my engineers and never had any hassle they will barter on upgrades. I upgraded to an Iphone 4 with 6 months left till I was eligible as I was phoneless (left my old phone out in the rain) and they did it for free as they did for the other guys.
Give them a ring, worse they can say is no. Word of warning it is an Indian call centre, but they are very pleasant even if you can hardly understand a word they are saying.
Cheers,
Bob