Mobile Phone Deals Explained
by: Sophia Hayes
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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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