Anyone been bought out of their phone contract?

[Little-Miss]

I've fallen out horribly with my Omnia and am on the brink of buy a Pay as you go phone to replace it using my contract SIM.

Walked into phones4u to get the phone ive been looking at only to get there usual sales patter. The guy said they would give me the cash to pay off my current contract and then help me choose a new contract. So i've got 5/6 months left and say my contract is around £25 pcm thats £125/£150. i asked how they managed to do it cus they're loosing out and he basically said they do to get our business.

Anyone done this or can explain if its worth it or not?!

[powdarrmonkey]

It's worth it if a) your current provider agrees and b) you actually save enough in the long run (with a cheaper contract) to make it worth while.

[Tcsltd]

Little miss just be careful what length contract they are signing you up to as 24 month ones are now being sold more & more, I signed upto an 18th one without knowing!!! I am now on pay as you go and as long as I spend £10 a month I get about 200 free texts!!!

[CPLTD]

02 here payg spend 30 a month and have free calls and texts to any other 02

[WStore_Dan]

Buying you out is the same as offering you a PS3, XBox etc etc - its all built in to the cost of your contract in the long run.

I am with O2 through Carphone Warehouse and was on a £35 a month contract. At the end of my contract, I saw on the O2 website the same deal but for £20 a month so I rang to cancel and they put me through to their customer retention team. I explained that I could get 600 minutes, 600 texts and unlimited web browsing direct with O2 for £20 a month (Sim only, no phone bundle) so they offered me exactly the same deal but for £10 a month.

Only catch was, if you can call it a catch, is that I had to sign up to a 24 month contract but at £10 a month, that's an absolute steal! I'm just hoping I can carry on with this deal after the 24 months!

[mbhmirc]

points > Cheap Mobiles: Compare, switch and make cashback deals work for you...

[Hightower]

I did this years ago (about 6 years ago) with Phones4U.

The deal is, they give you the cash for line rental with your current provider, on the lowest tariff (you have to downgrade to the lowest tariff yourself). You can't cancel yet as you're still in contract, but effectively this cash pays for the current contract up until the date it runs out, which you can then cancel.

The only reason I did it was because my phone was busted. It worked exactly how they said it would and (from what I can remember!) I have no complaints. Just meant having two contracts on the go for 5/6 months (which I have now, cos t-mobile offered me a stonking deal, saving me money!).

Good luck!

[kevbaz]

Done it plenty of times, most my family do, esp those who always want new phones