I think I'm too old to understand my mobile phone contract.... Please help.

[MrsMuddle]

OK, I'm coming to the end of my second 18 month contact with Vodafone. I am very happy with them - they have been great.

On their website they have a great deal - 600 mins and unlimited texts for £25 per month. (I currently get 120 mins and 250 texts for same amount). I called to upgrade, but that offer is only for "new" customers. I'd need to end my contract and start a new one with a new number, in which case I could shop around and probably get a better deal with Three.

So, I've written to say I'll be ending my contact at the due date BUT on the website, it seems to let me upgrade my phone, even though there's only 6 weeks left on my contract.

Is there a catch if I upgrade my phone or could I get a new phone, leave Vodafone as planned, and just get a month to month sim only contract from somewhere?

This seems too good to be true - that they'd give you a new phone and then let you bugger off to get a contract elsewhere.

Please explain.

hi i have upgraded my mobile with vodafone on friday just gone and you would be keeping your original contract if you upgrade. you would also be tied in for another 18 months. i know for a fact that you can change your priceplan whenyou upgrade as i did this aswell. it wouldn t be the 'new customer' deal you hav e seen online but it would be similar. how much do you pay per month on your contract if you dont mind me asking? i pay £40 per mon th and get 1000 texts 500 minutes and stop the clock aswell as unlimited web browsing time. i changed to this mid contract so if you arent happy with your current deal ask for help choosing a new package
xx ei xx

MrsMuddle you need to do the following (trust me, I do this every time)

phone them up, and say you want to cancel your contract.
they should put you through to the customer retention team (if not, ask to be put through!)

at this point you tell them exactly what you want, ie, I want this phone, on this contract, and you do not want to change your number
tell them you're willing to have another 18 month contract (if you are).
but if you don't have exactly that then you will end the contract and shop around.

trust me, they WILL give it to you.

My contract now is £25 for 120 minutes and 250 texts and stop the clock, so the deal for new customers would give me 4 hours more talk and month and limitless texts, so that's the deal I want.

But if ONLY upgrade the phone, does my contract still end in six weeks or will it tie me in for longer?

nope, if you upgrade it will tie you in for longer

If you upgrade then it is another 18m contract. Earlier in the year i noticed that T-mobile had a deal on their data card - i use it to access the internet when away from home and it too was for new customers, my previous contract had expired tho still getting bills/service, i researched and found a same package with vodafone so went into town armed with documents to move contract and first visited vodafone to check deal then went to T-mobile shop and after explaining long term customer etc they transfered me to new package so is worth a go as shop staff/manager have disgression re these deals.

Missed your first message, thisisyesterday.

They have called me three times offering me better and better deals to upgrade, but still £10 a month more expensive than the one for new customers. I've been to the customer retention department, and they're adamant that I can't have the deal I want.

I've written today to formally end my contract and to ask for a PAC code, so they might still cave in, but I'm not holding my breath.

god they're crap then lol

go with O2, they let me do what the hell I like.
I am currently on my ancient £15 a month contract with 500 free texts and 250 free minutes a month.

suits me fine, because I don't often call people, usually text. they gave me the phone I wanted for free even though it was supposed to cost me money as well

Hang on in there with Vodafone, you'll get the deal you want as long as you stand your ground, We did this around 2 months ago and got top of the range phones on a 12 month contract with loads of free minutes and texts for £15 a month each!

I used the forums on the Martin Lewis website to check what everyone else was being offered, then asked for a similar deal, it took 5 or 6 phone calls and each time the offer got better.

We are now saving a whopping £60 a month on our phone contracts, which might just cover the price increase on the Gas and Electricity bills