Advice needed, free line rental

I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk

http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/3han...lue&referer=af

12 months free line rental - Equivalent after cashback
£480.00 Cashback

750 Any network minutes + 150 Text messages

(The 8th deal down on the page)

http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/tari...TariffName=176

Can anyone see any problems that I might face before I take the plunge.

Cheers

---

› See More: Advice needed, free line rental

> Can anyone see any problems that I might face before I take the plunge.

Check Three coverage where you'll be using the phone. Don't know much about
PhoneboxDirect except that their cashbacks are a bit hit and miss (2 ok out
of 4 so not a very large sample size ! )
--
Grumps

milou wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:59:43 +0100, "Aosmosis" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>> Can anyone see any problems that I might face before I take the plunge.
>
> Not getting your £ 480 back?
>
> Read the T&C
>
> "£201 to £600 claims
> Cash backs are claimed in five equal instalments
> ................................. "

Yep - horrible terms and conditions:

"Where a valid claim has not been received by us within one calendar
month of the required bill, you will not be entitled to any part of the
Cash Back offered. Cash back files are closed and cannot be reopened in
these cases."

You're late on one claim, no chance of future claims.

"Due to the number of early claims, duplicate claims and multiple
claims, we have the following charges for unecessary administration.
All early but otherwise valid claims will be rejected & subjected to a
£10 administration fee. where two customer claims are noted to have
arrived in the same envelope we will charge the 2nd and subsequent one
out of the envelope £10 each, where we don't notice a second or
subsequent claim in the envelope, then they will be deemed void as we
shread all unecessary paperwork."

So, send it in early, and they'll charge you £10 to reject your claim
(and possibly therefore void all future claims as above if you can't
re-submit within the time limit! Wonder how long they take to notify you).

Send in multiple claims (maybe multiple contracts?) then you'll be fined
£10 too. If they don't notice the 2nd claim in the envelope (ie. the
claim is for > £10 - I'm a cynic aren't I?) then they'll shred the
application and you'll miss your deadline.


Personally, I'd not deal with them at all. £480 is a lot of money to be
gambling on a company with such unfair terms.

D

Aosmosis wrote:
> I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk
>
> http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/3han...lue&referer=af
>
> 12 months free line rental - Equivalent after cashback
> £480.00 Cashback
>
> 750 Any network minutes + 150 Text messages
>
> (The 8th deal down on the page)
>
> http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/tari...TariffName=176
>
> Can anyone see any problems that I might face before I take the plunge.
>
> Cheers

I'd just taken out a similar contract with Carphone Warehouse--free
clearance phone, 12 months duration, 12 months free, send in every
third bill to get cashback. I don't remember the exact TCs but I don't
think it looked so horrible, and you get 60 days after receiving the
bill to send in the claim. Hope I missed nothing though.

Seb

On 27 Jun 2006 10:49:25 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>
>Aosmosis wrote:
>> I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk
>>
>> http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/3han...lue&referer=af
>>
>> 12 months free line rental - Equivalent after cashback
>> £480.00 Cashback
>>
>> 750 Any network minutes + 150 Text messages
>>
>> (The 8th deal down on the page)
>>
>> http://www.phoneboxdirect.co.uk/tari...TariffName=176
>>
>> Can anyone see any problems that I might face before I take the plunge.
>>
>> Cheers
>
>I'd just taken out a similar contract with Carphone Warehouse--free
>clearance phone, 12 months duration, 12 months free, send in every
>third bill to get cashback. I don't remember the exact TCs but I don't
>think it looked so horrible, and you get 60 days after receiving the
>bill to send in the claim. Hope I missed nothing though.
>
>Seb
I've done the same. So far they seem OK. They even rang me in response
to an email enquiry.
On the downside they have been constantly pestering me to try to buy
some insurance on a crummy handset I am not even using.
I firstly deselected insurance on my order. Then I received 3 phone
calls - each time leaving them in no doubt that I didn't want any
insurance. Then I got a text. I can't blame them for trying to sell
insurance that, I would guess, would work out more than the value of
the phone over 12 months. Just money for old rope!
The on-line billing is on their web site rather than O2's. Sadly they
charge for on-line itemised billing, or so I was told. Afaik the O2
site is free but it's not possible to use that.
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

[snip]
> >
> >I'd just taken out a similar contract with Carphone Warehouse--free
> >clearance phone, 12 months duration, 12 months free, send in every
> >third bill to get cashback. I don't remember the exact TCs but I don't
> >think it looked so horrible, and you get 60 days after receiving the
> >bill to send in the claim. Hope I missed nothing though.
> >
> >Seb
> I've done the same. So far they seem OK. They even rang me in response
> to an email enquiry.
> On the downside they have been constantly pestering me to try to buy
> some insurance on a crummy handset I am not even using.
> I firstly deselected insurance on my order. Then I received 3 phone
> calls - each time leaving them in no doubt that I didn't want any
> insurance. Then I got a text. I can't blame them for trying to sell

I only got 2 calls and a text. It wasn't the Motorola C139 you took
by chance?

> insurance that, I would guess, would work out more than the value of
> the phone over 12 months. Just money for old rope!
> The on-line billing is on their web site rather than O2's. Sadly they
> charge for on-line itemised billing, or so I was told. Afaik the O2
> site is free but it's not possible to use that.
> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Being a refurbished phone it was repacked--with wrong charger--but it
was sorted with one phone call after several working days. If I like
it, I wonder if completely free contracts will be a good way to score
extra phones (if you're walking-on-eggs careful about sending invoices
in on time, etc., you know). Too bad I've no use for the extra free
minutes/texts.

Seb

On 27 Jun 2006 16:15:18 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>[snip]
>> >
>> >I'd just taken out a similar contract with Carphone Warehouse--free
>> >clearance phone, 12 months duration, 12 months free, send in every
>> >third bill to get cashback. I don't remember the exact TCs but I don't
>> >think it looked so horrible, and you get 60 days after receiving the
>> >bill to send in the claim. Hope I missed nothing though.
>> >
>> >Seb
>> I've done the same. So far they seem OK. They even rang me in response
>> to an email enquiry.
>> On the downside they have been constantly pestering me to try to buy
>> some insurance on a crummy handset I am not even using.
>> I firstly deselected insurance on my order. Then I received 3 phone
>> calls - each time leaving them in no doubt that I didn't want any
>> insurance. Then I got a text. I can't blame them for trying to sell
>
>I only got 2 calls and a text. It wasn't the Motorola C139 you took
>by chance?
Yes.
>> insurance that, I would guess, would work out more than the value of
>> the phone over 12 months. Just money for old rope!
>> The on-line billing is on their web site rather than O2's. Sadly they
>> charge for on-line itemised billing, or so I was told. Afaik the O2
>> site is free but it's not possible to use that.
>> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
>
>Being a refurbished phone it was repacked--with wrong charger--but it
>was sorted with one phone call after several working days. If I like
I haven't opened mine. I was going to sell it on. How can I tell if it
is the correct charger? All I can see on mine, without opening it, is
50/60Hz 0.1A 35227 and a crossed out wheelybin. On the back it has the
Motorola 'M'.
>it, I wonder if completely free contracts will be a good way to score
>extra phones (if you're walking-on-eggs careful about sending invoices
>in on time, etc., you know). Too bad I've no use for the extra free
>minutes/texts.
I am sure that many people are the same in regard to minutes and text.
A teenager could very easily eat up the texts and minutes I suppose.
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

On 27 Jun 2006 16:15:18 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>[snip]
>> >
>> >I'd just taken out a similar contract with Carphone Warehouse--free
>> >clearance phone, 12 months duration, 12 months free, send in every
>> >third bill to get cashback. I don't remember the exact TCs but I don't
>> >think it looked so horrible, and you get 60 days after receiving the
>> >bill to send in the claim. Hope I missed nothing though.
>> >
>> >Seb
>> I've done the same. So far they seem OK. They even rang me in response
>> to an email enquiry.
>> On the downside they have been constantly pestering me to try to buy
>> some insurance on a crummy handset I am not even using.
>> I firstly deselected insurance on my order. Then I received 3 phone
>> calls - each time leaving them in no doubt that I didn't want any
>> insurance. Then I got a text. I can't blame them for trying to sell
>
>I only got 2 calls and a text. It wasn't the Motorola C139 you took
>by chance?
>
>> insurance that, I would guess, would work out more than the value of
>> the phone over 12 months. Just money for old rope!
>> The on-line billing is on their web site rather than O2's. Sadly they
>> charge for on-line itemised billing, or so I was told. Afaik the O2
>> site is free but it's not possible to use that.
>> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
>
>Being a refurbished phone it was repacked--with wrong charger--but it
>was sorted with one phone call after several working days. If I like
>it, I wonder if completely free contracts will be a good way to score
>extra phones (if you're walking-on-eggs careful about sending invoices
>in on time, etc., you know). Too bad I've no use for the extra free
>minutes/texts.
>
>Seb
btw I assume the handset is unlocked...Yes?
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:59:43 +0100, "Aosmosis" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk
>

Don't bother with cashback. If you want free line rental, take a 12
month contract with the most expensive phone you can get (for free) ,
then sell the phone on e-Bay. Sometimes you get free line rental,
sometimes it works out about £50 for the year.

--
http://www.unimobiles.com | http://www.unimobiles.com/auctions
UK Specialists in Refurbished Mobile Phones & Accessories

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:32:37 +0100, Unimobiles.com
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:59:43 +0100, "Aosmosis" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk
>>
>
>Don't bother with cashback. If you want free line rental, take a 12
>month contract with the most expensive phone you can get (for free) ,
>then sell the phone on e-Bay. Sometimes you get free line rental,
>sometimes it works out about £50 for the year.
That is interesting advice. Last time I treid to sell a phone on ebay
it was just a shedload of stress trying to wade through all the
criminal activities- constantly bombarding me with emails etc.- not
to mention paypal not compensating me when the credit card transaction
turned out to be fraudulent.
It really put me off and I haven't sold anything on ebay for a few
years now.
What policies do you adopt when selling a phone - payment, country to
sell to etc. etc.?

Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Selling a new phone on Ebay is hit and miss.

You may be on the hook for a lot more than £50. Assume that the best
phones won't be had for less than a £25 a month contract or £300 per
year. The reigning king of mobiles, the Sony Ericsson W810i, will only
net you about £200 on Ebay.

Plus you've got to fend off all the scoundrels and perverts that come
out when you sell fancy new phones on Ebay.


Unimobiles.com wrote:

> On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:59:43 +0100, "Aosmosis" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I am going to get the following from phoneboxdirect.co.uk
> >
>
> Don't bother with cashback. If you want free line rental, take a 12
> month contract with the most expensive phone you can get (for free) ,
> then sell the phone on e-Bay. Sometimes you get free line rental,
> sometimes it works out about £50 for the year.
>
> --
> http://www.unimobiles.com | http://www.unimobiles.com/auctions
> UK Specialists in Refurbished Mobile Phones & Accessories