[Closed] Mobile phone "deal" websites: good or rip off?

Had a few good freebies off buymobilephones.net

Cashback deals do work but the terms are strict and it's easy to mess it up.

There are consumer sites that review them eg www.hotukdeals.com - also list deals.

Are you getting the best for your £25?

Haze - Have you had any issues buying stuff from them?

Al - I'm on some deal where I get free texts but it's not cross network and most of my contacts have changed networks. I also call a lot and access the Internet

The two things to watch with the cash-back type deals are firstly that they are designed for you to cock up and miss the chance to claim. Secondly they're not necessarily the most sustainable business model and the companies that offer them have a tendency to go belly up. If they do you can wave goodbye to any cashbacks/rebates but you'll still be in a contract with the mobile co.

Thats not to say don't do it, but don't be tempted into taking out a pricier deal than you could otherwise afford.

had a couple of mobiles through e2save but been upgrading on the same company for a while so haven't used them for 4-5 years. The two I bought were fine although never opted for cashback deals where I had to look north spit four times in 4 different directions while jumping on one toe.

You can get a lot for 25£ these days especially if you don't really care about the phone you will be getting.

BTW if you use a lot of data 3 seems to be the cheapest most generous one.

None at all - I've had 3 contracts off them now, about to go for my fourth next month.

Had to wait for my 'free' gift the first time as they were out of stock, wasn't any longer than a fortnight though and my subsequent ones have turned up within a few days of the handset and contract.

As said above, don't be tempted to fork out for a higher tariff. There are also automatic deals now, where you don't have to apply for the cashback. Not sure they're as attractive though.

Looking forward to picking up my Xbox next month...

If theres nothing wrong with the phone you've got look at the sim only deals instead if you are paying 25 on PAYG a £10 - £15 sim only deal will probably give you more minutes and texts than you can actually use and you can prob get internet as a free or cheap add-on

T-mobile is well worth looking at in that respect (and they are joined at the hip with orange now)

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Im looking to get something thats of similar value to what I pay monthly. I can't afford to go much higher so that kinda limits me. The Orange Dolphin £25 contract seems like a good deal, then again the £20 would be just as good. Annoying however that contracts only seem to be 24 months these days.

I didn't realise how much hassle the cashback things can be however, might steer clear of that and go for a 360 instead 😀

I'll have a look at the sim only deals, my phone is pretty buggered though (then again this is possibly good as it means its less likely to get pinched)

www.mobiles.co.uk did a good cashback deal 18 months ago when I was changing - atill worth a look i'd expect.

Keep an eye on Quidco and topcashback for easy cahback options

Yeah def check out the deals websites. Some sim only deals are amazing, good deal if you don't need a fancy phone.

The people seeling those phones with cashback options will try and confuse You. Well they did confuse me. Guy phoned me some time ago and said
- I can offer You X phone on X tariff, there is cashback, just need to send You bill on month X,Y,Z
- I don't like cashback as I did not have enough time to send it last time, get the bill dates all confused etc.
- It all changed now and You have 90 days to do it.
- Ok, I`ll take it.

Turned out it was still 30 days, but they changed the term and conditions, 30 days to send Your bill in, ALWAYS with special delivery as signed for service get "lost in post", then they have 30 days to accept it, and then another 30 days to issue a cheque. Total 90 days, if You do something wrong with sending the bill a month early, You won't know until 2 months later, so too late to send the next months bill which would be the correct one. I'm just not organised well enough to take a cashback deal again.

Now on a sim only deal on 3. Pretty happy as my bill is lower and can always change to a contract if something nice shows up.

Never tried automatic cashback, but looks good on paper, basically You don`t have to send any bills, they issue You one cheque.

Also try directly, without the middle man some (Vodafone IIRC) offer similar deals, but here You would actually pay a smaller bill for X months rather than have to send the bills etc.

Always calculate how much stuff will cost You. You get a free 360 but see for how much they retail now and how higher is Your payment compared to the same amount min/txt without the console. For me it was cheaper to get the phone I wanted and than just get a sim only rolling contract. Same for my brother, worked out £40-60 cheaper over 12 months to just buy a HTC Hero and have a cheap contract with 3.

I wouldn't trust ANYTHING said to you on the phone (I've been "done" before), believe the written T&Cs only - should be online.

I wouldn't trust ANYTHING said to you on the phone (I've been "done" before), believe the written T&Cs only - should be online.

That is one thing that puts me off with this. At least when you buy from a shop and something gets cocked up you can actually talk to someone about it in the shop rather then email/phone contact.

You get a free 360 but see for how much they retail now and how higher is Your payment compared to the same amount min/txt without the console.

Seems to work out the same amount per month but Im not sure about hidden charges where they might sting you. I'm going to have a better look at the workings of it all today.

Thanks again for the information folks 😀

Have used Dial-a-phone 8 years ago with plenty of success.

Now using http://www.mobiles.co.uk (part of the carphonewarehouse so unlikely to go bust).

Cashback redemption has been easy (just email them your bill via their website) and customer service has been good (one cheque went to me old address, they cancelled the cheque and then issued me with a new one to my new address). Can't fault them so far.

Contract works out at £18 for 1000mins (any network anytime), 1000 texts (any network) and unlimited data on Orange.

I'm happy with that.

Creg - Member
That is one thing that puts me off with this. At least when you buy from a shop and something gets cocked up you can actually talk to someone about it in the shop rather then email/phone contact.

Most online retailers are well behaved - IIRC hotukdeals has a forum where folk post up good/bad experiences and so you can identify the rogues. You will also find that e2save and many others are in fact CPW with a mask on - I think they are fine.

Handy to know they are part of CPW, less likely to go bust.

Ill have a look at the hotukdeals website.

Might go for a new phone too as mine is pretty knackered...too many to choose from though

Tesco Sim 6 is what I've just gone for. (piggybacking O2)

500 mins, unlimited text 0.5gb interweb, sim only on a month by month contract for £10. Buy a phone off eBay, get it unlocked, bobs your uncle!