Upgrading your mobile phone isn’t the exhausting, unpleasant experience it used to be. Networks are far more aware nowadays that there is genuine competition for your business, so they make the effort to keep you as a customer by making sure you know upgrades are available without any stress or hassle.
Assuming you’re happy with your current network, upgrading can be as simple as selecting a new phone and tariff on their website. All mobile phones now come with online accounts for viewing bills etc., and it is here where you will find the beginning of the upgrade path, often by first checking if you’re eligible. Assuming you are, you can usually be in possession of a shiny new smartphone within 24 hours. The downside is that it usually means you will also be locked into a new contract, often for an 18 or 24 month period and may even face an increase in the monthly cost. But there are other ways to upgrade that may mean you don’t even pay as much as your current contract.
Networks start to remind you about being eligible for an upgrade 3 or 4 months before the end of your current contract. They do this because your two year old phone no longer cuts it in the rapidly changing world of technology. You know you want something better, and they know it too. By offering you the latest, greatest phone, they look to sign you up for another 2 years with the minimum of fuss and, because most people have neither the time nor the inclination to spend hours trawling through the complicated and very user-unfriendly world of mobile phone tariffs, an awful lot of people sign up without being asked twice.
The fact is, though, that the mobile phone market has reached maturity. Almost everyone who could have a phone, has one, so a little bit of effort will get you a lot more for your money. Resist the deluge of emails from your carrier offering upgrades, and call them instead, but only after you’ve armed yourself with deals from all the other networks which beat your current deal or any upgrade offers you’ve been sent.
Almost without fail, your current carrier will price match whatever you’ve seen elsewhere, especially if you happen to mention that you want to give notice of termination if they don’t match it. If they choose not to offer the same deal or better, then leave. It’s so easy to switch networks these days, that it shouldn’t be a barrier to moving elsewhere. The two networks – old and new – actually do almost all the work for you.
We’re not just talking tariffs here, but phones as well. When the iPhone 6 was released, there was as much as £15 per month difference for almost identical deals across the major networks. Anybody in a position to switch at that point held all the aces in the negotiations with their own network. Such was the clamour to secure the business, some even tagged on extras like increased data plans or by throwing in free insurance for 12 months. You just had to be cheeky enough to ask for them.
Again using the iPhone 6 as the example, a typical £40 contract over 2 years is worth nearly £1000 to the network. The iPhone 6 costs around £130 to make, so assume the carrier pays around £200 for it and many customers pay £99 or more up front to avoid sending the monthly cost over the £50 mark. This makes just one model of phone incredibly profitable, hence why networks will do all they can to secure a customer and lock them in for 2 years or more. Extrapolate that across all phones, most of which cost less than Apple’s flagship to manufacture, and the volumes of cash at stake is mind-boggling.
The lesson is to smile sweetly (even on the phone), remain polite and chatty and ask for anything you fancy. Chances are you’ll come off the phone a very happy customer. And don’t simply settle for whatever great deal you get, ask for a shorter minimum term. Occasionally you’ll get that too.
It’s a buyer’s market so, instead of being sold to, actually be a buyer.
Another option is to buy the phone yourself and renew your plan without adding a new phone to the plan. That’s where Max’s Deals can assist you. Take a look at our amazing inventory of high quality phones and you can automatically connect it to your plan.