Phone Prices

luuta_scooter

Giff-gaff's phone prices aren't competitive.

Take this deal:

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/huawei-p20-pro-twilight#contract-length=24&mins=&texts=&data=

Over the course of the Giffgaff deal, you would pay at least £120 **MORE**.

Or take the Galaxy S8+, which is £530 elsewhere. Strangely, Giffgaff's recent deal, which included a "free" tablet, is almost exactly that price, PLUS the price of the tablet, which means Giffgaff's deal is a bit disingenuous. And prevents me buying the phone at a considerable discount, especially when I don't want an under powered tablet.

I would prefer to stay with GiffGaff, but it seems that they are no different from other companies, in that loyal customers pay through the nose. As a business that prides itself on its community involvement, I really don't think this is good enough.

endorphin

Hi @luuta_scooter the beauty of giffgaff is that you can buy the phone elsewhere as you're not committed to buying it from giffgaff.

True some of the prices aren't the best but some are cheaper. As with buying any item it pays to google around.

dartgirl

The older the phone, and the price does not go Down.?

mcilwraith

If the phone is cheaper elsewhere then the sensible thing is to buy it there

I did as my s9 was £100 cheaper

It's not stopped me from buying several other phones for family from giffgaff when the price is right

freedmaniac

@luuta_scooter

That is rather a sweeping generalisation I think.

As others have said, you can buy where you find the best price and service.

I don't think GG ever claimed that they would always be the cheapest.

davidevans0000

@luuta_scooter good phone deals on here www.hotukdeals.com

helenago

If you are looking to get the best deal, did you also consider getting "as new" handsets?

And why would anyone looking for the best deal buy the phone from the network operator, the mobile contract from a phone shop, etc? If you have the time to choose the best from each, best to do so.

I moved to giffgaff as the network operator, not looking for a handset shop.

dave99

@davidevans0000 wrote:

@luuta_scooter good phone deals on here www.hotukdeals.com

Agreed, some very good deals get posted there (as long as you ignore the dross that gets posted for the unsavoury shops in China that effectively smuggle phones into the UK and don't mention they have no UK warranty and that you can get caught by Customs to pay import tax on top of the price).

luuta_scooter

I am, of course, well aware that you can buy the phone cheaper elsewhere, and that you don't have to buy through GiffGaff. If I bought on contract elsewhere, I wouldn't be on Giffgaff. I enjoy the benefit of being able to call my wife and daughter for free, as they are both on GiffGaff.

I can't afford to buy a phone outright and I can't get credit, because I'm a stay at home dad. So my choices are limited. Every penny counts.

And I want to keep my phone number because it's the emergency number for the school, in case my daughter, who is diabetic, needs help. I can transfer the number, but it's a huge hassle and it may mean I'm not available for emergencies for a couple of days.

For these reasons, I wish GiffGaff was more accommodating.

As for used, I was looking at those options initially on GiffGaff, but the prices are equivalent to brand new on another network. And I'm concerned about battery drain, which increases with battery age and use.

So, I have my reasons for wishing GiffGaff terms for phones were more competitive, as I currently can't see a way of staying on GiffGaff if I had to buy a phone on contract from another company. If £500-£800 was to drop into my lap by magic, I'd buy an unlocked phone outright.

Because I compose and do photo art on my phone, I'm looking at £500-£800, depending on who I buy it from. As I'm not made of money, the better the deal is, the more achievable it is.

My current phone is an Oppo R7 Plus, which runs on Lineage. The phone has to be supported by Lineage, because I don't want to be caught out again with a phone that was redundant before it had even popped through the letterbox. As it is, I've managed to eek out three more years on it, but it's now struggling to keep up with my demands.

I have maybe another year before the phone dies completely, if I'm lucky. And I want to stay on GiffGaff. Which won't be possible unless I can get a more competitive phone deal from them, in order to stay on their network.