Phone Prices

inishtay

I really like giffgaff and have been a user for some time, preferring to have my own unlocked phone with payg or goody bags. I wanted a galaxy s8. Giffgaff £549. Mobile phones direct s8 contract 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 3gig for £23/ month for 24 month contract = £552. Not much of a contest? Giff gaff phones too expensive?

davidevans0000

great deal go for it @inishtay got a link as all I can find is £31.00 per month.

freedmaniac

@inishtay

The down side is that you are locked in for two years even if the service turns out to be poor.

mcilwraith

ive had a fair few phones from giffgaff but not my last one @inishtay as i got it £100 cheaper elsewhere

the beauty of giffgaff is your not tied down to a contract and you do have a choice to buy elsewhere if it suits

gloriousiam

The best thing of giffgaff is that all phones are unlocked and ready to use any network sim. While others are locked may be they are cheap.

inishtay

I went ahead and got the deal (18th Sept)I forgot to mention that the contract is with O2. I checked and the deal is no longer available although there are some similar, usually marketed as 'exclusive offers'. Money Supermarket has an s8, Vodafone 2 year for £18 per month plus upfront £79 = £502 but only 1 Gig unlimited calls and texts. Great phone. I kept my trusty HTC one M8 with a GiffGaff sim.

inishtay

I got the phone, standard UK model on O2 contract. So same network as GiffGaff. Any phone can be easily unlocked at any time, although you will have to honour the network contract. It is not illegal and O2 ( I understand) will help you unlock free of charge allowing you to use a local sim abroad etc. or any other sim card. In this case, you could view the £23 per month as an interest free loan to obtain an unlocked S8 for £552 as opposed to a one off payment to GiffGaff of £549 to obtain the same spec phone. In addition the unlocking doesn't invalidate the warranty.

giffgaff20147

@inishtay

There are good deals out there but the problem is always same contract ,

the small print on a lot does allow them to up prices if bundle prices increase

there is also a doubling of prices for voicemail mms and other things

not for me I like to move if prices don’t suit or network coverage changes , a simple change of address could leave you with little or no signal and you are trapped in a contract , been caught out on that one with 3 network paying for something you can’t use

tradertall

well spotted indeed...

isabel1066

you got a good deal there back in September.

dartgirl

Good Deal & Good Choice you have to go for what's Best for yourself.

inspiron42

I don't like contracts because you can be billed for something you don't won't to pay for. A giffgaff SIM with no credit can't incur any unexpected charges.

allan1954

PAYG for me contracts no good have had one i was pleased when it ended.

inspired4him

Hi @inishtay if you go unto amazon you will get samsung galaxy S8 for less than £545. I think the average price now is about £380.

jsmith2009

I guess the best thing is to shop around to get the best deal for your needs.

Sim free phones have always been more expensive as you can obviously use them on any network.

fuzzotter

I think the top mobile makers are worried. Their sales are now being hit by good quality chinese phones. These phones offer similar performance to flagship phones and are unlocked so can be paired to a Giff Gaff card immediately. It's a no brainer really.

inishtay

Good comment @inspired4him. I had noted these offers and did some digging. There are a significant number of negative comments associated with some of these vendors, (as well as a greater number of good ones)

One has published accounts for 2017 of assets of minus £350 and another has registered offices shared by literally 1000's of other companies. I was too wary to pursue so went with a more mainstream company (owned by Carphone Warehouse). I am probably too risk averse!

goonerx2

Take a look at www.wowcamera.com vast range of handsets all greatly discounted.

scrips49

I'd never go with a contract again @inishtay

I had a particularly bad experience with O2 a few years ago when I purchased a text add-on which they took the money for but also charged me for the texts. I rang them and queried it and they apologised and said they would settle it next month. They didn't and the same happened the following month. When I queried it again they used the same excuse but then cut me off after two weeks as I (as their operator advised me not to, and put it in dispute) didn't pay the extra charges. They kept cutting me off for several months.

It was a nightmare - so I'll never do a phone contract again.

inishtay

@goonerx2 there are a lot of good reviews for this company but also some nightmares (see Review Centre 1* reviews) It is a Hong Kong based company that appear to offer their own warranties???