[Sulley75]

Hey. I'm due foe an upgrade next month and cant wait to get shot of my current phone. Vodaphone offer the htc desire free at 25 pound a month. I currently pay 20 a month and the desire is only free at 28 pound a month or over. I can afford to pay up to 25, but the nearest to that is 22. I wonder if orange will let me have it free if I say I will leave and go to another network?

[Subtlebrick]

I'm in the same position ( except I'm quite fond of my old phone ). T-Mobile are offering the Desire on a £25.54 a month contract ( That's a 2 year contract 300 min + 300 txt + unlimited booster +3 Gig internet ) for £100. But if you go through Quidco Quidco - The UK's Most Popular Cashback & Voucher Code Site you'll get £80 cashback ( Though it may take a month or two ). You can also have a look how much you'll get for your old phone from somewhere like Mazuma Mobile - Sell, Trade in or Recycle your old, used mobile phone for cash.
If your old phone's worth more than £20, then Robert's your Mothers Brother

But then.... For an extra £30, you'll get the Desire HD on the same contract....

[andy1000]

Originally Posted by skydive

Hey. I'm due foe an upgrade next month and cant wait to get shot of my current phone. Vodaphone offer the htc desire free at 25 pound a month. I currently pay 20 a month and the desire is only free at 28 pound a month or over. I can afford to pay up to 25, but the nearest to that is 22. I wonder if orange will let me have it free if I say I will leave and go to another network?

Where did you see/hear that the Desire was only free at £28/month?

I'm sure I've seen people on here quoting far better upgrade deals than that on Desire HD's on Orange. Of course, it all does depend on which 'Level' of customer you are in their system as to what deal(s) you get offered I think, plus possibly the person you speak to on the day.

I'm due an upgrade at the end of the month with Orange too (my contract ends at the end of April but I can upgrade 3 months early as per Orange standard policy) - currently pay £20/month for 400 mins & ultd texts, plus £5 bolt-on for 500Mb internet, but I'm going to try for a Desire/DHD/Galaxy S/Omnia 7 (depending on what phone/OS is flavour of the day when I ring them up) for free/cheap whilst trying to get the internet allowance included in my £20/month package. Not sure whether it's just hopeful thinking on my part!

Of course, I think that the closer you are to your contract end, and if you threaten to leave and get put through to Retentions, then the better deal they'll offer to keep you. But from everything I've read in the last 6 months it's getting harder to get a really good deal as an existing customer, and you can get far better by starting with a new contract on a different network and porting your number across.

I'm sure I'll be reporting back come my upgrade date with how I get on, but that won't be for a few weeks yet.

Andy

[Sulley75]

Originally Posted by andy1000

Where did you see/hear that the Desire was only free at £28/month?

I'm sure I've seen people on here quoting far better upgrade deals than that on Desire HD's on Orange. Of course, it all does depend on which 'Level' of customer you are in their system as to what deal(s) you get offered I think, plus possibly the person you speak to on the day.

I'm due an upgrade at the end of the month with Orange too (my contract ends at the end of April but I can upgrade 3 months early as per Orange standard policy) - currently pay £20/month for 400 mins & ultd texts, plus £5 bolt-on for 500Mb internet, but I'm going to try for a Desire/DHD/Galaxy S/Omnia 7 (depending on what phone/OS is flavour of the day when I ring them up) for free/cheap whilst trying to get the internet allowance included in my £20/month package. Not sure whether it's just hopeful thinking on my part!

Of course, I think that the closer you are to your contract end, and if you threaten to leave and get put through to Retentions, then the better deal they'll offer to keep you. But from everything I've read in the last 6 months it's getting harder to get a really good deal as an existing customer, and you can get far better by starting with a new contract on a different network and porting your number across.

I'm sure I'll be reporting back come my upgrade date with how I get on, but that won't be for a few weeks yet.

Andy

When i select "upgrade to a shiny new phone" online it gives you a screen showing the phones and how much they cost. On my current plan its about £100 + to get the Desire. If you go through the price plans its £49 to upgrade on the £22 a month price plan and free on £28.

I agree, it annoyed me about 4 years ago. I told them i can get a phone i want free from another provider so i gave 30 days notice. A week before it was due to finish, they called me to ask why i was leaving. I told them i wanted a particular phone and they said "oh yeah we can give you that no problem!" I dont really wanna go through that again! I have 1 more payment before my upgrade is due so, you never know, it may be free by then.

[andy1000]

I didn't realise that you could go through changing your plan tbh when looking at the upgrade options - FYI, the Desire is (and has been for months) showing as out of stock. All the other phones I've listed are £150-199 upgrade fee and have been again for months, so I'm not sure whether the cost will drop over the next month for you.

I think in these situations (and what I'm hoping for) is that speaking to someone on the phone will garner a much better deal than online anyway.

I'll have to check out how much it'd cost if I changed my plan now (though I'm not holding out much hope!)

[andy1000]

I wasn't imagining things, all I get when I click on upgrade to a shiny new phone is the option to add to my 'upgrade wishlist' and can't see anywhere where I can change my plan. On the right-hand side I do get a box telling me when my contract ends and when I can upgrade next - under my current plan it just says 'Upgrade'.

EDIT: I can click on add a plan in the top right-hand corner and once I've selected one get prompted to choose a phone, but then get this message:

"do you still want to upgrade?

We can see that you’ve already signed in as an existing customer who’s looking to upgrade. The item you’re trying to select isn’t part of our upgrade offers and phones, so if you continue you’ll be signed out of your account and any items you’ve already chosen will be removed from your basket.

Would you like to continue looking at our upgrade phones and offers, or sign out, empty your basket and add this new item instead?"

Is this the process you're following? Because unless you're in your upgrade period already and didn't realise it, I think that info is generic and not specific to your account, ie; you probably can get a better deal once you're in your upgrade period!

[Sulley75]

Well thats odd cos earlier i went through the plans and it said free at £28. Now, as you say, it shows out of stock. On the main screen, to log in i click check my bill. The page after that shows a few options in the middle of the screen, top is upgrade your phone, and a few lines down us upgrade your price plan. So try clicking check your bill.

[Sulley75]

No, i cant upgrade till 6th feb, contract ends 6th May.

[Sulley75]

You are right tho, it says that i cant upgrade today, so maybe those prices will change when i can on the 6th feb! Not sure why it says "upgrade" under my plan tho.

[Subtlebrick]

Just found this HTC Desire HD - Great Mobile Phone Deals on Orange HTC Desire HD free with 300 min unlimited texts 500mb for £25.54 a month on orange ( and don't forget the £50 cashback if you go through quidco ).

If you really want to go through Orange upgrade, it's still a big stick to beat them with! First 4 months half price too!

[andy1000]

Originally Posted by skydive

Well thats odd cos earlier i went through the plans and it said free at £28. Now, as you say, it shows out of stock. On the main screen, to log in i click check my bill. The page after that shows a few options in the middle of the screen, top is upgrade your phone, and a few lines down us upgrade your price plan. So try clicking check your bill.

Yeah, if you go through the 'upgrade to a shiny new phone' option it shows you the cost of the phones for you at the moment but doesn't give you the option to upgrade YET. I think that going through the price plan option as you did just gives you the standard plans which can be bettered over the phone when your upgrade is actually due.

As for trying to use new customer plans on Orange as leverage, I think their response would be along the lines of "new customers ger better deals". Unfortunate but sadly true!

[Sulley75]

Update, i just called Orange to enquire if i could upgrade to HTC Desire on Feb 6th and they said yes, free of charge on my current £20 a month price plan. told me to call back then.

[andy1000]

Originally Posted by skydive

Update, i just called Orange to enquire if i could upgrade to HTC Desire on Feb 6th and they said yes, free of charge on my current £20 a month price plan. told me to call back then.

Sounds good for you (and hopefully pretty good for me too! Upgrade's due a week tomorrow)

[andy1000]

Originally Posted by skydive

Update, i just called Orange to enquire if i could upgrade to HTC Desire on Feb 6th and they said yes, free of charge on my current £20 a month price plan. told me to call back then.

Well inspired by your post (and slightly hopeful) I just gave Orange upgrade's a call. I don't know who you managed to speak to, but after being on hold for ages, I finally spoke to someone in their international call centre (I think) who couldn't give me any info on what phones I could or couldn't get for free. Even after prompting with my saying the Desire and DHD, and asking politely if from his day-to-day experience he could give me a rough idea, still no luck, because the computer system tells them once you're eligible to upgrade.

So I guess the moral of my story is, be careful and don't get your hopes up in case the info you got given isn't correct!

Andy

[Hilly23]

HI,

Just upgraded from an htc hero to a htc desire hd with orange on my upgrade date ,spoke to a nice lady who offered me (100 mins,unlimited texts,250mb data,and £29.99 for the phone on a 18mnth contract.after i stopped laughing i told her that there were far better deals online all other the place than that but she said on a 18mnth contract her hands were tied as they prefer you to stay with them longer.I then asked if i could speak to retentions and sort something out with them,so spoke to some guy and he said that he was struggling to get me a better deal than the lady in sales,so i asked what the 24mnth contract would be and this is what he offered ( 600mins,unlimited texts,500mb data desire hd free,all for £22.97 per mnth,so i took the deal but i didn't really want that long of a contract but everyone seems to be pushing for this now.

hope this helps and also the phone is money well spent.
total cost of contract £551.28.

[andy1000]

I upgraded to a Desire in the end, but Orange weren't even going to give me that free, so instead I went through Phones4u - details can be found here Upgrading through third-party's? (or midway down the thread 'Upgrading through third-party's?' in this same forum) but basically with my 10% discount my monthly bills will total about £22.50 too, plus it's an 18 month contract.

I'm more than happy with the Desire plus have it on an 18 month contract, so definitely happy with my upgrade

[Sulley75]

Update, got my fingers burnt. Orange said no, can't have it free on current plan, has to be at least £28 per month. I settled for wildfire which is coming tomorrow, however, just seen link which took me to orange site, added to basket with £5 discount making it £23.08. Called orange and they denied it, saying it wasn't legit. True enough, going straight to the site it's free from 28 but I clicked on 1st link after googling "desire on orange" and took me to orange store at £23. I'm gutted but have phoned 4 times now and can't be bothered with fighting. May settle with wildfire if I like. Just disappointed.

[andy1000]

That's a shame, but the Wildfire's a pretty nice bit of kit still, plus you could always probably sell it when you get it and put in another £100 or so to get a Desire off the Trading Forums maybe?

[Sulley75]

Result!

As my company pay for my phone my boss has offered to pay the £49.99 to get the Desire!! He said as its company phone, my current phone is faulty (which it is, resets on its own and touch screen is intermittent) he is merely buying me a new handset. Orange has advised me to refuse deliver today, call back in 3 days and i can get Desire.

[andy1000]

Originally Posted by skydive

Result!

As my company pay for my phone my boss has offered to pay the £49.99 to get the Desire!! He said as its company phone, my current phone is faulty (which it is, resets on its own and touch screen is intermittent) he is merely buying me a new handset. Orange has advised me to refuse deliver today, call back in 3 days and i can get Desire.

Result!