02 contracts: Negotiating larger download allowance?

[crackedandblack]

Hi

I'm on the 02 contract that's about £32 a month, plus the £5 for the 500mb which I'm almost close to every month - the one month I paid for the 1GB - I didn't even go over 600mb which seems to be standard for me. I grudge paying £42 a month - I'm nearly at the end of my 18month contract that I took out for the iphone4 but wanted to know if anyone had any luck getting more allowance out of 02 without paying more - I never use the minutes I get free but there doesn't appear to be a smaller contract below what I have.

Cheers for any advice.

PS I've been with 02 for over 10 years. Fool that I am.

 

[Daveoc64]

The only way to get a higher data allowance is to pay for it.

The additional 1GB for £10 option is available, but the only way to get it "for free" is to offset the cost by reducing your general tariff.

You have said that you can't do that though.

 

[nebo1ss]

I pay Sterling 15 for 300 minutes, Unlimited Text and 500Mb per month. I bought my phone outright. They no longer offer this deal but you can get the same for Sterling 22 when you are out of contract. Or you can add the higher data plan to basic plan that I have.

 

[Pez555]

im quite lucky.

I have an O2 loyalty card which enables me 30% discount on my monthly bill. I took out a contract before they stopped doing the unlimited data. So from now on (and for a long time) i will keep this contract rolling and simply buy the phone outright.

I wonder what O2 would say if i wanted to upgrade and keep my unlimited internet.

 

[crackedandblack]

Well, my solution was to downgrade my minutes tariff to £26 a month and keep 500mb bolt on - paying 32 now - but at least if I feel I'm going over I can buy a 500mb bolt on extra for £15 so I'd be paying the same I guess.

 

[bandofbrothers]

Bought my iphone 4 outright on 02 pay as you go.

Pay £25.50 per month for ;

300 cross network minutes.
50 mms
Unlimited texts.
Unlimited wifi
1gb data allowance.

Good luck in trying to negotiate a deal.

Speak to their retentions team when its time to upgrade and see what they may do with the iphone 5 for you

 

[sparkyms]

When you're at the end of your contract and if you want to stay using o2s service (signal, data capability etc), you may want to consider GiffGaff, uses o2's network and is actually owned by o2. £10 a month gets you 250mins, unltd texts and unltd data, no fair usage policy either so unlimited is unlimited... just no commercial use.

Lots of users will cut a micro-sim for you too.

 

[tigertazz]

i had a look at my contract the other day and found that i have an unlimited data bolt on with no end date. the last time i renewed was 18 months ago and they didn't remove this old tariff. Hope fully [fingers crossed] if i upgrade again i'l get away with the bolt on staying attached.

other than that its across to 3 for unlimited data.

 

[Hustler1337]

I pay Sterling 15 for 300 minutes, Unlimited Text and 500Mb per month. I bought my phone outright. They no longer offer this deal but you can get the same for Sterling 22 when you are out of contract. Or you can add the higher data plan to basic plan that I have.

I have the exact same plan as you with free unlimited Wifi (12 month Simplicty iPhone for £15 p/m). My contract ran out 2 days ago and has automatically been set to a 30-day rolling contract for the same price and mins/texts etc. The equivalent without wifi is now £21.50, what a rip-off!

Still, I'm looking for another sim-only provider now.

500mb is not enough for me, i get very close to it on some months and for 2 months, I exceeded the allowance. They're getting stingier on the internet these days, O2 charge them as 'bolt-ons'.

 

[biohead]

Someone above mentioned it, but if you're happy with the O2 network itself, then GiffGaff is the most sensible option. Click the link for a free sim +£5 credit on activation. I'm just waiting for my contract to finish in november then I'm off.

£10 a month:
250 UK mins
Unlimited texts
Unlimited internet (no caps)
Free Giffgaff to Giffgaff

The only downside is no Visual Voicemail... but hullo mail sorts that out. It will even use the UMTS900 signal in areas where O2 have it enabled. And no tethering is permitted yet (including iPad usage). Until they have something in place, they appear to be quite strict about this.