Getting the iPhone for free in the UK.

[BuxtonUK]

Now I've thought about this and to be honest there's no real reasons why this shouldn't work, so;

Buy the iPhone, take it home and activate it with any of the tariffs.
Phone o2 on the Saturday and cancel the contract under the 14 day peace of mind guarantee, they'll no doubt tell you take the iPhone back to the store for a refund so just ignore that.
Buy a Nokia N95 online with the Online 35 tariff which gives you 800 minutes and Unlimited texts, add a web bolt on for £7.50 which brings you to £42.50 a month.

Sell the N95 on e-bay which should net you around the £295 mark, stick the 35 online tariff sim into your iPhone and you're home free, of course you won't get Wi-Fi access or Visual Voicemail, but might be worth it.

 

[mhuk01]

Now I've thought about this and to be honest there's no real reasons why this shouldn't work, so;

Buy the iPhone, take it home and activate it with any of the tariffs.
Phone o2 on the Saturday and cancel the contract under the 14 day peace of mind guarantee, they'll no doubt tell you take the iPhone back to the store for a refund so just ignore that.
Buy a Nokia N95 online with the Online 35 tariff which gives you 800 minutes and Unlimited texts, add a web bolt on for £7.50 which brings you to £42.50 a month.

Sell the N95 on e-bay which should net you around the £295 mark, stick the 35 online tariff sim into your iPhone and you're home free, of course you won't get Wi-Fi access or Visual Voicemail, but might be worth it.

exactly what i'm doing. however i bought an unlocked iphone from the US.... you would still have to unlock the iphone over here to do that though, and there is no guarentee the hackers will be able to do this

 

[sparkyms]

Don't forget you will still have to unlock the phone otherwise the Online 35 SIM won't work.

 

[paulo999]

The Online 35 tariff is what pays for the N95 - there is no such thing as a free phone.

You could instead skip the ebay hassle and just get a cheaper SIM only tariff.

 

[nomad01]

The Online 35 tariff is what pays for the N95 - there is no such thing as a free phone.

You could instead skip the ebay hassle and just get a cheaper SIM only tariff.

But one way or another, he'll only have one tarriff so the N95 subsidy will be negligible.

Really interested to know if this will work and if future updates will still be okay or if phones that are no longer on the appropriate contract will be crippled in someway.

 

[paulo999]

But one way or another, he'll only have one tarriff so the N95 subsidy will be negligible.

Makes no difference. You'd end up with one tariff either way round.

If you do the maths, you'll see the premium for the N95 is £200 (comparing Online 35, ten pounds extra over 18 months plus 20 for the phone, with the equivelent O2 SIM only tariff).

If the N95 is sold for more than £200, then there is indeed a profit, just not the full iPhone £269 as it might be percieved. And then there is 18 month contract lock in with no chance to switch to cheaper rival tariffs in the future. (O2 SIM Only is only a month contract, rolling).