o2 UK: Not pre-ordering contracts for iPhone 3G

[razorianfly]

Edit 3: o2 ARE NOT PRE-ORDERING CONTRACTS FOR IPHONE 3G.

Yesterday (Saturday 28th June) I went down to my local o2 with the intention to have a credit check. I spoke to the representative (who looked like the store manager) and told him I was extremely interested in the iPhone 3G on July 11th and wondered if I could have a credit check before hand, he said 'sure'. I was sat down at a PC, and the credit check was a success. He then said I can setup the contract for you today if you like, and you can start using the sim card from today, until the 11th. I said sure.

The contract I have setup is on o2 simplicity (£25/mo). I applied discount from my friend who works at o2, and so from using it from now until the 11th, I get the discounted price of £17.50. He then said I can walk into any o2 store nationwide, on the 11th, pay for the handset of my choice, 'upgrade' the contract to the £35/mo (£24.50 w/discount) iPhone, wait for the device to be 'activated', and walk out of the store.

I walked out yesterday with an o2 sim card, setup on this 30-day expiry tarrif.

Another interesting partof this, is the way he worded and explained the activation process. He said unlike the first iPhone last year, he said that the new iPhone 3G will have to be activated in-store through a store copy of iTunes, specifically made for this. This would lock the device to o2 (activation). Then he said you have to take the device home, were you will have to hook it up to iTunes again, and perform a registration process, after which the device would be usable within 48 hours.

Just thought it was interesting. I'm sitting here with a registered o2 sim card, which expires from the current tarrif I've set it up on, in 29 days. Just enough time to upgrade the contract to iPhone.

Is o2 pre-ordering contracts for iPhone 3G?

Edit: He also confirmed they were definately opening at 7.02am on July 11th,
and even stated the shopping mall, of which the store is based, will also open early in light of this 'marketing opportunity'.

Edit 2:
Another little tid-bit .. the sim card issued is branded 3G

R-Fly

 

[philgilder]

you havent pre-ordered an iphone contract

the credit check is performed before any contract is set up, and it takes seconds. as you passed, you were eligible for a contract, and simplicity is a monthly contract, so you can cancel (and therefore switch to a new contract) at any time

also, see this link: https://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/06/28/leaked-iphone-activation-process-memo/
says the same thing you have about the store copy of itunes

 

[redgaz26]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

so we can't use our new iPhones for 48 hours???
I was useing mine as soon as it was activated on nov9
Somehow I don't think so

 

[philgilder]

so we can't use our new iPhones for 48 hours???
I was useing mine as soon as it was activated on nov9
Somehow I don't think so

he said the device would be usable within 48 hours
should generally take 10 mins, according to o2 website

however, each person at o2 is saying different things

 

[johnwin]

he said the device would be usable within 48 hours
should generally take 10 mins, according to o2 website

however, each person at o2 is saying different things

I think the o2 guy just got a month's more cash from you. All you have done is pass a credit check and get an o2 contract - this is not an 'iPhone' contract. However the fact you cleared the hurdle of the credit check means that you can automatically concert to an 18 month contract for an iPhone after the 11th.

Other discussions here are talking about setting up a suspended account to activate when you buy your iPhone - i.e. you don't pay the monthly contract until you have the iPhone.

 

[Sardukar]

Sounds like you got rinsed

 

[razorianfly]

Sounds like you got rinsed

Seen as though my intention was, and still is,
to upgrade this 'o2 Simplicity' contract to the £35/mo for iPhone on July 11th,

Care to expand?

R-Fly

 

[johnwin]

Seen as though my intention was, and still is,
to upgrade this 'o2 Simplicity' contract to the £35/mo for iPhone on July 11th,

Care to expand?

R-Fly

He got an extra 2 weeks of cash out of you is all - at least you have the peace of mind that the credit check hurdle is crossed - don't worry.

My point was that the pre-registration process (starting Tuesday?) - sets up the account and suspends it - you don't start paying anything until you buy the iPhone and activate the contract (and iPhone)

 

[TonyHoyle]

An extra two weeks at £25 - which is one of the higher Simplicity tariffs (they start at £15), on a SIM that probably isn't going to be used at all.. since the iphone comes with a SIM anyway.

Smart salesman.

 

[johnwin]

An extra two weeks at £25 - which is one of the higher Simplicity tariffs (they start at £15), on a SIM that probably isn't going to be used at all.. since the iphone comes with a SIM anyway.

Smart salesman.

£25/month not per week. The sales guy basically charged £12.50 for a credit check.

 

[razorianfly]

An extra two weeks at £25 - which is one of the higher Simplicity tariffs (they start at £15), on a SIM that probably isn't going to be used at all.. since the iphone comes with a SIM anyway.

Smart salesman.

The SIM is being used as we speak. My current phone has gone to someone else in my family, I'm without a phone, so this SIM acts as a stand in.
We are now all on o2, and can speak freely o2-to-o2 which is what we wanted.

Also, I got discount ... £17.50 is the first and last payment I will pay on this tarrif.

R-Fly

 

[Gamst]

I'm not liking the idea of them having to unbox it and activate it in store. Call me strange, but I like 'unboxing' gadgets and whatnot myself and I'd like my grubby mits to be the first to touch it not theirs!!

 

[johnwin]

The Sim is being used as we speak. My current phone has gone to someone else in my family, I'm without a phone, so this SIM acts as a stand in.
We are now all on o2, and can speak freely o2-to-o2 which is what we wanted.

R-Fly

Sound like you timing was as close to perfect as you can get. As I said - you have the peace of mind that the upgrade to the iPhone contract will be a rubber stamp process!

 

[anim8or]

I am not sure this helps you entirely.....

So u are on O2 now, but so are a lot of other people as well as existing iphone users who are still in the dark as to how we get our hands on the 3G phone.

It surely cannot be as simple as walking in buying the phone, activating it in store and at home then voila done.

How does an existing iPhone user know that they are not just signing up to a new contract, as well as their original iPhone contract, we need a new SIM as far as i have heard/read.

The admin alone for existing iPhone users will slow things down, never mind pre-registered or O2 upgrades.

You are now simply a different kind of 3G iPhone customer to them, not a completely new user but still not a 'walk-in-walk-out' customer.

On top of that you are paying £17.50 for that 'privilege'!!!

 

[johnwin]

To answer the original proposition: o2 UK: Now pre-ordering contracts for iPhone 3G?

No they are not - but you can take up a month on month contract now and get the peace of mind that you can clear the o2 credit check.

In the case of the thread originator he needed a contract anyhow so why not go for it?

He might still find it takes him 20 -30 minutes of messing about when he gets to o2 on the 11th.

 

[TonyHoyle]

I would hope they've streamlined the process somewhat, and all you need to do is sign a couple of forms and take the phone with you, as an existing customer.

10 minutes per customer would be something of a nightmare on launch day. 20 minutes would be a huge mess (if it's that long, remember to take pictures of the ensuing chaos..)

 

[philgilder]

In the case of the thread originator he needed a contract anyhow so why not go for it?

maybe he did
but the title suggests he has pre-registered an iphone contract, which has not been done. all he has done is pass the credit check, which takes seconds

 

[johnwin]

I would hope they've streamlined the process somewhat, and all you need to do is sign a couple of forms and take the phone with you, as an existing customer.

10 minutes per customer would be something of a nightmare on launch day. 20 minutes would be a huge mess (if it's that long, remember to take pictures of the ensuing chaos..)

Maybe - but do you really think there will be queues this time round? Maybe in Manchester but generally I think if you drop in to an o2 store at 2pm on the 11th then you will be in and out in 15 mins

 

[johnwin]

maybe he did
but the title suggests he has pre-registered an iphone contract, which has not been done. all he has done is pass the credit check, which takes seconds

Very true - but if it works for this guy then good luck to him

. . . . and he did have a '?' mark at the end

 

[MojoWill]

with o2 simplcity you have to give 30 days notice to cancle and price plan changes can only take place on a bill date, so you may not be able to get your iphone until the end of july now! you have been rinsed! will be interesting to see what happends on 11th for you....

 

[johnwin]

with o2 simplcity you have to give 30 days notice to cancle and price plan changes can only take place on a bill date, so you may not be able to get your iphone until the end of july now! you have been rinsed! will be interesting to see what happends on 11th for you....

If MojoWill is right I'd go for the guy for miss-selling! - unless o2 let you use the sim extraction tool so you can put this simplicity sim in the phone!

 

[TonyHoyle]

First day is definately the one to watch - I've been to launches before and usually there's about 20-30 slightly geeky looking people stood around getting cold and when it opens they shuffle in, buy the product and leave.

However at 20 minutes per person 20 people is about 6 hours. Divide by the number of sales staff.. maybe 4 in the average O2 store, and you've still got a major logistical problem.

Get it down to 5 minutes and you can clear that queue in 25 minutes.

I'm torn whether to go to our local one (which is smaller but will have a smaller queue) or one of the Manchester ones (because they have more stock).

 

[johnwin]

well my o2 store is in a shopping centre which opens at 8:30 so I'll go along for then and queue as long as it takes, [don't have to worry about the great British summer] - got the day off so no problem there.

The notion that o2 are pre-registering contracts from 1st July (or 4th depending on which post you read) will mean the *some* of the paperwork can be sorted early - maybe the staff will fast track those who have?

 

[razorianfly]

with o2 simplcity you have to give 30 days notice to cancle and price plan changes can only take place on a bill date, so you may not be able to get your iphone until the end of july now! you have been rinsed! will be interesting to see what happends on 11th for you....

I won't have to 'cancel' the simplicity contract in the traditional sense. I'm simply going to be 'upgrading' from simplicity to iPhone/£35 (meaning they will apply the iPhone services to the simplicity contract, and then change the pricing plan). I have it on good authority from my friend who works at o2 in Preston Brook, and the person who gave me the discount, that I will be able to upgrade to the iPhone on July 11th with this simplicity tarrif. He explained o2 were currently offering temporary tariffs on Simplicity-25 for this very purpose.

30 days notice is not required to upgrade a 'Simplicity' contract.

R-Fly

 

[johnwin]

I won't have to 'cancel' the simplicity contract in the traditional sense. I'm simply going to be 'upgrading' from simplicity to iPhone/£35 (meaning they will apply the iPhone services to the simplicity contract, and then change the pricing plan). I have it on good authority from my friend who works at o2 in Preston Brook, and the person who gave me the discount, that I will be able to upgrade to the iPhone on July 11th with this simplicity tarrif. He explained o2 were currently offering temporary tariffs on Simplicity-25 for this very purpose.

30 days notice is not required to upgrade a 'Simplicity' contract.

R-Fly

Good luck with that and please let us know if it works