If you have grown tired of your mobile phone service provider and are thinking of jumping ship, chances are you are wondering how you are going to go about it. The process of switching and how much it will cost you to switch all depend on whether you are out of contract, tied to a contract, or if you are a Pay-As-You-Go customer. In this article, we will be looking at the available options and if it is possible for customers to opt-out of their mobile deal.
If you are under contract
Once you put your signature on the dotted line of a phone contract, you enter into a legal agreement with the phone service provider to pay a set monthly fee for 12, 18, or 24 months. The issue with this is that during the course of your contract, newer handsets and better, cheaper deals may become available. If you are the type of person, who loves to get their hands on the latest phones as soon as they come out, being under contract could leave you feeling frustrated. While you’re free to leave your contract with the service provider, most companies will have you ‘buy out’ of the agreement. What does that mean? It means that you will have to pay the remaining balance of your contract at a go. So, if you are currently on a £30 a month plan and your agreement has 12 months left to run out, you will have to pay a total of £360 to get your freedom. If you are thinking of switching contracts because you are paying for more messages, data, and minutes than you are using, you might be able to negotiate with your carrier and have them move you to a tariff that suits you better. However, it is worth noting that some service providers do not allow users to downgrade their tariffs within the first 6 or 12 months. Billmonitor.com, which is endorsed by industry regulator Ofcom, is a service created by mathematicians from Oxford to help users determine whether the tariff they are on suits their needs based on their usage.
If you want out of a contract because there is a new device you like and want to replace the one that you are stuck with for the next one-and-a-half to two years, you will still be required to buy out. Buying out can be expensive, but if you had managed to downgrade your plan, it would be a lot cheaper. If you are not willing to buy out, you could opt to, at least, get some cash in exchange for the phone you are currently using by selling it to one of the mobile phone recycling companies out there today. All you need to do is send the phone to the recycler where an assessment of how much it’s worth is made based on the type/model of phone and its condition. Once the recycler is done assessing the phone, they will make you an offer for the device which you can either decline or accept. If you accept, the recycler then wires the amount to your bank account or sends you a cheque. If another service provider is offering a deal that is way better than what you are currently being offered, find out if your provider can match it.
If you’re no longer under any contract
Once you’ve reached the end of your agreement and are no longer bound to your provider, you have a better chance to negotiate terms with the provider since they still want to keep you as their customer. Before discussing anything, make sure you do your homework first. Take time to do some research. To see which service providers are offering the best tariffs, check out these iPhone 11 contract deals. Use what you have learned to bargain with your service provider. If you come across service providers that are offering amazing deals, consider asking your provider if they can match it – or if they are willing to throw in some gifts or extras to keep you. Keep in mind that while some tariffs may seem cheaper, you still need to check if they offer the same data, call, and text allowances.
If your contract is a SIM-only deal
If you are on a SIM-only contract with the mobile provider, switching to another tariff will depend on how long your SIM-only tariff will last. It's worth noting that some deals are only available as rolling monthly contracts. Cancelling these contracts is as easy as letting the provider know you will be striking out in thirty-days’ time. At the same time, there are SIM-only tariffs that last for 12-months, placing you in the same category as those on contracts – which means you will have to buy out if you want out. The good thing about SIM-only deals is that they are generally a lot cheaper considering that you aren’t paying the added cost of the device, which makes buying out less expensive than when under a conventional contract.
If you’re on PAYG
Pay-As-You-Go customers will find it cheaper and easier to switch providers because they are not bound by a contract. At the same time, it is easier for you to keep up with or use the latest phones on the market since you get more from recycling your old phone if it is relatively new and in excellent condition. You can use the money you earn to offset some of the costs of getting a new phone.
Sticking to your old number
There is nothing as tiresome as having to send out your new phone number to all your contacts because you just switched to a different provider, which is why you need to consider taking your old number with you when migrating to a different carrier. To do this, all you need to do is to ask your service provider for a Porting Authorisation Number (PAC), which, according to the law, it must send you within 2-hours of making the request. While providers are allowed to charge for this code, they often don’t do so. It is worth noting that the code is only valid for 30-days. It is this code that the new provider uses to set up a new tariff for you using your old phone number.
