iPhone 7plus and bill pay

MinnieMinx

I wonder if any of you lovely people can offer some advice please?

I'm looking at the 7plus with Vodafone and moving from payg to bill pay. I have an ancient 4s that I bought new from Apple (U.K.) and its lasted really well but is now starting to develop problems. (Off button on top gets stuck.)

I've had various phones since the early 90's but I've never had a bill pay contract before (always payg) and I'm just wondering if it's worth waiting a couple of weeks to see if the upfront phone price drops by say, more than twenty quid post Xmas? I know with other goods, prices are often discounted in January after the Xmas rush.

I appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Zcott

Apple don't really do discounts, so buy whenever suits :-)

whiterebel

Was only looking at getting a new phone and contract this week. How anyone goes with VF is beyond me, their packages are vey expensive.
Meteor and Tesco doing iPhone deals from what I can remember. Have a look at the Carphone warehouse website, it should do most of the comparison work for you.

MinnieMinx

Thank you. Yes, I agree about VF being expensive but... I know their coverage is better down in this corner of Ireland. I've always been able to get a signal on my payg VF SIM when friends have struggled with the other networks so realistically, I'll have to stick with VF until the others can match the coverage.

My dilemma is if they drop the handset fee within a couple of weeks of me signing up and so should I wait a week or two?

In my mind, I was comparing it to other retailers who offer Xmas deals and then deals in Jan/Feb because traditionally, they are slower months. But, perhaps phone companies don't work that way?

dodzy

MinnieMinx wrote: »

Thank you. Yes, I agree about VF being expensive but... I know their coverage is better down in this corner of Ireland. I've always been able to get a signal on my payg VF SIM when friends have struggled with the other networks so realistically, I'll have to stick with VF until the others can match the coverage.

My dilemma is if they drop the handset fee within a couple of weeks of me signing up and so should I wait a week or two?

In my mind, I was comparing it to other retailers who offer Xmas deals and then deals in Jan/Feb because traditionally, they are slower months. But, perhaps phone companies don't work that way?

If you worry about this, you'll never move on a purchase.

Obviously there will be plenty of people that will chime in saying VF are too expensive. Granted they are pricey, but by your own admission, signal on the competitors plans are unreliable. A bit pointless saving a few quid per month if you can't use the service.

CJmasgrande

My business phone was switched from VF to Eir and I think Eirs coverage service is just as good and Eir are cheaper than VF.

whiterebel

CJmasgrande wrote: »

My business phone was switched from VF to Eir and I think Eirs coverage service is just as good and Eir are cheaper than VF.

Coverage with Eir has been very good for me, which means Meteor would be good too. OP should try out some prepay sims first to see what the reception is like.

Oxter

Best option is to buy an unlocked phone direct from Apple.

Do the arithmetic.

Vodafone's prepay offer for 30 per month is as good as their contract offer of 80 per month, and they cannot rape your bank account.

This saves 24 x 50, 1200. Add the handset price to this and it's cheaper to buy the phone from Apple, or Argos or other Apple dealer.

You are also then free to port your number to say Tesco which is 15 per month.

IrishHomer

Another idea is to buy the handset under unlocked sim free under flexi rent finance at Powercity, Harvey Norman, Argos and then shop around for sim only deals. I think flexi rent is almost interest free if paid off within 6 months

MinnieMinx

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. After deliberating, I bought it from Vodafone on bill pay and the next day, the price rose by €50, so I'm pretty happy with the deal.

I'm very rural/coastal and the coverage by the other networks is noticeably poorer around my house/local school etc. If I lived in the nearest town, it wouldn't be an issue.