Anyone used 'Affordable mobiles' or 'buymobiles.net' ? S8 n00b!

[Mk1T]

Hi chaps,

I'm still using my samsung S5 and it's falling to bits now after what, 3 years of heavy usage.

I'm looking to get the S8, especially after just reading the thread on here about it!

I'm with three mobile as they have great signal where I live and have been with them for 4 years no issues, decent 4G etc etc and reasonable prices.

Having looking on 3's website, the best deal for what I want - 30GB , unlimited mins/texts is £49 upfront, £26.50 for 6 months and then £53 for the last 18 months.

This averages out to £48.41 per month over 2 years. Total of £1162.

Meh, I thought.

Quick google later and I've found a comparison site called U switch here: https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/samsung-galaxy-s8-deals/64gb-midnight-black/

Which has the same 'three' deal with £5 'cashback' e.g... no upfront cost, for just £37 a month?

Here: https://www.affordablemobiles.co.uk...s8-black/37-essential-30gb-ayce-min-24mths-24

Am I missing something vital here? Has anyone got experience with these companies?

How can a company like this offer better deals than going direct? It seems way too good to be true haha. Am I a dunce or what?

Cheers lads!!

 

[sburrell93]

I wondered the same as you when I was upgrading last week (also upgraded to the S8 coincidentally). Excellent phone btw, I love it!

As I understand it, those companies are able to buy the phones in at a lower price (somehow) compared to the network providers and so can sell the contracts far cheaper. EE also explained to me that buying through these companies can then leave you with no after sales care if anything goes wrong etc but considering EE were currently trying to make a sale to me I'll take that with a pinch of salt lol.

I upgraded through EE anyway as I managed to haggle them down to £43 a month for unlimited mins/texts and 25GB data, free BT sport for 2 years, free apple music for 6 months (useless as I use spotify anyway) and a free 64GB SD card for the phone. Monthlies were still a bit higher than what I could've managed from those 3rd party sites but it was far more convenient and not a massive difference in price anyway.

Chance your arm with 3 first. See what the best deal is they can offer you.

 

[Mk1T]

Thanks for your reply mate!

Glad you like the phone, I'm not tied up with apple at all so think it's the next logical step for me..

That all makes good sense, and what after sales care are they on about I wonder? You're still with the network provider aren't you? Unless they are talking about problems with the phone etc etc.. which touch wood I've never had to contact three anyway..

I was wondering if they alter the charges e.g. if you go outside your allowance of data, they may charge more than three do, but looking at the contracts even the charges all look the same.

That sounds like a good deal there bud. I'll definitely be giving three a call and asking them to try and match it! It's madness - not even an upfront cost either they give you £5 cash back LOL.

So all in all, same contract, £883 opposed to £1162 with three. (both 24 month) big saving there.

 

[sburrell93]

what after sales care are they on about I wonder? You're still with the network provider aren't you?

That was exactly my thoughts too. It's not like the network provider can just choose to leave you out lol. Sounded like all sales talk to me. And as for the phone itself...there's always insurance if anything goes wrong, plus the manufacturers warranty still stands anyway.

I was wondering if they alter the charges e.g. if you go outside your allowance of data, they may charge more than three do, but looking at the contracts even the charges all look the same.

That sounds like a good deal there bud. I'll definitely be giving three a call and asking them to try and match it! It's madness - not even an upfront cost either they give you £5 cash back LOL.

So all in all, same contract, £883 opposed to £1162 with three. (both 24 month) big saving there.

That's a huge difference in price to be fair! I've never personally used them for any phones in the past but I really don't see there being any major downfalls. Possibly the hassle of having a new number is all I can think of, as I don't think you can swap numbers between two sims on the same network?