Early upgrade?

[swm]

:confused: Could one of the CSR's who post try to clear up an upgrade question. I have been with Orange for 8 years and am in my 10th month of my current 12th month contract. I clicked on the link to check what offers were available to me and it said I could change my tarrif to one of the new ones as "Orange now treat existing customers the same as new". Looking at the terms and conditions it also looks like you can upgrade your phone at the same time within the last 3 months of the contract but Orange will add an extra 6 months to the new contract, I assume this takes the place of the upgrade fee you would normally be charged. I rang and spoke to a CSR who said I could only change my tarrif which would start a new contrat period but could not upgrade my phone until March. Any help anyone or should I just be patient and wait until March to be insulted by the upgrade department.:confused:

[csr's_are_human]

Hi SWM
In theory, yes, if you are in month 10 of a 12 mnth contract, you can upgrade your phone and take advantage of one of the new packages with all the extras on a new 18mnth contract. BUT, you may not neccesarily be entitled to a FREE upgrade. Only the old Premier Tarrifs and new Panthers give a free early handset upgrade.
You may find, dependant on your present tariff that upgrading the phone before the 12 mnths, there is an upgrade fee - ranges from £300-£50 depending on what month you are in. That may be why they told you to hang on untill March.
Would say though that even if an upgrade fee is showing at around £50 or £100 and your average monthly bill is around 40-50 quid, give them another ring and mentioning your long term custom and average spend, waiving the fee would be of mutual benefit!!!
Give it a go!!
K

[swm]

Hi CSR's are human

Thanks for the reply, when I logged on this morning the system was showing a zero upgrade fee, this has changed from last month when it was showing £150. I shall ring them back to see what deal I can arrange on a Sony W850i but failing that I shall be patient and wait until March. The only problem with that is that for the last few years each upgrade has been a battle to get a good deal so perhaps I might be forced to port my number to another network.

Regards

SWM

[bjh_101]

I found that when I upgraded last year (and helped my friend to aswel - he had 3 months left on contract, I had 2) you don't get any luck from the upgrade department (wanted £150 for the phone). Called retentions, got a free phone, and a very good tariff.

[pieczynski]

You got a contact number for retentions?