Are Mobile Phone Deals With Free Gifts Worth it?
Will Taking Out Contract Phones With Gifts Prove to be a Bargain?
Oct 31, 2009
Mobile phone companies have to work hard to get consumer business. Convincing an individual to pick one handset and tariff deal over another can be difficult and many companies are offering mobile phone deals with free gifts to try and get more business. With some high-ticket items on offer this can look great in principle but how good is it in practice?
How do Mobile Phone Deals With Free Gifts Work?
The principle here is simple. The individual takes out a contract with a supplier and in return is given a free gift. The kind of gift on offer may depend on the tariff/deal that is taken out and/or the handset. Deals are generally reserved for longer term contract deals than for PAYG (Pay As You Go) phones.
What Kinds of Gifts Come With Mobile Phone Deals?
The deals that are offered may vary from supplier to supplier. These can be found at mobile phone resellers or direct from the phone companies themselves. Gifts that are being offered at the moment include:
- Games consoles including the Wii, PS3, XBox360, PSP (sometimes with the addition of free games as part of the deal).
- Laptops, notebooks, webbooks and netbooks.
- iPods.
- Flat-screen TV sets.
On paper these can look like good deals. After all, if the consumer needs/wants a new contract then why not take advantage of getting a high-ticket item at the same time free of charge? But are they worth it in practice?
Things to Consider Before Taking Out Mobile Phone Deals With Free Gifts
It may be worth thinking about the costs and savings involved with this kind of deal before deciding to choose one.
So, for example, it may be worth:
- Deciding what kind of mobile deal they want and how long a contract they are prepared to sign up for.
- Pricing it up without a free gift offer (an online phone tariff comparison site may be useful here).
- Looking at how much it would cost them to buy the free gift separately.
- Calculating how much the free deal phone contract would cost them.
- Comparing their findings to see if the deal still saves them money.
There are also some other factors worth thinking about even if a deal makes financial sense. Reading the terms and conditions of contract phones with gifts deals is absolutely vital. There may be clauses that could make a difference in the decision making process.
For example, if a consumer takes out an 18 month contract and gets a free Wii thrown in, what would happen if they decided to cancel their contract early? Many suppliers will state in their terms that the free gift must be returned with all its original packaging and in a certain condition. If the consumer can't do this, then they may be held liable for the cost of the free gift on an "as new" basis.
Mobile phone deals with free gifts can work in certain cases but may not be the most cost-effective way of getting a product in others. At a basic level this works best for people that get a mobile phone deal that they need at a price they would pay without the free gift.
If they pay more for their contract to get a gift then this could eat into the potential savings that they make. Consumers might be wise, therefore, to put some thought into this before signing up for this kind of contract offer.
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