Page 1 of BA: SE K750i on Virgin Mobile 200 (18 months) - Min term cost of £164 (£9.11/month) after cashback

Regular reader of this forum will be well aware of the recent bargain from One Stop Phone Shop with the Sony Ericsson K750i on Vodafone CrossNet 200 (12m) for only £110 over the minimum term of the contract.

The original thread about this deal can be found HERE.

In summary, this handset was released less than 2 weeks ago. OSPS put this handset on their website on 23 May with an offer of 8 months free line rental on Vodafone CrossNet 200 (min term cost of £110). On the afternoon of 26 May, they changed the offer to 7 months free (min term cost of £140) and early on 27 May the offer changed once again to 6 months @ £2.99/month (min term cost of £188 ). This last offer is the offer that still stands today.

Even at £188 minimum term cost it seems like a good deal for what is essentially one of the most sought after handset releases of the past few months. However, for those of you that are cursing yourself for missing out on the early bargain costed at £110, there is now an alternative option on a very similar tariff that works out even cheaper than the original deal on a monthly cost basis. The catch is that it requires an EIGHTEEN month commitment on one of Virgin Mobile`s new contract tariffs.

One Stop Phone Shop is now offering the K750i on Virgin Mobile 200 (18 months) with 11 months free line rental. This deal is structured as follows:

The normal line rental for Virgin Mobile 200 (18 months) is £30 per month. If there is no upgrade after 12months, the line rental reduces to £24 per month for the remainder of the contract. However, Virgin Mobile will only charge you half this amount (£15/month) for the first 6 months. The remainder of the stated discount is achieveable via cashback from the One Stop Phone Shop in three equal parts - £83.33 each time after 4, 8 & 12 months.

Retailer: One Stop Phone Shop
Handset: Sony Ericsson K750i
Tarrif: Virgin Mobile 200
Minimum Term: 18 months
Monthly Free minutes: 200
Free Minute Validity: cross-network, anytime
Monthly Free Texts: NIL
Monthly Line Rental: £30 (months 1-12), £24 (months 13-18 )

Network Offers:
6 months 1/2 price line rental
line rental reduction to £24/month after 12 months if no upgrade is sought*

Retailer Cashback: £250.00
Cashback Schedule:
£83.33 after 4 months
£83.33 after 8 months
£83.33 after 12 months

MINIMUM TERM COST: £414 (before cashback), £164 (after cashback)
MONTHLY EQUIVALENT: £23.00 (before cashback), £9.11 (after cashback)

non-affiliate link:
http://www.onestopphoneshop.com/ourdeals.php?PROV=VIRG&OFF=GK750I&TAR=V20018

Or, if you`re happy to use it,
I also have an affiliate link for this deal on my website:
http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~lauriem/latest_additions.html#0406200501

* To be honest, I wouldn`t recommend asking for an upgrade after only 12 months of an 18 month contract as the best renewal deals are only ever achieved with the threat of leaving the network, backed up with a request for your porting authorisation code to take your number with you. Because the network knows that you are tied in with them for a further 6 months it is unlikely that you will get anything worthwhile from them at the 12 month point. Also, any upgrade you receive will tie you in for a further 6 months on top of your 18 month term. In my estimation, you are better off taking the £36 discount off your next 6 months line rental and seeking a better value renewal at month 18 instead.

HtH
RM

This item was edited on Saturday, 4th June 2005, 15:15

sounds a good deal this how do you go about cash back deals etc and has anyhing gone pear shaped like this before thing is im using easy mobie on payg at the mo i find it ok but ae looking for a new top line handset and they seem the bizz i could aford £15 a month but £30 etc monh bit to steep for me

I had paid "Forward Cellular" £15.00 for a sim card only and signed £30 p.m. with Vodafone.They were supposed to give a rebate of the years line rental.
Forward Cellular has gone bust. I did not even get a phone (as it was a sim card only deal) & I am now stuck to paying £30 p.m. to vodafone.
Tread carefully with whom you decide to deal with.

Have a word with Vodafone, they may understand your situation and allow you to cancel the contract. You can reduce your rental to 15 per month after 6 months