New iPhone 3GS on O2: Pay to end your contract early

So what? Why should 3G owners expect to get off lightly? If you were stupid enough to buy a 3G iPhone during 2009, when we’ve known a new version was coming for months, that’s your tough luck. Anyway, it’s not like ‘old’ iPhone owners are going to miss out on OS3, is it?

The question you should be asking here is why O2 is going to be charging extra for the privilege of being able to tether your 3GS to your laptop. That’s nothing short of scandalous.

maybe it wouldnt of seemed as bad if they did the same as what they are doing this year with the iPhone 3G last year, then we wouldnt of expected this time to be a free upgrade too. Its stupid as, they are just trying to cash in as much money as they can, yet because of the contract terms, not as many people will be getting one…

join the facebook protest
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=146b351aeb91adab9b10565cb1180a88&gid=114408461146&ref=search#/group.php?sid=fbf4e19235039e166e871d3233231987&gid=114408461146&ref=search

If O2 refuse to let me upgrade on my existing contract (if the contract resets, that’s fine) I will be removing money from my account and let them try to withdraw as much as they want. I’ll go to court over it. The way cell phone providers work is ridiculous.

I think that O2 should be trying to get more people to Iphone, with the early upgrade more people where going to iphone 3G than any other phone.

To say “Why should 3G owners get off lightly” is sad rob! The reason they should get off lightly is that they have been with 02 for a while and that they have spent alot of money buying the original iphones and not someone who has just jumped on the band wagon now, ROB!!!!

O2, SHAME ON YOU BAILING ON YOUR TRUE CUSTOMERS!!!!

SHAME ON YOU !!!

I bought the original iPhone on the day of release back in Nov 2007 – didn’t get 3G because I wanted to wait for this one. My 18-month contract renewed last month, so I would have to pay that off (£560) plus the cost of the phone. Don’t think so. Of course if I had waited a month to buy it in the first place it would all be ok, so I’m being heavily penalised for being an early adopter. How pathetic is that? Nice one, O2. Thanks.

the fact is o2 have relied on existing customers i.e first generation owners, giving them first dibs on the 3g to promote the iphone with o2, this is good customer service, ive been with o2 for 7years i never had the 1st generation but they were very rewarding due to my loyalty to o2 and sorted out a great deal in order for me to get the 3g, now they are getting greedy and sh*tting on all the loyal customers that helped them get to where they are now, there tariffs are expensive and dont offer much at all on the iphone compared to other service providers, this is clearly where they make there money and should be doing all they can to keep the iphone owners with them, i dont mind paying an upgrade fee if i could just upgrade without buying out of my contract, i wouldnt mind to much buying out of my contract if i didnt have to pay an upgrade charge, but both charges???? nah! i’ll be waiting to see what they say over the phone and if no joy i’ll go else where, there is alot of phones on the market now. o2 are just tainting the good apple name!

Apple have designed a new phone specifically for OS3 and all the new sofware, this is not a coincidence. For example, the batter life has been much improved (twice as better). Why? With new improved features and software (such as PUSH, MMS Messaging, faster applications / scrolling / internet) a more powerful battery is needed … I don’t think the iphone 3G will cope (batter life is pretty poor anyway). There has been great improvements to the hardware to allow iphone users to really utilise the next generation of apps and games .. will the 3G phone cope?

For these reasons, I believe Apple decided to design a new and improved phone so that existing iphone customers could upgrade to it and enjoy OS3 to it’s full extent!

I feel gutted and robbed! I have 10 months left on my 18 month contract! it doesn’t take a genius to work out that I will end up paying more money than the phone is worth!

02 – what a shame.

You have been leading the way with UK in customer service with your phone and BBI service, but you have just made a HUGE gaff which may well undo your hard work of gaining credibility… and rightly so.

You may have just alienated your exisiting customer base by making them pay to end their contract early AND pay for a new phone — especially when you didn’t operate this process when the original iPhone 3G arrived — all for the privilege entering into a new 18 month contract with 02!

Early-adopters are a key market segment for telcos and clearly have disposable income to pay for luxury goods — you may have effectively alienetated that community in one swoop which will cost you more profit in the long term than short term revenues.

My advise, rethink this plan before its too late… or suffer the long-term consequences.

I’ll go with Mr.Big’s summary..

What a disappointment O2.

I’m not condoning that it’s a good system that has been set up, but from a strategic point of view, it’s necessary to realise that the iPhone 3GS is subsidised, as was the iPhone 3G.

This was NOT the case with the original iPhone, hence why O2 allowed early upgrades – they weren’t losing any money to allow customers to do this.

If they did this now, we have to understand from their side too – they would lose money, and what organisation would do that!? At least they are offering 24 month contracts now, which, if you are sensible and don’t mind skipping a generation of iPhone, let’s you upgrade again when the iPhone 2011 comes out!

the point is.. we all DO mind missing a generation of the iphone..

apple will realese a new phone in another 12 month and ill want that one.. almost everyone here will. its the fact the phone companies operate in an outdated way.. stuck in a time when all phones were pretty similar. tecnology and peoples expctations have leapt forward.. and o2 have stayed put.

what o2 Fail to understand is this..

people like myself are champions of new tecnology. We all want the latest handset. that is why i got the original iphone when it came out and its why i upgraded when the 3G was released and its now why i am FUMING at this total oversight.. i want the 3GS on the 19th. and would even sign another 18month contract to get one.

most people who have wanted an iphone by now have got a 3G.. these are all the same people who want the 3GS – the uptake wont be anything like that of the 3G for this reason… its BAD BUSINESS.. if it wanst for the fact 02 are in the position of being sole provider for Apple, i would pay off my contract and it would be two fingers to them.

another thing… we are being told the reason we could upgrade last year was because the original handsets werent subsidised???.. i DONT belive this to be totally true. certainly i payed a bit more for the original.. but not the hundreds o2 would have you think the 3G cost… i would like to see it proved that we payed the entire cost for the original phone.. and if so how can it be that the 3G and 3GS cost SO MUCH more??.. seems like a bad excuse to rip people off to me

also to suggest they would ‘loose money’… is pretty laughable. we are talking about one of the largest telecoms companies in the world. they make incredible profits.. and all of their iphone customers are on 18month contracts.. thats a hell of a lot of cash mate..

if they wanted to, they could turn this around without so much as a thought.

I have no problem with O2 wanting to cover the subsidized for iPhone 3Gs. But I find it shocking that O2 essentially want me to pay for the same service _twice_.

I\’m 11 months into my 18 month iPhone contract, and if they asked for £100 (say) to pay off the remaining _subsidy_ rather than the £245 they want, which includes the service I will be paying for with the 3GS anyway, I would be more than happy.

I am a very loyal customer to 02 but will definately be cancelling with them after my current contract is up. By then another company will buy rights to have iphone I bet

I\’m only recently bought the 2 year contract for the iphone 3g running on O2 and all I can say is that this is stupid

what is the point in bringing out a new contract for the iphone 3G just before announcing a new iphone???

answer is pretty simple…to make more money, but tbh apple and O2 have probably got enough money to allow existing contract customers to upgrade their old iphone to the new one for free

Really disappointed in both apple and O2 and not to mention the carephonewarehouse where I had specifically asked the sales person whether or not a new iphone would be coming out…which he replied to, \”not for a year or 2\”

My question is could u for jail broken users could u use the iPhone 3g and download a program that will let u send videos pictures / and also get the better video camera insteadcof buying the new iPhone 3g s???

camera is built in hardware so u would have to buy the new 3Gs

no point in buying it though considering next year apple will probably release another iphone with more features and then hopefully allow other network providers to have the iphone available

Since I have heard about the iphone 3G S and o2 I have heard only complaints. Everywhere I go! Everyone can complain all they want, you’re the ones paying! But that is it!
We are the customer, we are the consumer. We together, as a whole reign supreme!
Take away our loyalty, take away the consumer, the custom and o2 is nothing! But it will take more than just sitting and moaning about it at home, alone! Get to a store and moan there! Find other unhappy moaning o2 customers(which I’m sure, can’t be hard to find) and moan at o2 managers in store where we are in the face of o2, on there home turf! We the consumer! GODS in our own right!
I am sure us iphone fans can talk the hind legs off any donkey so let us go and give them hell!
If every o2 customer out there did this they would be throwing 3G S’s at us to get us out! Everyone!!! Go on!
Everyone on the 19th, the customer gets what they want! After all…
A customer is always right!
THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!
WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT!
YOU ARE ALWAYS RIGHT!

Thank you… for motivational help, think of Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean)
Get in there!

There’s another thing O2 should consider.

IF they let us upgrade NOW, they have us tied into a new contract.

But IF they insist on their upholding their current policy (thus preventing us buying new iPhone 3GSs), then when our current contracts are finally finished, we’ll be that much nearer being able to buy the iPhone 3GS from one of O2′s competitors, because their exclusivity with Apple cannot last.

(Irony: THEY will be in the same boat as us then!) And won’t that serve them right!

I feel that O2 have let its current customers down as I too owned the iPhone 1st Generation and currently own the 2nd Generation (3G) and would be more than happy to pay for the new iPhone 3Gs and extend my contract to another 18 months as necessary, however I am not in the process of paying off my current contract which I was told was £275 (6 months) when I purchased my 3G handset on the day it was released in July 2008.

I can only hope that O2 see the light, listen and act on the feedback from its current customers before January 2010 when a significant number of their iPhone customers may leave O2 to persue the number of newer handsets that will be available between now and Christmas 2009.

The losers in this will not only be O2, but Apple AND of course all of us champions of technology as Adam quite rightly pointed out.

right if you got an n96 and then the n97 came out do you think o2 well let you upgrade NO so why shoud o2 let you do an early upgrade

O2 say it’s Apple policy to offer contract for iPhones of 18 or 24 months !!
Why can’t we get a contract that lasts 12 months giving that apple seem to be bring new iPhones out each year !!

I for one won’t be upgrading my phone as I can’t justify the cost