New iPhone 3GS on O2: Pay to end your contract early
Filed under: Cell Phone Information, Cell Phones | By: Alan Ng
Posted on: June 8, 2009 | 22 Comments
Following on from the big announcement of the new iPhone 3GS at this year’s WWDC event in the US, it has been revealed that UK customers hoping to get their hands on one will have to pay to end their current contract first.
That’s according to O2 themselves who have released information on their Twitter page, about the charges. It seems very harsh that even current iPhone 3G owners will still have to pay to end their current contract before going on a new one for the 3GS.
What do you think of O2’s decision to charge existing 3G owners to end their contract? Let us know your thoughts on this below.
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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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.