31 replies to this topic

[mstephenson]

Is it just me or is all this a bit confusing?!

I'm not sure if this is what sockatume is getting at in the post above but it seems different tariffs show up. I originally looked up the price plan first and then looked at the available phones and prices under that plan. However I've just done it the other way round (select phone then plan) and the same deal at the same price now suddenly includes free internet and I still have a free booster

[sockatume]

Even I'm not sure what I mean here. T-Mo's new system means well, but it's cut some features, obscured others, and it needs some tweaking before it all makes any sense.

[shadamehr]

sockatume, on Feb 1 2010, 17:00, said:

Ah-hah! It seems there is an Internet Plus Booster after all, but only if you're after an Android or WinMo device. It's mandatory on that plan. It's not clear what it comes with because it's referred to nowhere else on T-Mobile's entire web site. I'll grab another customer service rep and see if I can't clear that up.

However on further investigation, there is an Internet Plus booster on PAYG which seems to be the regular old Internet Booster that Monthly customers get in all but name (1GB limit, no P2P, tethering, VoIP).

Not so...(quite exactly)

CERTAIN devices are classed as "Mobile Connected Devices/Internet Devices", by T-Mobile, but if you search carefully, you'll see it's not JUST WinMo and Android, hence my new Nokia E72 coming tomorrow!

As such though, all it means is that with these specific select devices, there are packages at the £25 and above price points, on 24 month ONLY, that ALREADY come with the Internet Bundle (the same standard one as can be added as one of your options) included FOR FREE.

Thus saving you £5 as you ALSO get the free optional choosable bundle as well.

I say this, as I have just DONE exactly this today, for my new E72 arriving tomorrow.

To be fair though I was going to post about this very thing, as following no less than THREE calls from Retentions today, not a single one of them knew about this option/tariff/package, and every single one of them offered me a "best possible deal to stay", that wasn't even half as good as this very package, that exists for ALL to take up, without even needing any special discounts, or extra credits etc from Retentions.

In short, I told every single one of them, about a package that was in effect FAR BETTER than the "best" deal they could specially put together for me, that readily exists off the shelf without any extra discounts or intervention form them!

Go figure.


If you are looking for it, start by first choosing one of the WinMo or Android devices it applies to, or alternatively the Nokia E72 (there are sure to be other phones it applies to as well).  Then choose a £25 month option.  Then in the list of packages, you should see one of them, at 24 months, that not only includes the standard free bundle option, but ALSO already included "Unlimited Internet" bundle too.

Shame it's a 24 month contract, but a brand new Nokia E72, with 300 minute, 300 texts, free unlimited internet, and ANOTHER free additional bundle of your own choice, such as unlimited text for example to cover the 300 limit already included, for just £25 a month, is not too bad I guess, and the reason I finally decided not to ask for my PAC code.

VERY poor show however that THREE separate Retentions Staff did not even know of the existence of this, and that it had to have ME guide them through what to click on the website, speaks VOLUMES of T-Mobile's Staff Training in advance of these tariff changes coming in!

One final thing...  on this special tariff, if you decide to change and move (up only of course, as that's all that's really allowed now) to a different tariff, you will LOSE the free internet, as this is a special tariff that includes it free - so any change, will lose it.

[shadamehr]

mstephenson, on Feb 1 2010, 20:42, said:

Is it just me or is all this a bit confusing?!

I'm not sure if this is what sockatume is getting at in the post above but it seems different tariffs show up. I originally looked up the price plan first and then looked at the available phones and prices under that plan. However I've just done it the other way round (select phone then plan) and the same deal at the same price now suddenly includes free internet and I still have a free booster

Yup - see my post above for a fuller explanation.

In short though, exactly correct what you say...

Start out by choosing the PLAN, not the phone, and you see only the standard plans.

HOWEVER, start instead by choosing the PHONE first, and then seeing what plans exist, and you MAY see different plans listed, as for the "Internet Devices" as I mention in my post above, you then see these special plans listed.

They are not shown if you start by listing plans first, as they are NOT standard plans - they ONLY exist for certain "Connected Devices" (mainly WinMo and Android, but as I pointed out, it includes the Nokia E72, and sure to be others).

Whilst this sounds daft, in truth, it's the only logical approach... No point offering plans that are NOT available, if you search for plans first.

So you need to start with your intended handset, and THEN see what plans are offered.  And if you picked one of the magic handsets, you win a secret prize (well ok, you get offered the special value plan that already has free unlimited internet at no extra cost *lol*)

sockatume said:

Even I'm not sure what I mean here. T-Mo's new system means well, but it's cut some features, obscured others, and it needs some tweaking before it all makes any sense.

I think it's VERY fair to say that I believe I have a FAR better understanding of the new T-mobile plans by far, than not only T-Mobile's CS Staff, but even their specialist Retentions Team (which is now separated from Upgrades Team again too, so you would at least expect THEM to know *lol*)

Certainly it's confusing given it's newness, but as I said, there is a very GOOD reason why you don't see these special plans, if you start by listing the plans first - because they are ONLY available for certain "magic" devices.

So you need to start with the handset first, and THEN see what PLANS it offers, to see if one of the magic ones appears.

See my previous post above though, for a better explanation.

And cheers all of you, for the handy info you are adding to this thread, for sure guys!

[mstephenson]

Excellent summary shadamehr, as you say it seems you know more about these deals than T-Mob themselves! Maybe you should apply for a job there?  

Just one point....

Quote

As such though, all it means is that with these specific select devices, there are packages at the £25 and above price points, on 24 month ONLY, that ALREADY come with the Internet Bundle (the same standard one as can be added as one of your options) included FOR FREE.

I think this varies between handsets. When I looked up the HD2 the internet bundle is inluded free in ALL contracts, right the way up from the £10 a month deal and includes 18 month contracts as well.

Now i've studied the deals a bit more i'm a lot happier. I've always paid more than I really need to per month to get a cheap/free phone but now i'm thinking of getting the HD2 on the £10 a month deal. Ok the phone will cost me £241 but i'll be saving £30 every month which adds up to a far better deal. From what I can tell that £10 would get me free internet and then I can use the free booster for unlimited texts which is all I need really.

As recently as yesterday I was saying I'll never sign up to a 24 month contract but at £10 it's really not much of an issue.

[sockatume]

It turns out that the existing Plus and Max add-ons for contract handsets still exist, they're just not an option at the check-out. So you can still tether, you just have to arrange it after you sign up.

[sockatume]

Here are the plan variants, which explain some of the complications. I'm assuming 24 months here, for 18 month contracts add £5 and note that High User is not available.

Low User is the "base plan". It's available from £10 to £25 per month, and 22 of the 23 handsets are available, the exception being the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte.

Medium User costs £5 per month more than Low User for a given number of minutes and texts. It's available from £15 to £30 in this form, as you might expect. The handsets are about £30-£40 cheaper than Low User. Significantly fewer handsets are available with this plan.

High User costs £10 per month than Low User for a given number of minutes and texts. It's available from £25 to £35. It includes unlimited internet. The handsets are about £70-£80 cheaper than Low User. The handset selection is a little different from that at Medium User, in particular Android handsets with inclusive internet seem to be taken out (because you're better off on Medium User, presumably).

Medium User also has a special £35 tarriff which has the most minutes and texts available, 1200/500. With this plan you can choose any of the 22 phones in the range for free, and the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte is available on this plan (and none of the others)

[shadamehr]

mstephenson, on Feb 2 2010, 10:55, said:

Excellent summary shadamehr, as you say it seems you know more about these deals than T-Mob themselves! Maybe you should apply for a job there?  

Just one point....
I think this varies between handsets. When I looked up the HD2 the internet bundle is inluded free in ALL contracts, right the way up from the £10 a month deal and includes 18 month contracts as well.

Now i've studied the deals a bit more i'm a lot happier. I've always paid more than I really need to per month to get a cheap/free phone but now i'm thinking of getting the HD2 on the £10 a month deal. Ok the phone will cost me £241 but i'll be saving £30 every month which adds up to a far better deal. From what I can tell that £10 would get me free internet and then I can use the free booster for unlimited texts which is all I need really.

As recently as yesterday I was saying I'll never sign up to a 24 month contract but at £10 it's really not much of an issue.

Nice find - it seems they do indeed offer the "Internet Devices" plan with additional Free Web on top of the other choosable bundle, right across all the price points.

The only issue being the price of the phone, on a £10 a month only package.

But hey, things like the Samsung Galaxy Spica (or whatever T-Mo have called there version of it), is weighing it pretty darned cheap even on a £10 a month contract!

So well spotted that man!

ONLY BUMMER - despite three Retentions bods telling me he (my son, who uses the contract I upgraded yesterday to get my E72) would KEEP his 3.5G access, all tests today show him getting only a 3G symbol on his phone when connected and downloading, unlike his previous experience where he got the 3.5G symbol.

So yup, does indeed look like the Internet Bundles are now 3G only, not 3.5G.

BUMMER - but I'm still gonna fire off an email to T-Mo, as they told me it would be the same high speed!  So I'll see what comes from it!

[Bandare]

oops!

Edited by Bandare, 09 February 2010 - 02:48 AM.

[Bandare]

I helped a friend to get an HD2 on Tmobile and explained to go through customer retention (cancellation first). In the end got a cracking deal for £20 a month with internet on 300 mins and 300 txt's and £50 for the phone.

Sadly, when it arrived he's had quite a few issues with streaming. Seems Tmobile have changed the ROM quite a bit and it doesn't come with the ability to stream things like Youtube out of the box...... I went to the Tmobile site and found loads of people on their forum complaining about this exact thing. Seems a bit tight to change the ROM so certain features don't work.

I wonder, can he just get the latest updated official HTC ROM and put that in without it having an affect on his guarantee? Would that cure the streaming issue?

[Jonnyw2k]

After just getting my nexus one i've dropped to 12month sim only with 600mins Unlimited Texts and Unlimited Net for £20pm which isnt to bad, and the bonus thing is if i ever want to upgrade back to full contract again I can do this at anytime and will be offered the usual upgrade deals(although im a but duboius of this as its a 12month contract) but if i had taken the 30day contract I would not be entitled to any offers when upgrading.

[mcwarre]

sockatume, on Feb 2 2010, 14:09, said:

It turns out that the existing Plus and Max add-ons for contract handsets still exist, they're just not an option at the check-out. So you can still tether, you just have to arrange it after you sign up.

That's interesting - does it cost more?

Cos if you go here http://www.t-mobile....phone-as-modem/ and click through "See which phones you can use to connect your laptop to the internet" you can get the Internet Plus Booster included (for free) and thus tether it.  Surely?