That's up to $800
You may remember back in November and then again in February Telecom offered you $600 if you bought your iPhone to XT well now they want to give you $800 (obviously with some conditions). Clearly they really want your business, but do you want to give it to them and what will you get in return? Keep reading to find out.
The offer seems to coincide with the launch of the White iPhone 4 but that may just be a coincidence and nothing more, although seeing as Telecom don’t offer it at all it it makes sense for them to do some kind of offer, but how do you get your $800?
Firstly you’ll need to pick a plan and not just any old plan. To get the $800 you’ll need to go on a 24 month Talk & Text Anytime $170 or Smartphone $170 plan at a cost of, well, $170 per month. But what do you get for that?
If you’re a talker and don’t use too much data you’ll want to go for the Talk & Text plan as you’ll get 1000 mins, 300 texts but only a measly 50MB data. But if you’re a data junkie and use Viber/Tango, Skype and WhatsApp then you’ll need to opt for the Smartphone plan. I believe this offers way more value money as you still get 650 minutes, but you also get 2500 texts and a whopping 3GB of data.
Now you may think this is a pretty raw deal… $4608 ($4080 for plan + $1328 for 32GB iPhone 4 – $800 credit) over the term of the 24 month contract, but when you consider the Vodafone options it doesn’t sound so bad.
For the not even nearly the same amount of texts or data (ok you get more calls) on the Vodafone Smart5 for iPhone (which must be taken on a 24 month contract) it’s going to cost you $6133.20 (incl 32GB iPhone 4) over the term of the contract. That’s over $1500 more for 550 more mins, 1900 less texts and 2GB less data (although Vodafone are currently offering 3GB data).
On the Vodafone Smart4 for iPhone $3367.40 (including cost of iPhone 4 32GB) will get you 50 less mins, the same amount of data (at the moment) and 1900 less texts. That’s just over $1200 less than Telecom but with a few less minutes and a lot less texts, so this could well be the option for you, just remember that the 3GB data offer could end at any time.
Now obviously to get the $800 you are looking at the highest end plans, but if you want you can get less credit for a lesser plan. Full details can be found at the link below.
Offer ends 31st July
– Telecom SIM offer
Telecom you only need to understand one thing to win iPhone users – get better Data plans, ones that can compete with the likes of 2Degrees. The plans on offer are absolute bullsh!t.
(geoffry has made 1 comment)
I absolutely agree with @geoffry as who wants to pay $170 per month? The average user pays $40-60 per month, and at the moment for $40 I’m getting 3GB of data plus 1000 PXT + 300 TXT to any network + 30 minutes to any network, which is good enough for me. If it weren’ for the 3GB of data I would be with 2degrees, not Telecom XT…
(Yaman_NZ has made 184 comments)
OMG that seems a bit ridiculous.
I been with VF for quite a while.
On the Smartphone 2 plan. Pay $71 a month for 3 Gb Data, 600 Txt 60 mins talk ( enough for me)
Id look into 2 Degrees but Hamilton is not yet in their good coverage area for Data.
I dont really need 3 Gb of data but good to know I have it.
(Psychrn has made 131 comments)
Forgot to mention 1000 pxt as well
(Psychrn has made 131 comments)
Whats more ridiculous is Telecom’s contract termination fee/early disconnection fee.
as an example:
Smartphone $140 a Tier 6 plan will net you $680 credit on a 24 month contract.
BUT if you terminate within the first 6 months you have to pay $1600. After 12months its $850.
So once you are on a big plan, it’s so hard to come off without losing out financially.
Telecom does have a lower ETF for the lower tiered plans, only $200 after 6 months for Smartphone $40 compared to Voda’s $315.
Telecom Charges
(MisterTuber has made 10 comments)
MisterTuber wrote:
How is that ridiculous? In your example you are getting a $680 credit from Telecom because you are making a commitment to spend $140 per month for 24 months, not because Telecom just thinks you’re awesome. You think you can just walk away from that commitment? You can’t just go around entering into contracts and then walking away with the free gift… that’s called having your cake and eating it – welcome to the real world!
(Steve Lawrence has made 648 comments)
I had my iPhone 3G on Vodafone from the day I bought it (the day they were first released) until about 6 months ago when I took advantage of a similar offer from Telecom. My experience has been nearly 100% positive. The plan was comparable, but with an hour more calling per month, I get more data and the reception where I live, work and travel around the country has been dramatically better. The iPhone 4 would potentially be a different animal, as it can at least utilise the VF 3G network nationwide, which the iPhone 3G and 3Gs can’t.
On the earlier models like mine, Telecom is a massive improvement from VF or 2 Degrees.
(djrichard has made 19 comments)
Steve wrote:
Not sure this is right mate,.. Obviously there are rules in place so you can’t take advantage of whatever discount/freebies you are getting with the long term contract, but unless you are getting a $1600 phone for free, the $1600 early termination fee seems high. I recall from when I was looking at them on Vodafone, the early termination fee was about equal to the saving/value/discount you were getting by signing a term contract to begin with.
I could be wrong here and I haven’t put any research in to it, but it sounds like you’ve just made a blanket statement. If the early termination fee was $3000 then do your comments still apply?
(wpcnz has made 12 comments)
@ wpcnz: The early termination fee covers some of what they would lose if you walked away including any discounts or credits they have given you. They are there as a deterent and I agree with them, from all companies.
You are agreeing to give the company $3360 over the term of the 24 months. They give you $680. That’s an investment of $4040. If you stay with tem for just six months you spend $840… that leaves them $3200 short. They only get you to pay half of that at $1600 for disconnecting early.
At the end of the day you are in a contract and contracts are there for a reason. If the termination fee was $3000 then yes that would be fine. The only time it is not fine is if the termination fee is more than the dollar value for the life of the contract including any credits or handset subsidies (which from my understanding they never are).
Yes I realise they are in place so that the company cannot be taken advantage of. I can see some reasons for high early termination fees, but not as you have described it.
You obviously have a firm stance on this, highlighted by the fact you think it is okay to have a termination fee up to the full value over the lifetime of a contract.
By this logic, there is no difference between someone reneging on bank loan payments, and someone who wants to terminate their cellphone contract early. Both are worth $4040 (for example), and in each case the person is breaking the contract.
Anyway this is getting a bit off topic, but simply I just don’t agree that you are on the hook for the full amount as soon as you put pen to paper. I’d have to be convinced that this is even legal
(wpcnz has made 12 comments)
These offers are really common, theirs Offer similar to this every month.
I work for a communications company
Luminous group
(luminousGroup has made 1 comment)
@ Steve:
Yes of course there is no such thing as a free lunch. I just feel that I should be getting the service that I am paying for. I don’t mind paying back the subsidy/credit that a contract gives as incentive to sign up but I don’t think it’s fair to charge for 12months worth of service that I will never get.
This applies for both Vodafone and Telecom.
(MisterTuber has made 10 comments)
I’ve just come back from Newcastle Aust and the deals you can get from Virgin are fantastic compared with our rip off in NZ. It may even be cheaper just to roam from an Australia account in NZ!!!! not sure on this.
(kiwiadventure has made 66 comments)