will never understand cell phones or cell phone companies

[Pinkie B]

In the US you are legally allowed to unlock a phone at the end of your contract. You just have to ask your service provider to do it. I think now you can get a third party to do it at a cell repair shop (I think that's what happened with me and my Papa's iPhone which became mine because I would get a new phone).

I'm pretty sure that you can just buy SIM cards, too. They won't have the same number as you did with a carrier, but they're usually one-time fixed minutes/data use cards and you just get another one when it runs out. There are three sizes of SIM cards so the only thing you have to do is get the right size.

And as far as I understand even the big carriers with the contracts will allow you to use your own phone since so many of them are priced as service fee + monthly phone payment. You would just pay service fee without the phone payment. And I don't think there are actually penalties to end a contract in the US, or even if there are it's not really that much.

Not promoting the big carriers -- they're evil enemies of the free market and democracy -- but I think you can basically accomplish the same things with the monthlies as you can with the carriers, it's just a different shaped hoop to jump through.

 

[Pats]

It's really easy to get a phone unlocked here - regular price is about £10 - any phone and any carrier. You can even do it yourself if you're techy enough and find the right websites.

Is that not a common service in the US?

If they can - no carriers will tell you that's an option - they make a lot of money on selling phones and people updating them every couple years.

 

[Pats]

In the US you are legally allowed to unlock a phone at the end of your contract. You just have to ask your service provider to do it. I think now you can get a third party to do it at a cell repair shop (I think that's what happened with me and my Papa's iPhone which became mine because I would get a new phone).

I'm pretty sure that you can just buy SIM cards, too. They won't have the same number as you did with a carrier, but they're usually one-time fixed minutes/data use cards and you just get another one when it runs out. There are three sizes of SIM cards so the only thing you have to do is get the right size.

And as far as I understand even the big carriers with the contracts will allow you to use your own phone since so many of them are priced as service fee + monthly phone payment. You would just pay service fee without the phone payment. And I don't think there are actually penalties to end a contract in the US, or even if there are it's not really that much.

Not promoting the big carriers -- they're evil enemies of the free market and democracy -- but I think you can basically accomplish the same things with the monthlies as you can with the carriers, it's just a different shaped hoop to jump through.

When my mom died I was on a contract and had her on it with me. I called the phone place trying to cancel service for her phone. They said I could but would have to pay the cost of whatever remaining months were left on that phone. My entire contract was going to be up in just a few months so I told them if they wanted me to renew my contract they would need to cancel the service on that one phone and I would go ahead and sign a longer contract at that time. They said I'd still have to pay the remaining months so I said I want to cancel on this date - end of contract and they were not happy. Never did a contract phone service again after that - they're too unreasonable. Oh and for a long time they kept trying to get me to continue and I'd tell them over and over why I would absolutely not.

Oh I let my daughter use that phone for the remaining few months. The first time she called and my mom showed up on my phone I bout freaked out because I had forgotten. lol

 

[Pinkie B]

They said I could but would have to pay the cost of whatever remaining months were left on that phone. My entire contract was going to be up in just a few months so I told them if they wanted me to renew my contract they would need to cancel the service on that one phone and I would go ahead and sign a longer contract at that time.

Yeah, so this is basically what I have experienced: the phone isn't yours until you pay it off. Lately, the contracts are of the form of doing payments instead of paying up front, so when you cancel your contract, you still have to finish paying for the phone.

In the past you either bought the phone up front, or received it "free" in exchange for higher monthly access rates. It's just a different shape for the same concept, but at least now you have to ability to pay less and not upgrade.

 

[Progster]

It's really easy to get a phone unlocked here - regular price is about £10 - any phone and any carrier. You can even do it yourself if you're techy enough and find the right websites.

I did this. I'm not particularly tech-savvy, just very, very determined.

 

[Graphin]

DUH - of course communication companies are the worst at communication.

 

[Autistamatic]

I'm interested in a comparison between what we get offered in contracts.

Internet, cable/satellite & mobile communications have been subject to some stiff regulation in the EU in recent years which has done a lot to clear up the "Wild West" business practices we used to have to endure.

I don't use my phone for calls or texts much at all - it's an emergency device in that respect, but I do use it for internet communication a lot, when I'm out of the house. I also use it as a mini word processor, notebook, stills and video camera, calculator, translator, ebook reader, unit convertor and more. It's more of a pocket computer to me than a phone, so I always get a pretty good one. Never the latest model, but usually one that was near top of the line 6 months ago but has dropped in price since a souped up or "next gen" one came out

My current contract is typical of what I have most times.

My present phone, if bought cash, would have cost me about £580 at the time I signed up. I get unlimited calls & texts and 4GB data per month. At the end of the 2 year contract I will have paid £650, so in effect the "service" element would have cost me £70. To get a service-only plan with the same provisions would cost around £10/month at current prices so would have cost me £240 over 2 years. The contract would have cost me £750 over the 2 years, but as always, my provider lowered the price to keep my business. Even that is less than the £820 it would have cost me buying the phone & service separately. The phone is considered my property as soon as I take delivery, however the contract is, in effect, a hire-purchase agreement, so I am liable for the full amount no matter what. In those terms it made pretty sound financial sense for me to choose the phone+contract option unless I intended to hop providers.

My previous phone was good enough for my needs so I chose not to get a new one at the end of the 2 years and merely changed the agreement to "service only" which took my monthly expenditure down to a third of what it was previously. I chose to upgrade about 18 months after that when the battery started showing it's age and the cost and inconvenience of getting the battery replaced was higher than I would have liked.

How would that compare to the sort of contract deals you get offered in the US and elsewhere?

 

[Pats]

Yeah, so this is basically what I have experienced: the phone isn't yours until you pay it off. Lately, the contracts are of the form of doing payments instead of paying up front, so when you cancel your contract, you still have to finish paying for the phone.

In the past you either bought the phone up front, or received it "free" in exchange for higher monthly access rates. It's just a different shape for the same concept, but at least now you have to ability to pay less and not upgrade.

I've never bought a phone that I had to make payments on - paid up front or didn't buy.