Anyone been ripped off (attempted) by Orange upgrade offers, or any other network for that matter?

I faired quite well on the last upgrade: free Nokia 5800, fiver off my bill every month and all the minutes and texts I could ever use to be honest.

The missus called today though as her contract has expired and they offered her the same terms (600mins unltd text £30) and a Samsung S5600. She called me first to check and I told her tell them f-off. I'm suprised they've not tried to even bother offering her a 'good' phone. This was the disconnections team too. It wasnt just the phone they offered though it was the advice. They said its best she could get on her contract, has 80MB of internet which is more than enough for anyone, and although not HD like the i8910 its camera is very very good - its 3mp cack actually!

Her sister on the otherhand got the i8910, unltd internet, etc etc for about the same money. Apparantly he wont budge though and said she'd have to pay £££ to get the same handset.

Part of me thinks he's tried to blag it as she doesnt really know what she wants / is talking about.

Tell them you are leaving and ask for a code to transfer your number, they might offer a better deal then

Find deals with other networks, include cashback amounts from places like quidco and use them as leverage (and also look at sim free + sim only tariff options as they can sometimes be cheaper)

I got an additional 700 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited data for £8 LESS a month on my renewal with O2, I had to pay £50 for the X1 (Which I am trying to get a replacement for as it's fubar now) but worked out cheaper than previous contracts.

Dear god don't get the S5600.
I have one. It's not as useful as the old W800 it replaced.

Well she now has her code and is officially leaving and they didnt budge. They kept saying its all to do with loyalty points. When asked what they were its basically the people who spend more over their contracted minutes get better offers. I'm not sure loyalty is the correct word to be honest. Also they make such a big issue about making sure you have the right contract and reviwing it for you anually, etc etc why do they reward you for going over??

Having a look around she could go for Voda with the HTC Magic or Samsung Tocca Ultra for £30, 60mins, unltd texts, unltd web + 3 months half price but its 24 months. In fact the more I look around the more all the providers seem to be pushing these 24 month contracts. I remember when 18 month ones cames out. Now you seem to get nothing for 12 months, a little for 18 months (or the same as you used to get for 12 months!) and a good offer for 24 months (which you used to get with 18 months). It looks that way to me anyway.

She picked up a Palm Pre after work. Looks ok so far. Orange can do one!

Interestingly she called to say cancel everything and she doesnt want to transfer her number and they said "we can knock £200 off the i8910". How strange that they couldnt do that before speaking to 3 different people and hearing "the S5600 is our final offer". Not impressed Orange.

I don't particularly think its the operator (in general) but someone higher. Sometimes they are allowed to give offers, other times they are not. When I got my phone (LG Renoir ([LIFTED])) every network would do it for £25 other than T-mobile who wouldn't budge from £35. When the g/f got heres some sony erricosn 8MP (not sure on name) it was £35 everywhere for her contract, O2 offered it her for £20 with 600 mins, Unlimited texts and internet.