Mobile Phones Case Study – James Owen
The mobile phone has transcended from a luxury item used by few
to a modern necessity built to reflect personal choices and cultural needs.
However, when your lifestyle stretches from scuba diving and
outdoor pursuits to relaxing with your wife-to-be, finding the mobile phone
that best meets your needs could seem like an impossible task.
Yet for James Owen, 27, a media communications officer,
self-confessed gym fanatic and family man, the perfect mobile phone was in
sight – a Motorola V3 featuring a slim, fashionable design, a camera and WAP
connectivity. The only question was how he could get it.
“I needed a new phone and I had my heart set on the V3,”
reflected Mr Owen. “I was reaching the end of my current contract with Orange
and the equation was simple – why pay for a new handset if I don’t have to?”
Mr Owen realised that while making the change he could also
consider a new contract that better suited his needs.
He was originally using the Orange Everytime 200 plan, which
gave him 200 free minutes a month. However, on average he would only use about
50 of those minutes and was paying extra for a monthly text message bundle.
“My deal just wasn’t giving me what I needed,” he said. “So I
started to search around the online mobile phone stores and the high-street
mobile phone shops. I was also looking to see if I could add an additional
phone to my contract and give it to my mother.”
At this point, Mr Owen admits, he would have appreciated having
a service like the mobile phone price comparison tool now available at
moneysupermarket.com.
“My only criticism of the idea is that it came too late for
me,” he joked. “Moneysupermarket.com could have saved me loads of time and made
things a lot easier.”
During his search Mr Owen stumbled across an offer from
Vodafone that caught his eye. However, before committing to the new deal he had
the foresight to contact his current network and see what they could propose.
“If you tell them you’re unhappy with your deal and you’re
ready to move on, you have a lot of leverage,” he said.
“They had a family plan offer that allowed me to bring my
mother on to the contract and it matched Vodafone’s deal on call time minutes.
It meant I could get rid of the text message bundle because I got a lot of free
texts each month, but most importantly they offered me the handset I wanted for
free as part of the package. It was ideal.
“Previously I was paying £35/month on my contract and then
going way over that with my text message usage – now I’m paying £48/month for
the two phones and not going over at all. Over the two phones, I think it’s
saving me somewhere in the region of £40/month.”
Though Mr Owen did not have the advantage of the price
comparison tool at moneysupermarket.com and took longer than he otherwise would
to find the best deal for him, he would still recommend the process to anyone.
“Once I had found the deal the process was easy,” he said. “I
gave Orange my details on the phone one Saturday afternoon and I had my new
handset by Sunday – the very next day. It was simple and easy and definitely
worthwhile.”
