Truly benefit from mobile freebies

The one million customers who switch their mobile phone network each month can now benefit from a free gift worth up to £400 as well as a range of other perks available throughout the year, according to independent price comparison and switching service uSwitch.com.

By shopping around for the best mobile deals online rather than on the high street, not only can savvy switchers save £113 a year on their mobile contract, they can also get a highly desirable free gift with pay monthly contracts starting from just £20 a month.

Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services uSwitch.com comments: “Mobile phone retailers are coming up with innovative ways to attract new customers and are using a variety of promotions to do this. Both the high street and online retailers offer handsets and tariffs at similar costs, but due to lower overheads, online retailers can also offer a wide range of incentives to accompany the contracts.

“The great news is that these freebies aren’t exclusively for high spenders. Someone looking to pay just £20 a month can get a free iPod shuffle worth nearly £50 when they get a T-Mobile Flext 20 contract with up to 170 minutes and up to 340 texts.

“Those with higher mobile usage can get a free Sony Playstation 3 worth almost £400 by taking out the Orange Panther tariff for £55 a month which includes 1200 minutes and 300 texts.”

Something for Nothing

Long gone are the days when a freebie consisted of either a mug or a pen. Consumers looking for mobile deals online now have their pick of products such as iPods, Nintendo Wii’s and Sony Playstation 3’s. For customers who don’t think gadgets are for them, they can take their pick of products like GHD Hair Straighteners and Benefit make-up.

Another way of looking at these deals is that consumers are effectively getting ‘free’ line rental with a product they wished to purchase anyway. For example, a mobile customer already planning to buy a brand new Nintendo DS Lite could effectively get a phone contract free for three months by selecting an online deal with Orange – as the games console comes for free with the contract.Customers seeking hair straighteners could walk away with a Pink Samsung E900 on a Virgin £30 contract; the cost of the straighteners would cover their line rental for four months.

Added Extras

More good news is that, as well as the growing number of incentives, it’s not just free gifts that consumers can take advantage of. Mobile networks are offering a range of on-going perks to keep people on board giving consumers a whole range of benefits further adding to the value of their packages.

Cinemagoers can get a great deal with Orange’s 2-4-1 cinema ticket promotion. Over the course of a year, film buffs could make savings of over £160. Meanwhile, music lovers could benefit from Gigs and Tours with Orange where they can reserve gig tickets up to 48 hours before they go on sale. O2 offers a similar Priority Tickets scheme where their customers get up to 10% off tickets to the O2 Arena 48 hours before tickets go on general release. For those that like to talk and text, O2 also offers Treats, where customers can claim additional free minutes and texts each month.

Weller continues: “With such a variety of gifts and perks on offer right now, it really does pay to log on to see how you could benefit. These deals constantly change so it is worth regularly shopping around to see which freebie is most up your street.”