Upgrading early through o2 refresh or CPW

[Anonymous]

Hey! i havent been here is a while! 

I wanted some advice on upgrading!

I recently lost ( stolen) my fairly new iphone6+128gb that I bought straight up from apple. uninsured

Luckily my contract runs out in october but i want to upgrade early as I wont be in the country. 

- I will be unlocking my phone through GAME from o2 so i can use a foreign sim card whilst i am abroard -( this is important) 

o2 have offered me to upgrade through refresh for around £200 inc upgrade fee and £49 a month

CPW offered me up upgrade with them for £164 inc upgrade fee and £49 a month

I know it is not a big difference but i want to know what will be better? i have heard not a lot of people like o2 refresh as its much more expencive in the long run and the CPW manager advided me it would be cheaper to upgrade hrough them ( he is a dear friend and is honest) 

Im stck in a rut with who to go with so id love someones advice who knows all the hiddens costs and stuff about both companies!

thanx in advance 

look forward to hearing from anyone 

[jonsie]

You will almost always get a better deal through independents such as CPW but the one thing they can't offer you is Refresh, the beauty of which is that you can upgrade or change network simply by paying off the handset part of the contract 

http://www.o2.co.uk/refresh

There are no other benefits in upgrading directly with O2 unless you are eligible for O2 Open discount through your employers which gives 30% off airtime.

If neither of these are factors then go for the best deal. Whoever you decide on, go instore because ordering online with O2 can be frustrating if the phone is out of stock. They take your money before they tell you....

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous

Please be careful about your plans to get your iPhone unlocked via Game in order to use a foreign sim in it.

This simply wont work. Game state quite clearly their unlocking allows only UK sims not foreign sims

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/Game-now-unlocking-handsets/td-p/884612

This taken from their terms and conditions

"iPhone will lock itself to the network of the first SIM card that is used in the phone. Subsequently attempting to use it on any other network, for example by replacing the SIM card, may mean it becomes permanently unusable. SIM free iPhones can only be used with a UK-network SIM card, and will not accept foreign SIM cards."

The only way to buy an unlocked iPhone 6 is directly from Apple or 3.

[Anonymous]

Go with whatever deal suits your needs but CPW don't offer Refresh contracts, you can only get them through O2 directly.

If you choose not to do refresh you will be locked in to a standard 24 month contract

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/A-Guide-To-O2-Refresh/m-p/877701

[Anonymous]

thankyou! i don't plan to upgrade early any time after this upgrade as i really can't afford!

[Anonymous]

Yeah i just read that! thats a bummer. is there no other way to unlock to permanently as i need to use it for business overseas! those phone repair stalls that offer phone unlocking also garenteed that it will be permanently unlocked, but how much can i trust them?

thankyou!

[Bambino]

Please take heed of the advice given to you by the three posts above, in particular the post by @Cleoriff with reference to unlocking the phone. If you allow a phone repair stall to unlock it, you will most likely void your warranty. The only way is to buy the phone outright from Apple, or get it from Three.

[Anonymous]

thank you for your reply! i think i will be going with CPW !!

[Anonymous]

Oh no! i thought 'Quick reply' Meant it quoted the person i was asking! apologies for the confusion

[MI5]

Te only way to guarantee an unlocked iPhone 6 is to buy from Apple. Did you know that Apple can upgrade you too? It may cost a little more but at least your phone will be unlocked.
Otherwise you have to wait for O2 to allow unlocking on their contracts which they state currently is 12 months from launch, so that is around October this year.