Cancel contract with O2 then want to rejoin?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a strange thing I know but, my contract I think ends 20th Jan 2017.  I quite fancy a Samsung S7, but want 3gb data.  O2 online the deal is £49.99 upfront and £38.50 per month.  However I have found I can get a new contract with Car Phone Warehouse, pay £99 upfront and £28.50 per month.  Same deal 3gb data and still O2.  Now according to O2 FB page they cannot match that price.  I can even get it cheaper through Mobiles.co.uk £35 upfront and £28.50 per month, but not heard of that company before, so a little unsure about them.  At least with car phone warehouse I go in store if anything goes wrong. 

So it seems I would need to cancel my current contract with O2, ask for PAC No, then order a new phone with either car phone warehouse or mobiles.co.uk give them the PAC no to transfer my number from a O2 account to another O2 account just to get a cheaper deal than upgrading direct from O2.  

Oh and O2 mobile repairers are a total joke, never under any circumstances send a mobile back to O2 for repair.  My current mobile S5 Mini was only 3 months old when it developed a fault, went back to local O2 shop who sent it away for repair.  I gets a message saying non warranty fault, goes to pick up the phone from local O2 shop to be told I need to BUY a new mobile as they will not fix it.  Also they wont tell me whats wrong with it.  Then I remember there is a local Samsung store, so I go there.  Get told to give them 20 mins to check it, go back they tell me what is wrong, and will fix it free of charge under warranty.  I complain to O2, and they joke repairers direct, I get told by the repairers the IMEI is blocked by O2, I contact O2 to ask why, they say it def isnt blocked, contact joke repairers again who insist its blocked.  During this time my phone is being repaired by Samsung.  When I go pick it up, I talk to them about it and they laugh, never send a phone to joke repairers, they dont know what they are doing.  So I felt conned by O2, who wanted me to buy a new mobile 3 months into a contract which they should have repaired or given me a new phone.  

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

Mobiles.co.uk is the online store of CPW.
You don't need a PAC, but you will have 2 contracts for the first month.
1 - Get the new contract from CPW
2 - Call CS and transfer your number from old contract to new one.
This will end your old contract and generate your final bill for that contract but will also mean you have to pay the new contract in the same month.
However, it's the only way to do it without transferring to PAYG or porting back and forth with a different network.

[MI5]

PS. You don't need to tell us about o2 repairs !

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that, I'll hang on til after xmas and see if a better deal comes along.  If I have to pay 2 contracts for 1 month then so be it, its still £10 per month cheaper.  

Sorry about the repair story, wrong section, or are they  well known for being joke repairers?   

[MI5]

Well known jokers mate

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Well known jokers mate

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And thanks for the story @Anonymous. It confirms what we always advise. Contact the manufacturers as opposed to O2 repairs. 99% of the time you have a far better outcome (as you have found) ...:smileywink:

[jonsie]

I would never send a phone to O2 for repair, far too many horror stories and chargeable repairs.

[gmarkj]

Just to throw my voice in, I got my latest phone through mobiles.co.uk as they offered the phone I wanted, no up front payment and did a money back claim offer that made what was cheaper even better.
They were very polite and helpful, did everything they said and (so far) have been excellent.
However, as stated above if you go into store then you could walk out with your new phone rather than wait. Just depends on your preference.