Tired of being locked into your handset for 24 long months? Phones 4u feels your pain, and has just launched a new type of contract to try and combat the problem. Phones 4u JUMP lets you upgrade your phone as much as every 6 months.
JUMP (Just Upgrade My Phone) will be rolled out to all Phones 4u stores as of May 2012, offering customers the ability to switch up mobiles far more often.
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“The idea for JUMP was born out of research we conducted that revealed people were frustrated by the inability to upgrade their handsets sooner,” says Alistair Firth, Director of Customer Development at Phones 4u.
Enough preamble: What’s the deal? Basically, Phones 4u has split the price of your contract into two parts: the airtime you get from the network, and the JUMP agreement for your phone.
“When customers choose to upgrade, there is no upfront fee involved – they can trade in the handset, which Phones 4u guarantees will be worth at least £100 for the first 12 months, along with up to two more, and create a new plan. Alternatively, they do have the option of keeping it for themselves or giving it to someone else.”
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Sounds like a really top idea, but it will still get expensive. The example Phones 4u is pushing is thus:
Say you get an Android smartphone on a 24 month JUMP contract. The £37.99 monthly contract will be split between £15 to the network and £22.99 to Phones 4u. Say in 6 months you want to jump to the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 or whatever. That’ll leave you with 18 months outstanding on the JUMP balance.
You can trade you Android phone in against that for £175, which leaves £238.82 left to pay. Split over 18 months that’s £9.95, which needs to be added to your new iPhone contract, making your new monthly bill £58.44
In essence, you’ve got to pay the difference from the handset contract on top of your new contract. A good deal if you’re desperate for the next phone, then, but perhaps not for those on a budget.
