A mate of mine was due for an upgrade with 02.
He didn't know how to attempt to negotiate the best possible contract, so he took me with him as his mouthpiece.
He had been with 02 for about 7 years and they still wouldn't give him a good renewal deal. The staff in 02 just didn't care and were obviously not interested in keeping my friend as a customer.
So we went across to Carphone Warehouse in Churchill Square.
We were met by the David Brent of phone salesmen.
As he greeted us and asked if we needed help, his eyes lit up as I mentioned that my friend was shopping for a new contract. I explained the 02 situation and noted that my friend was considering the HTC One M9.
Then, like the Genie from Aladdin, this guy casually pulled out a gold HTC One M9 from his trouser pocket, flipped it upright into his palm and continued to slowly rotate the phone in his hand.
He didn't say a word. But he was smiling, inviting us to bask in its glory and the non-verbalised message he was delivering was, "Oh, you mean this?"
Anyway, after spouting a lot of random bullshit and trying to mystify the process of contracts and upgrades he DID manage to get my friend a good deal.
I can't remember the exact details of the contract but in summary the guy from Carphone Warehouse managed to undercut the exact same deal offered directly by 02 by about £6 a month.
In a process which took around 20 minutes and a few calls between Carphone Warehouse and 02, my friend walked away with a brand new HTC One M9. With the same number and with the exact contract he wanted.
Lesson: Shop around. Make your network sweat.
Nobody wants to lose a customer.
Everybody wants to find a Genie. read more