Free on all tarifs....or not

[Anonymous]

Hi all
I am considering upgrading my phone and signing up to a new contract. The two phones that interested me were the N8 and x10, both of which were advertised as 'Free on all tariffs'. This sounded great but when I selected the phone neither were available on the standard tariffs at all, only the smartphone tariffs.
Isn't this mis-advertising? Is it possible to get either of these phones on a standard tariff?
Any help would be appreciated.
CM

[Anonymous]

It would not be a sensible thing to get a smartphone on a standard tariff. They require an always on data connection which would be very expensive without the inclusive data in a smartphone tariff.

[Anonymous]

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
I thought that you could deactivate the data connection on the phone when not in use if you only wanted to benefit from the standard phone features. Then you could buy the amount of dta you wanted as add ons.
Does that not make sense?
CM

[sheepdog Level 25: Hard Hitter]

You'd be on the web daily (£1.20 per day) then which is the non-smartphone tariff default. Just pay for what you use, which, if not controlled be expensive over an extended period.

[Anonymous]

the 'Free on All Tariffs' note just means that whichever tariff you select, there's no charge for the handset itself. You can still only choose Smartphone tariffs for Smartphones, Blackberry tariffs for Blackberrys, iPhone tariffs for iPhones etc.
The reason these tariffs are more expensive than the standard tariffs isn't just because they have the data bolt-on as standard (although you should definitely have this if you're using a smartphone - you can turn the data off, by if you do then why bother having a smartphone?). The other reason they're higher is that they're subsidising a £3-400 handset, rather than one around £200 on a standard tariff.
If they let you have the N8, X10 etc on the standard plans then there's no chance you'd get the phone free, so it's swings and roundabouts really.

[Anonymous]

Fair point, but it still shouldn't be advertised as 'free on all tariffs' cos they're not.
They're actually free on all smartphone tariffs. Isn't the experia x8 a smartphone as well? because that is free on all tariffs meaning all tariffs.
I'm not saying that getting smartphone on a standard tariff is a usual or recommended solution, but for my usage, the maths work out better on a standard tariff, I jusy believe it is misleading to state something that is unclear in this way.
Cheers
CM

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I see your point.
I've never really found it that confusing though to be honest - if you click on the phone then it shows you the tariffs you can choose, if you click on a tariff then it shows you the phones you can choose.
You can't take it free on sim-only or pay and go tariffs either, but 'Free on all pay monthly tariffs applicable for this phone' or something like that is probably an unnecessarily confusing way to label the phones on the site!

[Anonymous]

maybe the user only wants/needs to use the smartphone when hes in a wifi area, so wouldnt need much data use.

[Anonymous]

But that's not how smartphones work. Its just doesn't make sense to try to use one without a data plan. Just look at all the threads where people complain about being charged for data when they try to use a smartphone on a 'data less' tariff.
It doesn't seem confusing to me, the phone is free on all tariffs its available on.

[Anonymous]

I'm at work 9 hours a day (with WiFi), at home for 14 hours a day (with WiFi)and driving for the remaining 1.
At the weekend when I may be away from home or work, I'll be with several screaming kids, so I am unlikely to be using much data, except when at home with WiFi.
I don't feel the need to spend the extra £15 a month to have a data service that I won't use. I would, however like to have a phone that supports apps and has some of the other features a smartphone brings.
I don't think it is as unusual a suggestion as some seem to make it out to be.