Reply to post: Re: I never quite understood why one would get a bundle

Re: I never quite understood why one would get a bundle

As a person on a contract... It was important to me to have my landline and internet provided by the same company that owns the phone lines. I've personally seen months of delays as "cheap provider" and telco argue over whose responsibility it is to deal with problems. Since I live in the back of beyond, I need to be able to depend upon sanity, not madness. That puts the overall price up, but a few years back when a hurricane (sorry Mr Fish, I mean storm) knocked out the line with tree shaped objects, it was fixed and working again in a few days. No argument, just in the queue.

Now the bundle is for landline, internet, and a mobile. It comes in two options. The one with a phone, which costs ~€15 more than the one without. The with-phone contact allowed me to get a Samsung S7 for €100 and upon proof of activation, Samsung refunded me €100. In other words, for €15/month over 24 months, I get a shiny new phone way out of my normal budget. It's a great phone. My new best friend (but that's 'cos I'm sad and boring but anyway...).

I suppose it might make financial sense if you have the money to spend on a phone and only need a cheap SIM for it. Not all of us have the option. That's why I'd never, ever, buy an Apple phone. No hate for the fruit, I just cannot justify a lump sum of how much?! for...a phone. There are so many things of much greater importance that would come first if I had that kind of money lying around.

It must be a strange country you live in where they still bother to SIMlock the things. My phone was mine the moment I signed the contract. I can break the contract at any time but I would need to pay a penalty. So telco doesn't lose. I could quite easily drop in a different SIM and use it. Telco won't care, all national calls are free with my contact (to and from mobile) so by using another SIM it's probably me losing out. When roaming, within Europe it's 3GB of data and 3h of calls per year as standard. From then on, I think it goes to normal call charge as roaming costs aren't a "thing" any more. Oh, and the landline - for what it's worth - offers free calls to most countries that aren't known for terrorist activities. I could phone you, a friend in Scotland, Langley VA, and Japan. The call charges? Zero. Nothing. It's been actual years since I've paid anything to the telco over the usual monthly cost.

You're right that the phone is "yours" and breakages aren't covered. That's why I took out a small additional insurance plan. A few extra euros a month, I'm covered for two "issues" a year. Given the price of a new S7 (less now then it was then, what with newer models existing), it made sense. It would take about three seconds for it to slip out of my hand in the locker room and tumble to its untimely "krshhhh" on the concrete floor. Thankfully this hasn't happened, but if it did...

All of this adds up to an amount that can be justified on a monthly basis. Sure it's higher than other options, but it's the one that offers the most peace of mind for the lowest outlay at any given time. Plus a new phone every two years, and usually somebody (this time Samsung, last time telco) refunds all or most of any given initial purchase fee. It's crazy, they ought to just sell it for less, but hey, that's how these things work...