4 ms·
I'm not usually too fussy on phones. When an old phone fell out of my motorbike pocket and smashed the screen I walked into a mobile phone shop and picked up a
by VBprogrammer 5y ago
I'm not usually too fussy on phones. When an old phone fell out of my motorbike pocket and smashed the screen I walked into a mobile phone shop and picked up a fairly basic android phone which happened to be about the right price point.
However, when our first child was born it quickly became apparent the camera wasn't good enough (especially with one set of her grandparents being long distance).
So I went into the shop and told them I wanted one of 3 phones which had the best cameras at the time. The per month price was £42 a month so quite a big step up from what I was paying. However, they also wanted to charge £100 to end the contract early. After a bit of back and forth they reduced this by about £20. I refused the deal and walked next door to a coffee shop.
I sat down with a coffee and called the customer services for my mobile phone provider. Told the woman why I needed a new phone but that I didn't want to pay the contract fee. Five minutes later the fee disappeared and inexplicably the price for the contract also dropped by £10 a month. The new phone was shipped overnight.
- blfr 5y agoIt's not inexplicable. The cost of various sales channels is different. Online and over-the-phone are significantly cheaper than retail or in-store. Large companies maintain physical presence for brand building and to help customers who need more assistance. They indirectly charge for that.