Mobile phones have fast become a communication tool that most, if not everybody can now afford, unlike a few years ago when mobile phones were still a new technology and so demanded a high price only befitting the busy professional.
Dealers and retailers of mobile phones are continually finding the market becoming more competitive and strive to offer even more incentives for potential customers to buy from them.
Current Mobile contracts with cash back offers now include a multitude of 'free' gifts, line rental discounts and cash back deals, however all is not as it seems as there are terms and conditions to adhere to as well as reading through the fine print of each seller who holds complete authority of how they word their terms.
Firstly, we should deal with cash back, and how it works and how the customer gets their 'cash'.
The dealer or retailer is paid by the network to which they are connecting the phone a commission relating to the value of the tariff, basically the more money the tariff costs per month the more commission paid.
The dealer then looks at this amount, deducts the price of the new handset and is left with a margin of profit which ordinarily would be his, however, the competitive market dictates that if he simply covers the cost of the handset and provides it free to his customer then his deal is nowhere near as attractive as other retailers.
The result of this is that the dealer then decides to lower his margins in order to give some of that commission that he made when connecting the phone to the network back to the customer in the form now known as cash back.
This sounds great from a consumers point of view, they are getting paid to take out a mobile contracts with cash back, but this is where you have to look at the small print and terms and conditions.
The bottom line is that the dealer is in business to make money and therefore is going to try and make it reasonably hard for the customer to get their hands on the cash thus expanding his profit margin for all of the customers who do not take the cash back.
Why would a customer not take the cash back? Simply because the customer has to then redeem their cash back in stages, sometimes up to four, five or six times within their contract period, it can be in month 3, 6, 9, and 12 for example, and when redeeming their cash the customer also needs to dig out their old bills, photocopy them and send them in with a claim form that they should have kept on file.
Immediately, you can see the pitfalls opening - Some customers will forget to claim, some will have misplaced their bills or redemption slips whilst other just cannot be bothered, and all the time the dealer is making more money by not having to pay out the cash back.
Secondly we would like to tackle the myth of 12 months free line rental, fantastic as an incentive to buy - 12 months free line rental equates to not having to pay for either the new phone or any ongoing charges, too good to be true?
Well, it is possible but it is again subject to the cash back policy. Basically, the dealer is refunding the entire amount of line rental that you would pay over the course of the contract period so you are still paying the full amount of line rental to the network that you have been connected to.
Put simply, you still have to redeem your money as you would with the cash back scheme and so the same mistakes can be made.
In conclusion, if you are an extremely well organized person who keeps a diary, a filing system and reads the small print before purchasing goods then you stand a far better chance of seeing your cash back or better still a full contract period of 'free' line rental.
It is a matter of staying on top of things and remembering to act when necessary, if you can do this then there is a world of mobile phone deals awaiting you.
Article Source:EzineArticles
Dealers and retailers of mobile phones are continually finding the market becoming more competitive and strive to offer even more incentives for potential customers to buy from them.
Current Mobile contracts with cash back offers now include a multitude of 'free' gifts, line rental discounts and cash back deals, however all is not as it seems as there are terms and conditions to adhere to as well as reading through the fine print of each seller who holds complete authority of how they word their terms.
Firstly, we should deal with cash back, and how it works and how the customer gets their 'cash'.
The dealer or retailer is paid by the network to which they are connecting the phone a commission relating to the value of the tariff, basically the more money the tariff costs per month the more commission paid.
The dealer then looks at this amount, deducts the price of the new handset and is left with a margin of profit which ordinarily would be his, however, the competitive market dictates that if he simply covers the cost of the handset and provides it free to his customer then his deal is nowhere near as attractive as other retailers.
The result of this is that the dealer then decides to lower his margins in order to give some of that commission that he made when connecting the phone to the network back to the customer in the form now known as cash back.
This sounds great from a consumers point of view, they are getting paid to take out a mobile contracts with cash back, but this is where you have to look at the small print and terms and conditions.
The bottom line is that the dealer is in business to make money and therefore is going to try and make it reasonably hard for the customer to get their hands on the cash thus expanding his profit margin for all of the customers who do not take the cash back.
Why would a customer not take the cash back? Simply because the customer has to then redeem their cash back in stages, sometimes up to four, five or six times within their contract period, it can be in month 3, 6, 9, and 12 for example, and when redeeming their cash the customer also needs to dig out their old bills, photocopy them and send them in with a claim form that they should have kept on file.
Immediately, you can see the pitfalls opening - Some customers will forget to claim, some will have misplaced their bills or redemption slips whilst other just cannot be bothered, and all the time the dealer is making more money by not having to pay out the cash back.
Secondly we would like to tackle the myth of 12 months free line rental, fantastic as an incentive to buy - 12 months free line rental equates to not having to pay for either the new phone or any ongoing charges, too good to be true?
Well, it is possible but it is again subject to the cash back policy. Basically, the dealer is refunding the entire amount of line rental that you would pay over the course of the contract period so you are still paying the full amount of line rental to the network that you have been connected to.
Put simply, you still have to redeem your money as you would with the cash back scheme and so the same mistakes can be made.
In conclusion, if you are an extremely well organized person who keeps a diary, a filing system and reads the small print before purchasing goods then you stand a far better chance of seeing your cash back or better still a full contract period of 'free' line rental.
It is a matter of staying on top of things and remembering to act when necessary, if you can do this then there is a world of mobile phone deals awaiting you.
Article Source:EzineArticles
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