Our Mystery Shopper visited Walsall (Birmingham) to find the best PAYG offer for £80 including handset and first top up
Europa Communications
I could see a number of handsets displayed in the window of the store as I approached, surrounded with a multitude of information and logos. Inside the store more handsets were laid out under the glass sales counter clearly priced and the walls were adorned with accessories.
“Can I help you?” asked the lone salesperson situated behind the sales counter, “I am looking some help in finding a good PAYG handset costing no more than £80 all in.”
Viewing the glass sales counter cabinet I couldn’t see many options for my price point. But undeterred the assistant began to point out some handsets he considered to be of good quality. “Are there any specific features you are looking for?”; “The phone is for my teenage daughter” I replied. “Samsung models have good cameras but possibly Nokia for music.” He took a Nokia 6300 from the window display and demonstrated the loudness and quality of its music playback. This handset was priced at £89.99, so I reminded him that I wanted to stick to my figure of £80 all in. “I will sell you this phone at £85 today” and offered to unblock it for free if required.
A good offer for a handset that had some appealing features but it did not include any talk time so I politely declined. Maybe further negotiation might have yielded a greater reduction.
The visit didn’t reach a satisfactory resolution with regards to the proposed budget but the service was polite and included a simple product demo and an attempt to adjust the price to close the sale.
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Total: 15
3 Store
I was able to browse the wall displays and the island displays at my ease as both assistants were occupied with customers as I entered. The PAYG handsets located on the wall started at £39.99 with three models at this price point. The display was designed to gradually increase in cost which meant finding my desired budget was simple although there seemed to be a gap of products priced around the £80 mark.
A young gentleman wearing a 3 branded fleece approached me and with a polite smile asked if he could be of assistance. After explaining my requirements the salesperson paused for thought and began to look through the handsets.
“Who would be the main user and what else might the handset be used for?” I replied that I was looking to buy for my teenage daughter. With that in mind the young man began to demonstrate the features and sound quality of the LG GW520 priced at £99.99. The touchscreen phone includes a 3.2 mega pixel camera and has Facebook and Microsoft Messenger applications built in. The demonstration showed confidence and product knowledge but there where moments when he wasn’t quite sure how to find some of the features he wanted to show me. The young man then went on to explain that if the phone was being topped up by at least £10 a month I should consider taking a contract. Spending £10 a month on a contract tariff offered 75 minutes and unlimited text, adding a further £5 per month enabled unlimited internet usage. At this point the young man went to his desk and returned with a calculator to compare the cost of buying PAYG versus a monthly contract. Over an 18 month period a monthly pay contract could save approx £15 and provide a better quality handset. In a bid to seal the deal I was offered the ability to delay the first payment by a month so the contract would not begin until December, this was at his discretion as he was the Assistant Manager.
The recommendations given made some financial sense and offered a number of benefits when compared to PAYG. However the use of the phone could potentially exceed the tariff boundaries and cost more money as the cut off of the ‘top up’ is removed. I was happy with the customer service given but a solution that fitted my initial request was not apparent.
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Total 22
Orange
The thin galley layout of the store made navigation a little tricky as there were several customers dotted around either browsing or being served. After viewing the displays and over-hearing some very thorough, structured questioning from the Orange sales assistants I was politely asked if I required any advice and help.
I gladly took the salesperson up on his offer and explained I needed his recommendations. I had already noted from browsing the PAYG display whilst waiting to be served that there where no handsets priced in my budget area, they were either much lower or higher.
Despite this my assistant was not put off and proceeded to highlight handsets he considered to be of worth and potential interest. Beginning with the Samsung S5600, £99.99 plus £10 top up. As these models where only dummies the assistant explained that this model had a touch screen, 3.2 mega pixel camera was good for listening to music. Next came the LG GW520 a Touch Screen handset but with a a full Qwerty keyboard, “If your daughter would still prefer to use a keyboard she could, but also have the benefit of the Touchscreen”, “The keyboard is often preferred when texting.”
“How much top up would be made each month?” he asked “£10 or £15 a month.” From previous experience I knew where the conversation was going. “With that amount of top each month, did you know you might be better off choosing to go on to a monthly contract?” “You could select a better handset”. An Orange brochure was produced and turned to the relevant page showing Pay Monthly pricing. “For £15(£14.68) you would receive 100 mins and 300 text and then you could select a monthly benefit.” “So if your daughter was to mainly texting she would select the Dolphin option and have Unlimited Texts per month.” “All this compared to PAYG which would charge £10 per month (remembering to top up) and charged at 20p per call, 10p per text and include 300 free texts per month.”
The wealth of information required further digestion so I requested a free Orange magazine and said my goodbyes. The visit had provided some suitable options although I did not receive a full working demonstration of any of the handsets which was disappointing.
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Total 24
Vodafone
The range of PAYG handsets was substantial, displayed on a wall unit with top line product details and relevant pricing it was easy to find the units in my price bracket.
The store was busy and the two sales assistants had numerous customers to deal with all of which were trying to catch their attention. After reading the Vodafone brochure from cover to cover I looked up to see a third assistant had appeared to support his ailing colleagues. He asked “Who’s next?” to which I promptly took the initiative and spoke up. The young man was dressed in the usual Vodafone uniform with a name badge displaying ‘Steve’.
I explained to Steve my quest as we walked to the PAYG display and he began to highlight a few possible models. “Would the phone be used more for calls or text?” I suggested probably more for text and that I was looking to replace my daughters existing handset. Steve then inquired “How much top up per month is bought at the moment?”, “£10 or £15 a month I think.”
Considering the information Steve approached the PAYG handsets, “The Sony Ericsson W395 has good sized buttons and navigation system which helps when playing music”, “The screen is a good size too and very clear.” He also pointed out this phone would be right on budget, £69.99 for the handset plus £10 top up, total £79.99. “This handset was pretty much the only choice available for you at this price point”, “Spending a little more would provide a greater range of handsets or if you drop your expectations regarding the phone features then you could save some money.
“This Nokia 3600 is slightly more expensive but worth considering (Phone £90 with £10 top up, total £100.) as is the Samsung Genio £79.99 + £10 Top Up.) The Nokia is a good compact phone with a slide action and good music features with teenagers in mind, a good sized screen and the ease of use typical of Nokia handsets.” “The Samsung handset has become very popular with teenage buyers it is brand new and has a good sized touchscreen.” “It also comes in a choice of colours, black, pink and white, adding that ‘mines different’ option.”
In the end after much waiting the service I received was very good and I was shown a good range of appropriately priced handsets. I did not feel pressurised during the visit, Steve had made me feel welcome and did kindly offer to fully demonstrate any of the models he had shown me.
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Total: 26
Carphone Warehouse
The store was busy upon my entry and the layout enabled me to quickly locate the PAYG display. After a couple of minutes I caught the glance of one of the assistants who promptly came over and asked if they could help.
The gentleman was smartly dressed, business trousers, stripped shirt, open collar and clearly spoken. I informed him of my requirements and we proceeded towards the display area, as we walked the assistant explained that he just got back from having some holiday and was a little rusty with some of the new offers but he would do his best to find something for me. He began to point out the Samsung Tocco Lite which he felt was a popular handset; it was stylish and for the girls came in pink. This was priced at £79.95 plus £10 top up. I was then shown the new and exclusive Nokia range the Illuvial, 3 models the 6303, 6700 and 5530. The two models of interest to me would have been the 6303 £79.95 plus £10 top up and the 5530 £99.95 plus £10 top up. The 6700 was priced at £129.95 plus £10 top up.
The assistant also highlighted the LG KP500 Cookie which was on a half price offer (£48.95 when bought with £20 top up) and displayed in a store front free standing display unit. “All of these handsets would be suitable for teenagers.” I received a quick demonstration of the Cookie showing me the MP3 music playback, internet browser and camera picture quality. As I was taking in the information the assistant began to ask me ‘How much did the phone get topped up with each month?’ So I suggested £10 or £15 and asked why? He went to explain that it would be worth considering having a practical payment option like a Pay Monthly and they could start as little as £8.49. “How many Mins and Text would I receive?”
‘With £8.49 you would receive 50mins and 300 text, £12, 100 mins and 500 Text, and for £15, 300 mins and 300 Text all these would be based on a 24 month contract and using Talk Mobile’s service. “I hope you see that I am trying to show you there are easier payment methods and better value offers.”
The visit was very good with the staff member showing enthusiasm and product knowledge for the variety of handsets available. The half price offer currently available on the LG Cookie was very appealing supported by a good product demonstration.
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Total 28
Winner
Name: Omari (Manager)
Age: 29
Job Title: Manager
Tenure: 10 years
Hobbies: Movies, Clubs, Wining and Dining
Best Handset: Samsung Jet
Best Tariff: T-Mobile Combi 25/24Mths 700mins Unlimited Text
Ethos: Treat customers as I would like to be treated (with Respect) and of course ‘Follow the Five Fundamental Rules’
Store Round Up:
1. CPW, LG KP500 Cookie £48.95 when bought with £20 top up, Samsung Tocco Lite (Pink) £89.95 (inc £10 top up), Nokia Illuvial 6303 £89.95 (Inc £10 Top up)
2. Vodafone, Samsung Genio Touch (Blk, Pnk, Wht) £90 (inc £10 top up)
3. Orange, Samsung S5600 £100 (Inc £10 top up) LG GW520 £100 (Inc £10 top up) also recommend considering having a £15 (100mins Dolphin Unltd Text)
4. 3, LG GW520 £99.99 recommended Pay Monthly £15 75mins Unltd text and Unltd Internet
5. Europa Communications, Nokia 6300 £85 Any Network (Unblock free if required)
Mobile News Mystery Shopper – Best PAYG all in for £80