How to get more data allowance from your mobile contract

idealmike Level X³

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October 27, 2016, 10:41 am

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How to get more data allowance from your mobile contract

If you're like me, you often watch videos on your phone when you're out and about. But if you don't have a large data allowance, watch about 5 videos on YouTube and your data is nearly or is completely used up!

That's exactly what I've been finding recently. That I've often used up all my data allowance before it resets. And any remaining data doesn't carry over either. I've been on my contract with EE and my iPhone 6 for about 2 years now (23 months). I've only ever had 500MB of data allowance per month. And I've usually always used all of that up before it resets.

Well recently I became rather annoyed at this since I was out with my pal the other day and we was doing some research into things and all my data was used up so I couldn't do any more research until I could get home and use my Wi-Fi. I pay around £40 per month for my phone and do get unlimited mins/texts and that but only 500MB data. Well in today's world, 500MB of data doesn't get you much at all. You can watch about 5 YouTube videos and read some emails, do a bit of surfing and it's gone!

I just wasn't happy with that and need a bit more to keep me productive. So today I rang up EE and mentioned this to them to see if there was anything they could do for me. I told them that my contract runs out on December 14th and that I was thinking about not renewing it, unless there was something they could do for me to give me an "incentive" to stay with them. My words were that I'm probably not going to renew as this is not enough data for me and I'm paying you guys like £40 a month and don't really use the phone to make that many calls with itself. I just need more data.

Now obviously they want me to stay with them, the guy was even offering me another phone now saying I could have the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Although after Googling S7 the first thing I saw was how now the S7 Edge phones are exploding so that's a definite no no! I said I do want to break away from Apple and go with an Android phone next though, and that I am considering getting the new Google Pixel phone.

Anyway, after that, he told me to hang on for 5 minutes and then came back to me and said that they would add on another 1.5 GB of data per month for me. At no extra charge of course. And that would carry on up until my contract expires in December.

Which is nice and will surely come in handy!

Now there is a valuable lesson to learn here.

If you are currently on a contract and you have been on it for a while, but you don't or aren't getting enough data allowance. If you ring up your carrier / mobile provider and say that you're not happy and that you're thinking of ending your contract and going else where, unless they can offer you some kind of incentive to stay with them. Maybe, just maybe they will want to keep you happy and give you an incentive to stay with them. They obviously want you to stay with them, to spend more money with them. So they may be willing to do something like that to keep you happy and keep you with them.

So if you feel like you're paying quite a lot for your phone. But you are short on data allowance. Call up your mobile provider and tell them you're thinking of leaving unless they can give you a bit more data to use each money. They probably will!

It doesn't hurt to ask but it may depend on who your mobile provider / carrier is.

A lot has changed in 2 years. Back 2 years ago, videos weren't as big as they are today. So back then 500MB sort of seemed reasonable and it was considered enough data to do things like check and download emails each day or a bit of online surfing. But today, in 2016/17, things like videos are much bigger and 500MB of data can get used up quite quickly if you watch 5+ videos and do all the above.

Have you ever got an extra add-on like this from your mobile provider/carrier?

Don't be afraid to ring them up and tell them you feel you're not getting enough for what you're paying for!

Comments

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CryptoGuru

Yes Mike this works! I have a few phones on my service and i just did the same kind of thing you did a few months ago. What i did was a little different but same concept. I shopped around to see what i could get for what i needed and for the amount of phones we have. I found out that T- Mobile and US Cellular had better deals on data than Verizon. I asked them for a quote on paper and then i called Verizon and explained to them that i wanted to cancel my contract and that Someone else was going to buy me out and give me more data for the same price. He put me on hold and rather than let me switch they gave me the same deal with more data at the same price! Don't allow these phone companies to run your life. Call and put them against each other the fight for clients is on. Great topic Mike thank You for sharing.

1 8 years ago

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Cristian

I actually pay 3.8 Euros per month for unlimited calls and unlimited internet access, the first 5GB of traffic I have 4G speeds and after I hit this mark the speed is reduced at 3G.

Mike you pay a lot from my perspective for such little benefits, I understand that our countries are different and you won't find options and offers like I did but at least you can try to get a better deal!
My past option was based on unlimited calls inside the network and only 3GB of internet traffic for 5 Euros. I called them and mentioned I want to end my contract, they offered me a better deal and I still left because my current deal was just to good to refuse.

1 8 years ago

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Lynne

The thing is that if you don't ask you will never know right?

Here in South Africa things are damn expensive and we don't have a lot of choice. Plus companies here in general have a serious misunderstanding of what service means. I'm not so sure that would work here.

I am on a pay as you go contract because I am usually at home so I don't use my phone much at all. I usually only leave home to lift my kids to school and back and maybe stop at the shop... so I am happy with my wifi

1 8 years ago

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hitmeasap

Good topic Mike. I paid about $27 per month and I had unlimited calls and 5GB. When I had it for about 1 year I called them and told them that I would get another one if they didn't gave me a better price. Said and done, I had to talk to another worker and after about 5 minutes I've reduced my costs by about $6 but I also got 1GB extra per month.

I call it persuasion skill. None of my friends have had the same "luck", even though they've called and tried to lower their costs. - I believe I could make a deal with them easier than my friends due to my experience as a salesperson.

0 8 years ago

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Barida

Honestly, I don't use to ask my network providers on the latest data deals that are available so as to know the ones that I'm going to benefit from and that has contributed to me spending so much in buying data that I used for my internet connection then. It was when I discovered that I can get double of my data subscription that I activate it and that is what I'm enjoying now.

0 7 years ago

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overcast

I have this issue with the telecom locally. And for this reason I am focusing more on the local side with the mobile plans changing between the telecom operator. So one data plan if ended then I have to make switch to another. And that's how I am changing gears in this process. I don't have much option as of now. But I am just learning how to do this in due time. I am guessing that for each one of us the data bandwidth could be different. And in order to get more data we just to change to the new telecom and buy the new plan. So it depends on what you can buy in this case.

0 7 years ago

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