EE Flex Pay - worse off with Friends & Family discount?
Discussion
Wondering if anyone else has taken a phone with EE through their Flex Pay in conjunction with a Friends and Family discount?
My current plan is the 'Essential Unlimited' plan which is unlimited data/calls/texts and included the cost of my Google Pixel 6 Pro 256Gb - back in Nov '21 it was £68/mo but has since risen to £85/mo thanks to the two annual increases EE apply (and this year's was a savage 14.4% increase...). This has been somewhat offset by the fact I get a 30% Friends & Family discount, bringing the price down, originally to £47 (saving £21) in 2021. This year thanks to those 3.9%+CPI that's now £59/mo (saving £25).
I know I need to go and re-run exact numbers based on when prices increased during my contract, however basing it on the original price for ease of comparison at this stage that would mean I would've paid £1,128 (£47 x 24) over the term for the phone plus unlimited plan. The full cost would have been £1,632 without discount and I've effectively had 30% off both phone and plan (saving £490).
From what I can see, the new Flex Pay seems to only apply the 30% discount to the plan part of the spend and ignores the handset? Running the numbers against a Pixel Fold for example, the hardware part would be full price and the plan element - in this case the £22/mo one would suffice - means the discount is only £6.60/mo. This would mean the F&F disount on Flex Pay is worth only £158 over 24 months now, with the phone at full price but split into 24 interest-free payments.
As it happens the Fold is currently discounted on the EE site for another month, however if you set that aside as it's only temporary - does the new Flex Pay model mean the F&F discount is now effectively heavily reduced in outright cash terms?
My current plan is the 'Essential Unlimited' plan which is unlimited data/calls/texts and included the cost of my Google Pixel 6 Pro 256Gb - back in Nov '21 it was £68/mo but has since risen to £85/mo thanks to the two annual increases EE apply (and this year's was a savage 14.4% increase...). This has been somewhat offset by the fact I get a 30% Friends & Family discount, bringing the price down, originally to £47 (saving £21) in 2021. This year thanks to those 3.9%+CPI that's now £59/mo (saving £25).
I know I need to go and re-run exact numbers based on when prices increased during my contract, however basing it on the original price for ease of comparison at this stage that would mean I would've paid £1,128 (£47 x 24) over the term for the phone plus unlimited plan. The full cost would have been £1,632 without discount and I've effectively had 30% off both phone and plan (saving £490).
From what I can see, the new Flex Pay seems to only apply the 30% discount to the plan part of the spend and ignores the handset? Running the numbers against a Pixel Fold for example, the hardware part would be full price and the plan element - in this case the £22/mo one would suffice - means the discount is only £6.60/mo. This would mean the F&F disount on Flex Pay is worth only £158 over 24 months now, with the phone at full price but split into 24 interest-free payments.
As it happens the Fold is currently discounted on the EE site for another month, however if you set that aside as it's only temporary - does the new Flex Pay model mean the F&F discount is now effectively heavily reduced in outright cash terms?
Edited by Funk on Wednesday 23 August 01:42
I'm with EE and I'm convinced they don't know what they're doing or they're deliberately being s
t.
We went abroad so paid for the £12.50 roaming pass (up from £10 just a few weeks before) but they also charged me the £2 a day. I called them but they couldn't sort saying they had system issues.
They then charged me the following month as well. Exactly what happened with my wife as well.
Finally sorted but to me they've really gone downhill last couple of years. I've been with them for 15 years and my wife longer - we will look elsewhere when the contracts expire as I'm convinced that even with F&F discount they're not the cheapest. Having said that vs my Vodafone work phone the service/coverage is loads better so will take that into account.
t.We went abroad so paid for the £12.50 roaming pass (up from £10 just a few weeks before) but they also charged me the £2 a day. I called them but they couldn't sort saying they had system issues.
They then charged me the following month as well. Exactly what happened with my wife as well.
Finally sorted but to me they've really gone downhill last couple of years. I've been with them for 15 years and my wife longer - we will look elsewhere when the contracts expire as I'm convinced that even with F&F discount they're not the cheapest. Having said that vs my Vodafone work phone the service/coverage is loads better so will take that into account.
paulrockliffe said:
No idea, but you're getting absolutely ripped on that deal even with the discount!
I disagree; the RRP of the 6 Pro at launch was £849 so using that as the price that needs to cover for the phone element of the total cost, the "unlimited everything" (5G tariff with no speed caps) works out at £11/mo (again, I appreciate that's changed with subsequent price increases due to the 3.9%+CPI increases EE apply but those would also apply to a new contract going forward too).It was a good deal at the time on a just-launched latest handset; buying the phone outright and plan separately would've cost a lot more. Ironically I think that's what Flex Pay effectively does now which means it's probably time to hunt for a decent deal on a new device outside of EE and then compare EE with SIM-only deals elsewhere.
The F&F discount was good while it lasted I guess.
the-norseman said:
How much would it be to buy the fold outright with Google 0% and get a sim only deal? compared to how much the flex deal is with EE?
Google want £1750 for a 256Gb on 24 month (£73/mo) although they'd offer a small trade-in on my current handset. EE SIM-only for unlimited everything on a 24mo is £15/mo - I guess I would get 30% off this too so £10.50/mo.At the moment with the EE promo on the Fold it'd be worth going that route even with the lower benefit of the F&F. I will add that I'm not necessarily fixated on a Fold - I think it's flawed and perhaps the 2nd Gen version will be better next year. However as I'm rolling up on the end of my 24mo contract I'm just working out what I might do and how to get the best VFM as soon as I'm out of contract.
The Pixel 8 Pro should be out in October so I'll probably ignore my own advice to never buy pre-launch (and be a free Google Beta tester) and go with that and possibly the Pixel Tablet for home...
Funk said:
Google want £1750 for a 256Gb on 24 month (£73/mo) although they'd offer a small trade-in on my current handset. EE SIM-only for unlimited everything on a 24mo is £15/mo - I guess I would get 30% off this too so £10.50/mo.
At the moment with the EE promo on the Fold it'd be worth going that route even with the lower benefit of the F&F. I will add that I'm not necessarily fixated on a Fold - I think it's flawed and perhaps the 2nd Gen version will be better next year. However as I'm rolling up on the end of my 24mo contract I'm just working out what I might do and how to get the best VFM as soon as I'm out of contract.
The Pixel 8 Pro should be out in October so I'll probably ignore my own advice to never buy pre-launch (and be a free Google Beta tester) and go with that and possibly the Pixel Tablet for home...
I'd personally just go sim only for now, and wait for the 8 to come out. At the moment with the EE promo on the Fold it'd be worth going that route even with the lower benefit of the F&F. I will add that I'm not necessarily fixated on a Fold - I think it's flawed and perhaps the 2nd Gen version will be better next year. However as I'm rolling up on the end of my 24mo contract I'm just working out what I might do and how to get the best VFM as soon as I'm out of contract.
The Pixel 8 Pro should be out in October so I'll probably ignore my own advice to never buy pre-launch (and be a free Google Beta tester) and go with that and possibly the Pixel Tablet for home...
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff