[josiedoyle]

I've been with 3 since August 2010, and in July I upgraded and got an iPhone 4, at the price of £33 a month. This was all good until this month; I lost my job and I just can't afford to keep paying this any more!

At first I contemplated selling the phone to make the money to cover the contract cancellation fee, but the phone is in pretty bad condition, and the fee is still about three times the amount I would make from selling it. So that option is out of the question.

Then I read this thread on the Digital Spy forums: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6215613

That being said, the thread is from 2005... but the terms and conditions loophole mentioned in that thread still apply.

I guess what I'm asking is, does anyone know of any recent changes to 3 prices that I could use to get out of my contract for free, using the method in the thread I linked, or does anyone know another way I could possibly end the contract free of charge?

[Ross1874]

You could try and tell them your moving house and that you won't get a signal

[legends wear 7]

Cant see you getting out of the contract tbh, this is one of th reasons i am moving to 30day SIMO contracts from now on

[Thine Wonk]

Thing is they've funded a handset worth £500 and all you've paid them is £120 ish, and that's if they didn't charge for the service they have provided as well.

There's nothing you can do as you've signed a legally binding contract, there is no loophole and 7 year old threads won't help you on this. It's like anything where you sign up to a loan or a car lease etc, it's binding with the phone free or cheap up front.

If you can't afford to pay your bills you need to see a debt adviser or citizens advice, they will do a means statement with you and work out what to pay your creditors (if anything) and what letters to send to them to give you the best outcome given the circumstances.

With the run up to Chrismas on the way there is a lot of temporary work around around at the moment, it's worth doing something like that just to keep the money coming in to pay your bills whilst you look for something more long term.

[josiedoyle]

I guess I'm going to be stuck with it then! I've still got my part time job so perhaps I could ring 3 and ask to downgrade to a cheaper contract?

Ideally I'd rather just be rid of this phone and contract... maybe as a last record I could find a friend or family member who needs a new phone and contract who will take it off my hands.

[Thine Wonk]

That's an option, not sure if they will let you though. There may be a fee. You could sell the phone on Ebay and buy a very basic 3G phone or buy out your contract that way as you get more on Ebay than through the recycling companies.

You could see if anyone wanted to pay to take it off you like you say. It's best to try and keep up the payments or contact them though otherwise you could damage your credit file.