I was wondering which of the above give the best customer experience when getting a new phone.

I'm planning on getting a phone on Three on The One Plan with a two year contract. My choices as I see them are:

1) A Three shop.

2) Speaking to Three on the phone.

3) A third party dealer like Carphone Warehouse.

I don't know if I can get any sort of extras or anything as a new customer - the unlimited data is what I'm after, and I can't get that on another network so I don't really have any other options to barter with. That's not a deal breaker for me as I will pay the advertised price if I have to.

However, I do know there are certain advantages to any of the above approaches. I think buying over the phone makes me a "distance buyer", which gives me a longer return period. There might be some sort of manager's deal available in the Three Shop, or maybe Carphone Warehouse can give me the phone without the upfront cost that the website advertises.

I also don't want to buy the phone over the internet - as it's an expensive piece of kit and a contract is involved, I'd rather speak to somebody personally.

I've been with T-Mobile nearly nineteen years and only changed tariff twice in that time, so I'm very out of practice. Your experiences would be gratefully received, as always.

IMO don't use a third party like CPW. Having an extra party between you and your provider always seems to cause extra complications, and if something does go wrong, it just allows suppliers to muck you around by pointing the finger at each other.

Distance selling regulations apply to online deals, and in the case of Three, I would suggest this, because you can use a cashback service like Quidco to save even more money.

Essentially what you need to do to move your contract now is get a new service (with or without phone) with Three, at the same time, request your PAC (number porting code) from T-Mobile.

Once you have the new service/phone, go on to Three's website, fill out a form giving your number and PAC, wait for a text from Three (usually later the same day or early next), number ports the following day.

Hope this is useful!

Many CPW phones are unlocked. You may see that as an advantage.

If you go to a shop you can physically see and may be try the phone.

Even if you buy a phone from 3 on the Internet, you can probably take it to a shop if you have a problem.

I would buy from where ever you can get the best deal.

Thanks all!

bump best place to buy phone?

Contract? SIM only? PAYG?

All depends as well on the phone and what you want.

Wherever has the vest deal.

Check sites like quidco and top cash back. Although I think 3 have temporarily removed themselves from these, at the moment.

contract/.....LG G2

what is that

is that when you trade your old phone?