Phones 4U cease trading with O2 due to poor sales (only 8%)

Everything Goes · 31-01-2014, 10:57

Phones 4U will no longer be offering contracts or pay as you go on O2. The two companies have had a stormy relationship recently. Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales.

Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...ationship.aspx

enapace · 31-01-2014, 11:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Phones 4U will no longer be offering contracts or pay as you go on O2. The two companies have had a stormy relationship recently. Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales.

Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...ationship.aspx

Means you going have a limited choice when you go into phones 4u now. EE or Vodafone haven't liked phones for u for years as they always tried push EE/Vodafone.

Sounds like EE is also considering cutting ties if it does phones 4u might as well get brought out by Vodafone.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...tnerships.aspx

chenks · 31-01-2014, 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales.

so they decide to cut 8% of their total sales then.
8% is not a tiny figure, so they will need to make that up elsewhere.

jonmorris · 31-01-2014, 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenks

so they decide to cut 8% of their total sales then.
8% is not a tiny figure, so they will need to make that up elsewhere.

Depends if those 8% can't be pushed towards another network. Clearly staff will now do everything to put people off going with O2 (if they weren't already - perhaps not earning as much as a connection elsewhere and it being company policy not to push O2).

That's where the real damage can come in for O2. Shop staff making stuff up about O2.

Mind you, my experience of both O2 and Vodafone in the south east and London in particular has never been great. Admittedly, on a trip around Norfolk, its coverage put others to shame - but was nearly always 2G.

I'd buy an O2 contract if I needed to be in near 100% contact with people by phone, but would never consider O2 for data. Only when 4G really rolls out, which will see 3G upgraded at the same time, would I take O2 seriously - so probably another 12 months or so is needed for that to happen.

davethorp · 31-01-2014, 12:46

Maybe they didn't agree with O2's recent stance on the OFCOM ruling. Although if anyone was going to take the moral high ground I certainly would not expect it to be phones4u

qasdfdsaq · 31-01-2014, 15:14

Well the article does say they stopped selling new O2 contracts a year ago (Feb 2013) so it's no surprise that their sales would be low, given O2 are now mostly contract and P4U didn't sell any O2 contracts...

If it's true they're not doing so well with EE either then that'd leave Vodafone, and at least they wouldn't have to repaint much if they were taken over since they already have the same colour scheme!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones

Yeah cause when Three pulled out of Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse due to low sales it's cause nobody wanted to buy their smartphones either!

Aye Up · 31-01-2014, 17:21

I think this has been in the offing for the last few years, all of the major networks a seriously distrustful of the sales tactics employed by Phones4U in order to attract sales and customers. EE is in the process of re-engineering their relationship with third party sellers, given they have such a vast retail estate their arguement being they can provide a better end to end service by only offering a direct route on the high street.

Though this maybe P4U, I suspect Vodafone will follow suit in the not too distant future. As a business it is in decline, the networks are already starting to tighten the noose on CPW as well.

BMR · 31-01-2014, 17:33

I bought a payg phone on O2 from them just the other day. Seems I just got under the wire in time. ...

Good price and good service in store too....

Everything Goes · 31-01-2014, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Yeah cause when Three pulled out of Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse due to low sales it's cause nobody wanted to buy their smartphones either!

You missed my joke about O2 having the lowest Smartphone penetration

qasdfdsaq · 31-01-2014, 18:31

Penetration. And pulling out.

Uhuh.

enapace · 31-01-2014, 18:53

Never mind much sense to me how phones for u always manages to get exclusive colors of devices,

Step666 · 31-01-2014, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by enapace

Sounds like EE is also considering cutting ties if it does phones 4u might as well get brought out by Vodafone.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...tnerships.aspx

Never going to happen, EE can't afford to lose P4U.
P4U have been a massive driving force for EE's 4G network, they're not going to walk away from that.

As for O2, as someone else mentioned, P4U haven't sold any new O2 contracts for quite a while, just upgrades.
So those 8% of P4U's sales that were on O2 were customers who were already on the network, they weren't actively recommending or switching people to O2 anyway.

Plus I'd suggest, in an entirely-unscientific way, that those 8% were mostly people who were shopping at P4U for the deals rather than so they could specifically stay on O2, so I suspect that they'll be able to switch a lot of those customers to either EE or Vodafone.

coolmark18 · 01-02-2014, 00:35

What's the phones4u business model? % of customers monthly fee? One off bonus for each sign up?

dontpannic · 03-02-2014, 11:42

Still don't know why people buy contract phones through resellers. Just adds confusion to the deals people are on.

finbaar · 03-02-2014, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by dontpannic

Still don't know why people buy contract phones through resellers. Just adds confusion to the deals people are on.

I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier?

jonmorris · 03-02-2014, 12:54

I guess people do it to offset the cost of changing phone, or don't fully appreciate the way phones are subsidised and never do a 'total cost of ownership' comparison.

Ultimately, if you buy SIM-free, you can obviously sell it to offset the cost of a new phone for one. So after the initial outlay, you shouldn't be any worse off. Why sign for 24 months (likely still with an upfront cost) to have a phone you really only want for 6-12 months in many cases?

Secondly, you can then play the networks at their own game and swap and change to take advantage of any good deals - as well as avoiding price hikes.

SIM free, to me, is the only way unless there's some ridiculous offer that's far too good to be missed and they don't come up very often - and aren't always quite the deal they seem anyway.

qasdfdsaq · 03-02-2014, 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by finbaar

I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier?

Agreed.

Though EE claim their cash-on-tap application only works on phones bought from them and running their branded firmware.

jonmorris · 03-02-2014, 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Though EE claim their cash-on-tap application only works on phones bought from them and running their branded firmware.

Yes, that's indeed true.

Step666 · 03-02-2014, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

SIM free, to me, is the only...

Assuming that you're in a position to afford a large initial outlay when you want a new phone.
Most people won't necessarily be able to do that.

jonmorris · 03-02-2014, 22:52

But then end up paying considerably more in the long run?

If you can't afford that top of the line iPhone 5s, Galaxy S4 or Xperia Z1, you could always get a Moto G.

Or buy the phone you want on a credit card, and make sure to pay it off as quickly as possible. Still cheaper than paying the operator a hefty premium.

Step666 · 05-02-2014, 01:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

But then end up paying considerably more in the long run?

That's far from a certainty.
If you shop around there's no saying you'll have to pay anything extra at all, let alone considerably more.

jonmorris · 05-02-2014, 09:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Step666

That's far from a certainty.
If you shop around there's no saying you'll have to pay anything extra at all, let alone considerably more.

If you do the total cost of ownership both ways, you can work it out and there have been many cases where a network is doing a deal that's too good to pass up. But I suspect the vast majority of people going out to buy a phone don't do that - and are probably convinced by the upfront cost, or the monthly cost, or something being thrown in for free - ignoring the total cost, and even failing to shop around from one retailer to the next.

And then of course, people may or may not be considering what network is best for them in terms of coverage, data allowance etc - that and being swayed to buy a particular phone on a particular network/tariff because of incentives to the retailer/dealer.

dontpannic · 06-06-2014, 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by finbaar

I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier?

Better, more direct support in case of billing or technical issues, phones either come unlocked or can be unlocked for free.

I had a friend who had an o2 contract through carphone warehouse. When he changed bank accounts he had to update his account details. O2 didn't want to know as it was managed by Carphone Warehouse and Carphone Warehouse didn't want to know as they told him to deal with o2. Eventually he was contacted by o2 billing when they couldn't take payment.

I've heard far far too many stories like this from the likes of Phones4U, CPW, and various other online resellers. I'd rather just go direct to the network.

finbaar · 06-06-2014, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by dontpannic

Better, more direct support in case of billing or technical issues, phones either come unlocked or can be unlocked for free.

I had a friend who had an o2 contract through carphone warehouse. When he changed bank accounts he had to update his account details. O2 didn't want to know as it was managed by Carphone Warehouse and Carphone Warehouse didn't want to know as they told him to deal with o2. Eventually he was contacted by o2 billing when they couldn't take payment.

I've heard far far too many stories like this from the likes of Phones4U, CPW, and various other online resellers. I'd rather just go direct to the network.

Yeah, but they will come with carrier crap on them that can't be uninstalled. Give me a sim-free phone anytime. I had an O2 account through P4U and never contacted P4U once - everything was handled by O2 so I think your friend was talking to the wrong person. It is not as if people have such wonderful stories about any carriers CS. I would never ever go to a carrier for a phone, infact I dont plan to take out another contract on a phone again and I would advise most peole to do the same.

plymouthbloke1974 · 06-06-2014, 13:37

In the old days CPW provided their own billing and CS for O2 and Vodafone customers (they also did this for Orange for a VERY short time) as they owned the former service provider called Martin Dawes. Shortly after they purchased Martin Dawes, CPW offloaded the Voda customer base to Vodafone Connect and only recently have they offloaded their O2 CS base to O2. CPW only manage Talk Mobile customers now I believe.

31-01-2014, 10:57	#1
Everything Goes Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In the future.... Posts: 11,259	Phones 4U cease trading with O2 due to poor sales (only 8%) Phones 4U will no longer be offering contracts or pay as you go on O2. The two companies have had a stormy relationship recently. Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales. Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...ationship.aspx

31-01-2014, 11:13	#2
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Quote: Originally Posted by Everything Goes Phones 4U will no longer be offering contracts or pay as you go on O2. The two companies have had a stormy relationship recently. Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales. Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...ationship.aspx Means you going have a limited choice when you go into phones 4u now. EE or Vodafone haven't liked phones for u for years as they always tried push EE/Vodafone. Sounds like EE is also considering cutting ties if it does phones 4u might as well get brought out by Vodafone. http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...tnerships.aspx

31-01-2014, 11:23	#3
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	Quote: Originally Posted by Everything Goes Phones 4U said O2 connections only make up 8% of their sales. so they decide to cut 8% of their total sales then. 8% is not a tiny figure, so they will need to make that up elsewhere.

31-01-2014, 11:29	#4
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	Quote: Originally Posted by chenks so they decide to cut 8% of their total sales then. 8% is not a tiny figure, so they will need to make that up elsewhere. Depends if those 8% can't be pushed towards another network. Clearly staff will now do everything to put people off going with O2 (if they weren't already - perhaps not earning as much as a connection elsewhere and it being company policy not to push O2). That's where the real damage can come in for O2. Shop staff making stuff up about O2. Mind you, my experience of both O2 and Vodafone in the south east and London in particular has never been great. Admittedly, on a trip around Norfolk, its coverage put others to shame - but was nearly always 2G. I'd buy an O2 contract if I needed to be in near 100% contact with people by phone, but would never consider O2 for data. Only when 4G really rolls out, which will see 3G upgraded at the same time, would I take O2 seriously - so probably another 12 months or so is needed for that to happen.

31-01-2014, 12:46	#5
davethorp Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Preston, Lancashire Posts: 7,255	Maybe they didn't agree with O2's recent stance on the OFCOM ruling. Although if anyone was going to take the moral high ground I certainly would not expect it to be phones4u

31-01-2014, 15:14	#6
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Well the article does say they stopped selling new O2 contracts a year ago (Feb 2013) so it's no surprise that their sales would be low, given O2 are now mostly contract and P4U didn't sell any O2 contracts... If it's true they're not doing so well with EE either then that'd leave Vodafone, and at least they wouldn't have to repaint much if they were taken over since they already have the same colour scheme! Quote: Originally Posted by Everything Goes Perhaps O2 customers dont want to buy smatphones Yeah cause when Three pulled out of Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse due to low sales it's cause nobody wanted to buy their smartphones either!

31-01-2014, 17:21	#7
Aye Up Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: North West Posts: 4,885	I think this has been in the offing for the last few years, all of the major networks a seriously distrustful of the sales tactics employed by Phones4U in order to attract sales and customers. EE is in the process of re-engineering their relationship with third party sellers, given they have such a vast retail estate their arguement being they can provide a better end to end service by only offering a direct route on the high street. Though this maybe P4U, I suspect Vodafone will follow suit in the not too distant future. As a business it is in decline, the networks are already starting to tighten the noose on CPW as well.

31-01-2014, 17:33	#8
BMR Guest Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 4,240	I bought a payg phone on O2 from them just the other day. Seems I just got under the wire in time. ... Good price and good service in store too....

31-01-2014, 17:51	#9
Everything Goes Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In the future.... Posts: 11,259	Quote: Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq Yeah cause when Three pulled out of Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse due to low sales it's cause nobody wanted to buy their smartphones either! You missed my joke about O2 having the lowest Smartphone penetration

31-01-2014, 18:31	#10
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Penetration. And pulling out. Uhuh.

31-01-2014, 18:53	#11
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Never mind much sense to me how phones for u always manages to get exclusive colors of devices,

31-01-2014, 23:03	#12
Step666 Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 1,274	Quote: Originally Posted by enapace Sounds like EE is also considering cutting ties if it does phones 4u might as well get brought out by Vodafone. http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/28...tnerships.aspx Never going to happen, EE can't afford to lose P4U. P4U have been a massive driving force for EE's 4G network, they're not going to walk away from that. As for O2, as someone else mentioned, P4U haven't sold any new O2 contracts for quite a while, just upgrades. So those 8% of P4U's sales that were on O2 were customers who were already on the network, they weren't actively recommending or switching people to O2 anyway. Plus I'd suggest, in an entirely-unscientific way, that those 8% were mostly people who were shopping at P4U for the deals rather than so they could specifically stay on O2, so I suspect that they'll be able to switch a lot of those customers to either EE or Vodafone.

01-02-2014, 00:35	#13
coolmark18 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 1,141	What's the phones4u business model? % of customers monthly fee? One off bonus for each sign up?

03-02-2014, 11:42	#14
dontpannic Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orpington, Kent Posts: 2,344	Still don't know why people buy contract phones through resellers. Just adds confusion to the deals people are on.

03-02-2014, 12:35	#15
finbaar Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,921	Quote: Originally Posted by dontpannic Still don't know why people buy contract phones through resellers. Just adds confusion to the deals people are on. I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier?

03-02-2014, 12:54	#16
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	I guess people do it to offset the cost of changing phone, or don't fully appreciate the way phones are subsidised and never do a 'total cost of ownership' comparison. Ultimately, if you buy SIM-free, you can obviously sell it to offset the cost of a new phone for one. So after the initial outlay, you shouldn't be any worse off. Why sign for 24 months (likely still with an upfront cost) to have a phone you really only want for 6-12 months in many cases? Secondly, you can then play the networks at their own game and swap and change to take advantage of any good deals - as well as avoiding price hikes. SIM free, to me, is the only way unless there's some ridiculous offer that's far too good to be missed and they don't come up very often - and aren't always quite the deal they seem anyway.

03-02-2014, 14:16	#17
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Quote: Originally Posted by finbaar I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier? Agreed. Though EE claim their cash-on-tap application only works on phones bought from them and running their branded firmware.

03-02-2014, 14:51	#18
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	Quote: Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq Though EE claim their cash-on-tap application only works on phones bought from them and running their branded firmware. Yes, that's indeed true.

03-02-2014, 22:24	#19
Step666 Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 1,274	Quote: Originally Posted by jonmorris SIM free, to me, is the only... Assuming that you're in a position to afford a large initial outlay when you want a new phone. Most people won't necessarily be able to do that.

03-02-2014, 22:52	#20
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	But then end up paying considerably more in the long run? If you can't afford that top of the line iPhone 5s, Galaxy S4 or Xperia Z1, you could always get a Moto G. Or buy the phone you want on a credit card, and make sure to pay it off as quickly as possible. Still cheaper than paying the operator a hefty premium.

05-02-2014, 01:16	#21
Step666 Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 1,274	Quote: Originally Posted by jonmorris But then end up paying considerably more in the long run? That's far from a certainty. If you shop around there's no saying you'll have to pay anything extra at all, let alone considerably more.

DS Forums

Phones 4U cease trading with O2 due to poor sales (only 8%)

05-02-2014, 09:20	#22
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	Quote: Originally Posted by Step666 That's far from a certainty. If you shop around there's no saying you'll have to pay anything extra at all, let alone considerably more. If you do the total cost of ownership both ways, you can work it out and there have been many cases where a network is doing a deal that's too good to pass up. But I suspect the vast majority of people going out to buy a phone don't do that - and are probably convinced by the upfront cost, or the monthly cost, or something being thrown in for free - ignoring the total cost, and even failing to shop around from one retailer to the next. And then of course, people may or may not be considering what network is best for them in terms of coverage, data allowance etc - that and being swayed to buy a particular phone on a particular network/tariff because of incentives to the retailer/dealer.

06-06-2014, 12:00	#23
dontpannic Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orpington, Kent Posts: 2,344	Quote: Originally Posted by finbaar I can never see why anyone would buy from a network. You pay more and the phone is locked to that network with the potential for carrier crap to be prinstalled. What adavantage is there buying from a carrier? Better, more direct support in case of billing or technical issues, phones either come unlocked or can be unlocked for free. I had a friend who had an o2 contract through carphone warehouse. When he changed bank accounts he had to update his account details. O2 didn't want to know as it was managed by Carphone Warehouse and Carphone Warehouse didn't want to know as they told him to deal with o2. Eventually he was contacted by o2 billing when they couldn't take payment. I've heard far far too many stories like this from the likes of Phones4U, CPW, and various other online resellers. I'd rather just go direct to the network.

06-06-2014, 13:07	#24
finbaar Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,921	Quote: Originally Posted by dontpannic Better, more direct support in case of billing or technical issues, phones either come unlocked or can be unlocked for free. I had a friend who had an o2 contract through carphone warehouse. When he changed bank accounts he had to update his account details. O2 didn't want to know as it was managed by Carphone Warehouse and Carphone Warehouse didn't want to know as they told him to deal with o2. Eventually he was contacted by o2 billing when they couldn't take payment. I've heard far far too many stories like this from the likes of Phones4U, CPW, and various other online resellers. I'd rather just go direct to the network. Yeah, but they will come with carrier crap on them that can't be uninstalled. Give me a sim-free phone anytime. I had an O2 account through P4U and never contacted P4U once - everything was handled by O2 so I think your friend was talking to the wrong person. It is not as if people have such wonderful stories about any carriers CS. I would never ever go to a carrier for a phone, infact I dont plan to take out another contract on a phone again and I would advise most peole to do the same.

06-06-2014, 13:37	#25
plymouthbloke1974 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Destination: Hard Brexit Posts: 6,368	In the old days CPW provided their own billing and CS for O2 and Vodafone customers (they also did this for Orange for a VERY short time) as they owned the former service provider called Martin Dawes. Shortly after they purchased Martin Dawes, CPW offloaded the Voda customer base to Vodafone Connect and only recently have they offloaded their O2 CS base to O2. CPW only manage Talk Mobile customers now I believe.