Enter your email address in the box below and press submit to sign up to our free newsletter...

Essentials Options

Mobile Phone Blog

Cashback - 6 ways to make your money from cashback

Cashback deals with mobile phone contracts have been around for a while now. The idea behind the cashback deal is that when you take out a phone contract with a retailer they will agree to give you money back during your contract, usually on 3,6,9 and 12 months. This all sounds great, money back that you weren’t expecting, but you do have to work for it. To claim your cashback you must send in proof of billing for stipulated months, when they receive the bill, they should process your cashback and you receive a nice fat cheque to balance the books.

All sounds good, but how can retailers afford to give you money back, all of your money back in some cases.? Well, the reality is that they can in most cases, but hope they don’t have to. They hope that human nature will kick in and that you will forgot to claim for some or all of your cashback. Some also hope to fox you with some tricky T+Cs. Some retailers have come unstuck and ceased trading as a result of too many customers trying to get their money back, unfortunately many customers not getting back the money they were owed because of this.

However, you can still get cashback and you can get a good deal, here are a few pointers to guide you through the cashback maze and make sure you can grab a bargain:

6 ways to get the best cashback deal

1. Be realistic - is cashback for you?! It may look like great deal, but can you really see yourself copying out and sending off bills at the right time up to four times a year? If yes, you can save, if not maybe automatic cashback is for you.

2. Read the terms and conditions - it may sound obvious, but read through the terms and conditions at least twice! to make sure you are fully aware of what you have to do to get your money back. Happy with what you have to do, your on your way!

3. Use a reputable company with some big backing - small mobile retailers offering cashback have come, and invariably gone, so make sure that when you’re choosing your cashback, the site is backed by one of the big boys. e2save, OneStopMobileShop, Phonespot and Carphone Warehouse themselves all offer cashback and are all backed by the Carphone Warehouse with massive reserves, so no worry of them going bust. Mobiles2yourdoor and Phones4u are backed by the Phones4u group and offer cashback, so again these guys are a good bet. You will rarely if ever get a cashback deal direct from a network, so going with a retailer is your best bet.

4. Choose the plan that suits you, and without cashback that you can afford - cashback is a very attractive proposition, and coupled with the best phone for free can seem a no brainer. However, in general, the better the handset, the more expensive the monthly deal and although you willget the cash back if you fulfill all the requirements, you do have to pay the money first so make sure you can afford it and it suit you. i.e. if there is a 12 month free line rental deal for £30 for 300 mins and 300 mins or £40 deal for 400 mins and 400 text, pick the one that suits what you need and you can afford, not necessarily the most expensive one. Another benefit of this is that if you miss your cashback for any reason, you can still afford your contract without it. Shop around and find the best cashback deal for you

5. Set reminders - If you take out a cashback deal, make sure you know exactly which bills you have to send and when to send them and set reminders, in your phone, on your compuer or even in a diary to remind you you have to send to claim. With some cashback deals, after you miss one, you can’t claim any more cashback, so make sure you don’t miss any, and if you do, not the first!

6. Double check - if you are not sure about your terms of any reason, give the retailer a call. This may mean you hanging on the line for a while to get through to customer services, but if it’s going to save you losing your cashback, it’s worth it!

If you stick to this, you should stand a good chance of a massive saving and getting a great deal to save you money. If you don’t think that cashback by redemption is your deal, then you may want to look at automatic cashback options that guarantee you money back, however as you may expect not as much as with cashback by redemption, as you don’t have to do anything to get the payments. We have some deals on e4s to try and find your the best places to buy your mobile. Click here to find some great cashback deals…

Leave a Reply

SEARCH