Last summer, all one of my friends could go on about was getting his new mobile. His contract was ending and he was dead excited about getting a new phone – which, of course, he’d had picked out for several months already. However, when he went into sign a new contract, things had been changed. Oh, not the phone offering – he would still get the phone he wanted – but the contract terms. So, he tried to negotiate.
Having been with the same mobile phone provider for several years, he assumed that they would be willing to work with him. After all, they had in the past. But he was wrong. The “sales people” in the shop said they weren’t allowed to negotiate; that they had to work with set deals handed down from on high. Their job had turned from being sales oriented to a point and click activity that anyone could do. My friend was not pleased and took his custom elsewhere. In the end, he selected a provider that worked with him and gave him contract terms he could live with – but he didn’t get the phone he wanted. Only he can say whether the compromise was worth it.
What really is most important?  Is it getting your phone of choice? Is it the contract terms? Is it (my personal carrot) great customer service? Or do you tend to select the same provider as your friends and family? When it comes to mobile phone providers, what gets you to sign?