Buying a sim free phone from the high street...?

[stevewestern]

Yesterday my pixel 4 suddenly started to play up, shutting down randomly, refusing to boot up and discharging the battery from 80% to zero in an hour while trying to boot. Given that it's already a few years old and has survived being dropped a few times I was close to buying a new one anyway, and as I'm away from home working but rained off today I thought I'd nip down to the high street to buy a new one (pixel 6 or 7)
So how annoying is it that no one can sell me a contract free phone there and then although I can get one for next day delivery from amazon or any one of many other online retailers?
I'm not looking for any wise words by way of answer as I know most of the reasons so am just ranting as I'm back up a scaffold tomorrow so won't be able to arrange a delivery until I can arrange for a signature or I get home.
Shops that can't sell me products they have in store seems a bit of an odd situation.

 

[woof woof]

The supermarkets seem to stock a few and my local Tesco has a little staffed both and they seem quite knowledgeable. At ASDA they have phones on the shelf but no one to ask anything.

If you can get access to the internet maybe you can check what's available at local shops before you go?

 

[Ricardodaforce]

If you are referring to the network shops, they don’t make money from selling you a phone, which is why they insist on selling you a PAYG SIM at the same time.
If you then go on to use that, then they’ll make money.

 

[Milo King]

Yesterday my pixel 4 suddenly started to play up, shutting down randomly, refusing to boot up and discharging the battery from 80% to zero in an hour while trying to boot. Given that it's already a few years old and has survived being dropped a few times I was close to buying a new one anyway, and as I'm away from home working but rained off today I thought I'd nip down to the high street to buy a new one (pixel 6 or 7)
So how annoying is it that no one can sell me a contract free phone there and then although I can get one for next day delivery from amazon or any one of many other online retailers?
I'm not looking for any wise words by way of answer as I know most of the reasons so am just ranting as I'm back up a scaffold tomorrow so won't be able to arrange a delivery until I can arrange for a signature or I get home.
Shops that can't sell me products they have in store seems a bit of an odd situation.

If you want another pixel (6/7) then the likes of Argos or Curry's will sell you a SIM/contract free phone - although Curry's may try and hard sell you a contract phone, just tell them no thanks.

 

[JonathanRyan]

I can't imagine buying a brand new phone.

My second hand pixel 6 is awesome. Will be a while before the 7s hit the second hand shops but probably only weeks. People seem to lose interest in their phones very fast

 

[stevewestern]

The supermarkets seem to stock a few and my local Tesco has a little staffed both and they seem quite knowledgeable. At ASDA they have phones on the shelf but no one to ask anything.

If you can get access to the internet maybe you can check what's available at local shops before you go?

No stock in the local stores here in West London that I went to - Westfield shopping centre, Chiswick high St and Hammersmith, and I did call a couple, but didn't think that if they had stock they'd not sell me one unless I took out a contract - even the bt store, who I have my sim contract with!

If you are referring to the network shops, they don’t make money from selling you a phone, which is why they insist on selling you a PAYG SIM at the same time.
If you then go on to use that, then they’ll make money.

John Lewis, Curry's and Argos all said no, and none of them offered me a pay phone.

If you want another pixel (6/7) then the likes of Argos or Curry's will sell you a SIM/contract free phone - although Curry's may try and hard sell you a contract phone, just tell them no thanks.

See above!
I was looking for a pixel 6,6a or a 7.
I'm just amazed, I had money to spend, they had phones in the shop and I left with nothing.
I'll order one when I get home in a few days and just hope my current one works well enough to see me through.

 

[stevewestern]

I can't imagine buying a brand new phone.

My second hand pixel 6 is awesome. Will be a while before the 7s hit the second hand shops but probably only weeks. People seem to lose interest in their phones very fast

I wanted something there and then. Being away from home, with kids away in Asia and a lot of family cr*p going on its fairly important to be contactable right now...
But, with regards to buying used, the biggest problem I've always had with mobiles is battery life and a used one comes with that as an unknown, and from what I've seen in the past, potential battery replacement makes any savings seem less worthwhile, although I may be out of date on this.

 

[Milo King]

See above!
I was looking for a pixel 6,6a or a 7.
I'm just amazed, I had money to spend, they had phones in the shop and I left with nothing.
I'll order one when I get home in a few days and just hope my current one works well enough to see me through.

Really?

I find that strange as Argos do not sell contract phones.

They sell a few cheap pay as you go phones but most of the phones they sell are SIM/contract free

In fact they only sell the Goggle pixel phones as SIM/contract free.

 

[Steep]

No stock in the local stores here in West London that I went to - Westfield shopping centre, Chiswick high St and Hammersmith, and I did call a couple, but didn't think that if they had stock they'd not sell me one unless I took out a contract - even the bt store, who I have my sim contract with!

John Lewis, Curry's and Argos all said no, and none of them offered me a pay phone.

See above!
I was looking for a pixel 6,6a or a 7.
I'm just amazed, I had money to spend, they had phones in the shop and I left with nothing.
I'll order one when I get home in a few days and just hope my current one works well enough to see me through.

If you buy a Pixel 7 pro from google store you can get a pixel watch or buds free. Might be the same deal from Amazon.
I've just upgraded from the 6 pro to the 7 pro, got a decent trade in and a watch and so far I'm liking the 7 very much.

 

[lindsay]

That is odd. Although I've bought iPhones from Apple directly for a number of generations, about 8 months ago I wanted an Android phone to test an app on for a client, so I went into a 3 store locally, told them what I wanted and a budget, and they were able to sell me a Samsung A10 contract and sim-free on the spot - yes I had to do some pushing to avoid signing up for a contract, but I got what I wanted. Obviously I must have been lucky.

 

[stevewestern]

Really?

I find that strange as Argos do not sell contract phones.

They sell a few cheap pay as you go phones but most of the phones they sell are SIM/contract free

In fact they only sell the Goggle pixel phones as SIM/contract free.

Well that's what I was told, we can't sell you one. They may have had other phones available.

 

[stevewestern]

If you buy a Pixel 7 pro from google store you can get a pixel watch or buds free. Might be the same deal from Amazon.
I've just upgraded from the 6 pro to the 7 pro, got a decent trade in and a watch and so far I'm liking the 7 very much.

The pro is just too big for me and I wouldn't use buds or a watch anyway. I know they could be sold on, but I really don't want such a big phone.

 

[stevewestern]

That is odd. Although I've bought iPhones from Apple directly for a number of generations, about 8 months ago I wanted an Android phone to test an app on for a client, so I went into a 3 store locally, told them what I wanted and a budget, and they were able to sell me a Samsung A10 contract and sim-free on the spot - yes I had to do some pushing to avoid signing up for a contract, but I got what I wanted. Obviously I must have been lucky.

Or maybe I was not pushy enough - after the first couple of shops I just went in asking if they could sell me a sim free pixel 6 or 7 right now. You know the answer!

 

[tijuana taxi]

You could order from JL and get it delivered next day to a nearby Waitrose?

 

[JonathanRyan]

I wanted something there and then. Being away from home, with kids away in Asia and a lot of family cr*p going on its fairly important to be contactable right now...
But, with regards to buying used, the biggest problem I've always had with mobiles is battery life and a used one comes with that as an unknown, and from what I've seen in the past, potential battery replacement makes any savings seem less worthwhile, although I may be out of date on this.

Dunno really. I just walked in cex, have them my old phone fir test, popped back an hour later have then the difference between trade in and the price and walked out.

They put my old SIM in for me. A charge later and it was working.

2 year warranty included so if the battery dies, I'll be claiming.

 

[gman]

The pro is just too big for me and I wouldn't use buds or a watch anyway. I know they could be sold on, but I really don't want such a big phone.

I think the watch offer ended on 17th October, I missed it by a day but I'd never use a smart watch anyway as I'd forget to charge it and I don't like charging overnight anyway.

The 7 Pro isn't as big as it would seem, perhaps due to the screen filling the whole front and it's longer rather than wide, so easy to handle. It's a great phone though, was out taking photos of the family sledging and the numerous photo and video options make for a amazing variety of shots. In other areas it didn't feel like a huge upgrade in other areas over the excellent Sony XZ Premium I was coming from, so the £800 price tag did seem steep.

Would the smaller regular Pixel 7 be an option?

 

[stevewestern]

I think the watch offer ended on 17th October, I missed it by a day but I'd never use a smart watch anyway as I'd forget to charge it and I don't like charging overnight anyway.

The 7 Pro isn't as big as it would seem, perhaps due to the screen filling the whole front and it's longer rather than wide, so easy to handle. It's a great phone though, was out taking photos of the family sledging and the numerous photo and video options make for a amazing variety of shots. In other areas it didn't feel like a huge upgrade in other areas over the excellent Sony XZ Premium I was coming from, so the £800 price tag did seem steep.

Would the smaller regular Pixel 7 be an option?

A regular pixel 7 should be arriving today...!
One of the main problems I have with bigger phones is that they don't fit into my trouser pockets, and as I am always moving around at work I don't have a desk to put it on, nor do I have any sort of man-bag or whatever. I have also always gone for cheaper phones in part as I'm tight, but also I'd hate to drop/break/lose anything that costs so much. The standard pixel 7 is already way more than I'd want to spend..

 

[gman]

A regular pixel 7 should be arriving today...!
One of the main problems I have with bigger phones is that they don't fit into my trouser pockets, and as I am always moving around at work I don't have a desk to put it on, nor do I have any sort of man-bag or whatever. I have also always gone for cheaper phones in part as I'm tight, but also I'd hate to drop/break/lose anything that costs so much. The standard pixel 7 is already way more than I'd want to spend..

Nice, I'm sure you'll be delighted with it! I'm just glad the fingerprint reader was fixed, so far it's been 100% reliable for me as has the phone. I don't think there are a huge amount of differences between the two, the ppi isn't all that far apart when using QHD+ on the Pro (due to bigger screen) and the telephoto lens that the pro has wouldn't be a deal breaker for me either - it's nice but not essential.