Phones 4U

This was by far the smallest mobile shop in Northampton and, despite there being a few customers to attend to, Sam was still quick on the scene to help me out.

He said that most of the newer topend Android phones were compatible with NFC, as well as the newer BlackBerrys – the Z10 and Q10. He added that the latest Windows Phone devices – the Nokia Lumia 920 and 925 – were also.

Expanding on his earlier comment about Android compatibility, Sam listed the Samsung Galaxy S III and S4, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z – it was a good list to work from.

He then asked if I was looking to go on to contract or purchase outright on prepay, how much I was looking to spend every month and whether I wanted the phone for personal use or for work. These were all good questions.

Of the selection he had initially mentioned Sam recommended the Galaxy S4, which would be free for £ 37 a month on a Vodafone Red plan with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data.

Sam then asked what I did for a living, which was a change of direction, but there was method in the madness.

I told him I was an estate agent, and Sam said that if I knew anyone working in, for example, the NHS, they and five other friends or family members could get a 20 per cent

discount with Vodafone. This was useful information.

Back to the task in hand though, and I asked how easy it would be to activate NFC on the S4.

Sam offered to show me on a live handset, and he demonstrated that activating the technology on the device could be done in a matter of seconds by dragging down a menu from the top of the home screen. He even gave me a crash course on the S4 and how I could customise it with my own apps.

It was almost a flawless performance from Sam.

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I explained to Phones 4U sales assistant James what I wanted, and he recommended the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z. He asked me what handset I currently had, before going through the retailer’ s customer questionnaire.

James asked what I wanted NFC for, whether I was on contract, and with whom, when my contract was due to end and if I wanted to buy on the spot.

The questions kept coming: what phone was I after, what did I think of my Xperia S, were there any networks I wouldn’ t want to go with and was there anything I was looking for in the handset? It was a bit of a barrage, but all the questions seemed relevant.

James recommended EE and said that data transfer across NFC would be so much faster on the network because of the increased data speeds.

He was now pushing the HTC One, explaining it was the best music phone owing to its front-facing speakers and Beats by Dr. Dre audio technology. He knew this because he owned the phone.

We then moved on to tariffs and James asked me what I was currently paying and what allowances I had.

I then asked how I could activate NFC on the HTC One, and although James admitted he had never used the function, he was able to find it quickly and show me how it worked. He also showed me how to set up a personal Wi-Fi hotspot on the phone.

I asked about tariffs, and James recommended EE, quoting me the phone free at £ 41 a month with unlimited minutes, texts and 1GB of data. He then called over standin manager Sav who explained the permanent store manager, who lived in nearby Bedford, was receiving download speeds of 100Mbps on EE.

He said they could give me the tariff for £ 33 a month and if I traded in my Xperia S, they’ d pay off my old contract. Overall, this was an unbeatable deal. I left a very happy customer.

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