Never had a phone contract...terrified.

pirate_pete

Hi all, im a 20 year old student who's relied on handy down handsets from my family and PAYG sim cards since i was about 15

I think its now time to get a contract and finally have a nice new phone.

I've been into phone shops 2 or 3 times and just been scared away by the sheer amount of information and choices i have to make between handsets and contract deals. I've even sat down on one of those little contract deal tables and got about 2/3s of the way to a contract and then chickened because i felt as though i was about to get carved up.

Ultimately i think im decided that i would like a contract of 12 or 18 months (2 years is just too long), and around the £15-25 mark.

It's just that i really dont know which phone company to go with, which phone to go with and who to buy it all from. My dad tells me to phone around the companies and ask for better and better deals, but i don't know where to start on this (Martin's guide is based around already having a contract in place)

Any advice on what to read/look into is much asked for. Thank you!

Pete

wizk1

First of all have a look at each of the networks' tariffs and phones online (they're 9 times out of 10 cheaper than getting them in a shop, plus you have the right to send the phone back within 7 days if you change your mind). If you're going to be using internet, or voicemail or anything not generally regarded as minutes or texts, make sure you fully understand how each of these are charged so you don't end up shocked when they appear on your bill in future.

Work out which phone you want, on the tariff you want and the contract duration, then give the network a call and ask if they can lower the price any further for you.

Ultimately, make sure you can afford the monthly payments, and bear in mind that if your financial circumstances change, you'll still need to pay your bills until the contract ends.

There's no need to be scared when taking a new contract out, but at the same time, don't get carried away. Good luck with the hunting

supersaver09

I've never had a problem with Orange (i.e Coverage, Customer Services, ending previous contracts etc), so i can recommend them as a Network.

But whatever you do, don't go through Carphone Warehouse or E2save. :eek: