Tell me why I shouldn't get my son a BlackBerry on contract!

pimento

My 15 year old son is pestering me to sign him up for a 24 month contract with O2 for a Blackberry. On the surface it looks like a good deal at £15 a month with unlimited texts and a free device and, to be honest, I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't.

What could go wrong? We will buy insurance in case he loses the phone or has it stolen and as fas as I can see, the insurance will also cover any calls made by the thief after we report the loss.

I know there must be something I'm missing, can you tell me what it is?

maxtweenie

pimento wrote: »

My 15 year old son is pestering me to sign him up for a 24 month contract with O2 for a Blackberry. On the surface it looks like a good deal at £15 a month with unlimited texts and a free device and, to be honest, I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't.

What could go wrong? We will buy insurance in case he loses the phone or has it stolen and as fas as I can see, the insurance will also cover any calls made by the thief after we report the loss.

I know there must be something I'm missing, can you tell me what it is?

Unlimited texts is fine if he only texts, but if he phones and browses the internet you could potentially end up with a big bill each month. Look at packages that give the best you can get for all three.

da1seggy

Weigh up the pros & cons... will he be happy to have the same phone for 2 years? What does he intend to use the phone for?

As said above, £15 is a good deal, but with a Blackberry, data bundles are more important IMO. Is data included, what are the charges?

pimento

Thanks maxtweenie. The contract also comes with 100 minutes of call time, which he'll never use. He's a typical teenage texter.

I'm more worried about what could go wrong if he loses the phone or has it stolen. What if it breaks down? Is mobile phone insurance any good at actually paying out in cases like this?

At the moment he's PAYG so if he loses the handset (he's never done this before but..) I can just buy another £20 job.

How can I work out how much any browsing will cost? I mean, a price per Mb means nothing to me..

He keeps coming back with reasons why he should be allowed to have it and it all sounds too good to be true.

jollyme

Why does he want one just for texting? If he's like most 15yr olds I know then he'll most likely be bored with it before the 24months is up and then you'll still be paying the £15 per month.

pimento

Really, he just wants to flash the BlackBerry to his friends. Like I said, a typical teenage boy.

pimento

Here's the deal:

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/BLACKBERRY-CURVE-8520-N15L4-WCON

ankspon

STOP!,don't do it,my wifes daughter talked her into a contract deal,her first bill was £340,that was with 600 free minutes and 1000 texts.Once they no they can call and text without credit running out they will.Incidentally the phone was taken off her.

Guys_Dad

The history of Blackberry devices is that they were brought out as a business tool that was "always on" for email delivery for execs on the road linked to their corporate email server. ( I know - I ran such a set up ).

The corporate server "pushed" email to the device as data and there was a monthly charge for unlimited data.

The private citizen got on to this and used them for connection to their own email provider and, as time progressed, RIM brought out more attractive versions that moved more and more into the mobile phone fashion market.

But - and this is perhaps because of the history - I still think of Blackberry's strength in Internet access and email, rather than phone calls/sms. There are many better phones for the latter purposes.

What you can be sure of is that over the next 2 years there will be more push on downloading and data that will be aimed at young people. And just look at the forum for tales of overspending by £00's due to people being unaware of the potential costs.

All I can like in to is you wouldn't give a teenager a Jaguar that could do 150mph and then be surprised if they used the power at some time, would you.

Buy Blackberry - get unlimited data.

Mini_Bear

If your son is really deperate to get a blackberry get him to buy one off contract and put a PAYG sim in. that way he will realise how expensive the piece of technology is. contracts are good at masking the real price of the device, therefore contracts are for people 18+ for a reason.
there is no way you can limit his internet roaming, and also as contracts are given to people over 18 the content cannot be filtered (get ready for lots of premium rate !!!!!! sites - if he wont go on them his friends will!)
as a teen i was bored of my fone after 6 months so i imagine, he will want an i phone after a couple months, and you will be stuck with a 24 month contract in your name.
blackberries are really for business people, he wouldnt use a lot of the functions it has. there are sooooooo many horror stories on here of teens who have pestered for contract fones only to go and run up huge bills.
Good luck whatever you decide tho.

doelani

The unlimied data for this deal is £10 a month so even if you do not take the insurance you will be tied it ti £25 a month for 24 months.

I have 4 teenagers and one at 21 , younger 3 on payg as still at school , older 2 works so pay their own on contract BUT..................

my eldest son is now 21, about 2 years ago when he went on his first contract he had free texts and 1200 minutes , that he would never use. So then he got a bill for £175 !!!! Yes all well and good saying he would not use it but it was a case off " well I have free minutes so may as well use them" then it just went on and on.

Sorry I would not let any teenager have a contract phone if I was paying, the temptation will be there and you will be liable. Teenagers also want phones updates, like already posted will he be happy with same phone for 2 years when it starts to get grubby and worn adn new technoligy bring out a newer and better one.

hope you get sorted.