I want a cheap PAYG mobile

bossymommy

Hi there. I am looking for a cheap mobile phone for my son. He has got £35 to spend on one that is either o2 or sim free and has a memory card slot for extra memory. Want it to look decent....not a brick. Have found one on o2 site but it wont accept my card (long story). Have also tried carphone warehouse but you have to buy with £10 top up but he wants to use his own sim as its got credit on. Any ideas?

liam8282

you could just get the phone from carphone warehouse and use the top up on your sons own sim, or use his sim in the new phone until the credit has gone and then use the new sim.....

bossymommy

Yes i know, just seems a waste of £10, seeing as he doesnt need it. If nothing else comes up then he will probably have too.
Thanks

Nile

Hello bossymommy

Your thread is better suited to the 'Mobile Phones' board, so I'll move it across.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Nile

liam8282

What I meant was, I think you will be able to put the top up onto any sim card you want, not just the sim that comes with the new phone.

If you buy the £10 top up and put it on his own sim, then put that sim in the phone you shouldn't have a problem.

You won't be wasting £10 as the credit will still get used.

bossymommy

Ohhhhh i see. I didnt realise i could do that. I just thought with the new phone came a new sim with £10 airtime included. Thanks for that...will have a look into it

Mrs_Ryan

Nope - sorry, thats not the case. It has to go on the SIM that comes with the phone. Thats why I dont buy from CPW or Phones 4 U as I think its grossly unfair being forced to buy a top-up!!!

littleredcorvette

I bought a Nokia 5530 from CPW last month (on the Virgin network) and I was verbally given the number of the £10 airtime voucher by Customer Services. I then put the airtime onto my old sim and it was credited straightaway.

I know that some networks (not sure which ones!) allow you to transfer credit from one sim to another, although both sims have to be on the same network.

I also think its unfair that they force you to buy airtime - even Argos do it now!!!

liam8282

It is probably down to the staff in the shop that you happen to go in to, but if you just explain to them that you want to put the top up on your old sim there shouldn't be a problem.

My dad had a similar situation with tmobile, he bought a payg phone because he broke his contract phone. He also had to buy a £10 top up to get the discounted price.

The guy in the shop just printed off the £10 top up code or whatever it is now on a receipt and gave him that along with the phone, my dad then put his contract sim in the payg phone and gave the top up to my sister which she used on her sim.

I think the reasoning behind buying the top up is because, it is cheaper to buy a payg phone that is on a network such as o2 - tmobile etc, than it is to buy a sim free phone. You could just buy a phone for the network you want or get it unlocked. Basically, to cut a long story short, it is just another way to get a sale from the phone companies.

bossymommy

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

Nope - sorry, thats not the case. It has to go on the SIM that comes with the phone. Thats why I dont buy from CPW or Phones 4 U as I think its grossly unfair being forced to buy a top-up!!!

I agree..it is a bit unfair :-(

angelatgraceland

I had the same-bought a phone and the company topped up the credit with the £10 after the initial noquibble return period of 10 days. If it had been a by voucher I could have passed it on. Just looked on Prepaymania and the Vodafone ones you dont need to buy credit but the Orange ones you do. I guess these lowpriced phones are subsidised by Orange or whichever network hence you buy the topup.