Kids' mobiles - PAYG or contract?

scurr

I have a 12 year old daughter who's not particularly trustworthy - I want her to have a phone so she can text but would prefer her not to have calls.

Up till now she's had a Virgin sim and I've managed to find Virgin text bundles so she has texts but no minutes but it's getting difficult to find the cheap bundles.

What does everyone else do? Am reluctant to get a contract...

sillylittlejill

get a sim only contract. Tmobile as far as I'm aware has fixed tariffs (she cant exceed mins/txts) and you aren't tied into any contract etc, just need to give a months notice.

Jon_01

Payg always. There are threads on here about once a month where a child has run up £100's on a contract acc and the parent is less than pleased. . .

jamiex

Don't get any form of contract, especially if she's not trustworthy.

If she uses a lot of texts, you could get the o2 Text & Web PAYG tariff with unlimited texts for £10/month top up. Obviously the £10 can then be used towards calls.

laurenjade1402

my 12 year old has had a contract for a year now, i found pay as you go no good as she would use her credit within a few days and wouldn't tell me as she knew she'd been in trouble therefore the reason she had the phone (to be able to contact people if needed) wasn't working. She has unlimited texts and 400 mins, she resets the mins every month so she knows were she up to and i haven't had a problem at all and best of all I know she can always contact me if needed.

welshsue

My 12 yr old son has a mobile now as it was recommended they have one when they went to high school. I also was concerned with large bills so he has a pay as you go phone and I put £10 per month onto it which gives him so many texts and calls per 30 day period. Once he has used these up, its tough until I next top up.
I definately would not issue him with a contract phone at his age as there would be a temptation to sign up for games, ring tones etc etc and we would end up with a huge bill.

jb66

Payandgo would teach your daughter the value of money, unlimited this and free bundles that would be quite complicated IMO at that age.

ioscorpio

Why not try a 3 PAYG and she can MSN her friends for free, no top up needed.

scurr

Thanks everyone - I'm looking into the tmobile thing - I like the idea of not being able to exceed texts and minutes! Has anyone else used this?

matrix999

My brother uses the T-Mobile Fixed £15 per month and gives:

350 Mins Anytime
Unlimited Texts

or you could go for:

600 Mins Anytime
Unlimited Texts
Unlimited Internet

£20 per month and both are 30 day sim only contracts where you cannot exceed the mins and generate a huge bill, been using this since June 2009 and never had any probs.

sandiep

Vodafone do a family package whereby you can add her to your "family" so she can always call you (on Vodafone) with or without credit, for free. And then leave her on PAYG so that she can budget for her top ups for texting/calling friends etc. it's kind of the best of both worlds because it will teach her that yes phones do run out of credit, but also means that you need never worry that she's out and can't call you.