Cheapest contract phone

chillerman

Hi. Does anybody know of a cheap monthly contract phone for my 13 yr old girl? At the moment she's on the Fresh P A Y G from carphone warehouse. She puts £5 on a month and we match it, but she's allways running out of credit.!! She has'nt got any money apart from her P/money, so I know it's a long shot. Any info would be of help

chillerman

Has any body got any ideas.? I need to save both of us money and her mum worrying about no credit on the phone. Thanks in advance

Talentguy

I know that some networks (maybe Orange) used to do something whereby you would have emergency credit to make a short phonecall if needed... not sure if it still exists? Sorry I can't help anymore.

A lot of networks say they'll put limits on your phone but they often don't work, so wouldn't recommend moving her to a contract phone.

littlestar1981

Talentguy wrote:

I know that some networks (maybe Orange) used to do something whereby you would have emergency credit to make a short phonecall if needed... not sure if it still exists? Sorry I can't help anymore.

Don't know about Orange... o2 do 'Lend Us A Quid' so if you have 50p or less credit you can borrow £1 to make an urgent call. It has to be paid back within a week though or interest will be applied!!

You say £5 a month isn't sufficient... how about £10 a month? There are some great prepay deals for topping up with £10 a month, just check out the network websites, and also the freebies board for links to free sim offers.

Then there is just the issue of a handset....either ask your current provider about unlatching, or shop around. It would probably be cheaper to fork out for a handset than let her unwittingly run up bills!! (someone mentioned call limits... they dont always work due to the time it can take for call data to download from the network)

EverDecreasingCircles

Hi,

Don't know if this is of any help or not but have you thought about changing tariffs?

If you go onto contract it's difficult to limit her usage and there's the possibility of her running up huge bills for you!

I use my mobile mostly for texting, in the UK. I'm on the Tesco Value Tariff which does texts at 5p each and calls to landlines or mobiles for 15p per min. Usage is limited to within the UK (ie you can't use it to phone from abroad) and coverage is actually provided by O2 I believe.
http://www.tescomobile.com/tariff.aspx

You can top-up online and you earn clubcard points at the same time.

You can buy a sim card online from Tesco depending on the phone she's using.

Hope that helps.

Jen.

Quinny_2

Don't get a teenager a contract!!!!!!

I refuse to get my 15 year old daughter a contract,for fear of her running up a big bill.She says she won't,but I sleep easier at night,knowing that she is on payg.

Ken.

Doobdonk

The online PAYG cards from O2 are a good option. Top up £10 a month, and you get 300 free texts and the £10 credit on your phone. Alternatively i think you can select to have 100mins and 100 texts and the £10 credit. I think orange PAYG have launched something similar also on a sim only basis.

littlestar1981

jen.eng wrote:

I use my mobile mostly for texting, in the UK. I'm on the Tesco Value Tariff which does texts at 5p each and calls to landlines or mobiles for 15p per min. coverage is actually provided by O2 I believe.
http://www.tescomobile.com/tariff.aspx

That's right, coverage is provided by o2. Tesco Mobile is a great idea, they also do very cheap handsets. Then when you buy the phone and when you do top ups you can claim clubcard points!! You'll be happy for her to top up!

agentzoonie

Quinny wrote:

Don't get a teenager a contract!!!!!!

I refuse to get my 15 year old daughter a contract,for fear of her running up a big bill.She says she won't,but I sleep easier at night,knowing that she is on payg.

Ken.

One exception is the tariff with T Mobile that lets you fix in advance the sum you want to spend every month. You then get the option to 'top up' but at contract price rates for calls, rather than PAYG rates.

We've had a contract like this for our daughter for about 18 months. We pay £23.50 (old price plan) and she gets 750 cross network off peak minutes + texts, and if she wants to chat during the day, she has to top up.

The prices and restrictions don't suit everyone, but at least you don't get massive, unexpected bills!