Mobile Phone contract for teenager

xbrenx

Flummaxed wrote: »

Hi there,

You do have to be careful with contracts for teenagers, as I have just found to my own horror. I thought I was paying £10 per month for a Virgin contract, but the first bill came to almost £50!!

I am new to this contracts malarky as I've always had PAYG with Virgin for my own usage (on £10 Liberty sim unlimited texts and 200 mins - plenty for me, but then I'm a sensible adult - or so I thought!).

I can only assume that these mobile phone companies realise just how much money they are able to make out of us, that's why they refuse to cap at the level of the contract you have taken out with them, so that they can bolster their enormous profits!
I just called Virgin to ask them whether they could cap the phone at the contract level ie £10, but they told me they could only cap it at a minimum of £50 (instead of the £150 they originally had it at which I didn't realise - aaaarrrgghhh!). I can't understand why they can't just cap it at the £10 and not allow any calls or texts once this limit has been reached. This means I could find myself paying up to £50 each month for a contract that I thought I'd be paying £10 for. Oh well, guess I'll just have to confiscate the phone from my 15 year old in that case!! Parents beware!

It might be worth making sure your daughter knows the limits of her contract. We get free landline calls on our home phone so the kids know to use that one for big calls and just use their call allowance for quickies. :rotfl:

DrScotsman

Flummaxed wrote: »

I can't understand why they can't just cap it at the £10 and not allow any calls or texts once this limit has been reached.

It's cheaper not to have to monitor the data in real time to decide whether or not to allow a call/text, which is one of the reasons why contracts are cheaper than PAYG.

Not everything done automatically by a computer comes free.

heather2409

we changed our 14 year old daughters phone to contract from PAYG in April. £10 per month O2 unlimited texts and 100 mins per month. So far the bill has only been £10 as she's only really interested in the texts. We also altered the standing orderr that puts her monthly allowance into her savings/cash account - reduced it by £10, so although the contract is in my name she's paying for her contract. Think she'll be highly unlikely to go over her amount as she's paying for it herself.

stormbreaker

My 15yr old is on O2 PAYG, £10 a month gives him unlimited free texts which is what he uses it for mainly. The £10 each month rolls over so he always has credit on the phone often £40-£50. Main thing NO unexpected bills!

Something to mindful of a contract, it often gives you free unlimited calls to a particular number. A work colleague had his son on this, the unlimited free calls was to his girlfriend. When the girlfriend changed her number, the youngster did not think until his father was faced with the bill!

watcherman

I got my daughter a Blackberry, which the vast majority of her friends have. She has 1000 texts/mth, which she never gets near, but they BBM each other constantly, nice thing is that's included in her unlimited BB tariff. Might be an option.

Flummaxed

Hi again,

xbrenx - thanks. I have repeatedly told my daughter what her credit limit is and reminded her today that she has no minutes left. She did manage to clock up another £4.29 today though, even though I'd told her not to use her phone!!

Dr Scotsman - I'm not sure I understand your comment. If Virgin are able to cap at £50 as a minimum - then why can't they do it at £10?

Cheers,

Flum

7891368

Flummaxed wrote: »

Hi again,



Dr Scotsman - I'm not sure I understand your comment. If Virgin are able to cap at £50 as a minimum - then why can't they do it at £10?

Cheers,

Flum

Because gaining an extra £40 out of you is more worth the effort than nothing? If you cap it bang on, there's an emergency and your daughter has used up her contract allowance, she can't get hold of you.

The reason most parents provide their children with mobiles is the idea of 'safety and easy contact'.

Flummaxed

7891368 - Still don't get the point, I'm afraid. If they are able to put a stop at £50 credit limit - then why can't they do it at £10 (or even a £12, £15 or £20 - why does it have to be £50 minimum).
I can only assume that the reason is because they want to get as much money as possible from their customers, which I think is what you are saying about the £40.

If my daughter needs to contact me she can call me for free, because as we are both with Virgin we fortunately do get free Virgin to Virgin calls, which don't come out of her 100 mins allowance,so there is not an issue there, but my question about being able to cap hasn't really been answered.

I don't want to hijack the OPs thread, but just wanted to point out my experience and to warn them that they really have to keep a strict eye on usage, because by the time the bill comes in, your teenager could have way exceeded amount you thought you had signed up for. If you're in a 2 year or 18 month contract, you are stuck with the situation until the contract ends, because the phone companies refuse (or for some reason are "unable") to put a cap on the credit limit, so you think you are signing up for £10 per month, but it could easily be a lot more.

7891368

Just take it off her then? If she doesn't respect what you've given her she doesn't deserve it. Then maybe try her again with it in a week.

If you want her to have it when she goes out fair enough, but you can surely keep it whilst she is in the house?

InaPickle

I'm sure I've seen my local '3' store advertise a £10/month contract for kids which is definitely capable.

Might be worth a look?