Tesco SIM only - any way to stop child going over limit?

smallbiznewbie

@Lorian

Yes, I saw that.

<<
You will get your monthly credit as normal (eg. £40 credit on the £10 tariff) but if you spend it all you will need to top-up, just like Pay as you go, to keep using your phone until your next month’s credit begins.
>>

<< Flat rate anytime - calls 20p / minute, texts 10p >>

I'm looking for a better deal, along the lines of 250 minutes of calls, unlimited texts. This page seems to be something from the past that's still in circulation :-)

macman

Why not just keep her on contract, but tell her that if she goes over the monthly limit, the extra is deducted from her allowance? Then she'd learn that bills have to be paid and that the money has to be found to do so. Good budgeting training for the future.

Ladyshopper

Why not change to a network that has a friends and family thing on it? Vodafone who I'm with do, and I think orange do.

I'm on contract and kids are on payg. I pay £5 a month for the friends and family package which means 4 of us on vodafone all get unlimited calls to each other, so even if kids have no credit they can call me and each other.

smallbiznewbie

:-)

@Macman It's not about her, it's about me keeping in contact with her as cheaply as possible.

And since her weekly pocket money isn't that huge an amount, if she goes over any limits it'll still be me paying the bill.

Not all teenagers learn financial self-control when it comes to an obsession (nor do many adults if we're honest about it). And teenage girls are obsessed with their mobiles as it ties in to their identity and status within their peer groups.

@LadyShopper That's an excellent idea. I investigated this about a year ago but she and her best friend were on Orange and she refused point blank to switch at the time, giving what with hindsight MIGHT have been BS about free texts. I do know that her friend would text her and she would secretly ring back because I caught her. That's how the teenage girl's mind works. That cost me a bit, she got a ##*** from me and everything was fine for many months until the phone calls started creeping up again.

Now that someone else is on the horizon, a person who happens to be on Vodafone, she's changed her tune - I just asked her.

namakemono

I'd say PAYG could work. A top up of £30 on o2 (text and web) tariff gets you unlimited texts for the month, so even if she does use up her credit in 2 days she can always contact you. All networks generally have this offer.

If the coverage is OK I suggest you both get a PAYG phone from 3, their freebies last for 90 days and includes: free texts £25+ for unlimited, 3-3 calls, mobile internet, and free skype (so if you both had the phones from 3 she could either 3-3 you for free, or skype you which is free even if you haven't topped up)

I understand about her overusing her phone, I was never one to do it (my parents loathed buying me phone credit so I made it last!) but had many friends who did. I think the best you can do is set a credit limit for her and stick to it, however much she begs (and of course tell her she can use the landline to ring her friends' landlines only), because you know that as long as you top her up each month she will always be able to contact you within that month with her free texts. And eventually she'll see that that's what she gets for her phone and that's it.

smallbiznewbie

@ namakemono

I never put credit on her phone, it's just throwing money down the drain. Well, every six months or so, just to keep the SIM alive (they get disconnected after 6 months. I think). And if we go to some big event where she might get lost and need to contact us, I'll put £5 of credit on, £5 is well worth it for the peace of mind, and with an effort she can make the £5 last a day. :-)

Thanks :-)

Barneysmom

She's 16 - she's an adult.
You haven't got to keep tabs on her any more, she can come and go as she pleases within reason.
Is she still at school, she can get a Saturday job and pay for her own phone at her age...?

smallbiznewbie

@Barneysmom

She had and still has behavioural problems. She's vulnerable. There's a world outside these forums that isn't comfortable incomes and well-behaved children. Everyone here's very nice and helpful, but not every child is apple-pie and A-levels.

>>
Thank you for e-mailing [EMAIL="support&#64;tescomobile.com"]support@tescomobile.com[/EMAIL]

I am sorry to inform you we are unable to cap the £6.00 a month tariff, due to the cost of the tariff already.

If I can help any further, please feel free to email me.

Alternatively you can call our dedicated customer service line on 0845 301 4455.
>>


Thanks for everybody's help. :-)

macman

If it's about you contacting her, you can presumably ring her anytime you feel like using your own inclusive minutes (if you have a contract phone).
In less than 2 years, when she hits 18, is she going to be responsible for her own bills or are you going to continue to bail her out? Sooner or later she has to take some responsibility herself.

lee1985

Try Vodafone family on Vodafone's Pay As You Talk tariffs.

You pay £5 per month for 'Vodafone family' and you can make unlimited calls for as long as you want to up to 3 people (or it might be five) a bit like a magic number but as stated it's 3 or 5 people. They can also call you under it too as it connects both numbers mutually.

Even if neither of you have no credit, it still works, because you pay £5 for the service. It works both ways, if you have your daughter on friends and family you can call her and she can call you too even if she has no credit.

It only works up to one hour but you just hang up and call again. If you have no credit you can't go over the one hour as it will then revert to call charges. But that's daft because as I said you hang up and call back again for another hour, and so on.

Problem solved, unlimited communication between you both for £5 a month.