Want to buy a contract phone as a xmas present, when do i buy?

pippy100

Silly question coming!
As title says i want to buy a contract phone as a xmas present but it will not be opened until 25th December(obviously), having never bought a contract phone for xmas would i be right in saying you will be billed from the day you receive it or there abouts?
For example if i receive my phone today 11/11/2010 my first bill would be 11/12/10 yet the phone will not have been used?
Which means i need to buy it as close to xmas as possible?
Please help and thanks in advance.

pippy100

Typical me!!! I think my question may have been answered here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2853522
Sorry and Thanks.

Heretic_osjc

Keep your eyes peel'd one of the networks are gonna do a contract deal that'll be a brilliant idea for ANYONE buying a contract phone for someone else .

It'll be a 2 week only deal thing and for you... this will be a fantastic idea.

Unfortunatly i cannot divuldge what the deal is but trust me it'll suit you. End of the month keep a look out on one of the 4 major networks websites. (I do not class 3 and virgin as major networks)

pippy100

Ohhh Thanks!!
Thanks for the heads up, i will keep my eyes peeled!!

Heretic_osjc

pippy100 wrote: »

Ohhh Thanks!!
Thanks for the heads up, i will keep my eyes peeled!!

I think it starts 29th of November.

Money_Grabber13579

I'm guessing it's T-mobile as it seems he/she might work for them based on previous posts...

gjchester

pippy100 wrote: »

Silly question coming!
As title says i want to buy a contract phone as a xmas present.

Off topic but bear in mind you will be liable for all the bills. Please think carefully about it.

Seach these forums and you'll find many stories where a people have bought a contract for a son/daughter, or current partner, who later became an ex partner, or friend who has a poor credit record.

In many cases the person with the phone is not paying the bills so can use it as much as they wish knowing they won't have anything to pay. You may get bills running into the hundreds or thousands of pounds to pay, and no network will guarantee that they will stop the service as soon as the set allowance limit is hit.

Hopefully you won't get in that situation but at least consider it.

pippy100

gjchester wrote: »

Off topic but bear in mind you will be liable for all the bills. Please think carefully about it.

Seach these forums and you'll find many stories where a people have bought a contract for a son/daughter, or current partner, who later became an ex partner, or friend who has a poor credit record.

In many cases the person with the phone is not paying the bills so can use it as much as they wish knowing they won't have anything to pay. You may get bills running into the hundreds or thousands of pounds to pay, and no network will guarantee that they will stop the service as soon as the set allowance limit is hit.

Hopefully you won't get in that situation but at least consider it.

Yes, i understand what you are saying. If we do buy the contract it would have to be in my name(or husbands) as it is for my son and he is not old enough. As long as i can keep track of the calls etc which you can do online, and if he does abuse it then my myself or husband can have it and he will be back on payg.
It is always a risk i know and i certainly would not do it for any other member of the family!
If this offer that Heretic_osjc has mentioned is no good then he won't be getting a phone!!

gjchester

pippy100 wrote: »

If this offer that Heretic_osjc has mentioned is no good then he won't be getting a phone!!

Depends on the phone I guess (and how much it is to buy) you you may want to consider one of the PAYG deals where for a set amount
you get some add ons.

Vodafones new Freebees does 300 texts and 500mb web access as long as you top up a tenner a month. Other companies so the same, Tesco do a Sim Only deal that will cut off when there the allowance is reached but again theres no free phone with it.

The vodafone deal is not really a true contract you'll not get the phone cheap or free, but as it's PAYG as it's heart you won't get overspent.

Never quite understood why it's not possible to stop a contract phone making calls / accessing data when you hit a limit, but it is PAYG. I don't believe it's simply down to the company wanting to make money, I guess there are more fundimental differences in the way calls are billed and charged in the system.

Heretic_osjc

pippy100 wrote: »

If this offer that Heretic_osjc has mentioned is no good then he won't be getting a phone!!

I'm just saying it may help you with the initial lay out if its a chirstmas present.