son has saved up for blackberry, what one to purchase please

mirrorimage0

so after reading and searching through i definatley thnk pay as you go is the way to go , thankyou for all your replies. i have explained to him that if he still wants a bb it will be at least a £15 per month top up if he wants the bbm as well and he will be paying for it himself,

(i was more than willing to pay £10 a month top up so he always had calls and texts to reach me if needed for my own piece of mind, so he only really needs to add a fiver but i havent told him this yet)

i just want him to seriously think about what he can afford and whats sensible. i never had a mobile phone until i was 18 (im 32 now though so a while ago) but my parents certainly never bought it or paid my bills it was my contract my bill so had to budget well and thats what i want to teach my kids.

i think i will leave it till nearer the end of the six weeks holidays though and see what offers are on, it will give my son a chance to think about it and hopefully there may be some competition price wise with the new school term starting.

Techno

Whatever you decide, remember to look at the cashback sites - I've just (yesterday) got the BB curve 8520 (free) from vodaphone on a £15.50 contract with £90 back from quidco which tracked almost straight away so that is 6 months free. Vodaphone also had a deal(finishes today) for 200 mins instead of 100 mins, 250mb download and 500 texts - but I agree with everyone else - I would only give a youngster a contract phone if you can put a cast iron limit to the inclusive deal only

ZenUK

Stick with PAYG.

Try tmobile Free Blackberry sim with 6 months free blackberry service when you top up £10. Then just £20 per 6 months. (Go through Topcashback) Get a cheap BB such as 8320,8900 or 8520 of ebay. (Again go through Topcashback.)

mrochester

d.ross wrote: »

It's simple. You just contact your provider and ask them to set the limits.

Sadly that doesn't always work, as we've seen plenty of threads around these parts where a large bill has still been accumulated even after a so called "limit" was set. This is typically because post-paid accounts aren't usually billed in real-time so it is possible to exceed the limit before the system is aware of this breach.

mrochester

d.ross wrote: »

Well change provider then.....simple.

To which one?

Sublime_2

Has your son thought about other phones? For what he'd be paying there are better phones around. Whats the budget, and what features are paramount?

mirrorimage0

Sublime wrote: »

Has your son thought about other phones? For what he'd be paying there are better phones around. Whats the budget, and what features are paramount?

not really , i have said i will look at other phones with him as i think he just wants a bb because most of his mates have them, and can bbm,
typical boy attitude doesnt really matter what i try to explain to him, im his mum so im uncool and wouldnt have a clue what im talking about lol
he has saved up £150 so far for a phone

surfbabe10

d.ross wrote: »

It's simple. You just contact your provider and ask them to set the limits.

Not all of them set a low limit. Virgins minimum level is £50 which isnt the best and they also let you go over it. As I have learnt from experience with my sons phone and my bank balance! My advice as I am also a mum of a 12 year old who has a blackberry is to get it on PAYG and get a giff gaff sim card. My son has a blackberry on a 2 year contract and after less than a year he hates it and wants a new phone! At least on PAYG you wont have this problem! He will shortly be getting a paper round and saving up for a new phone if he wants one then he might learn the value of money (I hope!)