Contract Phone v Buying a Phone

mountainofdebt

Looks like Junior's phone has died so a new one is needed.

At the mo, he's on a SIM only contract (300 mins, unlimted texts and 500mb internet connection) for £15 pm which ends next month.

I can't find a compariable offer (either SIM only or contract) so am considering getting him another bought phone as opposed to getting him a phone on a contract.

What do people think? Am I missing a better deal?

Also given that he's saving to go to Uni, should he pay for it or should I or should we go halves?

Naf

Depending on the handset really. Newer phones tend to be cheaper to get on a contract once you factor the phone price (£400-500) divided over 18 months (works out £20-30 per month), plus his usual monthly usage (even if that's only £10). You'll generally get more minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet and nothing to pay up front for the phone on a contract than you find on PAYG.

mobilejunkie

It's easy to find virtually free deals with a basic phone and at least the same bundle using cashback. That's a specialist type of deal so you need to do thorough research if you venture down that road.

I doubt anyone could possibly advise WHO should pay for any new phone! Bit of a daft question if you ask me! HOWEVER, one thing I would be very wary of is someone with a contract and a phone where they can run up large bills outside their bundle - especially on data but sometimes on texts. This site regularly has parents complaining about getting "ripped off" because the network has charged their poor little innocent darling a few hundred pounds extra for such use - and how can they get out of paying it. If the contract is in your name you will foot the bill; if in his you will probably be asked to help him out should that happen. Therefore a PAYT sim with a new phone may be better - that way it will be more expensive but at least he can't produce any nasty surprises - for him or for you.

Guys_Dad

I would concur with the previous advice re PAYG. But, as you have had previous experience with Junior and sim-only, then the biggest risk (on previous experience) would be the loss of the sim and someone making lost of calls to overseas before Junior reported it missing. Not a problem with PAYG.

When you take out a contract, putting aside cashbacks for a moment, you are actually buying a handset on credit. You can work out how muchover a 2 year period by comparing the 24 month term with the equivalent cost for a matching sim-only package.

If the handset packs in or is damaged half way through the contract or if personal circumstances change, you are still obligated to the air-time contract.

Now to get back to MJ's point about virtually free deals - these are available from cashback sites - E2Save, Dial-a-Phone, mobiles.co.uk etc - a few more too. These guys offer you cashback - usually by stage payments - which seriously reduce the cost of the normal monthly rentals through the network.

But you need to really study the t&c, apply the correct procedures and time-periods to claim your money and to be prepared to go through the Small Claims Court at the end of the day if they renege. There is an absolute wealth of experience on this forum on the matter - successes and failures - and you need to put a couple of hours aside to check them out. It will be well worth it in the end.

And, above all, if a deal seems too good to bet true - it is! So for safety, choose an internet retailer who is an offshoot of either CPW or P4U. :beer:

fiendishlyclever

There are some good cashback deals on at the moment through TopCashback if you want to go the contract route.

Personally I prefer the flexibility of sim-free phones. Am currently on giffgaff - (250mins, unlimited SMS, unlimited data, free 0800 calls for £10 a month - and fully PAYG).

It all depends as well on which networks you get best coverage for in your area and what sort of handset you are looking to buy. There is a huge price difference between a basic feature phone/android phone and the latest top of the range smartphones.

mountainofdebt

thanks guys for your input.

I think the phone that has died is a LG Viewty Smart so I would imagine the preference would be for a more updated version of this.

I know what you mean MJ about large bills being run up - he only did it twice (not hundreds of pounds but it was far more than I was happy with lol) and after the 1st occasion he was told that if he did it again then he would be paying the difference ....which he did the 2nd time - not surprisingly there hasn't been a 3rd.

I also can appreciate what naf is saying - when the dead one was bought I thought it might have lasted more than it has (2 years) so i guess in reality I have paid about £20 per month for the mobile / airtime.

Guess it boils down to what phone he would like - this is definitely though the last phone I will be getting for him lol!

Naf

In my experience 3 do very good deals on up to date and good, but slightly obscure, phones. Loads of stuff included, and really cheap. Last tiime I was searching they had some great £15 per month deals for example.

smartiedriver_2

have you considered Tesco mobile? PAYG or contract they have some great deals - and clubcard points too

mirrorimage0

i have just bought my son a phone called the mojo from tesco (looks like a blackberry but isnt) its a 12 month contract and he gets 500 mins 5000 texts and 500 mb internet per month and its £10 a month payment, the deal ends in six days i was told this morning

you can also bar adult content on the internet, pemium numbers and texts and have a limit of £30 per month put on for children

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.210-6272.aspx

grumbler

Don't know how old and how reasonable your son is, but many people had serious problems after giving contact phones to their children.

mountainofdebt

grumbler wrote: »

Don't know how old and how reasonable your son is, but many people had serious problems after giving contact phones to their children.

He's 18 and has had a phone since he was 11.

Managed to lose one phone so was given a basic phone until we could renew the contract and as I said previously I warned him about excessive bills ....as he found out to his cost

I finally managed to get the phone that he wanted out of Vodafone (who we had the sim only contract with) with the same deal so pleased with that .......OH was wondering though when Junior would be paying for the phone but given that he's just put another £1K away in case he goes to Uni I don't mind too much!

I was thinking about getting Insurance for the phone but given the contract is in my name and he uses could we get it?