Help! Trouble with mobile phone for my mother

Delila

I don't know which way to turn!
My elderly mother - nearly 90 and severely sight impaired - has all her marbles and wants a mobile phone.
We were recommended Binatone speakeasy GSM.
We purchased a payasyougo tesco mobile sim card.
To date we have ahd two handsets.

I am just about to send the second handset back to manufacturer.
Although the torch worked on the side - showing some residual power - the screen would not light up at all. It was completely dead.

The first handset did work but calls kept cutting out.

:mad:

Each time I have to make a 3 hour round journey to Mum to install or pick up the duff handset. The whole thing has cost me quite a bit of money but also hours of frustration. At the back of all this is my mother who cannot easily contact or be contacted by her family by phone and she is lonely although in a retirement home.

Can anyone advise as follows:

Do you know of a firm who will supply AND INSTALL/TEST a mobile with big buttons? Preferably not costing too much.


We thought we would use the Carphone warehouse so we could take it back - rather than keep sending it back - but they don't do phones with big buttons which is what mum needs.

crazyguy

here : http://www.aspect-two.com/c-ngm/big-button-mobile-phones.htm/?Media=ZWPC1&gclid=CMT9t9WH0aoCFcYe4Qod4kehzQ

atticgirl2003

Can't do links, sorry.

Google mymemory.
They also do big button mobiles.

grumbler

Delila wrote: »

Although the torch worked on the side - showing some residual power - the screen would not light up at all. It was completely dead.

The residual power can be sufficient to power the torch and insufficient to power the phone. Simple charging springs to mind.

Do you know of a firm who will supply AND INSTALL/TEST a mobile with big buttons? Preferably not costing too much.

Don't know about 'installation', but what do you mean actually? Insert the sim and test everything at your home, charge the phone and post to your mum.

We thought we would use the Carphone warehouse so we could take it back - rather than keep sending it back - but they don't do phones with big buttons which is what mum needs.

For other phones see: Mobile PAYG handset

You may prefer the one with a charging cradle: Basic / Easy / Simple phone with charger cradle?, but inexpensive ones are Binatone.

MissKeith

Delila wrote: »

Can anyone advise as follows:

Do you know of a firm who will supply AND INSTALL/TEST a mobile with big buttons? Preferably not costing too much.


We thought we would use the Carphone warehouse so we could take it back - rather than keep sending it back - but they don't do phones with big buttons which is what mum needs.

CPW do the Doro series which do have large buttons. The latest is the Doro 610. Best to take a trip to store to have a look.

Stuart_W

I can certainly recommend doro phones in terms of ease of use and reliability.

They are in a different price bracket to the Binatone cheap-end things, but perhaps you're now convinced of other priorities.

Ultimately, a phone can only prove its worth if it is able to be reliable when it is needed. Even if you get a replacement/repair, will you actually trust this cheap phone to keep working, given the problems you've had?

Get a demo of the Doro 610 from your local phone shop.

chillsky

possibly think about one of those charging pads instead of having her plug it into the mains all the time to charge it.

just google gadget wireless pad

Looks like you just had bad luck with the phone.

If the phone is simply 2g you should have decent phone quality but internal mechanics of her home might reduce reception.

grumbler

chillsky wrote: »

possibly think about one of those charging pads instead of having her plug it into the mains all the time to charge it.

just google gadget wireless pad

I think they work with specially designed phones only. For a normal phone you'll have to change the case to a special one. I think that all this (if available) will cost you a fortune - more than an expensive Doro with a cradle:
(£120ish from Amazon)

Delila

Many thanks for replies:

In each case I did try the phones out at home here. In each case phones did work to start with.

Each binatone we purchased did have a cradle and yes we did try to charge the second one up several times.
Did all we could to get power into the handset. Tried different plug sockets, tested the connections and more.

I will look at all the ideas you sent again.

atticgirl2003

Hope you get fixed up.
I am about to order the OT200 from my memory.
Fingers crossed it is a decent phone and not a heap of rubbish.