Is capping an urban myth ?

londonbabe73

Had to return a vodafone handset after being told I couldn't cap the contract ie when it gets to the end of his tariff that's it til next month for my sons phone am thinking of going to tesco purely because they cap I can't believe tescos are the only company that does this ?

Guys_Dad

londonbabe73 wrote: »

Had to return a vodafone handset after being told I couldn't cap the contract ie when it gets to the end of his tariff that's it til next month for my sons phone am thinking of going to tesco purely because they cap I can't believe tescos are the only company that does this ?

I believe that T-Mobile may still do capping as well.

Herongull

Never let a child have unsupervised access to a contract phone. So many people on this forum have lost hundreds or even thousands of £ as a result.

Get the boy a nice, but reasonably cheap PAYG phone. Don't make him a target for mugging by giving him an expensive phone.

Give him a cheap PAYG bundle each month.

Sorted.

Capping is only a partial solution. If children take their phones abroad they can run up huge bills, especially if they go out of Europe, and caps don't always prevent this.

Children or their "friends" can accidentally sign up for expensive but useless things with contract phones that you have to pay for.

Buzby

You mean a spending limit? Why should a network purposely restrict their ability to gain revenue from their customer? Further, for those networks that DO offer this restriction, if you read the T&C's, you'll note that the restriction is not binding - basically, they'll make use of their best endeavours to prevent any overspend, but if - due to any failure of their part - the limit is broken or exceeded by the user, the full amount incurred by the user will remain due and payable.

Taking out a contract on behalf of a minor is never a great idea, as there are no age restrictions in place to prevent adult material being accessed whether by text, MMS, voice or data. (Due to the fact you have to be over 18 to enter into a contract).

PAYG provides a finite limit - which you can top up as required, AND restricts access to adult material unless proof of age is provided. If there is an overspend, the network has to take it on the chin - a much better safety net.

[Deleted User]

Gifgaf is effectively capped.. Since at the end of your minutes it won't bill you anything unless you top up. It's a bit like a mix of contract and pay-as-you-go

Herongull

PAYG is 100% securely capped unless you opt for auto-topup.

All you then have at risk is whatever topup is on the phone (and the value of the phone if it is lost or stolen).

Giffgaff is PAYG, but does have an auto-topup option. Anyone foolish to opt for auto-topup is putting their finances at risk as if the phone is lost or stolen or misused, it will keep topping up and so the thief can run up huge bills.

But you would have to be pretty stupid to go for auto-topup.

wantmemoney

Had to return a vodafone handset after being told I couldn't cap the contract ie when it gets to the end of his tariff that's it til next month for my sons phone am thinking of going to tesco purely because they cap I can't believe tescos are the only company that does this ?

Buzby wrote:

Why should a network purposely restrict their ability to gain revenue from their customer?

so you are suggesting the shareholder(you?) is the one best placed to decide how much somebody's child is able/allowed to spend on phone 'services'!

I believe the OP was referring to something called 'parental' control

and I'm quite sure the OP appreciates being told what kind of parental control she must use......

Ypaymore

T-Mobile still offer You-Fix . A monthly bill that you fix, then top up if you need to.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/you-fix/plans/

Emy1501

Tesco's seem to be the only provider which seems do a genuine cap at prices which are the same or similar to their standard monthly contracts.