My Son's Girlfriend Can't Afford Her O2 Contract

DUTR

Beanynut2 wrote: »

How can I walk away or encourage him too either? Its not just his girlfriend but her baby - they don't have anyone to help them. I want to help her sort out her money without becoming dependant on me or my son.

The baby is 6 months old, so the baby is the Mum and the bio Fathers responsibility, baby's don't appear on their own, so you want your Son to pump up the tyres whilst somebody else rides the bike? No deal and it can have a lasting negative consequence on your Son, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, I'm confident he can get a GF without the baggage. The GF must have appeared from family, either way she has to get things sorted and live responsibly, not expect everybody else to pick up the pieces for her.

Prothet_of_Doom

DUTR wrote: »

The baby is 6 months old, so the baby is the Mum and the bio Fathers responsibility, baby's don't appear on their own, so you want your Son to pump up the tyres whilst somebody else rides the bike? No deal and it can have a lasting negative consequence on your Son, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, I'm confident he can get a GF without the baggage. The GF must have appeared from family, either way she has to get things sorted and live responsibly, not expect everybody else to pick up the pieces for her.

Harsh, cruel, but perhaps good advice all the same.

notanewuser

DUTR wrote: »

The baby is 6 months old, so the baby is the Mum and the bio Fathers responsibility, baby's don't appear on their own, so you want your Son to pump up the tyres whilst somebody else rides the bike? No deal and it can have a lasting negative consequence on your Son, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, I'm confident he can get a GF without the baggage. The GF must have appeared from family, either way she has to get things sorted and live responsibly, not expect everybody else to pick up the pieces for her.

Baby is 9 mths according to the OP.

MillicentBystander

DUTR wrote: »

The baby is 6 months old, so the baby is the Mum and the bio Fathers responsibility, baby's don't appear on their own, so you want your Son to pump up the tyres whilst somebody else rides the bike? No deal and it can have a lasting negative consequence on your Son, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, I'm confident he can get a GF without the baggage. The GF must have appeared from family, either way she has to get things sorted and live responsibly, not expect everybody else to pick up the pieces for her.

I do get the impression you are one hell of a cold character. Life is not always so black and white, you know. And, anyway, what the hell has this got to do with answering the OP's problem? If he wanted that sort of advice I'm sure there are people way more qualified than you to give it.

OP, silk's advice is the one to be taking notice of. You didn't say what the phone was but I'm assuming it is decent? Look at selling it on and maybe using the money to pay the contract up in full (many networks don't charge VAT when you pay up contracts in full) or failing that, get her a VERY cheap PAYG phone and pay the monthly DDs from the proceeds until she gets herself sorted.

But this does back up my belief that contracts are not really any good for anybody let alone people on benefits.

Silk

!!!!!! !!!

Why are you people trying to turn this into a Jeremy Kyle show

DUTR

MillicentBystander wrote: »

I do get the impression you are one hell of a cold character. Life is not always so black and white, you know. And, anyway, what the hell has this got to do with answering the OP's problem? If he wanted that sort of advice I'm sure there are people way more qualified than you to give it.

No , not a cold character at all, if the OP really cares about her son, then then they should encourage the son to get rid, or at least be wary, their own flesh and blood is their 1st priority, it has a lot to do with answering the OPs query, it is not the OP's her Son, yours, mine or any of the readers problem, and encouraging or saying it's ok to sign up to contracts when unable to fulfill the agreement should be discouraged, benefits were not created to purchase luxury goods and unnecessary items. There are handsets to be to had for as little as 10 quid and then payg.
There is a young dependant to be kept warm fed and watered.
Yes life is not so black and white and I can tell you from my own life experience that getting involved with a single mum with a young offspring whilst young himself can have negative consequences, making other peoples problems your own is not always the way especially if they are not flesh and blood. In the meantime the OP's Son's GF will need to seek help via her own network of people and see if the network is willing to offer some leniency (not that I hold much hope and truth be known, the regulars know there is not much hope), but if many of you want to run me down for posting the truth rather than posting what the OP may want to read even though it's an obvious lie, then guilty as charged.

NFH

This is another reason why the marketing of subsidised phones through inflated monthly service charges should be banned. The networks should only be able to market SIM-only contracts and SIM-free phones. It is a form of irresponsible lending by the mobile networks, particularly as the networks don't quote the APR of the disguised loan which is often very high. If consumers really want to buy phones on credit, then they should make an active choice to do so rather than this being marketed as the primary option.

jetplane

I agree with jenniewb get her some help with benefits, debt and budgeting. Learning difficulties or not, being a single mother with no support is extremely difficult and isolating. At times this phone may be the only contact she has with anyone other than her baby.

I don't know the level of her learning disability but she needs a benefit check to ensure she is receiving her correct entitlement as she may be missing out. She might not receive any or adequate maintenance from baby's father so they can also look at that, as child maintenance wont affect her benefits.

If the contract is excessive then they may be able to renegotiate or even try to terminate it if she did not understand the implications of signing the contract. Ultimately its not a priority debt and selling the phone could help buy her out of the contract then a cheaper phone / contract /PAYG could be bought.

In my experience parents with learning disabilities often need support from social services, sure start and welfare rights. Often the most successful families are those with a parent (like yourself) looking out for and supporting them.

Just an extra, if your son moves in with her, even though the baby is not his own, they will have to claim benefits as a family.

Chorlie

As already said; sell the phone but if it can be unlocked first it maybe worth more, but would have to factor in the cost of unlocking it.

Has she spoken to O2 to see if she can be moved to a lower tariff....?

But if you really want to help her be able to stand on her own two feet then, make sure she is claiming all the benefits she is entitled to and make sure the father of the baby is paying maintenance, if not then chase that side of things.



Edit:- Looks like Jetplane posted as I was typing....

j1992

Could she afford it if it was a bit cheaper? Unfortunately we are all told we are in a contract when we sign up to a new phone, but she could always ring o2 and say she is struggling to pay. My boyfriend did this and they reduced his phone bill by a small amount and he had to pay himself monthly rather than direct debit. His was reduced by £5 a month, which may not be enough for your son's girlfriend, but may help a bit?

Alternatively, as mentioned before, see if anyone can buy the contract off her? Maybe at a reduced deal so they are getting a good offer and your son's girlfriend can get a bit of money back.

Well done for trying to help her out.

x