Rant about mobile phones

barron_hard_up

This may well seem a stupid rant to some, but as I am taking a few days owing tagged on to my Christmas holiday, I have been having a look on the message boards and reading the threads.

It seems to me that there is a huge belief that you can't manage your life without a mobile, and I am amazed by the bills some have, into the top side of £100 a month and more. If your company gives you a phone, then fine.

But what is the obsession with expensive phones, and contracts that just cause more debt? Why not just have an ordinary low cost mobile with a pay as you go card that you only use in emergencies?

Am I really a boring old fart? (I can see you all typing 'yes' even as I write this) It just seems to me that mobile phone companies just take many for a ride, selling people products they just rack up expense with.

Anyone else remember going to the phone box to call the girlfriend/boyfriend with a pocket full of change??

welshgirl78

With you!!

Am 29 but remember phoning home with a phone card... then phoning bf from abroad with a pocket of change...

Had a contract for a while but am now on PAYG (with BF old phone) and costs less than £10 a month - although maybe I don't have any friends!!!

pania

my phone is the bain of my life barron, my mobile bill is frequently £200+, but is it due to being a gasbag? nope, is it down to poor management, nope. it is down to bloomin work, is a business mobile but they refuse to pay a penny for it!!! so for now am stuck with it. yes mobile phone cos take people for a ride, they are costly adn over indulged, the days were when you would go into town knowing exactly what you wanted and if you saw anything else when there it would wait until next time rather than a phonecall home, can't wait for the day that my mob can get chucked in the first lake i see.

postingalwaysposting

hi barron, your not a boring old fart. If i am honest i am the same :rotfl: i did the whole contract thing and it was money down the drain. In the years i was on contract (young and at college) i must have wasted around £1000 and i never used all my talk time/texts. I came on here and learnt i transfered (back) to payg (£40 phone) and toped up with £10 a week this has now dropped to £10 a month and sometimes this lasts 2 months. I have had to replace my phone but i didnt buy a top of the range one i brought a chepie for £50.

I have to say though for many people who use their phone daily/more then a contract is generally cheaper its about looking at your needs and working out which will be cheaper. But then i have a gripe with sky tv... why have 467 (guess) channels when you can only watch one at a time ...

But it all boils down to the same thing ~ different people, different personalitys... if we were all the same the world would be boring :rolleyes:

squirrel_pigeon

I'm on a contract but only cos my Mum works for Orange and I get a discount. When the contract runs out I am going back to PAYG cos there are some great deals out there. I'm a texter and you can get loads of free texts on PAYG these days. My bill this month was only £36 including insurance (which i've had to claim on twice and each time I got a new phone within 24 hours of claiming so I can't complain) and I reckon I'd spend that on PAYG anyway...

I don't get the £100 bills though. !!!!!! are you doing with your phone????

squirrel_pigeon

postingalwaysposting wrote: »

But then i have a gripe with sky tv... why have 467 (guess) channels when you can only watch one at a time ...

When Freeview gets NickJr I will switch (although it will involve buying a massive ariel as we have no terrestrial signal with a standard one) but until then, £18 a month is a small price to pay to keep DD happy with Dora, Diego et al

Chief_Wiggum_2

Agreed. I only have a mobile for work reasons (they pay for it in full - I have to highlight personal calls and its debited directly from my wage).

I used to always have the latest phone, flip this, slide that, matrix the other, but I finally realised all I could actually do of any use was make and receive a phone call.

I now use a works mobile that can only do this (you can upgrade at personal cost, but I refuse)

Don't get me started on SKY

Jacks_xxx

:wave: It's how I know I'm old honey as I don't miss my mobile phone at all but most people I talk to can't even comprehend doing without theirs.

Love Jacks xxx

barron_hard_up

squirrel_pigeon wrote: »

My bill this month was only £36.

I don't get the £100 bills though. !!!!!! are you doing with your phone????

Your bill was only £36.00 !! I can make £20 last six months at least!! what do I do with my phone? Well the answer is pretty simple, I hardly ever use it. I make arrangements for almost everything via e mail, or when I do use the mobile it is as a very last resort. You may also be interested to know that if our monthly phone bill for the land line is over £20 ( I have a 20 year old son and two daughters aged 19 and 16) there is the equivolent of the grand inquisition. Calling mobiles from land lines is strictly banned unless there is an emergency and the call it to either the barroness or myself. The barrroness also has a pay as you go phone, which was a return o work gift from myself two and a half years ago. My personal mobile is one of my brother's cast offs. Both phones work extremely well and do not cost any more than a couple of quid a month at the most.

Only £36.00:rotfl: (just having a joke here)

By the way, what does !!!!!! mean?

In_Search_Of_Me

!!!!!! mean what the f**** - feel free to fill in the blanks! I agree as I have PAYG which I use for emergencies and have had 10 on it for ages but also accept that many use it as a form of regular communication - text etc. I am fortunate in that (unlike pania) I have a separate mobile which work pay for so my own is usually incoming calls & I only make then when I really have to...I also remember the days of the phone box & we didnt even have a phone at home when I was 15 so should have got the hang of being skint eh!!

Burlesque_Babe

!!!!!! = What The !!!!

I'm a member of a Facebook group called 'I only use my mobile phone as a light in the dark' and how true that is! I got a free phone 5 years ago and even though the tariff was 'only' 9.99 a month I never used the 50 texts and 250 free minutes. Each year I threatened to leave so they offered me an upgrade which I sold on ebay. Anway, 2 years ago the phone packed up so I took the next upgrade they offered me andwhen the contract was up again last January I went onto PAYG. As I was such a low user they agreed to transfer my number. For a 2 year old phone, it's got all the gizmo's - camera, video camera, WAP, radio etc. I think I've used the radio on train journeys more often than the phone itself!!

I spend about £2.00 - £2.50 a month - tops on my mobile. I have it next to the bed at night as an alarm, I take it with me in the car 'just in case' and I use the light on it in the dark when walking the dog.

I spend about £6 a month on my landline in calls........note to self, must get more friends in 2008........

I also remember the change in the phone box thing!!