Emergency Only Mobile

english-setter

I need a new basic mobile just for emergencies and want PAYG. I don't need to text or anything like that and know nothing about tariffs, rates, bundles etc. Can anyone recommend a dirt cheap phone and a PAYG supplier (do I need a supplier? Can't I just buy more mins from a shop?) - I AM a real mobile phone virgin!! Thanks

gizmoleeds

You could buy a cheap second hand phone from ebay, or go to a phone shop like the carphone warehouse and see what they've got cheap. I think they had a basic Nokia advertized for £30 recently. Or try a supermarket like Tesco. If it is just for emergencies then you have two options:

1 Top up the sim card with £10. Check with the salesman that the top-up doesn't expire after a set period. There may be a requirement to make a call every three months or something which wouldn't be too difficult. (You don't really need care which network it is on if it is just for emergencies).

2 Or, if it is just for real emergencies, you can call 999 on any handset, with credit or not (even without the sim card in).

I would recommend getting some credit though, as an emergency could mean calling a relative or a breakdown service etc.

gizmoleeds

http://www.tescophones.com/details_package.aspx?pc=5&tc=14&p=392&i=433174&pkg=156912&st=1&offset=0&hp=0&rt=0

Here is a £30 phone available at Tesco.

gizmoleeds

Whatever the network you go with, they will probably cancel your account if there's no activity for 3-4 months (so they can reallocate your phone number). You will need to switch it on every few weeks to check the battery does not need charging (it will deplete even with the phone off!) so just make a 1 minute call every time you do this to show the network there is activity. On Tesco this would only cost 5p of your credit if you do it in the evening.

Divvyman

For a cheap handset complete with SIM and £5.00 of call credit, check out

http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/phones/search?type=clearance

It's a bit 'hit and miss' with regard to which handsets are available (the handsets are reconditioned but with a 6 month guarantee), but usually, there are a choice of two or three for about £20.

ICUBABY

English-setter

I think i am in exactly the same position as you i.e. have an emergency mobile.

I have just bought the Tesco value sim ( 15 p a min for calls & 5p a text)

And just to clarify, in order to keep the phone active, you only need to make one call every six months.

Please see link below for the details.

http://www.tescomobile.com/valuesim.aspx?pc=22&us=1&h=1

There are several ways of topping up also.

sheraz2

hi

aother good idea would be to get a prepaid u fix from tmobile through time2talk it is cash back but they give you all the cash back in 14 days before you pay t mobile.

gives you 50 mins of calls every month and 25 text and you can just use it for emergencies. no worries about topping up or the sim going inactive for none use.

it is good value and works out at 24.99

http://www.time2talk.co.uk/t-mobile/TMobile-SonyEricsson-T230-Upfront.html

Woby_Tide

gizmoleeds wrote:

2 Or, if it is just for real emergencies, you can call 999 on any handset, with credit or not (even without the sim card in).

Not in the UK you can't

zolablue25

sheraz2 wrote:

hi

aother good idea would be to get a prepaid u fix from tmobile through time2talk it is cash back but they give you all the cash back in 14 days before you pay t mobile.

gives you 50 mins of calls every month and 25 text and you can just use it for emergencies. no worries about topping up or the sim going inactive for none use.

it is good value and works out at 24.99

http://www.time2talk.co.uk/t-mobile/TMobile-SonyEricsson-T230-Upfront.html

Has anyone actually tried this? I would be interested to hear about your experiences.

Cheers

sheraz2

i actually brought 1 from them was 29.99 at that time and it was a pretty smooth transaction. got the money from them around the ssame time t mobile sent an invoice.

gizmoleeds

Woby_Tide wrote:

Not in the UK you can't

Can't you? You can with all the phones I've ever owned (enter the emergency service numbers that is - I've never needed to actually call them)

Even before you enter the pin it has "SOS" as an option. You certainly wouldn't need credit to call 999.