pay as you go or contract?

silverbirch_3

My 12yr old daughter wants a mobile for christmas. Only spec is it must be a flip phone and pink!! I've found 2 that she likes a vk530 £80 from amazon (£129 in argos) on pay as you go or a samsung e530 free on various contracts.

Not sure which to go for, the contract phone is better with higher spec, bluetooth etc, and includes xnet anytime mins plus texts but i'm worried about her running up a massive bill. The pay as you would require the initial purchase plus regular top ups, plus i'd worry she would run out of credit when she needed to call home in an emergency (her school is over 20miles away from home and its often 7pm and later when she gets in)

Which would be the better option, i'm leaning towards contract but hubby says no way lol so would welcome input.

Lara

If the contract was a better deal then I would lean that way as well. You would have to make sure she understands if she goes over her allotted tariff she would have to pay the excess. I'm sure there is a contract somewhere though where it cuts you off if you run out of time but can't remember where I read it. perhaps some other MSE'rs will be along to help out later.

Also will she text more than ring??

gizmoleeds

You seem to know the pros and cons quite clearly.

Personally, I would suggest pay as you go. However, the phone you have found (vk530) is on Vodafone, and they are not the best network to be on (most MSE-ers would recommend O2 - see here http://shop.o2.co.uk/student/o2uk/jsp/tariffs/viewTariffDetails.jsp?prodID=consumer:O2:TALKALOT:HANDSET:VOICE:PRE). There are also better phones out there for the price.

I think by specifying pink she is limiting her choices unneccesarily. I would suggest having a chat with her so she knows that she could get a better phone for the money if she was willing to be more flexible on colour.

Have a look at the o2 student shop (the student shop is cheaper and you don't need to prove you're a student).

http://shop.o2.co.uk/student/o2uk/jsp/handset/SelectHandset.do?paramName=prepay

gizmoleeds

Lara wrote:

If the contract was a better deal then I would lean that way as well. You would have to make sure she understands if she goes over her allotted tariff she would have to pay the excess. I'm sure there is a contract somewhere though where it cuts you off if you run out of time but can't remember where I read it. perhaps some other MSE'rs will be along to help out later.

Also will she text more than ring??

It is T-mobile who do that.

Also, if she texts more than she rings then the O2 PAYG tariff is available with 300 free texts for topping up £10 a month instead of the 100 minutes/texts.

vansboy

If 've cliked correctly, check here.... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=96827

VB

PS Think I'll go into business making pink fones!!!!

bamberbamboo

hi silverbirch,
I was in the same situation last year on my daughters twelth birthday, I got a really good deal on t-mobile, free 240 mins xnet anytime and 50 texts a month, it was an upfront deal and got all the money back after 28 days which was great so didn't cost anything for the whole year and I monitered her calls/texts and bill etc on the t-mobile site which was pretty good, even showed who she'd been calling and what time etc we got a bill each month it was only between 0 - £4.00 which was for any extras over and above the pre paid, (the £4.00 was texting big brother!! she thought the texts where still in the free allowance!!) so for us it worked well and I'm now looking for a similar deal but unfortunately only seem to be able to find these deals that you have to send your bills off for much prefer an upfront and claim back straight away one,

good luck

DARKANGELR

Hi Silverbirch,

I just wanted to say be careful if you choose the vk530, there has been alot of problems with that phone, as cute as it is, it hasnt had the best reviews from what ive heard.
I have the Samsung E530 (but not the pink one, I have the chic white version) and have had no problems yet (touch wood), its a really great phone and would definately recommend it.
Or here is another pink flip phone, the pink Samsung E330 which is exclusive to Woolworths on O2 payg for £99.99. I had the silver E330 before my E530 and it was a brilliant little phone, very reliable and I had no problems with it at all. I wanted to keep it aswell but needed the money so had to sell it!
HTH x

gizmoleeds

DARKANGELR wrote:

Hi Silverbirch,

I just wanted to say be careful if you choose the vk530, there has been alot of problems with that phone, as cute as it is, it hasnt had the best reviews from what ive heard.
I have the Samsung E530 (but not the pink one, I have the chic white version) and have had no problems yet (touch wood), its a really great phone and would definately recommend it.
Or here is another pink flip phone, the pink Samsung E330 which is exclusive to Woolworths on O2 payg for £99.99. I had the silver E330 before my E530 and it was a brilliant little phone, very reliable and I had no problems with it at all. I wanted to keep it aswell but needed the money so had to sell it!
HTH x

Well, hats off to DARKANGELR - a pink Samsung flip-phone on O2 for a hundred quid. :j :j

Just note that this fone will come on a normal O2 pay as you go tariff, so once you get it you should switch to the O2 online tariff (where you get the free texts minutes) - these sims are available free every so often (have a look round the Freebies forum for a recent link) or cost 99p from https://www.o2.co.uk/nus (or £10 from the normal o2 shop)

PS. Although they sell the 300 texts versions and the 100 minutes versions separately you can switch tariffs easily so don't put too much thought into which one you buy - just let your daughter decide

PPS. The sims expire after a couple of months if not registered so I would recommend leaving getting the sim until nearer Xmas.

belfastgal

I have the samsumg 530 its fab i love it.comes with pink strap and pink seude cover, very girlie.
Im on o2 and think they are great.i got the phone free with 500 texts and 100 free anytime x network minutes for £10 a month.

Funkymum

belfastgal wrote:

I have the samsumg 530 its fab i love it.comes with pink strap and pink seude cover, very girlie.
Im on o2 and think they are great.i got the phone free with 500 texts and 100 free anytime x network minutes for £10 a month.

Where did you get this deal from???
TIA
Funkymum

silverbirch_3

Thank you for all the replies, looks like the vk530 is a no then, I do like the look of that one in woolworths on o2, if i can echo funkymum and ask where i can get that deal from belfastgal it sounds ideal as my daughter loves to text and i don't think she'd get through that lot in a month. As for getting her to pick a different colour, thats a definite no lol, she has wanted a pink phone ever since she saw pheobe halliwell using one in an episode of charmed about 18mths ago.