[Closed] mobile - contract or payg for 12 yr old

with a contract there is a potential for her to just keep using it so run up huuuuge bills. I wouldn't ahve thought it would be better to stick wit payg.

Surely knowing to leave some credit for emergencies is part of responsibility etc?

T-Mobile Solo 15. 350 mins / Unlimited text / £15pm (£17 inc vat)

I struggle with kids and phones - they're so expensive and an ongoing cost. I can see why they want one etc and the positives, but sometimes I wish my phone would break so I didnt have contact all the time, I remember my childhood days without a mobile (though my dad had one, one of the first ones!) being blissful - lost in the fields for a day at a time.

Why does she "want" a new mobile? If all she does it text and talk can she not just keep the one she has?

Can't you stay on PAYG & use something like this?

http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/payasyougo/reserve_tank_overview.html

Why does she "want" a new mobile? If all she does it text and talk can she not just keep the one she has?

Yet another reason I dont like kids having mobiles!

Incidentally O2 have a "lend us a quid" feature too.

in my day..........................................

ditto,

tesco IIRC also do "ping me a pound",

thisisnotaspoon - I'm only 27 too lol.

Thanks folks, lots of good thoughts there.

Druidh - that looks worth investigating.

She is pretty responsible, just forgetful sometimes. She had a decent mobile but it broke and she's using an old handset we had lying around. She has her 'image' to think of!!

Desf, I don't know if it's possible, but if you got her a contract phone, maybe that T-mobile offer that someone mentioned earlier, could you not speak to the contractor directly and see that if she hits the limit they can prevent calls unless it's to 999 or your home number!?? Just a thought but they probably would say that's "too difficult" even though it's probably not in reality!

Yeah. I say PAYG so that she may have an opportunity to learn that:
money doesn't grow on trees/you're not a bottomless pit of cash/someone's got to pay/what could she possibly have to talk about when she only parted company with the other person five minutes ago/

and so on until you use up all the quotes stolen from our own parents....

So if the consensus is pay as you go what is the best package. Our daughter is about to turn 11 and will be getting her first phone and at the moment I'm thinking of the Orange raccoon package which offers free texts. Any other recommendations.

If s/he is likely to use less than £15 a month, try one of the Tesco tariffs.

They don't require the 'top up £10 a month to get a pile of free texts' so calls and texts are up to half the price of the main providers. So calls are cheaper and that £15 will become more like £8, and there is no incentive to make sure they use a certain amount of credit to qualify for the 'free' texts/minutes.

Can't remember what my call prices were, but my texts on their tariffs were 5p each rather than the 10p my gf paid.

Thanks spooky I'll look into that ans sorry desf for the hijack.

I got the daughter (11) a contract phone on 3, £9 a month (Which i made the maximum amount!)
With that she gets 100 mins or texts to any network and 2300 minutes to other 3 phones (me and my mrs are also on 3 and get 2300 free 3 to 3 mins)

She can't run up huge bills and got a resonable Sony Erricson phone with it.

If she was on PAYG we would to up a minimum £10 a month and she may run out of credit.

Is it me or are mobile phone tariffs the most complex thing in the universe?

You're right, they do seem needlessly complex.

I wonder if we would get good impartial advice in a shop like carphonewarehouse or will we get pushed towards whatever they get most commission from?

Kid in the school I work in ran up a £392:00 bill a couple of months ago on contract. Daddy wasn't a happy bunny.

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Back in the day etc etc.

Mobile phones? heh, weren't even a glimmer in the developers eye. We would use the public phone network, now departed to let our parents know were were ok. Lots of people had a system too. In those days you could dial the number before putting the money in the slot so you'd dial, let it ring twice and hang up. That means 'I'm OK', after that I forget but I dunno, one ring is I'm on my way home, three rings is I'm staying at Martin's for tea and four rings means you've been kidnapped and are currently being rogered by a van load of afghan immigrants.

Aaah, those were the days, I still keep in touch,.

My 10yr old daughter has a PAYG (t-mobile) mobile phone. I bought it for her in November last year and put £20 of credit on. The credit has yet to run out. She walks to my workplace after school and it's for use in case of emergencies and the odd text msg to friends.

I agree with samuari, kids don't know they're born nowadays.

I wonder what ever happened to Bahualdin, Durkhany and Mahboobullah, crazy names, crazy guys!

actually, if its of any use I'm on t-mobile SIM only, £30 per month with free internets, loads of texts and minutes and its a monthly thing so if I don't like it I can walk.

My 11 year old son has a '3' contract for £15 a month that's for 300 minutes and 300 texts. He's a boy so hardly ever uses it, gets the odd text from random girls at school that he ignores. He's very sensible in terms of use and always asks if he can download a game/song/whatever. You can put a limit on the contract anyway so they can't go over the alloted minutes.