Questions about Blackberry phone and also capped usage?

[VivaLeBeaver]

DD would like a Blackberry and it looks like we're getting her one next month.

She's nearly 11 and its been a carrot for lots of 11+ revising.

So I ideally would like to her a PAYG one as I'm concerend about her running up a massive bill. Buy monthly contracts do look better value. I'm sure I read on here a while back about some phone companies operating a capped system - so you can say no more than £15 a month. However I can't find the thread nor can I find any infor via Google. Does anyone know who does this.

Do other teens tend to have PAYG phones or monthly ones? How do you find it works out? If you've got PAYG is £10 a month realistic or do they text their way through that in a week?

The other question is about BBM. I thought it was a free messaging service but on the Virgin Mobile website it says you have to pay £5 a month extra to have Blackberry Services activated. Is this true on other operators as I dont see anything similar on other websites but suspect it may be hidden away somewhere.

[Talker2010]

We had a capped contract with TMobile when my teen was younger

Went into CarPhone Warehouse and they had a few on offer

[Talker2010]

TBH though ... she now has limited calls and unlimited texts for about £20 and we live with the cost

[VivaLeBeaver]

Thanks, have looked at the t-mobile site and it looks like they've stopped doing that tariff.

[Talker2010]

I think Orange was an option also

[Talker2010]

Dolphin 10 from Orange sounds like a very good deal

[VivaLeBeaver]

Dolphin does look good. Unsure if it includes bbm or not though. I think I'm going to have to do the rounds of the phone shops and compile a spreadsheet as I go!

[Theas18]

I feel like a right old stuck record, but have a look on MSE mobile phone forum and have a look at the "adults" who have come to grief with huge bills on contracts they didn't understand and just have a think about whether it is really wise for an 11yr old to have one......(just read that your DD isn't even 11 yet - jaw drops!).

It is YOU who holds the contract and YOU who pays when it is nicked at school/pickpocketed in town etc etc or just plain falls out of her pocket. You will be liable for debts she runs up/ others run up as a "joke" and also debts run up after it is nicked and before she realizes or before she's brave enough to tell you (eg " i was sure it was in my locker so I didn't tell you I lost it on friday" when it is monday). It is YOUr credit rating that is at risk.

You will not be covered by phone insurance (they are slippery beggars anyway) because when she is in possession of the phone YOU aren't and you are the person the phone is insured to be with...

Capped contracts are rare now and expensive if you can find them. T mobile Ufix doesn't exist anymore I don't think.

Do you really want your not yet 11yr old having internet access to do what they like with, view what they like and send what info they like?? Cyber bullying is very very common (ditto phone bullying) .

Dunno, maybe my kids are odd (yes OK they are!!) but they have had a reasonable P+G phone (never costing more than £50 eg DS 15 has a tocco lite- he likes it, he isn't bullied for having a "naff phone" but neither is he terrified to use it in public ). The eldest now has a pay monthly SIM in my old iphone 3g, but she is 18, the other 2 have O2 P+G sims- top up £10 get unlimited free txts for a month. They don't access the web from their phones (well DD1 can she has included net).

Your money, your child etc etc but at least do it knowing how deep the potential pitfalls are and read the MSE mobile forum.....

[caughtinanet]

Have you seen this deal - I think you can have unlimited texts as the free booster it thats what your DD uses most and you can have online access to the account so you can check every day to make sure she isn't going over the limits.

I think you have to pay extra for the BBM service on all contracts but its worth it if a lot of your DD's friends have Blackberries.

[caughtinanet]

oops, forgot the link

www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/blackberry-curve-9300/

[VivaLeBeaver]

Thanks, that looks like a good deal.

Theas18 - I know you're right and the idea was always to get a PAYG deal but it seems about half the price to get a contract. I'm planning to just do the contract for 12 months and then switch to PAYG. Saves having to fork out for the phone upfront and hopefully will work out OK as she has the contract while she's in Yr6 so I can keep a closer eye on usage as she can't take it to school, etc.

It was my DH who unknown to me promised her the Blackberry. He never thought to discuss it with me first, I can't say I was overly impressed but it does seem to have done the trick with getting her to revise.

[kylesmybaby]

may have changed but when i got my blackberry there were no 12 month contracts. nearly all the ok tariffs were over 3 years. think its cos the phone is so exepnsive they need to get their money back. vodafone

have just hit me with a £250 bill for going over my minutes. i have 1200 and rarely ever use even half of them. they didn't send any text or phone me to let me know. just happily charged by an extrea £200!! i am soo livid to say the least. how hard is it to send you a text ! to make it worse when i explained it didnt come out of my account and i really couldnt afford it. due to the fact i never used most of my minutes fopr past 14 months could i pay it over a 2 or 3 month period - but no they have to try to take it out of the account and only when the bank refuses do they want to talk about payment plans!

i will leave vodafone just as soon as i can!

[VivaLeBeaver]

I've just found a 12 month plan with Virgin, only available to Virgin Media customers which I am. £15.99 a month for 75 mins, 250 texts, 500mb data.

Then after 12 months the phone is ours and I'll get her a PAYG SIM.

[caughtinanet]

Viva - are you sure you get the phone free on that tariff? When I was looking at Blackberry contracts you had to pay for the phone for a 12mths contract.

I think kylesmybaby is right about the expensive phone/contract length.

[Ponders]

if you do get her a contract, make sure she knows in no uncertain terms that she must not be afraid to tell you IMMEDIATELY if she loses it, so that you can get it blocked. My (much older) DD lost her phone when out at night, stopped it next morning & over £100 of calls to Africa had been made already. (That was with Orange & they kindly only made her pay half, which was generous)

Also get a deal with insurance which will replace it if lost/stolen/damaged. It's £6-7 per month with O2 & Orange (plus a small admin charge of around £15 I think)

[VivaLeBeaver]

No you're right its not free on the 12 month contract so we're scrapping the idea of a contract now. Going to go with PAYG and it looks like 3 mobile have the best deal that I can find. Going to have to pay £170 up front for it but I'm telling DH as he promised it he can pay for it.

[caughtinanet]

Which model do you want - this one is only £120 on PAYG

www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/BLACKBERRY-CURVE-8520/?portal=GOOGLE&promo=PPCPAYM&ppc=true

[VivaLeBeaver]

DD said she wanted that model but I've had a look and think its worth paying more for the 9300. The first model doesn't have 3g but the 9300 does and for £40 more I think its worth having. Otherwise she'd only be wanting a different phone in a couple of years as it'll be so slow. I'm planning for this one to last.

[Ponders]

DS2 (18 & fairly cool!) has the 8520 & is perfectly happy with it - what is better about the 9300?

[VivaLeBeaver]

That's interesting. The 8520 doesn't have 3g connectivity and I just assumed that if you have an internet phone then you need 3g if you want to go online when you're out and about. Without 3g I'd have thought it would be very slow but maybe I'm wrong.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Ponders, could you ask your DS for me how he finds the phone if he's got no wifi connection and he wants to go online?

[Ponders]

Viva, he says it's fine for online access without wifi - as long as he's got a signal! (DD1, who has one of those HTC (?) android (?) phones agreed - network is more important than model.)

Assuming you can choose any network at this point, they both said check which has the best coverage in your area

[VivaLeBeaver]

Ponders thats brilliant, we'll get her the cheaper one. Less of a problem if she loses it or breaks it as well. Thanks for your help. Will probably go with Orange or T-mobile as they seem to have very good coverage round here.

[Ponders]

oh that's great, I'm sure she (& you ) will be quite happy with the 8520!

[ativa]

you cannot use bbm without a data plan (not available on PAYG)

dd1 has a blackberry and just uses it for texting so we only have a PAYG contract at the moment