How in the living fuck can I buy a phone for my kid?

[SphincterSaysWhat]

I would like to buy an iPhone 14 (or whatever) for my child (Vodafone). I don't mind paying something up front and then a contract.

This is something usually left to DH but he's being a prick and so are Vodafone, apparently. So now it's my turn. Not only am I all other department, now I'm tech - which is a shame, as I'm a total luddite.

DH looked into affordablephones.co.uk and some other website but their reviews are terrible.

Can I not just call someone and pay for, and order, a fucking phone?

How is this so hard? What does everyone else do?

Just go on the website and order one or ring them.
I dont understand why its so hard.

I bought my daughters phone off https://x2tech.co.uk/ and they have £10 a month on giff gaff which gives them unlimited calls/text and loads of data.

Brought ours a refurbished iPhone from GifGaff, arrived the next working day and she has a rolling month sim with them which gets her minutes/texts/enough data for £10 a month. Can top up extra for months in isolation ie summer holidays when she'll be on it more.

I'm not remotely tech savvy. So when I want a new phone, I go on the phone company's website, click "shop", and pick the phone I want (which you already know), pick the plan that best suits me that I can afford, and click buy. Full credit to all the ideas here for saving money by doing it all these other ways, but if you value your time over the small price difference, it's really not remotely hard.

I'd say your DH is being absurd. All this stuff about pages refreshing sounds to me more like you have a problem with your internet connection than a Vodafone website issue.

We got ours from Sky, roll data and can swap to a different phone. Customer service is good. Phone came next day.

I buy my iPhone direct from Apple, 24 interest free months, then buy a sim only deal. I'm with O2. Works out much cheaper than getting the phone with the phone company, which you're usually tied in for three years.

@SphincterSaysWhat

his response was (verbatim) "Carphone Warehouse is 1.9 stars on trustpilot. Even words than the others. Fuck this, I'm not wasting any more time on it today" lol!!

I've had 5 phones over the years from Carphone Warehouse. They've all been fine and the service was brilliant. Your husband sounds like a bit of a dick.

Second hand phone (cex) giff gaff. Rolling, easy, you can change the package. I wouldn't bother getting a recent one. There's no advantage to that.

My teens were told 'you have new iPhone tastes, but used Android budgets'.

MN tend to be very disapproving of new phones, of expensive things given to teens and of contract phones so it is a bit of a thread to get everyone worked up. In the real world, nearly every teen I know has a fancy iPhone!

But you’re not the OP. How is it relevant which phone you’d choose? That’s not what the thread is about.

MN is absolutely bonkers at times and a competitive race to the bottom on any given subject.

Tbf though I think (some!) people are giving budget suggestions because they're (or her DH is) scrutinising reviews on dodgy websites to death. If they're making such a huge desperate fuss about getting the best value for money etc, it sounds like they're looking to pinch the maximum amount of pennies?

That said, if I'm reading OP's post right (wanky school, don't care for refurbished, etc), she's possibly trying to imply that money isn't an issue... So why not cut the hassle and just get first hand from any major trustworthy retailer like Apple or John Lewis?

There's no need for all this fuss and mysticism. You buy the phone, whether physically or online, like you would a loaf of bread. Hand over the cash or credit card details, and it's yours.

Again, it's like a loaf of bread – a non-sentient object you pay for and bring home. Siri isn't going to start speaking and make you pass a test to claim ownership of her. :)

Op my friend is another Apple Household, they opted for an IPhone SE for their teen, rather than the full iphone.

Your best bet is to add another sim to your contract. Rather than a separate contract for him.

Another vote for Back Market, I've bought 2 phones off there for dd and my mum, I'll be getting my next phone from there and going sim only at the end of my contract.

This thread is brilliant. Made my day. Op, you're funny! Here for the updates

I paid £120 for a refurbished iPhone from Music Magpie. I also have a contract with unlimited minutes, text and data from Virgin that cost me £8.50 per month.

Agree. OP you sound ace!

This. Plus Smarty SIM card

All those sayng don't get the latest phone for a child, or how to do it as cheaply as possible. OP has clearly said this is what she chooses to buy and the cost is not an issue it's the how.

but OP and her DH are looking on those websites that you wouldn't generally get a current model iPhone from, I think that is what has distracted people. She didn't mention Apple which is the obvious place to get a new model iPhone from even if you know nothing about phones.

Sorry if any of the below has already been mentioned but some places to try are:

mobiles.co.uk - they seem to have reasonable deals with vodafone if you need to stick with them. I've used them a few times
idmobile - they have some reasonable deals normally but they use three's network

Both of these are owned by the currys groups which also owns carphone warehouse.

Best way to speak to an actual person with vodaphone op is to either go to the store, or ring them and select the “I want to leave” option. Amazing how quick a real person appears on the other end then. Once you have an actual human being to speak to (in person or via phone) they are really very helpful (and will often help you find how you can get your contract cheaper if you mumble a bit about swapping to another provider).

Its really not difficult. I'd be quite concerned if 2 adults couldn't manage to order a phone, or link it to your vodafone account. Maybe get the 14year old to do it of you're struggling with basic IT.
You don't only need the 'my Vodafone ' app if you're a CEO but actually to look and track your use, plan, charges etc etc but then maybe you're not bothered by that.

I went into the apple store and bought an iPhone 14 plus and it was almost £900 so not cheap... but better than buying via a contract as if you forget to change the contract at the end of the 24 months, you keep on paying for the phone even though you now own it!! (vodafone - I'm looking at you)

I use USwitch. You can filter it by how much you want to pay upfront if anything and you’ll get the best deals on there. If you’re not fussy about network, even better. Sky for example do longer contract lengths which make the monthly cost a lot less