Best pay as you go tarrif for almost 10 year old DS please

[Puffinlover]

Planning to buy him a basic phone, for keeping in touch when he's out with friends which I guess will start happening next year (eek!). He has iPod touch for camera, Internet, games etc so phone will just be texts and calls. Any help appeciated!

Mind if I budge in? I'm looking at the same thing.

I finally decided on the phone (the best one I can get for free with clubcard vouchers) but the PAYG info is a bit overwhelming. I've always been on a contract so don't really know what I'm looking for.

I like giffgaff for mine but then all the family are on it and it is free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts so for £5 every three months each we can keep in contact. If you are on a different provider you might be best looking to them though.

Giff Gaff

here

giff gaff.

£10 gets unlimited texts, 1000 mins and quote a bit of Internet use too.

Never even heard of Giff Gaff. Thanks will check out link. Any others worth looking at?

Tesco is quite good. If you top up with £10, they add an extra £10 or £20 or something.

We buy everything possible from Tesco though, for the Clubcard points.

Another for giffgaff. You can pay monthly instead of PaYG called goody bags. You can set up a standard 'goodybag' per month, that you can cancel at any time, or pick and choose each month. I had a problem with two payments being taken out of my accounts so emailed them and hey presto it was sorted.
Whatever happens don't go for Three mobile. They are USELESS.

You see up there futureforward, the very first post on the thread?

That's where the OP explains why they want their soon to be 10 year old to have a phone.

How on earth did you miss it?

Does it have to be payg?

Mine have contracts on 3, £12 per month, with 200 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited Internet... And the best bit? You can cap their bills so they cannot go a penny over :)

Nope, you're still not getting it futureforward....

It's for when he is out and about with his friends. Parks etc where kids hang out don't tend to have landlines. Neither of our nearest leisure centres have a payphone nor the cinema. All places where 10/11 year olds start going with their mates once they are being allowed their first taste of freedom.

P.S. good luck with denying your children a mobile until they are 16.

Mine need to be getting themselves to and from secondary school, via public transport/occasional lifts etc from 11 and I'll want them to be able to contact me just like most adult public transport users can if a bus is delayed/missed etc.

Giff gaff is good but check your O2 coverage before deciding it will definitely be a good idea (it is rather patchy where we live which isn't in the middle of nowhere). 3 generally have good coverage but customer service is not exactly one of their main selling points.

Giff gaff all the way.

We're all on giff gaff here too.

Tesco, they triple your credit so if you put £10 on you get £30. They have deals where you get squillions of texts for a fiver too.

futureforward - dd is 11, just started secondary school, walks home with a group of friends but on a monday she stays for art club so is on her own at home time, plus now it is getting dark earlier. at least with a mobile, i can contact her and she can contact me if she needs to, so as others have said, good luck with holding out till 16

oh, and we're also giffgaff, £5 a month goody bag. giffgaff piggybacks on the 02 network, so just check it covers your area first.

I'd say good luck too futureforward. Not sure my boys secondary has a payphone. They'd not be able to let me know they have to stay for music rehearsal, sports etc....

No chance in hell my kids are having mobiles until they're at least 16.

Good luck with that, then. Mobiles are practically their whole life by 16!

i know dd's school doesn't have a payphone, and most phone boxes nowadays are decommissioned. my mobile went flat at the nec a few months ago when i was supposed to be meeting someone there, i asked a lad who worked there if there was a payphone and he had no idea what i meant, and when i did find one, as suspected, it didn't work anymore.

My 12 yr old neice was involved was hit by a car... (She caught the bus to school and crossed the road near her friend's house... Thank god she had her mobile with her... My sister was alerted immediately and was able to be with her straight away. She's fine now... But times are changing... Thank god for her mobile.

Thanks all. Glad your niece is ok misslurkalot. You are totally correct Cricket - he will only be with school friends on the estate where we live initially, no phone boxes at all here, the kids tend to be at the park or between each others houses. I want to be able to call him check where he is and for him to be able to call me if he needs me! I've had a look at giffgaff and coverage seems fine here. Do you have to top up every month and does credit roll over if not used?