Mobile on Contract - can anyone help me work out what to do please?

[AtoZandbackagain]

I have a mobile phone contract with Orange that expired last week.

Orange has not been in contact to tell me what happens now, so I'm assuming that I just keep paying monthly?

The problem is that the phone is mainly used by DS. He wants to get a contract in his own namw but wants to keep the existing phone number.

It seems that when you take out a new monthly contract that you automatically get a new phone as part of that contract. DS is quite happy with his existing phone (i.e. the one he is using via my contract which has now expired). He doesn't want a new phone.

Accepting that new contract (in his name) = new phone, can I transfer the number from the contract I have to his new phone on his new contract?

What do I do with the 'old' phone that is one the 'old' (now expired) contract that's in my name?

Can I get a new SIm card or can I swap the SIM card from the phone that he will get on the new contarct in his name?

I'm totally confused and when I try to explain to the people in CarPhoneWarehouse what we'd like to do they look at me in a very puzzled way.

Can anyone please explain what we need to do?

Thank you

I think your first mistake may have been to go into the CarphoneWarehouse :)

If he doesn't want a new phone, I would look for a SIM only deal. Do you know if the handset is locked to your network? (You can get freebie SIMs from various places which would tell you the answer - you put it in, if it doesn't work, the phone is locked).

If he wants to keep the old number, that is perfectly possible as well. Whether he stays with Orange or not. So don't worry about that. (Although Orange may not be very keen on moving one of their own numbers from contract to prepaid if you ended up going down that route - I don't think they can refuse).

Which brings me to the contract. Does he actually want a contract (esp if he doesn't want a new phone)? Would he be better off with a bundle type arrangement like Virgin Mobile have?

If you do decide to keep the old phone, you can get a PAYG SIM to put in it if nothing else, most easy to do if you get an Orange one but if the handset isn't locked (or can be unlocked) you can do what you like with it, or recycle/eBay the handset.

In summary - I'd start off with what he actually wants to have, i.e.:

• no change of number
• no change of handset
• tariff at contract not pre-pay rates (presumably)

and then have a look around. I use Tesco Mobile, they are very good and they have a bunch of SIM only deals.

Tribpot

Thank you for answering. You're right - I should have avoided CPW.

He says he does want a contract - he doesn't want PAYG.

I've looked at my (his) old bills and I'm currently on Orange Dolphin 300 mins, unlimited texts and 500MB data.

His typical monthly usage is about 50 mins, hundreds of texts and about 280MB data. Cost £28

He could take out a new contract for £20.50 which will give him more than he needs + a new phone of the same sort he already has.

If we can transfer the number then I think he'd be quite happy with this.

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a 'SIM ONLY' deal. I know the SIM card is that little piece of plastic that you put into the phone under the battery - but is it the SIM card that has the number? i.e. can you put a SIM into a different phone and use the number? If he got a SIM only wouldn't he have a new number?

You can see why CPW get exasperated with me now - I'm a dinosaur.

Not a dinosaur at all - the term 'SIM only' is really a shorthand for 'deals which do not include a phone'. The SIM is the thing that is programmed with your phone number and which allows calls made to that number to be directed to the right device. If you take the SIM out and put it in a different phone, obviously the calls to the number will go to where the SIM is. However, the phone operator can very easily transfer the phone number to a new SIM and put a different number on the old SIM.

For his level of usage, I think he's paying over the odds. I mentioned Tesco Mobile above as it's the easiest thing for me to compare to but please do shop around for other deals :) Tesco's SIM only deals are here. For his level of usage he could be paying about £7.50 a month. Tesco would transfer the phone number to the SIM they would send him and he could continue to use the existing handset provided the handset itself isn't locked to the network.

Virgin Mobile look to have some similar deals.

Talk to Orange. They may be able to do a deal which transfers the existing SIM and number to a cheaper contract, in his name.I don't know if they can, as I have never tried such a thing, but I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to do that.

Yes, it looks like Orange do a Dolphin package for 7 quid as well - it does say 'for new customers'. But sticking with Orange would remove the issue of whether the handset is locked to their network and save porting the number, although this isn't difficult to do.

You want something like this. £8 a month, 300min talk, 1000 texts, 500MB data. Similar deals are available from all the mobile phone operators.

If you're moving to a non-Orange operator then you'll need to get a PAC number from Orange before you move. This is an authorisation code that Orange needs to provide before the new mobile phone operator can take over your mobile number. Just give Orange a call and ask for the PAC for the phone number.

When you set up the new contract, tell them you'll want to keep your mobile number. They'll ask for the number and the PAC and they'll sort out the rest.

I am no expert on phones at all, but have used Tesco PAYG for years, they are cheap and customer service is great IME. I have rung them several times and they have been helpful.

How old is your son and why does he want a contract?

Thank you everyone. I have learnt a huge amount from this thread - seriously!

DS is 24 and a very disorganised Aspie would never remember to top up his phone but is quite reliant on it.

Looks like SIM only contract is the way to go. I shall now be able to converse fluently in mobile-speak

Thank you all