Prepaid cell phone?

shootist16

shootist16

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My wife wants to get my 12 year old a prepaid cell phone to use in emergencies. Which is the "best", by best I mean most economical. One that maybe the minutes don't expire every month.
 
I use a Virgin Mobile phone. The coverage is excellent. I have used contract carriers in the past, but for my usage levels it simply isn't economical. Minutes are like 25c. per, but 10c. per for each minute after ten in a day. Their customer service is excellent to deal with. Before Virgin I tries tracfone, and they were Horrible- I had rotten customer service (their out of India and try their best, but they often can't help and the wait times are awful, I also had billing problems.) Plus, their per minute is higher. Virgin also has a 1 year service preserver available. It's $83 at Wal-Mart or $90 online. The other option is $20 every 3 months. Also, Virgin lets you check your voice mail from a landline, so you don't need to blow minutes with that. Since she's a young girl, I assume she'll probably text message a little, even if that's not what the phone is for. Virgin charges 5 cents per message (in and out), so a little of that won't cost too much.
 
Another vote for Virgin Mobile. 18 cents a minute, minutes don't expire, and you have to add $20 every three months. I don't use a cell much, so its a great deal,

I think it's an excellent set-up for a 12-year old. Let them use the phone as much as they want....just tell them that they have to add the minutes when they run out (they just go to Best Buy and buy a $20 "top-up" card (other denominations are available)).

Seems to me like the 12-yo would get a phone and a lesson in responsibility.

(Not to imply that your 12 year old is irresponsible or needs a lesson)
 
The problem is having to add minutes every 3 month whether the expire or not trust me it is a real pain in the A** not to mention you are buying minutes you don't need.
Do you or your wife have a cell phone?
 
Chiller2 said:
The problem is having to add minutes every 3 month whether the expire or not trust me it is a real pain in the A** not to mention you are buying minutes you don't need.
Do you or your wife have a cell phone?
Click to expand...


We have a cricket phone. Unlimited minutes, but its like $40 a month. I really don't want to put that much into his phone. It would just be for emergencies.
 
I picked up a Cingular Go Phone Motorola c139 for $20 at Walmart a few months back for a friend. The phone is small, very simple, no bells and whistles, good call quality and very surprisingly good battery life. Go may not be the best value though, I haven't kept up with that part of the deal.
 
Well guys, we went with tracfone. I went to two stores and couldn't find Virgin. Tracfone seemed to be the cheapest. If it doesn't work out, we'll switch. The phone was only $14.
 
Just a thought, but most cell phones that do NOT have service on them will still be able to successfully reach a 911 operator in most parts of the country. The plan was for this to be a universal feature, and the only ones I've found that won't call 911 are a couple of pay-as-you go phones my wife had and didn't keep up the service on. I think they were from Tracfone. There are tons of used cell phones around that nobody much wants, but they're still good for calling 911 in most cases. I keep an operational spare "911 phone" charged and ready for use as needed in both our glove compartments along with car chargers for them.
 
shootist16 said:
Well guys, we went with tracfone. I went to two stores and couldn't find Virgin. Tracfone seemed to be the cheapest. If it doesn't work out, we'll switch. The phone was only $14.
Click to expand...
Hopefully your experience will be better than mine was. :cool:
 
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