Need cellphone plan help

[monkeyboy]

I have a 14 yr old son whom I want to be able to contact, but I don't want him yacking with his friends all day, since it will run the bill sky high. Is there such a thing as a cell phone that only places calls and receives calls from specific numbers? Like some sort of lockout feature? What about true unlimited call plans? Every time I sign up for unlimited calls the bill comes and I've been ripped off again.

[XNASA]

1. You're gonna give your teen a cellphone........

but you're gonna restrict his use of it?

That's kinda like buying him a guitar and telling him he can only use it to play Pat Boone songs.

Get him a phone and tell him if he goes past the limit that he's gonna have to pay for it, somehow.

He'll learn. They all learn.

[monkeyboy]

2. Here's the problem

You get charged for everybody who calls you, so as soon as he gives out his number to a few of his friends, they start calling him, and my bill goes thru the roof. So, it's not a matter of discliplining him.

[XNASA]

3. I have a 15 year old son myself.

He'll be getting a cell phone for his BD next month.

My son will need to learn to manage his cellphone, or run the risk of losing it

That's how it goes.

[monkeyboy]

6. Fool...

;-)

[radwriter0555]

8. Actually, I gave one to my 10 year old daughter this summer...

since she was spending whole days on the beach in a surf camp, I wanted the best way to keep in touch with her.

So by the time she gets into the tawking teenage mode, the novelty will be LONG gone.

And she's heard the horror stories, from our friends with the 13 year old and the $390 phone bill. Then that 13 year old wanted a motorcycle and her dad pointed out that her phone bill was the money for the bike.

[SoCalDem]

11. My friend got a $1,300.00 cell phone bill for his daughter's phone

last month..

Get him the prepaid kind.. It has a limit.. Most phones will allow 911 calls even if they have no minutes left on them..

[radwriter0555]

7. You want him to 'learn' with a $390 phone bill? Nope....

pre-paid is the ONLY way to go.

[Skip Intro]

4. Lots of things to consider

First, where will he be using the phone?

A lot of carriers require you be on their network, whithin a certain region or area (statewide, for example) in order to be on your plan, otherwise, you're charged roaming fees. So make sure he's going to be where he needs to be for the plan to be in effect. Be very careful about carriers that require you be on their network only. Ask to see a map.

Secondly, how many of the plan's minutes are "peak" and how many are "offpeak?"

Carriers advertize 5200 minutes for $30 or whatever, but only 200 of those minutes may apply during peak times, while 5000 may apply during nights and weekends (offpeak).

I don't know what is available where you live, but, if anyone else in the family is going to get a phone as well, Alltel, at least in my area, has a plan I think would work for you, and if its not available, look for something like this: A family plan that gives you and the second line unlimited mobile to mobile usage and make sure its anytime usage. Also, make sure the areas the phone(s) will be used will be covered by the plan. Alltel, at least here in SC, will allow a home land-line phone to be part of that unlimited usage - meaning you could call him (or the other phone) from home and usage would be unlimited (assuming the cell phone is in the covered area).

- Roaming: Look for a plan that allows the cell phone to be used in the area it will be used in. Don't go with an all-digital carrier unless you're sure he's going to be "on network." (All-digital is limiting as well, look for a carrier that will allow digital service where available, and analog service where digital is not available (rural areas ususally) - without an extra charge.

- Long Distance: Make sure that calls to/from the phone won't rack up long distance charges (if you're talking about using the phone in the same city you sign up in, that shouldn't be a prob., but make sure),

- Minutes: And make sure you aren't dazzled by some ungodly amount of minutes that hide the fact only a few are for certain times. On the flip side, unlimited plans generaly have very restictive LD or Roamning requirements.

You should be able to get a free phone, free activation, and a ton of local usage in a broad enough area to meet your needs for a good monthly price, especially with the holiday season about to crank up. I would definitely wait to see what's being advertised just after Thanksgiving.

And there's always the pre-paid option - but airtime is usually a good bit more expensive with those plans, tho you can't "go over" your minutes.


Sorry, didn't mean to write a book here. I used to do this for a living, and I've seen so many people wind up with bills for several hundered dollars because they didn't get what they thought they were getting. Hope this helped some...

What part of the country are you in?

on edit: There are two carriers where I am that offer "free incoming" calls. Thing is, both of these are digital only, which in this area, can be a drawback.

[Heddi]

5. Try a pre-paid phone

Most of the major celphone dealers offer this.

You buy, say, $25 worth of service at a time (usally per month, or per billing cycle).

Once he hits $25 worth of calls, the phone is shut off until you purchase more air-time.

There are good unlimited call plans, but they 'get you' for the times that the calls are unlimited---our plan has unlimited nights & weekends, but nighttime doesn't start until 9pm local time---which we didn't realize until we ran up $80 worth of calls that all originated at 7 and 8pm.

Also, for TRUE unlimited calling (no time limit on when the 'unlimited' time starts/ends), you're really going to pay through the nose.

If you're concerned about his responsiblity using it, start off first with the pre-paid calling plan.

Also, if the use of the phone is primarily to be in contact with YOU, keep an eye on the number of incoming and outgoing calls that are made on the phone, and only allow him to 'have' the phone when he's in a place that he would need to call you (no using the phone when he's at home, in his bedroom, yakking to friends, and you're downstairs cooking dinner).

As far as I know, there isn't a way to block phone numbers, or only allow certain phone #'s to be dialed on celphones (I tried to get some #'s blocked from our phone, but the co. wasn't able to do it)

[agates]

9. Look for a truly unlimited minutes plan

There are some out there. The only way to go for a teen. There is a local provider here that charges a flat rate (just over $30 per month) for unlimited minutes -- day, night, any time. Text messaging is an extra $5 per month. The downside is no long distance and no coverage outside the metro area. Check around, you might find a similar deal. Ask other parents of teens in your area.

[brook]

10. Get him a trac phone...

It's prepaid. Assuming he's not gonna be crossing state lines, there's no roaming and no day vs. nite restrictions. You can pick them up -and the prepaid cards at Staples. That way you can limit his monthly bill by choosing which card you buy. He'll soon stop giving out the # if his friends use up his minutes before the month's out. They also have a deal on a year's worth - probably not enough minutes for a teenager - but you might check it out also.

I've had mine for 3 years and love it.