Pros and cons of a pre-paid phone

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I was considering a pre-paid phone. It would be a good idea to have one to take with me when delivering meals in case of car or client problems. No matter what I look at in the way of instructions online, I just can't grasp the rigamarole of activating or paying for it. Also, I am amazed that they don't come with a charger. In addition, there aren't many stores around here that sell them outside of Dollar General and I wouldn't count on the checkout clerk for valuable advice.

Can anyone give some pointers on this?
 

I could tell you but it might work differently in the US..so I'll let others tell you.. but here in the UK... if you don't pay online , which you wouldn't, because you don't have the facility to do that ....... then you can by your time from any supermarket..or newsagent ..


Just pleased you're thinking of getting a phone a PAYG would be excellent for you.. and believe me it's very easy to set up...
 
Aunt Bea said:
Don’t overthink it.
Go to your local Walmart, they offer Tracfones and cards to add minutes.
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⬆️⬆️⬆️ Yes, this. When I first got a pre-paid phone, that's exactly what I did. Went to WM, told the dude in the tech section that I had no idea what I'm doing, and he did it all for me. Picked a cheap phone, got the card with minutes, and he loaded it for me. For years after that, it was only around $100 a year for renewal and 400 minutes. Never even needed half of that.

A few years ago, I wanted to try a smart phone (it's been in my purse, turned off for the longest time!) so I got an inexpensive Samsung and stayed with TracFone, which is still only around $100 a year for the renewal. You wouldn't be able to do that the way I did, though, Deb, because I got it from BestBuy.com with a pre-paid debit card. Every July I buy that same $100 renewal at WalMart.
 
My dad struggled for the longest trying to manage a pre-paid phone and was always getting confused over minutes and having to add new minutes etc. Not to mention the initial getting it set up and dealing with the company and the fact that it was all Android based when the rest of us have iPhones.

In the end, I just bought him an iPhone and put him on my phone plan so he could just use the phone and not worry about anything else. And by having an iPhone, then any of us children can help with the occasional tech support questions etc.
 
debodun said:
Thanks, but nothings happened yet. I may well chicken out.
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do not listen to anyone teling you it's difficult.. it couldn't be easier in all fairness.. just think of the real dumbasses that own phones.. jeez... if they can do it there's no way on this earth that you can't...

It's extrememely easy..go nto the store ask them to set it up for you.. and you walk away with a phone that will ring for you and make calls for you with no monthly bills.. and will tell you when you need to top up again.. depending on your usuage.. you could go months without having to top up £20 dollars or whatever amount you wish to add to it...

You would be kicking yourself right now, if you knew just how easy it all is... it's really important that you have a phone especially when you have a car, and might need the phone if you break down ..
 
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There are lots of prepaid no-contract options, but for many you would need a credit card.

For a long time I was on AT&T GoPhone. I paid $100/year with no data. On days that I used it I got unlimited talk and text for 24 hours and my balance was debited $2 (later $3). Once a year I added on $100 and any balance carried over as well.

I switched to Mint Mobile because I wanted a data plan and GoPhone was getting finicky to make plan alterations to. Last year I prepaid $240 for 12 months, but since I use little data I'll probably ratchet down further for the next 12 months. There are other MVNOs out there to choose from as well.

I just buy my own unlocked phones so I have a wide selection and can find the right price.

Those cash-based prepaids are what are known as "burner" phones. What is a burner phone, and when should you use one?
 
hollydolly said:
do not listen to anyone teling you it's difficult.. it couldn't be easier in all fairness.. just think of the real dumbasses that own phones.. jeez... if they can do it there's no way on this earth that you can't...

It's extrememely easy..go nto the store ask them to set it up for you.. and you walk away with a phone that will ring for you and make calls for you with no monthly bills.. and will tell you when you need to top up again.. depending on your usuage.. you could go months without having to top up £20 dollars or whatever amount you wish to add to it...

You would be kicking yourself right now, if you knew just how easy it all is... it's really important that you have a phone especially when you have a car, and might need the phone if you break down ..
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Debodun I must endorse Holly's post. Technology and me are not in the least bit compatible. All the same a phone was important, I didn't go online to buy it, I wouldn't know how, but I did find a phone store who helped me through the process. Helped? They more or less did everything.

The phone came with a credit-size card, I present that card at the local supermarket, pay ten pounds and simply forget about it. When I need to pay again I get a text from the phone people giving me five days to buy further credit. As Holly describes, it's that easy. When I say that technology and me are not compatible, that's putting it mildly. I have yet to send an email, I have yet to buy anything online, it just goes over my head, and the best part is.....................I am a university graduate.
 
horseless carriage said:
Debodun I must endorse Holly's post. Technology and me are not in the least bit compatible. All the same a phone was important, I didn't go online to buy it, I wouldn't know how, but I did find a phone store who helped me through the process. Helped? They more or less did everything.

The phone came with a credit-size card, I present that card at the local supermarket, pay ten pounds and simply forget about it. When I need to pay again I get a text from the phone people giving me five days to buy further credit. As Holly describes, it's that easy. When I say that technology and me are not compatible, that's putting it mildly. I have yet to send an email, I have yet to buy anything online, it just goes over my head, and the best part is.....................I am a university graduate.
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..agreed.. and Deb, despite her horror of all things technical was a Research Biochemist, if I remember rightly .... a very intelligent lady....
 
I recently bought a PAYG phone. I didn't want to, but Tesco is discontinuing its 3G network so I needed a 4G phone. Unlike my last Nokia, this one's a real pain. No instruction manual or charger, so setting it up was confusing. Even the downloaded instruction manual was useless. I swapped the sim from my old phone, but it kept showing 'insert sim'. Eventually I realised that it was a dual Sim phone and it was working perfectly.
 
Capt Lightning said:
I recently bought a PAYG phone. I didn't want to, but Tesco is discontinuing its 3G network so I needed a 4G phone. Unlike my last Nokia, this one's a real pain. No instruction manual or charger, so setting it up was confusing. Even the downloaded instruction manual was useless. I swapped the sim from my old phone, but it kept showing 'insert sim'. Eventually I realised that it was a dual Sim phone and it was working perfectly.
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but it is actually very easy to set up... and Deb only needs to get the store to set it up for her, and after that she only has to charge it she need do nothing else with it
 
debodun said:
I also saw this, but don't understand what it means:
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A SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is just a tiny memory card that it's sole purpose is to store your account information, such as your phone or network plan. All cell phones require them.

Now to answer your original question, I think you would be better of with a low cost phone, you may be able to get one for free is you are on SS Retirement, Disability or SSI, plus a few other programs like Food Stamps, etc. The reason I say that is I had an AT&T GoPhone and supposedly had a 10¢ a minute plan. I usually paid $25 every three months, and if you have money left over when you had to pay them again and IF you paid them before your three months ran out you could keep the extra money, up to $500. My Wife forgot to pay the bill when we had $455 balance and we lost it.

But the primary reason I don't like pre-paid phones is I had over $50 balance on my phone when I woke up in the hospital in 2023. Thinking that the plan was still the same 10¢ a minute plan, I called my daughter to help her get things in our house moved. (The contents, not the house...) I was on the phone with her for two hours. At 10¢ a minute plan, that would have been $12. But the next time I went to call her it said the balance was 25¢. AT&T had changed the plan to 35¢ and had not notified me. The phones were in Cindy's name and they sent a notice to her in email, but she had passed away two months before.

I had no wallet, no credit cards, no money, no other phone, and no way to pay my bills, etc., as I did all that on my PC, which was at home in Eureka. I was in Sabastopol, about 45 north of San Francisco. I had plenty of money, but I had no access to it. After my daughter tried to call me several times and got the "The person you are calling is not answering" message, she called the hospital. They transferred the call to my room, but I couldn't reach the phone since I was effectively tied to the bed with a high flow O2 tube, probe wires, and a catheter. (I couldn't get out of bed for two months, and I hated it!)

So when they left Eureka in the U-Haul with our stuff, they stopped at the hospital on the way to Bakersfield. My daughter brought me a cell phone, and said I could call anywhere in the US or Canada for free, and talk as long as I wanted to. She said she had an unused line on her phone and set it up for me.

Anyway, my point is that if you have a pre-paid phone, get it in your own name, make sure you pay the bill before your time expires. But a line of your own would be better. You should look into Lifeline service. If you qualify, you can get a cell phone for free... And ya cain't beat that price.
 
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Aunt Bea said:
On the bright side, if everyone else carries a cell phone you don’t really need one. 😉
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That's worked for me! The one and only time I've wished I had a cellphone was a few years ago when my husband had dropped me off for jury duty, then I got cut, and needed to call a cab to get home. In the whole court house there wasn't a single pay phone or open office. A nice young man (the only other person who was cut) was happy to call a taxi for me. He was very cute and we bonded over our mutual sense of rejection. Think what I would have missed!
 

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