Mobile Phone plans. Which one??

[Charliewool]

After a couple of years of Pre-paid, my 16 yr old daughter wants to go on a plan. She currently spends around $60 a month on pre-paid.
She has shopped around extensively, Telstra, optus etc.
Anyhow she's settled on a $49 plan with "3".
The plan gives up to $200 worth of calls a month for cap of $49! You also pay $10.50 per month (24 months) for the actual phone, and $3 per month for online entertainment or sports pack.
Why this affects me, Is because, naturally, I'm the guarantor!
Is there anything I've missed with this "3" mob, because, really it all sounds too good to be true?

[davocol]

Hey Charlie, a couple of things about 3 is there actual rates are fairly high and you tend to use much more of the cap however coming from a prepaid plan she probably wont notice this to much. The other thing with 3 is they drop out a lot hence spending more on flag fall if there is one, oh and finally there phones are either massive or have no functionity this may have changed though. Apart from that go for it

[paul7v7]

i am currently with 3. Have been for 2 years nearly..although I am not on a plan, bought the phone outright so yeah my average bills are $3 or $4. My mates are on it as well so any time the first 10mins are free to another 3 mobile. Their service at the start was pathetic but recently Telstra has joined with them and my reception is great. The phone i have now is good the LG8110, no probs with it, i upload stuff from the computer. This saves a shiteload of money from downloading it from them. Oh yeah their customer service is as useful as a one legged man in an **** kicking contest.

[MYVYSS]

ENSURE that you have coverage in your area their coverage is still a little weak and they have a large number of black spots...I have a friend on the "99" cap and yet they still seem to get a bill for around the 150 a month mark with calls that are NOT included in the cap...also check to see if they are charged for taking and storing Photos with the phone...apart from that and the fact that customer service from them sucks big time...they are not too bad

[M14A-Mclaren]

3 network is a 3G Network only isnt it? so you have to buy a UMTS phone?

[Pik0]

Im with Vodaphone, for $49 a month i get $230 worth of calls, its awsome as you really dont have to worry about going over ( i cant seem to get over $200) and even if you do go over you have to buy another card it wont charge you more, its an aswome plan but you have to bring you own phone though, which doesnt bother me, as i found a place to get them $200 or more bellow retail...

[Kryton]

also check to make sure that the word CALLS also includes TEXT MESSAGES. if it doesnt then your gonna be up for more than the original $50.

[paul7v7]

oh yeah make sure you read the fine print and unerstand everything...not down everything the person in the store says. we were promised extra chargers and batteries from the store in knox but when we called 3 to confirm it they knew nothing about it.

[M14A-Mclaren]

Originally Posted by paul7v7

oh yeah make sure you read the fine print and unerstand everything...not down everything the person in the store says. we were promised extra chargers and batteries from the store in knox but when we called 3 to confirm it they knew nothing about it.

Couldnt you have gone down to the store and busted some ***?

[paul7v7]

Originally Posted by M14A-Mclaren

Couldnt you have gone down to the store and busted some ***?

we did...we told them to take care of it...we eventually got something....but it was still a pain.

[M14A-Mclaren]

Thats good then, What phone did you buy?

[paul7v7]

orignally the brick NEC 606 or something like that, it was a big phone now i have the LG8110 much better.

[M14A-Mclaren]

Originally Posted by paul7v7

orignally the brick NEC 606 or something like that, it was a big phone now i have the LG8110 much better.

Nice, I'm a Sony Ericsson V800 on Monday, won't be able to use the 3G services until Vodafone launch there 3G service here.

[deesun]

I guess you know your daughter better than most but there are plenty of stories around about young kids her age ending up with huuuuuuuuge bills because they can't controll their spending,or don't know how much they are spending till they get the bill by which time its too late, and guess who pays then? Good Luck.

[paul7v7]

Originally Posted by M14A-Mclaren

Nice, I'm a Sony Ericsson V800 on Monday, won't be able to use the 3G services until Vodafone launch there 3G service here.

bah 3g is a ****...i haven't used it ever...no need to..

[M14A-Mclaren]

Originally Posted by paul7v7

bah 3g is a ****...i haven't used it ever...no need to..

On the 3 Network maybe, I've heard from the Vodafone UK 3G users that its really cool, bit expensive maybe. I dont know shit about the 3 network and how different it is.

[lukey]

3s contracts and call rates are good but their phones are shit. One of my friends has had to take hers back 3 times to get repaired and another has had it stuff up once. And even after her having it fixed 3 times you still can't hear anything she says (really bad reception, well i dont think its reception i think its the microphone on the phone), on top of that my mates gf also has the same problem that he cant hear anything when she calls.

[bindi]

Originally Posted by Pik0

Im with Vodaphone, for $49 a month i get $230 worth of calls, its awsome as you really dont have to worry about going over ( i cant seem to get over $200) and even if you do go over you have to buy another card it wont charge you more, its an aswome plan but you have to bring you own phone though, which doesnt bother me, as i found a place to get them $200 or more bellow retail...

I can attest to Vodafone. Atm all our extended family is with them, nearly all are prepaid. (My sister has a thing where she is on "no plans" where she just receives a bill but the phone is hers.)

The prepaid deals they have are pretty damn good. Sure you may pay a little more for calls but at least you have a limit and you can't exceed it. Teenagers tend to rack up HUGE bills

I also just bought a brand new phone off eBay for really cheap, cheaper than the shops.

I pay $50 for two months and get 120 free sms to any network, and a few hours free talk time Vodafone to Vodafone. Once you recharge, any unused sms's and free talk time roll over into the next 2 months. So now I have over 10 hours free talk time. I am thinking about that $49 maxicap but I don't really know if I'd use that much in a month.

I have put my kids on Vodafone prepaid as I don't want to be faced with the mess of a $200 bill.

The other thing I like about Vodafone is that they are the ONLY network that refuses to lock phones, so you can buy a prepaid phone from Dick Smith or wherever and put in any other network sim and it will work straight away. You do not have to pay to unlock it.

[M14A-Mclaren]

Vodafone not lock phones? they lock phones into their network, Sharp GX30 and SE V800 are 2 I know of, and when you buy a phone not locked into them from their stores they usually put their on crappy looking firmware on it.

[Twisted]

Im with Optus on a $79 a month capped plan. I pay the $79 and get $500 worth of calls and sms. Not too shabby at all.

[MRJUCY]

3 have the worst customer service of any company I've ever dealt with

[Paris Hilton]

I'm with Vodafone Pre-Paid, have been for 3 years....no complaints...
When I originally went to get a pre-paid sim I went to Optus Shop, asked for a pre paid pack, waited for a few minutes while a girl was doing nothing, the girl was just standing there and i ask her, and she goes "oh i'm with a customer" (with a really snarley voice, so i told her to giffuct and went straight to Vodafone...best thing I ever did, Vodafone gets much better reception here anyway.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by charliewool

After a couple of years of Pre-paid, my 16 yr old daughter wants to go on a plan. She currently spends around $60 a month on pre-paid.
She has shopped around extensively, Telstra, optus etc.
Anyhow she's settled on a $49 plan with "3".
The plan gives up to $200 worth of calls a month for cap of $49! You also pay $10.50 per month (24 months) for the actual phone, and $3 per month for online entertainment or sports pack.
Why this affects me, Is because, naturally, I'm the guarantor!
Is there anything I've missed with this "3" mob, because, really it all sounds too good to be true?

$60 a month?! shite!