Buying a contract phone - have no idea what im doing..

So im about to get my first contract phone from carphone warehouse and have a few questions. Ive always been PAYG so this is all new to me.

1) Lets say i get a contact at £20 a month, £0 upfront, for 24 months, do i keep the phone after this period?

2) Is the contract for the phone or the sim? As in if i brake the phone, can i put the sim in a old phone and use all the texts, data etc Also after a year, can i sell the phone, buy a new one and continue to use the texts & data

3) What happens if i go over my data, ive heard you can rack up big charges. Can i cap my usage so it stops when i go over?

4) Do i keep my number?

Thanks everyone!

Reply 1

MeerkatSwag

1) yes

2) part of the (e.g) £20 a month is you paying off the phone that you got with the contract at the start. Once you've signed the contract at car phone warehouse it's your phone, you can do whatever you want with it (including selling) and just put the sim in a different phone, the data and texts etc will still work as it would have in the original phone you got with the contract - just remember that you may have to request a new sim if you change phones that require different sim sizes (micro vs full size etc)

3) most network providers text to notify you when you've reached your quota on data etc and then you should switch your data off to not be over charged at all, but you can set it to stop working once you've used it all. Remember to switch data off if you go overseas, contracts charge A LOT more that PAYG does for that

4) yes, when you get the contract at the store tell them you want to keep the number and they should transfer it to your new sim for you, if not it's very easy to do just ring you new network provider and give them the PAC code

Hope this helps☺️☺️

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

username612415

Original post by S27

1&2) The contract is essentially a very expensive and fixed term sim plan with a free gift of a phone (apart from O2's Refresh plans, which split the cost between a phone plan and sim plan. There's probably similar schemes from other places too now, but they will specify when there's a split like this as it's part of the marketing), once you're signed up to the contract you're free to do what you want with the phone and use the sim in any compatible phone you like.

3) It varies between networks and plans, some put stop you using data when you reach you're allowance and others will let you carry on and just charge you for the extra. Always check and see what options each carrier is able to offer you, to avoid any unwanted costs.

4) Yes, contact your current provider and ask for a PAC code then when you start your new contract contact the new carrier and tell them you want to transfer your old number.