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help - my teenager wants a blackberry and I already pay for three phones!

Looking for help or advice on a plan that includes a blackberry. i have three lines in family program that cost $153 every month for unlimited text and minimum amount of talking minutes. they don't talk, they text. I really don't want to spend any more money each month but she is really hoping for a blackberry for her birthday. any advice? any way to save money on this?

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mdram4x4

mof wrote:
Looking for help or advice on a plan that includes a blackberry. i have three lines in family program that cost $153 every month for unlimited text and minimum amount of talking minutes. they don't talk, they text. I really don't want to spend any more money each month but she is really hoping for a blackberry for her birthday. any advice? any way to save money on this?

a bb requires a data plan, add 29.99 to your bill

if she really wants it you can buy the phone, but hav her get her own plan.

explain you will only pay for a normal phone

remember who the parent is

rcschnoor

mof wrote:
Looking for help or advice on a plan that includes a blackberry. i have three lines in family program that cost $153 every month for unlimited text and minimum amount of talking minutes. they don't talk, they text. I really don't want to spend any more money each month but she is really hoping for a blackberry for her birthday. any advice? any way to save money on this?

First of all, I assume that one of the three lines is for a phone that she already has. Is this phone eligible for a discounted upgrade? If not, a BB is going to run you $300-$500. If it isn't eligible for an upgrade, and you can wait, you are going to be able to knock $300-$400 off of those prices.

Finally, replacing a regular phone on a line you already have with a BB will increase your bill by $29.99/month.

SuzyQ

mof wrote:
... they don't talk, they text. I really don't want to spend any more money each month but she is really hoping for a blackberry for her birthday. any advice? any way to save money on this?

You said "teenager" - are we talking 13, 16, 18?? IMHO, a 13 or 16 year old doesn't need a Blackberry, but that's just my opinion. The major advantage of a BB over other smartphones is its efficiency in dealing with email, and the ability to conference via BBM. You said they "text" - (and I know they do!!!). Does your teen do a lot with email? Do her friends have BB's that she would be using BBM to communicate? If the answer to these is NO, then she probably doesn't NEED a BB. She may WANT one, but if all she does is a lot of texting, then she may be just as happy with something that does awesome texting.

However, if she is 18, or 19, and working, and has her heart set on a BB, perhaps suggest you will pay for the data for, say, 3 months as a birthday gift, and she has till then to figure out how to pay for that portion of the bill after that point. In other works, if she wants the BB, then there is a cost. And at 18 or older, she xcan be responsible for that cost.

So, that's my advice. You are welcome to do what you like with it. :smileyhappy: We've got 4 kids, now 19 and 20 somethings - 2 have their own plans, 2 still on our family plan and getting the phones that WE say they will have. They know if they want more, they will pay their own bills. One daughter has the Intensity II and cares little about data; the oldest son has had every iPhone since it was introduced and has them pre-ordered so he gets it as soon as he can. But they pay their own, and can do what they like.

Canam800r

you have 3 phones,and your going to add a 4th? or are you going to replace one of the 3 phones with a blackberry phone.

you have to get the data plan with a blackberry which is 29.99 to add. if you have a upgrade u can upgrade to the blackberry,or upgrade your plan i beleive. im unsure as my knowledge on alot of the contracts is a bit off. but i would find out if you can upgrade your plan, to add a new 4th phone,or if your doing a upgrade from 1 of the 3 phones see if you have upgrades available.

If not u can always do a new contract seperately with just 1 blackberry phone. i would advice finding out before,because in my opinion i would never pay 400 or 500 for a blackberry..Its a great phone,but i dont beleive a phone is worth that much .

I do beleive tho u can upgrade your contract,and add a phone to it.i read it somewhere.goodluck hopefully a tech or someone can give u a better answer

Jax_Omen

Haha Suzy, reminds me of my own account. I have four lines, two of them are my little brother and his girlfriend. They pay me for their lines every month. He uses 200mb+ of data every month on his feature phone! (a Samsung Rant, comparable to the Intensity on VzW), she uses maybe 50mb of data on her Android smartphone (a hand-me-down Samsung Moment, comparable to the Droid Eris except with a QWERTY). Why did she get the smartphone and not him? Because she wanted it -_-;;

I can't wait to upgrade my Epic so I can give it to my little bro as a hand-me-down present.

But yeah, getting back on topic, they're young adults and they pay me for their phones every single month, on time. When they incur extra costs, like before we got a data plan, my brother didn't realize that data wasn't part of the plan and created about $15 in data charges (thank goodness it was ONLY $15!), he paid up.

If the kid wants a blackberry, or any other smartphone, make them pay for the data. Maybe give them a couple months free as part of the present, but make them pay for the data long-term. It'll help them grow into responsible adults and it'll help them realize the value of the dollar...

StreetDocRN

Hi, all,

I agree 100% with Suzy's ideas. If the teenager is going to be spending the majority of the time texting, then a feature phone is what you should consider. The Blackberry is a smartphone that specializes in sending and receiving email via push technology. The $29.99 separate data fee on any smartphone, including the iPhone and Blackberry, is something to consider, especially if you are paying the bill. Verizon has some really great feature phones that do not require the data plan that would be great for texting for your teen. You might want to check out Verizon's LG Cosmos Touch, which is a slider feature phone. It has some great ratings and would be a great phone for text messaging. Good luck,

Doc

TBhouston

buuuuut mom all my friends have blackberrys and i won't be able to send a PIN msg !!!!!

Canam800r

Di you get her the blackberry?.In my opinion if thats what she wants to know then thats all she needs to know.If her kid wants a blackberry by all means get it.Great phone for texting.I can text on my blackberry faster then u can text on a touch screen,.its a great phone.Not just for bussiness.Any phone that has a qwerty keyboard is a superb texter.Goodluck on your decision.

Besides its also good for many other things aswell.Internet,Talking on phone.Its a basic phone in my opinion.

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