Help me get a <Gasp> Pre-paid <Gasp> cellphone for my son

[MisterJackson]

The irrelevant stuff:

Scenario: I have full custody of my seven year old son. My ex is a cr@zy b1tch (need I say more). Well, he needs a way to contact me in case of emergency when he's with her on the occasional "every other weekend" that she does actually visit him.

I'm only doing this because, despite court orders, she tells him "No" when he asks to call me. I've checked with my attorney, and I have every right to do this since she is violating the court order anyway.

I would get him a regular phone but I think she's spitefull enough to break or lose it.


The relevant stuff:

So, who's got the best deal on these? I'd prefer a flip phone for him.

Also, can I buy a used one on Ebay and use it even if it's from a different area code and such? Or is it best to just buy new?

And are all "Recharge cards" about the same in cost?

Thanks.


Edit

The reason I ask about Ebay is I have $40 in credit to burn there. I'm still not 100% clear on if I buy a phone via Ebay from California if it will work in SC? Are they just nationwide, or are they specific to certain coverage ares?

Forgive my stupidity if this is a commonly known thing.

 

[Drakkon]

the tracfones can be passed around like nobodies business seems like...so long as you have the ESN you can put minutes on the thing, all it takes is a recharge card.

 

[dman]

tracfone has refurb deals everynow and then. Otherwise you are still looking at $50+ for the phone and then airtime cards.

here, 100minutes and phone for $29.99 linkage

 

[Kelemvor]

Main question is how often woudl he use it? If it's just for emergencies and not much talking, you can go with something like Virgin Mobile. I pay $20 every 3 months which rocks. Of course if I talk a lot in a particular time frame, I just put in $20 ahead of time and the counter resets. If he will be talking a lot then I'm not sure.

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: dman
tracfone has refurb deals everynow and then. Otherwise you are still looking at $50+ for the phone and then airtime cards.

here, 100minutes and phone for $29.99 linkage

Thanks, looks good. I might do this if I can't find a good deal on a flip version.


Any good deals on flip phones?

 

[Princefield2040]

wow dude that sucks. That must be one crazy bitch u impregnated

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: Princefield2040
wow dude that sucks. That must be one crazy bitch u impregnated

I'm still working on a book deal and movie rights 😉

Thanks for the advice all. Feel free to give more if you have it.

The reason I ask about Ebay is I have $40 in credit to burn there. I'm still not 100% clear on if I buy a phone via Ebay from California if it will work in SC? Are they just nationwide, or are they specific to certain coverage ares?

Forgive my stupidity if this is a commonly known thing.

 

[Hav0k99]

With prepaid be sure to read ALL the fine print. That's all I got to say.

 

[apac]

Originally posted by: Hav0k99
With prepaid be sure to read ALL the fine print. That's all I got to say.

If you surpass your allotted minutes we will immediately transfer you to the nearest 1-900 number for your enjoyment at 19.99/minute, in addition to our standard 9.99/minute surcharge. Thank You!
/very very very fine print

 

[notfred]

Are there any of these prepaid providers that have minutes that DON'T expire? If I buy $20 worth of minutes, I want to use them until I run out of minutes, not for 30 days, or 90 days, or whatever.

 

[cronos]

if you want a cheap prepaid phone, get a prepaid from here (you can't get there from attwireless.com homepage, that's a direct link). get the $9.99 refurbished version. it's cheap and it's good, it looks like new. you really can't beat $9.99 with free next day shipping. the only bad thing is that the lowest package that they have is $20/month, which will expire unless you refill it.

another alternative is to look for a (i'm assuming that you have Cingular in your area) cheap Cingular GSM phone on Ebay and find Cingular KIC GSM starter kit either also at Ebay, or at your local Cingular store (they might still sell it or they might not). the phone price and the starter kit might be more expensive, but the $20 refill is good for three months.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: saxguy
if you want a cheap prepaid phone, get a prepaid from here (you can't get there from attwireless.com homepage, that's a direct link). get the $9.99 refurbished version. it's cheap and it's good, it looks like new. you really can't beat $9.99 with free next day shipping. the only bad thing is that the lowest package that they have is $20/month, which will expire unless you refill it.

another alternative is to look for a (i'm assuming that you have Cingular in your area) cheap Cingular GSM phone on Ebay and find Cingular KIC GSM starter kit either also at Ebay, or at your local Cingular store (they might still sell it or they might not). the phone price and the starter kit might be more expensive, but the $20 refill is good for three months.

What is the best deal on pre-paid that Cingular has? I used to have an account with them ..was paying like $50 a month and just did not use it enough to justify the cost. I had like a million minutes of time on the roll over plan. I felt bad giving them up too but again I just was not using it.

Id really like to buy like 1000 min at a good price and be able to use them whenever I want. The odds are is that 1000 min would last me 6 months to a year or even more.