Cell Phone Choice Revisited
Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:28PM EDT
See Comments (2)
We went for kajeet's pay-as-you-go service for our teen after all. After considering readers' comments on our decision to try T-Mobile's prepaid cell phone service, including a reminder by bkahlich that I had liked kajeet's approach to cell phones and kids, I reconsidered.
I think I thought my teen would think I was choosing a service geared toward younger kids. Then I realized that was ridiculous thinking. Kajeet, which runs on the Sprint network, offers one of the best pay-as-you-go plans I've come across, and they make the terms clear and reasonable. The company, started by three dads who aimed to simplify the confusing, expensive way most of the big carriers handle family cell phone plans, couldn't make it easier to set up monthly budgets for calls via an online wallet manager, and to check in on the accounts to make sure kids are sticking to their budgets.
Kajeet also simplifies the phone choices, offering four solid handsets ranging from $50 (LG LX150), $70 (LG 255 and Nokie 6165i) and $100 for the Sanyo Katana. We opted for the mid-range LG 255, and my 8th grade graduate is happy with it.
Kajeet charges 35 cents a day for service, 10 cents a minute for calls, and 5 cents for text messages in and out. The service also offer tons of ala carte wallpapers, ring tones, games.
The best part is there are truly no surprises. No activation or termination fees. No contract. Even the legal agreement is the clearest, best written one I've ever seen. My daughter retrieved her phone number and set up her account within a few minutes of receiving her phone. Simple. So here we go. As with everything regarding kids, this is just another leg of an interesting journey. We'll see if this plan works for her, and then take it from there.
Related:
Kajeet: A Cell Phone Service for 'Tweens
Hands-on Review: Kajeet Phone Service
Making the Leap: A Cell Phone for Our Teen
Comments on Cell Phone Choice Revisited
Post a Comment
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
-
2 Posted by virtualworlddenver on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:36PM EDT Report Abuse
Good advice - NEVER EVER get a family plan like T-Mobile. I put my son on T-Mobile Family Plan. About 10 months later he lost his phone. You would think it would be simple to just put a "hold" on his number (to prevent fraud) and consider a new phone. No way, T-Mobile wants $200 on top of my Family Plan contract. Just think how much phone a prepaid service could be bought with $200. Never ever put a teen on your T-Mobile Family Plan.
1 Posted by gotte001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:11PM EDT Report Abuse
If you like this plan, you should checck out Net10. They offer a range of phones, charge 10 cents a minute to talk and 5 cents to text and there are no other charges. As with kajeet, there is no contract and the phone constantly shows how many minutes of talk time are left. I believe that the phone runs on the Verizon network. daddio in minnesota