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What recommendations does anyone have for a SIMPLE, large numbers cell phone for a 90 year old who has never had one? My FIL has refused to get one despite all around him, including his 85 gf, telling him he should. We decided it would make a good 90th birthday present. He still drives some (a different topic for later) so we just want him to have it for emergencies. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions welcomed!
Stress the need to just have one.
He could fall in the house accidentally and can not get up.
His car could have a flat tire 2 miles from home = a long walk, and even worse if it happened after dark.
Other reasons to just have a basic one.
I dont care what they tell you .YOU DONT HAVE TO SIGN NO STINKIN CONTRACT FOR HIM TO GET A PHONE,,
Do you know of any good deals available today on pre-paids (whether or not you need a contract)? My husband and I have 2 dumb pre-paids - no contracts (in fact - the companies would probably prefer that we let our service lapse). I'm on Boost - my husband is on T-Mobile. Because we use our phones so little - I now pay $10/quarter and my husband pays $10/year - just so we don't lose our current plans - both of which were discontinued for new customers a long time ago. Robyn
Yes, exactly, for the safety reason more than anything else. Driving is another topic, he's cognitively with it and only does the minimal driving necessary now days. Has a car up north and one in Florida. Sure beats the days when he was around 80 and still diving to Florida...in a Kia....on I-95. That drove me up a wall until he stopped that. No, no blue tooth enabled, but won't even go there (I haven't even figured that out yet). We want something simple, no bells or whistles, although the story about going past the minutes/month is a good one to remember. What I really foresee is him forgetting to charge it, but I think his gf will watch for that. She's cell phone savvy and will know. Thanks for the ideas. It's what I was wanting.
Blue tooth is actually kind of easy if you have a blue tooth car and a blue tooth phone. Just follow the directions in your car manual and your phone manual. My husband - who is usually pretty awful at this kind of stuff - was able to set up his phone on the car system very easily. I think the secret is making sure all your hardware is compatible (easy to make things work together if they're compatible - next to impossible if they're not). Robyn
Do you know of any good deals available today on pre-paids (whether or not you need a contract)? My husband and I have 2 dumb pre-paids - no contracts (in fact - the companies would probably prefer that we let our service lapse). I'm on Boost - my husband is on T-Mobile. Because we use our phones so little - I now pay $10/quarter and my husband pays $10/year - just so we don't lose our current plans - both of which were discontinued for new customers a long time ago. Robyn
Robyn
The catch is a cheap phone, cheap montly rate, and no long term contract. All 3 have to be considered. My issue was many of the cheap monthly plans and no long term contract services was they required an expensive upfront phone purchase such as Jitterbug. I went with TracFone as I felt they were good on all three.
I ask, what is wrong with keeping the ones/plan you already have? Do they not have to honor it? If so, then keep them until you have to deal with it as I do not believe you may find a better plan for your requirements.
My TracFone deal is no longer available to a new purchasers but as long as I keep my present TracFone phone, they honor the plan.
The catch is a cheap phone, cheap montly rate, and no long term contract. All 3 have to be considered. My issue was many of the cheap monthly plans and no long term contract services was they required an expensive upfront phone purchase such as Jitterbug. I went with TracFone as I felt they were good on all three.
I ask, what is wrong with keeping the ones/plan you already have? Do they not have to honor it? If so, then keep them until you have to deal with it as I do not believe you may find a better plan for your requirements.
My TracFone deal is no longer available to a new purchasers but as long as I keep my present TracFone phone, they honor the plan.
Hope this helps.
The phones my husband and I have are old - and didn't cost us a lot (DH has an old flip Nokia that cost about $25 - I have an old Motorola "contractors' phone" - bought it for about $50 after I killed a couple of non-waterproof phones). Our plans are cheap - and no longer available. Won't change unless our old plans are discontinued. Robyn
I just ordered a Jitterbug. Upfront cost is $150-ish. $99 for the phone, $10 shipping, $35 activation fee, whatever. The 2nd plan is 200 minutes a month for $20. $25 with tax and fees. Double minutes for life.
Just to update, we ended up buying the cheapest flip phone with decent size numbers we found at Verizon and then added him to my plan as a family plan now. Turned out cheaper than their senior plan. DH plugged in all the numbers he needs for quick dial, wrote up instructions and sent it out. Word we got back is he wants to give it back. We will be down to Florida over the long weekend in January so will deal with it at that time. We want him to keep it. If he doesn't want it or use it, it probably won't be a waste either as my DH phone is a company phone and he is looking at a semi-retirement this coming summer, cutting back to part time. While he'll still have the company phone, this one may eventually be for his own use anyway.
Some folks will likely never get comfortable with cell phones. I might be one of those people. I truly despise them. I'm going to force myself to like this Jitterbug.
Am also getting a cell phone for the first time, and have pretty much decided on Consumer Cellular, which are top rated by Consumer Reports, and after buying the phone 15 bucks a month seems pretty good for my needs. www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375644,00.asp
Just to update, we ended up buying the cheapest flip phone with decent size numbers we found at Verizon and then added him to my plan as a family plan now. Turned out cheaper than their senior plan. DH plugged in all the numbers he needs for quick dial, wrote up instructions and sent it out. Word we got back is he wants to give it back. We will be down to Florida over the long weekend in January so will deal with it at that time. We want him to keep it. If he doesn't want it or use it, it probably won't be a waste either as my DH phone is a company phone and he is looking at a semi-retirement this coming summer, cutting back to part time. While he'll still have the company phone, this one may eventually be for his own use anyway.
I was just getting ready to tell you to try that. Add him to your plan. I just got the Verizon 65 and over plan today. Its $30.00 a month.
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