Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 13:24:33 GMT -5
I'm not certain as to how many people pay attention to their phone bill, but one thing I'm particularly frugal about are not only device cost, but also service plans, and roaming. Canadians pay some of the highest service fees in the world, and still offer 3-year contracts where they are no longer permitted in the United States and Europe. There is limited competition, resulting in less innovation, higher prices, and poor customer service. What Canadians want are more transparent terms from carriers, the elimination of 3-year contracts, and possibly a cap on overage use (minutes, data, etc.). Rogers and Telus are, of course, hesitant. Bell's defense is that Canadians want 3-year contracts, but I find that misleading, since the only option they really give is either the 3-year term, or month-to-month which requires you pay the full cost of your phone up front. If you haven't changed your service plan in recent years, take a look at your provider's website to see if they've modernized them a bit. I'm with Virgin, and now a lot of their minutes are now Canada-wide. Call display and voicemail used to be included separately, but now they're started to include them in certain plans. In addition, if you live in a metropolitan area, I'd strongly recommend checking out independent providers such as Mobilicity, Public Mobile, and WIND. You'd be surprised at how much you get for what you pay for. There's also this: winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/sharp-differences-surface-in-crtc-hearings-on-wireless-code-1.1152303What are your thoughts? |
|
|
|
Post by franko on Feb 14, 2013 13:47:44 GMT -5
I must be one of the few Canadians who have no problem with most of the fees charged . . . though I do think that that they are on the pricey side.
Seems that people want a smart/super/I-Phone but don't want to pay for it up front. Or perhaps at all.
I'm a ****** customer and they have been very good to me. I was a **** customer and thought their service was awful, and their service reps obnoxious. I have heard tales the other way, though. I guess I've been lucky -- and I've usually been able to "come out ahead" in discussions the reps.
I do think that the fee for texting is ridiculous, and that overage costs could go down. But no one is forced to sign up for a three year term -- they do so that they can get the phone without paying for it in one go. Matt . . . how would you get around this?
As to the different carriers, I'm glad the feds decided to open up the airwaves to competition. There isn't enough [yet], but hopefully the big 3 will be forced to become real with their rates soon [I'm actually going to recommend my daughter "look elsewhere" when her plan runs out -- she insisted on an I-Phone and could not afford one outright -- and she didn't listen to her dear old dad, and got taken when she signed up at "Big-Electronics-Store Shop".
[edit: realistically, do we need computer-phones? heck, kids, wait until you get home to check your facebook page -- that'll cut down on your cost. use your phone as a phone!]
|
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 14, 2013 13:50:18 GMT -5
I'm in TO and I have Wind. It's about 1/3 to 1/2 less then the big boys and I get pretty good service. I have the $30 plan. Unlimited province wide. The smartphones are mine. For answering, I call forward to my home answering machine and as for long distance, I use G3 (1.9 cents a minute most countries and ROC). App based with one click to get their line and then the number. Unlimited data. My wife pays $40 for 6 months for pay as you go. She only has 160 minutes out but unlimited in. On our phones, we have distinct ringtones for each other so when she calls, she hangs up after 4 rings and I call her back. It sounds inconvenient but it's really less then five seconds for two clicks. If we are together and she wants to call people, she uses my phone. www.windmobile.ca/en/Pages/voice-plans.aspxwww.g3telecom.com/TalkIP.aspxMy total cell phone non-long distance cost for both of us is $36.67 a month. Cheap, effective and it works great for me. |
|
|
|
Post by blny on Feb 14, 2013 14:13:27 GMT -5
Wind has some nice options.
Eastlink just launched it's on Wireless service this year. Existing customers can bundle it with their service(s) and get a discount.
The System Access fee was always one that griped me. They 'removed' it after many years of the public lobbying. It's there in other ways now.
I've been with Bell for nearly 10 years. Service is okay. Plan is decent - if you haggle with them when renewing you can and do get discounts.
The three year contract, and the penalty for leaving are definitely things the gov't is looking at. We'll see if anything comes of it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 14:24:52 GMT -5
I do think that the fee for texting is ridiculous, and that overage costs could go down. But no one is forced to sign up for a three year term -- they do so that they can get the phone without paying for it in one go. Matt . . . how would you get around this? I prefer to use an unlocked device, and I'm not currently locked into any contract. If you're willing to stick with that phone without a desire to change your device in three years, then I say go for it. iPhones are bloody expensive; up to $900 for the iPhone 5! Even on a 3-year term, you could end up forking over $200 for it. My phone is an unlocked LG device; a Windows Phone. Recently, when I was looking to upgrade my device, the service rep told me that if I wanted to get the advertised price of $30, I would have to change my service plan to something that I didn't want. Or, I'd have to pay $280 up front. I'm not desperate to change my device, but when a good deal pops up, I look into it. When roaming, I don't use my carrier. I got a travel SIM from Roam Mobility and bought one of their service plans for a two week period. Unlimited calling and texting from anywhere within the US & Canada. With some data, it only cost me $40 total (that was their holiday promotion). It was perfect; I was able to stay in touch without worrying about my bill upon returning home. I had heard of consumers racking up bills over $1000 on roaming, even with travel packages. Data connection wasn't all that great; at best I could only get Edge. Since Roam uses T-Mobile's network, they hadn't really gotten HSPA+ set up in the area I was visiting. HA, I'm glad you're having a good experience with WIND. I've heard a lot of complaints about dropped calls and data speeds. But since they're building their network from scratch, you have to pay close attention to where you're going to ensure you get service. Have you had any particular issues with them that you had to call about? I've also heard horror stories about poor customer support when people tried to phone in. |
|
|
|
Post by blny on Feb 14, 2013 14:47:38 GMT -5
My plan, Fab 10, has unlimited texts - no roaming fees attached in North America at least. 200 mins day time. 1GB of data.
One thing the carriers did was to change the daytime calling period. It's longer now than it used to be. Some go as late as 9pm, and to get back to the 6pm it used to be requires you to buy an add-on. I don't use the phone to call much, so it's no big thing either way for me. My unlimited calls period goes from 7pm to 7am.
|
|
|
|
Post by franko on Feb 14, 2013 14:57:56 GMT -5
I prefer to use an unlocked device, and I'm not currently locked into any contract. If you're willing to stick with that phone without a desire to change your device in three years, then I say go for it. more than three years with the same phone? are you a Luddite? what's wrong with you? they market well, don't they? as long as my phone works, I'm fine -- the only reason I upgraded [or was it downgraded? I liked the phone!] was because it started turning on and off when it had the urge. wife was happy with her phone -- phone -- but I thought "what the hey, let's see what I can do" -- basically got a phone handed to me. had to have a data plan to get it free, said I didn't want one, they said "how about a $10 plan for 3 months and we'll credit you $10 a month, you can decide whether or not to keep the plan then". couldn't argue with that. she has a purdy phone and no data now, though she is using wireless when she wants to. bonus: I had talked with a rep over the phone and when I picked up the phones from the store they went over the terms, the rep said "that can't be right" . . . checked and said "boy do you have a deal" -- it was a three month commitment not the expected three years. I'm happy. but worth it! but worth it! but worth it! hear that often enough and you may even start to believe it! |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 14, 2013 18:25:42 GMT -5
HA, I'm glad you're having a good experience with WIND. I've heard a lot of complaints about dropped calls and data speeds. But since they're building their network from scratch, you have to pay close attention to where you're going to ensure you get service. Have you had any particular issues with them that you had to call about? I've also heard horror stories about poor customer support when people tried to phone in. I haven't had any problems or dropped calls. The only problem I had was when I went out of town, up into north central Ontario, I lost their service and then when I returned, it did not auto re-connect. I had to restart the phone. It turns out that I had set the phone to only recognize their service. Before that happened, I had no problem going anywhere in the major GTA corridors. As for sales, it SUCKS big time. In order to understand what I was getting, I had to ask and re-ask and ask again to build a base of knowledge. On the other hand, it's not much of an issue with me because I tend to be obsessive about "information" and very, very few salespeople know what they are talking about. As for he phones themselves, I have three Samsung S2x, 5 band phones. Unlocked and capable of connecting to 99% of the carriers all over the world. When I go to Europe, I carry my phone with me and buy daily/weekly service. They work great with WIND and so do the Nexus 4 (also 5 band). In fact, Nexus 4 has to be the best deal out there by a huge margin. Just for the record, WIND is the third largest carrier in the world. Our three sisters are a big deal here, but a joke in comparison to the rest of the carriers around the world. |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 14, 2013 18:43:34 GMT -5
I prefer to use an unlocked device, and I'm not currently locked into any contract. If you're willing to stick with that phone without a desire to change your device in three years, then I say go for it. more than three years with the same phone? are you a Luddite? what's wrong with you? they market well, don't they? as long as my phone works, I'm fine -- the only reason I upgraded [or was it downgraded? I liked the phone!] was because it started turning on and off when it had the urge. wife was happy with her phone -- phone -- but I thought "what the hey, let's see what I can do" -- basically got a phone handed to me. had to have a data plan to get it free, said I didn't want one, they said "how about a $10 plan for 3 months and we'll credit you $10 a month, you can decide whether or not to keep the plan then". couldn't argue with that. she has a purdy phone and no data now, though she is using wireless when she wants to. Amateur!  FIDO tried to keep us because......they know I am a member of HabsRus! LOL! For $42 with a smartphone, with unlimited province wide and 1 gig data for 2 years. I passed. For my wife, they offered unlimited province wide for $10. My wife kept it for the time period then migrated. Before the tablets, I didn't have a lot of data usage, but now I take the Nexus 7 everywhere with me and WiFi to my phone data, I use up 4-5 gigs a month. Damn porn files......  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 11:36:45 GMT -5
FIDO tried to keep us because......they know I am a member of HabsRus! LOL! For $42 with a smartphone, with unlimited province wide and 1 gig data for 2 years. I passed. For my wife, they offered unlimited province wide for $10. My wife kept it for the time period then migrated. Before the tablets, I didn't have a lot of data usage, but now I take the Nexus 7 everywhere with me and WiFi to my phone data, I use up 4-5 gigs a month. Damn porn files...... I generally rely on Wi-Fi, so I don' t need an awful lot of data. I keep my usage to e-mails at best, with the occasional image. Video usage will really put me over, so I try not to watch any at all. My screen's not that big either, so it's not that much use to me. It is kind of sad when companies like Mobilicity and WIND offer unlimited data with two of their three plans, where others will charge over $90 to give you 5 GB. |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 20, 2013 2:09:29 GMT -5
So why not switch to WIND?
Wait until you use a tablet! A 4.5 inch phone is kind of a pain in the butt to surf with, but with a 7 inch tablet, surf baby surf! For me, surfing can eat up half a gig. With a few youtubes, say goodbye to 1 gig. Then there is the big boss who also uses her tablet WiFi'd to my phone. So now we got about 2 gigs without even trying. So there goes all those $60 Three Sisters 1 gig plans.
BTW, in Greece, I get 1 gig PER DAY for 1 Euro plus unlimited everything else. By the month, 25 Euro for truly unlimited data and country wide unlimited calling/text. For 7 more Euros, unlimited Europe, US/Canada and a list of others. And it's WIND there too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Skilly on Feb 20, 2013 9:10:14 GMT -5
I'm with Telus for my phones .... Bell for my internet.
At home, connected to our wifi, we have unlimited usage .... not sure how much we are paying for it. We got a package where our home phone, internet, satellite, movies, pvrs, etc are all included and we pay something like $170/month. Well actually we got it for $99 for the first 6 months .... but after the 6 month it will go to $170
We have two iPhones. We are paying $5/month for 5GB of data. If we go over the 5GB of data (never have yet), our plans automatically upgrades to the next level which is 10GB for $10. The next month it will reset to the $5/month plan.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2013 20:24:44 GMT -5
So why not switch to WIND? I'm awaiting word on doctoral school applications. If I end up going to McGill, WIND won't be much use to me there as they don't have their own network in place. If I'm staying put in London, then I'll likely switch. |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 21, 2013 2:52:33 GMT -5
They cover London and spreading through Ontario and ROC, but they have zip for Quebec. WIND always seems to enter the market late and only build networks in the highest densities or the least problem areas.
In Greece, if you are in their area, great, otherwise if you travel into the small villages in the mountains, they suck. The rest of the carriers built a nationwide system. Cheap and cheerful..... selectively.
|
|
|
|
Post by franko on Feb 21, 2013 8:25:12 GMT -5
Cheap and cheerful..... selectively. the WestJet model |
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Feb 21, 2013 9:09:01 GMT -5
Cheap and cheerful..... selectively. the WestJet model HERE! HERE! I'll second that! Chapeau! |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2013 13:22:36 GMT -5
They cover London and spreading through Ontario and ROC, but they have zip for Quebec. WIND always seems to enter the market late and only build networks in the highest densities or the least problem areas. In Greece, if you are in their area, great, otherwise if you travel into the small villages in the mountains, they suck. The rest of the carriers built a nationwide system. Cheap and cheerful..... selectively. Mobilicity and Public Mobile are no different. If anything, WIND is interested in expanding in other urban centers where the former two are only interested in metropolitan areas only. I'm curious if they're limited because of restrictions with allowing foreign investors setting up networks in Canada. |
|
|
|
Post by franko on Feb 21, 2013 13:47:00 GMT -5
WIND is interested in expanding in other urban centers where the former two are only interested in metropolitan areas only. I'm curious if they're limited because of restrictions with allowing foreign investors setting up networks in Canada. I think that they are limited because they want to make money and so they are going into areas where they are pretty sure that they can [the WestJet model]. They'll expand as they win market share and have a hope of breaking even in the area. |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Feb 22, 2013 16:39:08 GMT -5
Mobilicity and Public Mobile are no different. If anything, WIND is interested in expanding in other urban centers where the former two are only interested in metropolitan areas only. I'm curious if they're limited because of restrictions with allowing foreign investors setting up networks in Canada. Judging from their model in Greece and here, I think it's their intent to only go into the lucrative high concentration areas and be a discount carrier. |
|
|
|
Post by seventeen on Feb 24, 2013 18:30:11 GMT -5
So why not switch to WIND? I'm awaiting word on doctoral school applications. That's about right. To understand the various options and exactly what you're paying for , you need a PhD. |
|
