Cell Phone Plans

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I'm with koodo and it's a 5G plan and connection

My bad. When I was with Koodo about 5 months ago they didn't have 5G. I know for sure Fido is on 4G.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

My bad. When I was with Koodo about 5 months ago they didn't have 5G. I know for sure Fido is on 4G.

It might be recent, I wanna say mid summer maybe

[Paulie Walnuts]

I don't know about Fido, but we went to a store and Koodo was cheaper but they offer no service outside setting up the account.

You can't walk into a store for any tech help, you can't just call up either. You have to schedule an appointment for them to call you.

Normally I would say you probably don't need them much, but after this Rogers takeover of Shaw I have had to reach out many times for immediate help, and that is when they actually pick up or answer.

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

I don't know about Fido, but we went to a store and Koodo was cheaper but they offer no service outside setting up the account.

You can't walk into a store for any tech help, you can't just call up either. You have to schedule an appointment for them to call you.

Normally I would say you probably don't need them much, but after this Rogers takeover of Shaw I have had to reach out many times for immediate help, and that is when they actually pick up or answer.

Koodo's set up is not bad tbh. You log in and set up a call. Someone usually gets back to you in 15-30 minutes. I would've stayed with them if I didn't get a cheaper plan through work.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

Koodo's set up is not bad tbh. You log in and set up a call. Someone usually gets back to you in 15-30 minutes. I would've stayed with them if I didn't get a cheaper plan through work.

The lady at the store made it sound a lot worse.

This is actually better than calling in and waiting on hold for 50 minutes. You can set up a call back anyways so really what is the difference? A chance you might get someone right away.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by btimbit

It might be recent, I wanna say mid summer maybe

Yeah, a few months ago Koodo customers got access to 5G.


Even for Koodo plans that are labeled "4G", they still get access to the 5G network but it's throttled to 100 Mbps download. Koodo 5G plans go up to 250 Mbps.

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The lady at the store made it sound a lot worse.

This is actually better than calling in and waiting on hold for 50 minutes. You can set up a call back anyways so really what is the difference? A chance you might get someone right away.

Yup, it's pretty much a call back feature, and you get a text a few minutes before they call you so you don't miss them.

If you have a hardware issue with your phone I find it easier to find fixes online. Anytime I've gone into a Telus or Rogers store they look more confused than me with the issue.

So for me Koodo was pretty good. And you can save $15-30/month on your plan which is a lot over a year.

[accord1999]

For existing Koodo customers that would like more data, I've noticed that they're offering some pretty generous (by Canada standards) plans. Go to "Self-Serve"->"Overview"->"Change My Plan" after logging into your Koodo account. The $60 and $65 plans could be very useful for people who go to the US a lot as it includes roaming.

[Jimmy Stang]

I have been trying unsuccessfully to get Fido's $34 for 30 gigs offer as an existing customer with 2 lines. After an initial positive response from the agent, he then said that it wasn't available on my account, passed me over to the loyalty/retention department, who also dug in. He offered me bonus data (which I don't need - I never come close to using my existing data).

I have been a Fido customer for at least 20 years, and they usually do a decent job of keeping me around by matching existing offers very now and then. This would save me $42/month ($21 x 2 lines), which would certainly be worth switching providers for.

So what started as "I'll chat with them and see what they can do" to actually considering the logistics of jumping ship.

[Jimmy Stang]

^ Not pleased with the runaround, I tried Fido one last time, and the agent assured me that I would be getting "the same or better offer tomorrow as an existing client". I'll believe it when I see it.

I'm not the type to jump around between providers (I'm 44, and Fido is the only cell phone provider I have ever had), but I will be getting a $34 plan tomorrow from someone. I know that people play the "I'll leave" card all of the time, but there is no reason to stick around at this point.

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

^ Not pleased with the runaround, I tried Fido one last time, and the agent assured me that I would be getting "the same or better offer tomorrow as an existing client". I'll believe it when I see it.

I'm not the type to jump around between providers (I'm 44, and Fido is the only cell phone provider I have ever had), but I will be getting a $34 plan tomorrow from someone. I know that people play the "I'll leave" card all of the time, but there is no reason to stick around at this point.

Being loyal seems to be worse now a days. Companies are chasing new customers that they don't care about the loyal ones they have.

For my cell phone, tv and internet I switch every year or two to get a better deal with someone else.

[Lubicon]

Virgin also offering 30GB for $34/mo and 40GB for $40/mo. (new activations only).

[Jimmy Stang]

So on my third attempt, it appears that Fido threw a bone to existing clients. Instead of $34 for 30 gigs, they offered me $34 for 40 gigs, which is more data than I need, but the price is right.

It is unfortunate that I had to be persistent to get a fair deal, and I was totally ready to jump ship. But for now I have been placated. I'm sure that they intentionally made it only available today and not in the days leading up to Black Friday because they knew that a lot of people wouldn't bother trying to get through on live chat (it took a long time), etc.

Persistence, and the ability to switch providers easily, has actually lowered my bill a fair bit in the past 6 months. I was previously on a $65/10gb plan, then when travelling I had to chat with them about something and I casually asked about any deals, and they put me on a $55/50gb plan - I didn't need the data, but liked the reduced price. And today I got on a $34/40gb plan.

Multiply that by 2 lines (me and my wife), and I'm saving $42/month vs. yesterday, and a total of $52/month vs. a few months ago. That's a decent chunk.

[sleepingmoose]

Right now Freedom Mobile has come out with a seemingly awesome plan for those that travel a lot - $65 a month for 60GB of data with full roaming included to 73 countries. That's less than you'll pay for 60GB in Canada with a lot of providers...to have that include 73 other countries is pretty awesome.

https://www.freedommobile.ca/en-CA/roam-beyond

[GoinAllTheWay]

/\/\/\
That's actually pretty good. The roam like home prices are insane these days. Maybe this is the beginning of finally getting to true global phones at a reasonable cost? I used to be with

Freedom before going to Fido. That may make me switch back.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

Right now Freedom Mobile has come out with a seemingly awesome plan for those that travel a lot - $65 a month for 60GB of data with full roaming included to 73 countries. That's less than you'll pay for 60GB in Canada with a lot of providers...to have that include 73 other countries is pretty awesome.

https://www.freedommobile.ca/en-CA/roam-beyond

I wonder why Poland is not on the list but neighbouring countries are? If Poland was included I would have signed my mom up because she lives there for around 6 months out of the year and travels around Europe when she is over there.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

So on my third attempt, it appears that Fido threw a bone to existing clients. Instead of $34 for 30 gigs, they offered me $34 for 40 gigs, which is more data than I need, but the price is right.

It is unfortunate that I had to be persistent to get a fair deal, and I was totally ready to jump ship. But for now I have been placated. I'm sure that they intentionally made it only available today and not in the days leading up to Black Friday because they knew that a lot of people wouldn't bother trying to get through on live chat (it took a long time), etc.

Persistence, and the ability to switch providers easily, has actually lowered my bill a fair bit in the past 6 months. I was previously on a $65/10gb plan, then when travelling I had to chat with them about something and I casually asked about any deals, and they put me on a $55/50gb plan - I didn't need the data, but liked the reduced price. And today I got on a $34/40gb plan.

Multiply that by 2 lines (me and my wife), and I'm saving $42/month vs. yesterday, and a total of $52/month vs. a few months ago. That's a decent chunk.

It seems it was never a retention offer. That's the black Friday deal for Fido right now. $34 for 40 GB. It works for existing customers, it's not a new customer only deal. Not sure what the previous thing was that you were negotiating, but I've been under the assumption that retention deals have been dead for a while now for Fido. This might be in line with that assumption.

It's blowing up on RFD and it seems the Fido site is completely cratered right now. Even online support is down.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

It seems it was never a retention offer. That's the black Friday deal for Fido right now. $34 for 40 GB. It works for existing customers, it's not a new customer only deal. Not sure what the previous thing was that you were negotiating, but I've been under the assumption that retention deals have been dead for a while now for Fido. This might be in line with that assumption.

It's blowing up on RFD and it seems the Fido site is completely cratered right now. Even online support is down.

$34 for 40 gigs was something that popped up for today only. $34 for 30 gigs was the new customer offer that I was trying to get (or something similar) but as an existing customer. On Reddit, existing customers were seeming to have success getting the $34 for 30 gig deal in the lead-up to Black Friday.

So in the end, I was able to get a slightly better offer, but it only became available today, despite others having success getting similar a day or two prior to Black Friday. And even then, I had to do the live chat and ask for it - it wasn't available as a self-serve option on my account.

And you're probably right re: retentions/loyalty at Fido. When they transferred me to that "department", it was really just the same thing. "I'm only seeing these deals available for your account". The best I got was "wait until tomorrow for something similar". And I guess he was right.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

$34 for 40 gigs was something that popped up for today only. $34 for 30 gigs was the new customer offer that I was trying to get (or something similar) but as an existing customer. On Reddit, existing customers were seeming to have success getting the $34 for 30 gig deal in the lead-up to Black Friday.

So in the end, I was able to get a slightly better offer, but it only became available today, despite others having success getting similar a day or two prior to Black Friday. And even then, I had to do the live chat and ask for it - it wasn't available as a self-serve option on my account.

And you're probably right re: retentions/loyalty at Fido. When they transferred me to that "department", it was really just the same thing. "I'm only seeing these deals available for your account". The best I got was "wait until tomorrow for something similar". And I guess he was right.

Yeah, my brother and I have been trying to lower the cost of our plans. But we've been getting run arounds for a long time. That's why we've been suspecting that retentions doesn't actually exist anymore. It's a dumping ground.

We along with my mom are on $55 for 50GB plans (same account from years ago, we pay for parents phone plans). Saving $21x3 per month would be huge for us too, if we can get through and change our plans to that. I was able to swap my dad from a $45 plan to the $34 plan before the site crashed as his was on a its own account that I pay and manager.

Fingers crossed it goes through for at least that one.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I wonder why Poland is not on the list but neighbouring countries are? If Poland was included I would have signed my mom up because she lives there for around 6 months out of the year and travels around Europe when she is over there.

Poland's plans are dirt cheap. I was on a plan that cost me about $10 (30zl) for 20 GB. Then consider the EU rule that all mobile plans from member states are required to work in each member country. Man, one thing I miss about living in PL is the extremely low cost for mobile plans. Incomprehensible to people who live here . Even with this "amazing" deal (which it really isn't), it's still a rip off versus buying a sim card there. Believe me, your Mom will do just fine getting a sim card there and renewing it every month.

Personally I don't trust that plan to be cheaper than just buying a sim card in most of those countries. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's still cheaper to buy a local sim card in most/all of those countries, instead of using that roaming plan. Never understood why people bother with all these ####ty North American roaming plans when it is significantly easier/cheaper to just buy a sim card there. Money in the wind. I guess if you travel around various countries on that list during most of the year it might balance out. But for someone popping in and out of Europe once a year, nah.