Yeah! My cell contract is over... Where to go now???

[droopydrew19]

I finally have nothing holding me to my current archaic cell phone plan.

Looking around I am just overwhelmed with all the dataplans and multiple users, qwerty keyboards,Iphones, texting etc.

I am calling upon the CP elite to steer me in the right direction. Telus? Rogers? Fido (current provider) Bell (do they bundle with my sattelite subscription)

I am looking for 3-4 phones on a combination plan of some sort as my kids are now getting to an age where a phone would be handy.

I am not keen on spending a ton of money a month. Our current wireless budget is $60 to $90 a month.

HELP! I'm lost in all this wireless rhetoric!

ps... I thought I heard somewhere if you buy one blackberry you can get 3 free? Blackberry would be overkill for the wife and kids though wouldnt it?

[Bobblehead]

When I look at cell phones, I just see lots of locked in contracts, phones that have had functions disabled by the providers (so the providers can turn around and sell you that option themselves), expensive data plans.

I've heard the cell phone companies don't want to be seen as a supplier of a signal, they want to supply the whole package and are fighting to keep their networks as closed (and locked in) as possible. This needs to change.

[Knut]

We need to get the european system over her as soon as possible...

buying an unlocked phone and going month to month with sim cards is the cheapest way..... you can even put sim cards for a weekend if you take a trip somewhere...

you dont have to be locked into a contract, and you can regulate how much you pay based on your usage.

[ken0042]

I've found the best service I've received from my provider (Telus) is when I am not tied to one of their contracts. I would look at buying a phone outright- and even check with Bell- tell them you don't want a contract and would like to stay with them. I got $150 off my last phone by doing that.

[Knut]

I have never actually had any issues with Bell... I went in to their store in the mall and said.. i need to knock some money off my phone bill, this is my usage.... and i was able to knock about 50 bucks off a month... go in and talk to the senior reps at the stores and you will get the good contracts.

[llama64]

I heard a report that out of 30 developed nations on Earth, Canada is in the bottom three for Cell phone adoptions (~50%).

I bet it's due to the absolute garbage our Cell companies offer as service.

I love how they keep brining out years old technology and trumpeting it as the next greatest thing. How bout Telus, Bell and it's cronies actually put as much effort into upgrading their product as they do into their marketing departments.

[Bobblehead]

I've been with Cantel/Rogers and Telus. I've never had any issues with service. I've gotten a signal everywhere I expected and the quality hasn't been bad at all.

I'm just to the point where I see what the phones can do, I see what service is available other places (including Australia, which will have similar challenges, population density wise) and I'm disenchanted with what I have available even as I wait for my current plan to end.

If I leave my provider it won't be because of poor service, it will be because I want a plan that lets me do what I want, when I want to do it, how I want to do it for a reasonable price. That doesn't seem to be the case right now, and with Rogers/Fido apparently starting to tighten their network, it may be getting worse rather than better.

[Jing]

You should have called retentions, they would have given you a sweet deal to keep your business.

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by Jing

You should have called retentions, they would have given you a sweet deal to keep your business.

I havent left yet.... I might just try and leverage that a bit with Fido.

[Jing]

Oh right....haha, but yeah, usually you can get a really sweet deal through retentions. I dont really think you need a blackberry if your a basic user. A phone i would suggest for a family would be the w810 from Sony (although i dont think fido has this). Excellent camera, music player, good size and good keyboard, and they are relatively cheap now (since they were released 1 or 2 years ago).

[I_H8_Crawford]

Virgin Mobile is releasing contracts soon, I would wait to see what they have to offer.

[CRXguy]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

I havent left yet.... I might just try and leverage that a bit with Fido.

Have fun.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...d.php?t=376936

I gotta call retentions again and see if they can modify my plan a bit. If you have time, read through the whole thread. Lots of good deals to be had.