I am looking to purchase 3 new iPhones, I am thinking about just buying them outright from Apple, as I have been on a plan, I have always paid monthly. Was just wondering if anybody uses Koodo or Fido, there plans seem to be a little cheaper then the three main carriers in Prince Rupert. I am with Rogers right now, not on a contract but have the family share plan, I pay 140.00 a month for three phones. I am the only one with 500mb of data while my 2 kids just have the basics. I am thinking about Koodo or Fido, any input would be helpful on decision.
I’m on Virgin currently, but have been on all the carriers, and change carriers often. Koodo, Fido & Virgin all match each other, so you can always call and get them to price-match if you find one that is lower. There are alternate carriers as well. I have an iPhone on SpeakOut and one on Petro-Canada as well.
The key is to have an unlocked phone, and no contract. That way you can change to the carrier that is offering the better rates.
When you do the math, it’s cheaper to pay for your phone outright than to pay for it with a more expensive contract (where you end up paying for more than the cost of the phone over the life of the contract). The carriers keep you on the contract treadmill by offering you free or cheap phones (which you then pay for with the more expensive contracts).
Do your own research, and remember, you can always tell when a sales person is lying, because their lips will be moving. Signing a contract or getting a free or cheap (locked) phone is an indication that you’re about to be hosed.
We use Speakout Wireless from 7/11 too for our daughter’s Iphone. Being a teenager, she mainly uses it for texting which is $15 unlimited/month and internet browsing $10/month unlimited. She does a couple of calls a month on it for which we just pay as you go 25 cents /min, but Speakout offers an unlimited plan for that too. Altogether we pay about $28/ month + tax and love it.
Yup, I have SpeakOut on an iPhone and use the Fongo app on there. Free calling to many Canadian cities (and cheap to other cities), and unlimited texting for $2 or $3 a month (can’t remember, I bought a year in advance when they had a promotion). You get a real phone number too. It’s my ‘backup phone’ hehe. Work pays for my main phone, I use the SpeakOut one for personal use.
The only downside is that SpeakOut data is no longer unlimited, though my account seems to still have it, and I’m not complaining 
I like the idea of kids having a pre-paid phone, so they’re responsible for the cost, and they can always go to 7-11 and pay for more credit themselves.
Another big advantage of having an unlocked phone is that when travelling you can always just get a local SIM. When I go to the states, I use a T-Mobile SIM and for $2-$3 a day, they give you unlimited internet, calling and texting. Much cheaper than roaming. I spent a week in New York with some family. My brother used his Bell phone and had a $700 bill even though he was careful about not using too much data, etc. I paid $20 on T-Mobile.
Try the lovely service from that company who’s name rings a ****
They send you an e-bill due Dec.18 and they’re calling you 8X a day for payment on the 8th, send a collection notice on the 13th and claim they didn’t get an online bank payment eight days after you paid it, and threaten you.
You know how it works. You send money online to your friend, or PayPal someone in the USA and get a confirmation e-mail 30 seconds later but every business in Canada sticks buy the “up to 7 business days” bullshit. Even though you have your own online site that says the last three times you paid online, the date on their site matches the date on your banking site.
Same outfit that didn’t inform the old lady when her contract expired several years back. Just sent a bill for $600 odd charging the max for everything. When she called and was told it was because she didn’t renew, she was told the bill was last month and she owed $500 more to get current in order to cancel…
It’s all YOUR fault because OUR system works this way…
useless slugs.