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Telus iPhone 5S question: I currently have a iPhone4 that I'm pretty ok with but I was looking at maybe upgrading to a 5S. I have 1 year left on my contract, so if I want to renew on contract I obviously have to pay my device fee. Here's the thing, if I renew, can I keep my rate plan? The new Telus rate plans are rubbish compared to what I have now. The website renewal implies that I would need to get a new rate plan. Alternatively, can I buy the 5S outright? The Telus site implies I certainly couldn't do it from their webstore as there's no option to do so. Could I buy it outright in a physical Telus store or do I have to go through Apple?
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Sep 27, 2013 17:43
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If you're buying outright it's best to just buy direct from Apple, no point going through Telus for that. Buying through Apple ensures the phone you get is unlocked. Most likely if you want a subsidized phone they'll make you change your plan to something that's currently on offer, unless you can negotiate a deal with their retentions department. If you're buying the phone outright you should be fine just staying on your current plan.
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Sep 27, 2013 21:40
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Can someone summarize the extra fees on postpaid bills these days? My husband needs to build credit in Canada so he's going to get a post paid phone, but I'd like to know exactly how much a say $50 plan is actually going to cost.
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Sep 28, 2013 01:03
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I don't know about the ROC, but in Quebec with Rogers it's 50$+taxes and that's it, unless he goes over his data cap.
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Sep 28, 2013 01:08
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HookShot posted:Can someone summarize the extra fees on postpaid bills these days? My husband needs to build credit in Canada so he's going to get a post paid phone, but I'd like to know exactly how much a say $50 plan is actually going to cost. Carriers have pretty much eliminated most hidden or extra costs in phone plans. A government 911 fee which varies by province but is usually around 50 cents or so applies, but that and taxes are about it. He may want to aim for a low end phone/smartphone or bring his own phone to avoid a large security deposit. Snuffman posted:Telus iPhone 5S question: DarkJC is correct, if you want to buy one outright go to the Apple Store. They get the most stock and Telus may outright refuse to sell you one without taking a contract. These puppies are hard to find right now and a carrier isn't going to want to sell something so high demand and hard to get without making any profit from it, which they won't with an outright sale. And yes you will more than likely have to change your plan. Carriers came up with these new "rubbish" plans to offset potential cash loss from shorter contract lengths, so they would definitely want to change your plan. Retentions is your best bet. EDIT: Can anyone confirm if Apple is selling the 5S unlocked at the Apple Store? I've heard they don't always sell them unlocked at launch
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Sep 28, 2013 02:12
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TheSadPope posted:I don't know about the ROC, but in Quebec with Rogers it's 50$+taxes and that's it, unless he goes over his data cap. OilSlick posted:Carriers have pretty much eliminated most hidden or extra costs in phone plans. A government 911 fee which varies by province but is usually around 50 cents or so applies, but that and taxes are about it. He may want to aim for a low end phone/smartphone or bring his own phone to avoid a large security deposit. We're probably just going to pay the inevitable $200 deposit. Way back when if you had exactly zero credit they'd only make you pay $50, $200 was reserved for people who were obviously not going to pay their bills, but I imagine that's changed post GFC.
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Sep 28, 2013 04:01
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HookShot posted:Oh awesome, thanks. The type of phone will affect the amount of the deposit. If it's an iPhone or something similarly priced expect up to $400. If you get a mid range one, perhaps $100-200. An entry level smartphone (<$200) there may be no deposit at all.
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Sep 28, 2013 04:45
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HookShot posted:My husband needs to build credit in Canada so he's going to get a post paid phone Do post paid phone accounts build credit? Even if always paid on time?
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Sep 28, 2013 07:49
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Yes. And please don't believe the rumour that you need to not pay things on time in order to build credit.
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Sep 28, 2013 14:55
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DarkJC posted:Yes. And please don't believe the rumour that you need to not pay things on time in order to build credit. This. My wife didn't have credit either so she got a secured credit card with a $500 limit. After a year and a half of using it and paying on time, she was able to get a new credit card with a $7,000 limit.
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Sep 28, 2013 17:19
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Justaddwater posted:Do post paid phone accounts build credit? Even if always paid on time? It's post paid, as in you pay post using the service, as opposed to pre-paid. They're offering you credit in the form of minutes/text/data that they expect you to pay off when they send you the bill at the end of the month.
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Sep 29, 2013 06:03
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Terebus posted:I apologize if this has been talked about and I've missed it. I'm currently on a 3 year Telus plan with 200 anytime/unlimited evenings and weekends, unlimited texting and 500MB of data that's ending in October. I'm looking to pick myself up an S4 and I went and shopped around at a bunch of different carriers. They all have the samey plans that will end in me paying upwards of 70 dollars for what I currently have with no benefits besides a small price cut off the phone. It works pretty well. Throttling after 15GB is a total non-issue for me as I don't use that much data. Remember there is no LTE on WIND and voicemail is only like 8 bucks now.
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Sep 29, 2013 07:40
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Terebus posted:Wall of text WIND has decent coverage, and are regularly expanding even when the official map doesn't reflect it. I've been with them for like 2 years now, short of when I left for TELUS and switched back after a month due to them having a dead spot where I work. I've been satisfied with their coverage overall. As for your question about phones, it depends on the model. You mentioned the Galaxy S4, which would work on both WIND and the other carriers. When reading a phone's tech specs, in the frequency you'll want to look for 1700MHz for WIND, 850/1900MHz for the others. Many of WIND's phones carry both 1700 and 850/1900 and are compatible with all carriers. The same phone from Bell/TELUS/Rogers will usually have the 850/1900 but missing the 1700 so you can't take it to WIND. WIND will provide you an unlock code for your device after (90?) days so if you find the coverage poor at your home, you could port your line and go to another carrier off-contract. My tl;dr response your post is: "Yes. Go for it. It'll most likely be fine, but in the event you don't like it, they'll unlock the phone and you can take it over to TELUS." If you're in the Burnaby/New West/Coquitlam area I could go stand in front of your house to see what the signal is like.
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Sep 29, 2013 09:25
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I'm that one guy who is switching away from Wind. I got tired on unreliable service inside buildings and restaurants; tired of roaming on Rogers when I visit Stouffville and northern Markham; tired of missing phone calls when my device is on and beside me; and mostly I got tired of simply AWFUL data speeds. I was a Wind customer from the beginning, and just bought my first iPhone. Things like Siri just weren't working reliably outside the house. Doing anything data related was painful. So I got an amazing deal on a month-to-month Rogers BYOD plan (one time promo for ex-Rogers customers) and now I'm enjoying LTE speeds and a usable smartphone. Not happy to drop the underdog but the price difference was small enough to make it a no-brainier. I will revisit this once Wind gets some LTE presence post spectrum auction.
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Sep 29, 2013 17:21
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ogreboy posted:I'm that one guy who is switching away from Wind. I got tired on unreliable service inside buildings and restaurants; tired of roaming on Rogers when I visit Stouffville and northern Markham; tired of missing phone calls when my device is on and beside me; and mostly I got tired of simply AWFUL data speeds. Don't feel alone, I'm jumping ship to Telus for the same reasons. WIND's prices are great, it's just too bad their coverage is so hit and miss.
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Sep 29, 2013 20:42
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OilSlick posted:The type of phone will affect the amount of the deposit. If it's an iPhone or something similarly priced expect up to $400. If you get a mid range one, perhaps $100-200. An entry level smartphone (<$200) there may be no deposit at all.
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Sep 30, 2013 01:17
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My girlfriend's Mobilicity I think is even worse than Wind. She can only deal with it because she can steal my (Rogers) phone if necessary. I would love to dump Rogers, but the alternatives are useless where I need them the most .
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Sep 30, 2013 02:49
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Yeah, I have Wind because I can usually deal around KW and the 401 into Toronto. We did pick up a Rogers nano SIM for the iPad Mini though, just so we'd have access to data if we needed it outside the area or visiting the in-laws in the Maritimes. If it doesn't get used, it's only $5/month, so why not? For all you spergs who just want data and no minutes, the iPad plan/SIM worked fine in my 5S.
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Sep 30, 2013 03:10
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I've been considering data and no voice, since 90% of what I do with my cellphone is data, with the occasional text. I get/make maybe two phone calls per month, which can probably be handled with Skype (if the Android app wasn't such a piece of poo poo, that is).
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Sep 30, 2013 04:19
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Ensign Expendable posted:I've been considering data and no voice, since 90% of what I do with my cellphone is data, with the occasional text. I get/make maybe two phone calls per month, which can probably be handled with Skype (if the Android app wasn't such a piece of poo poo, that is). Skype is utter poo poo on every platform, including OS X and Windows. I'm not sure what happened to them. Microsoft purchase maybe?
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Sep 30, 2013 04:20
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Ensign Expendable posted:I've been considering data and no voice, since 90% of what I do with my cellphone is data, with the occasional text. I get/make maybe two phone calls per month, which can probably be handled with Skype (if the Android app wasn't such a piece of poo poo, that is). You can try the app called Fongo. I've used it a few times. You get your own number(with limitations, I can't get a number for the small city I live in so got a number in a bigger city in my province) and its free calling to most big cities in Canada. You can port an existing number to them for a $25. It says .5 megs used for one minute.
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Sep 30, 2013 04:46
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teethgrinder posted:My girlfriend's Mobilicity I think is even worse than Wind. She can only deal with it because she can steal my (Rogers) phone if necessary. I would love to dump Rogers, but the alternatives are useless where I need them the most . I tried both Mobilicity and Wind. Both were kinda bad for dead zones and indoor coverage. Mobilicity had appalling data issues. Sometimes it would be fine for 5 minutes then when you try to load a web page it would crawl and be unusable for the next 5 minutes. Super frustrating. Wind had more reliable data but still dropped calls, missed calls and spotty coverage. This was mostly in Burnaby and Coquitlam. I've since switched to Koodo as of about a year ago and it's far more stable. The down side is having to pay $20/month more ($60 vs $40).
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Sep 30, 2013 18:09
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I'm thinking about getting a simple dumb phone for my mom to replace her old Kyocera, which she hates. It needs to be super simple, and just make phone calls. Nothing else. I was thinking a Nokia brick, but it looks like everyone is only selling cheap android phones, and smartphone lookalike dumb phones. Any recommendations?
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Sep 30, 2013 18:32
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ZShakespeare posted:I'm thinking about getting a simple dumb phone for my mom to replace her old Kyocera, which she hates. It needs to be super simple, and just make phone calls. Nothing else. I was thinking a Nokia brick, but it looks like everyone is only selling cheap android phones, and smartphone lookalike dumb phones. Any recommendations? There are still dumb Nokia candybars you can buy. We picked one up a few months ago on a prepaid Fido plan for one of my in-laws.
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Sep 30, 2013 18:47
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ZShakespeare posted:I'm thinking about getting a simple dumb phone for my mom to replace her old Kyocera, which she hates. It needs to be super simple, and just make phone calls. Nothing else. I was thinking a Nokia brick, but it looks like everyone is only selling cheap android phones, and smartphone lookalike dumb phones. Any recommendations? Virgin sells the LG F4N for 100 bucks to buy outright. Simple Flip phone. You can get it free on a 2 year contract. 60 bucks if you are buying it for prepaid. Runs on the Bellus Network. Bell sells the Samsung S275. Flip phone. 100 to buy outright, free on 2 year. I'm only mentioning Bell and Virgin because those are the two that I know. ForkSniper fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Sep 30, 2013 |
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Sep 30, 2013 19:34
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Anecdotal evidence: three people I know use the Samsung S275 and all three hate it. Different networks -- one on Wind, two on Bell -- but all of them experience dropped calls, random shifts to different networks (Home network in one part of the house, then Away coverage in another), and random power downs. I had a Samsung flip phone for years before switching to a semi-smart phone, and it worked great. But the S275 was a step-down. There seem to be decent reviews up on Amazon, but other sites and reviewers have been less favourable.
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Sep 30, 2013 20:40
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Guzwar posted:Anecdotal evidence: three people I know use the Samsung S275 and all three hate it. Different networks -- one on Wind, two on Bell -- but all of them experience dropped calls, random shifts to different networks (Home network in one part of the house, then Away coverage in another), and random power downs. I find the S275 to be a hard phone to recommend. I try to talk people into a Rugby III if they must have a flip phone. I think it might even be free on the Voice and Data Lite plans with a two year contract. You'd have to go into a store to find that out though. If it doesn't have to be a flip phone, I try to recommend the ACE II X. It has good reviews and decent specs. It's a free phone on a 2 year contract. I was at The Source on Saturday they had $100 in store credit for that as well, for new activations on Virgin. Source: The Source. ForkSniper fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Oct 2, 2013 |
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Sep 30, 2013 21:28
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My question to the CWTA re: http://www.protectyourdata.ca/ Hello, How can one remove a blacklisted IMEI that has been added in error? Reply: Please contact your service provider. They can remove an IMEI from the list once ownership has been established. Thanks. *** Let me guess-- the only "ownership" the carrier will recognize is the one they FIRST sold the phone to. So why can the CWTA handle blacklisting phones but whitelisting a phone is out of their control? This is such typical anti-competitive bullshit masquerading as a service to the public. How can anyone not see that the sole purpose of the blacklist is to allow the service providers to leverage their oligopoly to make them the sole "trusted seller" of phones?
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Oct 2, 2013 00:07
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Mantle posted:Let me guess-- the only "ownership" the carrier will recognize is the one they FIRST sold the phone to. So why can the CWTA handle blacklisting phones but whitelisting a phone is out of their control? This is such typical anti-competitive bullshit masquerading as a service to the public. How can anyone not see that the sole purpose of the blacklist is to allow the service providers to leverage their oligopoly to make them the sole "trusted seller" of phones? I browsed that website and didn't see anywhere that says that they put IMEI's on the blacklist-they let you check up to 2 imei's per day so you can see if its blacklisted or not. To get it on the blacklist you are supposed to call customer service of your carrier to report your phone lost or stolen at which point they put it on the list. To get it off you call them up again. I'm not sure what scenario you are envisioning in which an IMEI is put on the list erroneously.
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Oct 2, 2013 01:44
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Mantle posted:Let me guess-- the only "ownership" the carrier will recognize is the one they FIRST sold the phone to. So why can the CWTA handle blacklisting phones but whitelisting a phone is out of their control? This is such typical anti-competitive bullshit masquerading as a service to the public. How can anyone not see that the sole purpose of the blacklist is to allow the service providers to leverage their oligopoly to make them the sole "trusted seller" of phones?
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Oct 2, 2013 02:13
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less than three posted:WIND has decent coverage, and are regularly expanding even when the official map doesn't reflect it. I've been with them for like 2 years now, short of when I left for TELUS and switched back after a month due to them having a dead spot where I work. I've been satisfied with their coverage overall. Thanks to this and all the other replies for the WIND question. I've had a friend with a wind phone come over and it seems that there's no signal at my house at all so I don't think I'll be going with wind. I'm probably just going to call TELUS customer loyalty and argue my phone plan down to a semi-reasonable price.
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Oct 2, 2013 10:19
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Mantle posted:
Don't be silly there will be a $100 ownership verification fee and a $200 status restoration fee. I guess you have to make sure that you don't call in to have your stolen phone black listed until you've given up all hope of tracking it down via GPS or finding it in some pawnshop/eBay/CL.
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Oct 3, 2013 09:56
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I dunno, kinda sounds like how Telus used to be with CDMA phones. It really wouldn't surprise me if carriers start refusing to activate phones that aren't in their database, to encourage you to buy from them. I mean, they did it before. Technically a Bell CDMA phone would work on Telus but you had to find a dealer willing to activate it. No customer service agent could. From what I recall when I worked in the Data dept, the customer service GUI would flat out refuse to activate an ESN that wasn't Telus.
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Oct 3, 2013 15:22
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Snuffman posted:I dunno, kinda sounds like how Telus used to be with CDMA phones. It really wouldn't surprise me if carriers start refusing to activate phones that aren't in their database, to encourage you to buy from them. We know Verizon and some other US CDMA carriers operate on a Whitelist, meaning only carrier branded ESN numbers can be activated on the network. But this is a Blacklist. Meaning your Rogers/bell/telus sim card will work in ANY unlocked or same carrier locked phone, unless that phones IMEI is on the blacklist. This is a specific benefit of GSM technology.
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Oct 3, 2013 18:10
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Snuffman posted:I dunno, kinda sounds like how Telus used to be with CDMA phones. It really wouldn't surprise me if carriers start refusing to activate phones that aren't in their database, to encourage you to buy from them. Hell no. Carriers WANT you to bring your own phone to them. Buying from them means they must eat the cost of a new phone. Buying a phone outright from a carrier simply breaks even. They'd be delighted for you to bring a competitor's phone to them since they never had to buy that phone. They even give you discounts to do this. Snuffman posted:I mean, they did it before. Technically a Bell CDMA phone would work on Telus but you had to find a dealer willing to activate it. No customer service agent could. From what I recall when I worked in the Data dept, the customer service GUI would flat out refuse to activate an ESN that wasn't Telus. I tried to activate a CDMA phone that I wasn't aware was on Telus. It simply won't let you do it.
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Oct 4, 2013 02:10
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Wind used to let you pay $30 to suspend your account for up to 6 months, but I can't seem to find anything about this on their site anymore (only max 7 days). Did this go away? I'm moving out of the GTA for a while but want to keep my Holiday Miracle plan, if I can. In a related question, what does the Koodo kiosk agent have to do to put you on a SK/MB outside of those areas? Found one that also wants it for himself but doesn't know how. The $55 promo plans looks pretty hard to beat.
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Oct 4, 2013 02:21
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Snuffman posted:I dunno, kinda sounds like how Telus used to be with CDMA phones. It really wouldn't surprise me if carriers start refusing to activate phones that aren't in their database, to encourage you to buy from them. That was more of a relevant strategy when the phone was a vertically-integrated kingdom ruled by the carrier (remember ringtones?). Now, they seem to mostly have accepted their fate as a pipe operator who charges a hefty toll.
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Oct 4, 2013 04:12
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Why the hell is Telus charging $300 for the Note 3 when it's 249 everywhere else? Ugh.
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Oct 4, 2013 04:30
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Godinster posted:Why the hell is Telus charging $300 for the Note 3 when it's 249 everywhere else? Ugh. Why, because Telus has the best network and numerous other benefits and the best salespeople, so why not pay an extra $50 to be with the best network? (I know this doesn't make sense, it's just how telecom management thinks)
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Oct 4, 2013 13:40
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This is a new one. Rogers is down right now. Canada wide, apparently. I can't make calls, and anyone calling me gets a busy signal on my cell. Their website is down, people are saying texts don't work. Mobile data apparently works fine though.
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Oct 9, 2013 23:40
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