Fellow Canadians - Suggestions on Cell Phone Service

[SaturnX]

Hey,

Well I'm interested in purchasing a cell phone within the next little while, but I can't really decide on which plan/company to go with. I'm looking for a "Pay as You Go" type plan, that doesn't have monthly bills, but rather you buy more "airtime" as you need it. I know FIDO has this service, but is there any other good services that offer this? (I'm located in the GTA, if that matters)

I turn to you, ATOT, in my time of need

--Mark

 

[StageLeft]

I've used Rogers in the past (still paying for a plan under them). I didn't use pay as you go (why are you doing this BTW given that cellphone plans in Canada are so bloody cheap!!), but I can vouch for Roger's customer service. I find they are very helpful and polite and that is worth something. Its actually a pleasure when I have to call them with a problem because I know how nice they are.

 

[SaturnX]

I want to go with Pay as Go because my usage varies from month to month, you know? I know I'll loose features and such, but it's better for me, than paying for things I won't use.

--Mark

 

[N8Magic]

Fido and Telus both have rather cheap plans, but their coverage is quite limited.

If you are on the go outside of the GTA (ie. north of Barrie) then Bell or Rogers would be the way to go. BTW, Rogers has been screwing me around for the last two weeks. I am *NOT* happy with their customer service at all.

 

[SaturnX]

Telus eh? I'll have to look into them.

Well I'm situated in Oakville, but majority of time I'm in Mississauga, and Toronto.

Thanks for the help, any other suggestions?

--Mark

 

[Elita1]

We have a 'pay as you go' plan with BellCanada. It's pretty good since we only use it in emergencies, anyway. The good part of the service is they call you and let you know ahead of time when your minutes expire, but no fees. You just put more minutes on when you need to. At least that's what we have

 

[eakers]

i have bell but its not pay as you go.
i enjoy their service but i dont use it as much as i should for the price my mum pays.


*kat. <-- her mum bought her a phone for no reason at all.

 

[SaturnX]

When you're saying Bell, are you talking about that Solo plan and such?

--Mark

 

[Jal]

Both Bell and Cantel are good, for wide area coverage.. Plans are super cheap. Cantel even has auto adjusting plans, based on irregular usage, month to month.

If you only need Toronto area service. Telus and Fido are good too.

Pay as you go is very expensive.. Why would you pay $25 for a card, when you can get plans @ 25/month.

Pay as you go is only good when you do not use your phone very much at all, making 1 card last for 60 days.

 

[SaturnX]

<< Pay as you go is very expensive.. Why would you pay $25 for a card, when you can get plans @ 25/month.

Pay as you go is only good when you do not use your phone very much at all, making 1 card last for 60 days. >>



That's why, the pay as you go cards last for a few months, which work perfectly for my uses.

--Mark

 

[Martin]

FIDO is good. they got nice phones and nice service AND use the GSM network. Rogers is supposed to switch to it too....

btw, right now, rogers has a good plan. nokia 3360 for $50 with a 2 year contract for 150 day/night minutes and unlimited weekends....

 

[SaturnX]

Hrmm.. so far I got:

Rogers, Bell, Fido, Telus

are there any other companies worth mentioning?

Oh, and does Telus have a "Pay as You Go" plan, their site is harder to navigate than the rest.

--Mark

 

[Noriaki]

If you are interested, ClearNet PCS is run month by month.
You don't have any kind of yearly contract, you get prices similar to what Telus or Rogers offer with a 2 year contract, you get all the features, and you go month by month.

Sign up for a 200 minute plan, want more, next month up it.

It's not exactly pay as you go, but you get all the full features of a contract to.

In fact I think you can even do partial months if you want.

It's what I use....I'm in western canada though, I'm not sure how their coverage is out east.

(It's also been recently bought by Telus, but it's run independantly of the regular Telus service, as it was there before they bought it)

Oh...and regular Telus may not be the best choice....
Telus is BC and Alberta's phone company, coverage out here is the best of all of them, but out east it may not be so good.

 

[Jal]

Phone cards are only valid for 60 days from time of activation.. So if you spend $25 for 75 minutes (33cents per minute), any unused minutes are gone, after the 60 day point.

 

[Jal]

Oh changes made... Terms are better.. It is 90 days for a $25 card.. +++ if you activiate a new card within the 90 days, your minutes are carried over. So if you plany on less than 30 minutes a month,, pay cards are good

snip from cantel
When your time is about to run out, you receive a prompt that only you can hear. Please note that Pay As You Go Prepaid Cards expire 30, 90 or 180 days from the date of activation depending upon the card. Once your card has reached the expiration date, any remaining minutes will be cancelled unless you activate a new Pay As You Go card. By activating a new card all your remaining unused minutes will be carried over.

 

[SaturnX]

Noriaki: Wasn't ClearNet bought by Telus or something to that extent?

--Mark

 

[N8Magic]

That is correct.

Telus purchased Clearnet to gain exposure and a solid network base here in eastern Canada. If you notice, all the Clearnet stores are now Telus stores. (the ones in the Eaton Centre are pretty impressive.)

 

[SaturnX]

I'm thinking my best bet would be to goto the Cell Phone kiosks of all the companies, gather some panphlets and compare so I can find something that's good for me.

Let's see, I'll check out:

Telus
Rogers
Fido
Bell

Any other companies I can add to the list before I go out cell phone hunting?

--Mark

 

[N8Magic]

I think your list there covers pretty much covers all of the cell phone carriers in Toronto.

 

[Aquaman]

I inhertied a Rogers/AT&T pay as you go phone (I took over from my mom when she bought a new phone). I only us it for emergencies and short calls and I pay $100 for 360 days or 300 minutes. The good thing about this is that you get to bank the minutes you don't use when you add new time (ie. each card is $50 for 180 days or 150 minutes, so say a after the 180 days you still have 50 minutes it is banked when you replenish so you don't lose the minutes after the 180 days).

Cheers,
Aquaman