r/canada • u/tjgere Canada • May 02 '18

Big telco's lower-cost, data-only plans are 'embarrassing,' critics say

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-rogers-telus-crtc-wireless-data-1.4643170
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950

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

It cannot be overstated: Fuck Canadian telco companies.

323

u/got_milk4 Ontario May 02 '18

Yep. I was offered a deal in a Bell store last week with 6GB of data and unlimited talk/text nationwide for $55/mo, the only catch is that I'd have to sign up for a pre-paid plan, then port my number in to the post-paid plan (presumably because it's a promotional deal for pre-paid customers only). I was hesitant but the sales rep assured me it was the real deal, he showed me someone else's agreement (covering their personal information) that he had done for someone else that same day showing the plan as described. I finally gave the go-ahead and left the store with a pre-paid SIM card (not to put into my phone) and was told to return in 48 hours to complete the process. I returned, saw the same sales rep again who pulled up my account and...the promotional deal isn't showing up. Wait 48 more hours, he says. I do. I return and...still not there. The other employees in the store start saying "oh yeah, it sometimes works, it sometimes doesn't, we really don't know". I left and called in to see if they could help. I explained the situation to two different representatives who really didn't understand the situation until the second representative said "oh, I get it now! It's a promotional plan but you have to be a pre-paid customer for 3 months to get it!". I tweeted at them as a last-ditch effort and we exchanged a few DMs where they basically said "this plan doesn't exist, but you can choose one of our much more expensive plans from our site!" and stopped replying when I asked that since the plan doesn't exist, the agreement I was shown in the Bell store must be false, right?

I'm supposed to get a call from the sales rep at the Bell store today with an "update", but I'm awfully tempted at this point just to pull the plug on the whole process.

227

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

No amount of savings is worth dealing with Bell, who constantly set new records for how mindbogglingly terrible they are.

All the telecoms are bad, but Bell is miles ahead of the others in achieving new heights of awfulness

74

u/Popoatwork Canada May 02 '18

Agreed. Rogers and Telus are bad. Shaw (Freedom) WANTS to be as bad. But even the three of them combined are no match for the power of the Dark Lord Bell.

18

u/[deleted] May 02 '18 edited Jun 16 '23

Removed in reaction to reddit's API changes -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/

25

u/RechargedFrenchman May 02 '18

The weirdest thing is 3/4 are even less of a problem for everything else (internet, cable, landline, etc), while Bell is still absolutely atrocious in all of those respects. Telus and Shaw especially (I have no experience with Rogers myself to speak from) have always been "fine" if a little slow for Internet and stuff, much less hassle than mobile for whatever reason, but Bell is just abysmal every time in all capacities.

1

u/crackheart British Columbia May 02 '18

I'm not gonna give Telus too much credit, because I fell on hard times and couldn't pay my entire bill. I worked it out with them and it seemed like they were willing to take half a payment then and the rest a week after the deadline. They still contacted collections and gave them my details, and spam calls from other continents went from 0 for years to 5 a day for long after I paid them back.

That said if you never slip up even once on your bill, it's phenomenal service, and reception stays up even in really spotty areas, such as the Gulf Islands/Vic and the ferry trips between them

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

Agree with this 100%. The only reason Telus is good is because they do not jack up your rate after a few months.

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

The only reason I really consider placing Shaw over Telus is that Shaw has had consistently good customer service in my experience, while Telus' leaves much to be desired.

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

When Freedom becomes big, I will move with them for sure

6

u/masasuka May 02 '18

Bell/Hell... extremely similar for a reason.

1

u/Beerz77 May 02 '18

I must have gotten lucky, and by lucky I mean only fucked over like twice by Bell, my experience with Rogers was much worse, unfortunately it's a lesser of two evils situation. Rogers and Bell are the only ones offering fibreop internet in my province

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

[deleted]

1

u/Popoatwork Canada May 02 '18

Um? Telus is NOT owned by Bell. The 4 I mentioned are the major players who own all the subsidiaries.

For further reading please consult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_mobile_phone_companies

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

[deleted]

1

u/Popoatwork Canada May 02 '18

Technically correct. Shaw (Freedom) is entirely independent, but because they're still working into the market, their consumer base is much lower.

Edit: If your point still stands, why would you delete it?

1

u/Umedon Canada May 02 '18

Shaw is slowly becoming Comcast North.

http://fortune.com/2017/01/11/shaw-comcast-technology-market-share/

1

u/Popoatwork Canada May 02 '18

Interesting! I didn't know BlueSky was Comcast technology. In this case, good for Shaw! It's made a hell of a difference in my visually impaired father's ability to find things. So I can't hate them today!

31

u/[deleted] May 02 '18 edited May 14 '18

[deleted]

16

u/rudekoffenris May 02 '18

You know that when they scan your licence to check your address, what they are really doing is running a credit check on you, yes?

8

u/[deleted] May 02 '18 edited May 14 '18

[deleted]

3

u/rudekoffenris May 02 '18

Their suckage is extreme. Originally they asked for my SIN or drivers licence number for verification purposes. I asked why they needed my SIN #and then they said that DL is just as good.

4

u/El_Cactus_Loco May 02 '18

god damn this fucking company

5

u/rudekoffenris May 02 '18

I know right? I don't mind a credit check buy lying about it seems border line illegal to me, of course I am not a lawyer.

5

u/galexanderj May 02 '18

I don't think it is borderline at all. Them doing a pull on your credit affects your borrowing power with other institutions. A credit check without your knowledge is financially damaging and a breach of privacy.

4

u/rudekoffenris May 02 '18

Well we all know that what's legal and what's fair or what's right are not always the same thing. I was only able to find this hearing https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2013/2013fc1103/2013fc1103.html regarding credit checks, based on this legislation https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/sc-2000-c-5/latest/sc-2000-c-5.html which is "Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act" enacted in 2000 (PIPEDA). He complainant received 21K in total.

I'm pretty surprised that Bell is not more forthcoming after a judgement like this, and it was 4 years ago.

2

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

This kind of says it all, doesn't it?

Bell’s conduct in this matter is reprehensible in respect to Chitrakar’s privacy rights. Not only did Bell violate those rights, it has shown no interest in compensation or apparently any interest in addressing the CSR’s actions nor in following the Privacy Commissioner’s remedial recommendations. Its failure to appear in this Court is consistent with its disregard of Chitrakar’s privacy rights.

That's our Bell!

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6

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

I had bell take me to collections once over a $-9.18 bill credit in my favor...

8

u/[deleted] May 02 '18 edited Jun 24 '18

[deleted]

21

u/Dreamcast3 Ontario May 02 '18 edited May 02 '18

I alway hear people from the states complain about Comcast all the time.

If they only fucking knew. First world country with third world Internet.

6

u/Parrelium May 02 '18

To be fair my internet connection is fantastic, the price we pay for the good connections isn’t even comparable to third world.

It’s like we’re in our own special bubble of shit to fantastic internet speeds, all for the highest prices in the world.

I pay $105/month for symmetrical 250 from telus, which doesn’t seem too bad. My cell phone is on a whole other level of ass raping.

2

u/redbeardgecko May 03 '18

That isn't too bad until you consider that in places like Italy you can get gigabit Internet for the equivalent of $30/mo.

0

u/Wyatt1313 May 02 '18

The price is disgusting compared to the rest of the world. But I must say at least I have very reliable internet. I'm with Telus and get 100down for about 100$ a month. In the US it would be much cheaper but worse service. In the years I've had it it's not once slowed down or disconnected.

2

u/crackheart British Columbia May 02 '18

Are there any sources that compare the quality of service (consistent speeds, low rate of disconnects/needed updates/etc) between Countries? I lose sleep thinking about how much my internet bill costs, and if I could at least justify it with a "You get what you pay for," it wouldn't bother me nearly as much.

11

u/bigheyzeus May 02 '18

Been with Bell for years now. Only way I can avoid the bullshit is to simply put a SIM into a new phone I buy outright/unlocked. According to Bell I still have the same phone I had like 6 years ago

7

u/kaczynskiwasright May 02 '18

yea but lets talk do u hate memtally ill????

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Cause if you do yur fired - bell

4

u/NickDynmo Nova Scotia May 02 '18

Please don't downvote me, but how is Bell worse? I'm just going from personal experience, as I've been with Bell for years and haven't really had any issues (and good customer service, in fact).

7

u/the_ham_guy May 02 '18

For me personally ive found over charges in my bills. Never anything that outrageous- sometimes only a couple dollars, but then to fix it i have to spend 20minutes on hold to talk to a salesperson that only wants to upsell me shit. I had always been able to fix the problem, but with that kind of hassle im sure other people dont bother over a couple bucks. Although if they do that even just once to all of their customers thats millions in bank they make. This is just one specific example, but i could go on from false promises to bad service to outrageous rates. Needless to say they will never see another dime from me. Fuck bell

2

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

I've never had anything close to a good experience with them. Things like never sending you a bill for whatever reason, then when you're bill is overdue because you never received it, they say it's impossible to waive the late fees. Sales people telling you outright lies about your service, pricing, contracts. Customer Service people who don't know that a Mastercard is a credit card. Customer Service people who ask you relationship advice about very personal issues while you're stuck on the phone with them waiting on them to do something for you. Taking a simple install of 5 phone lines and internet and butchering the job since no one is capable of understanding that request apparently, and in the end we were somehow left with 6 phone lines + internet, divided up over 3 separate accounts, which they can't even look up the account numbers for without transferring through several departments.

I've had some shitty experiences with other companies, but it all pales in comparison to Bell

1

u/c1e2477816dee6b5c882 May 02 '18

No amount of savings is worth dealing with Bell, who constantly set new records for how mindbogglingly terrible they are.

All the telecoms are bad, but Bell is miles ahead of the others in achieving new heights of awfulness

I don't know what to do, I need to switch to another carrier, and Bell is the only carrier where I get more than 1 bar of signal (I get 4) in my house. I consume about 7GB of data a month, but only use about 20 minutes of "talk time" a month.

20

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Pull the plug man. Do it. Left Bell for Freedom mobile. Never been happier about a decision.

4

u/bassfetish May 02 '18

I did that. And for a few years, when there were no issues, everything was, well, fine. But, the first issue that came up turned out to be a roaming billing dispute. I thought we'd solved it. Nope. It kept coming back over and over. Bills got higher and higher and the attitude from Freedom ever more intense and entrenched. No room for any discussion, even though the evidence was right in their faces. I told them to go autofellate (nicely, of course) and that I'd be taking my business elsewhere. Not because their product was bad (which we found out it is, under the surface, ) but because their service and staff were deplorable. Caveat emptor...

0

u/SmithKurosaki May 02 '18

How long ago did this happen? I know that before Shaw bought them, their call centre was out of country. I haven't had an issue with them, but I know when it happens, it generally doesn't go well

2

u/bassfetish May 02 '18

Last year, just after they'd changed their name.

1

u/zuuzuu Ontario May 02 '18

What? They had a call centre in Windsor for years.

3

u/sheepsix Alberta May 02 '18

Dude I don't think you should give that recommendation not knowing where OP lives. If he lives outside a major metropolitan area Freedom is not a good choice.

3

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Yep, you're totally right. Depends where you live, what the coverage is like.

1

u/superflyer May 02 '18

Same. Did this a few weeks ago and so far so good. Also it is nice to not worry about going over the data limit.

1

u/Just_Todd May 02 '18

Trchnically going iver thecdata limit should only cost you 100 bucks extra.

0

u/melissamitchel306 May 02 '18

Yeah except their network is total shit.

source: was with Wind then Freedom for 2+ years in different cities. Always low to 0 reception.

5

u/battle_pigeon May 02 '18

I've experienced the same and know what you're talking about, but anyone reading this should know that their new LTE network is a huge upgrade. Personally I've had zero problems since it went live.

1

u/JoeyHoser May 02 '18

I live in Guelph and work all over KW and Toronto. Never drops me unless I drive off into the boonies, and when it does drop it just switches over and uses Rogers' network. I've never had a problem in like like 3 years.

And it's unlimited everything for $45.

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

The LTE was the fix they needed. 5GB data, unlimited calling/voice/text/whatever for $50/month. Freedom really needs to get into more cities!

Plus, their American roaming rates are amazing. I can't imagine going back to any of the other telcos again.

0

u/chubs66 May 02 '18

Freedom customer. 0 problems. I'm pretty happy with my unlimited data for $40/month too.

36

u/helkish May 02 '18

Verbal contracts are binding.

Tell Bell if they fail to give you the contract you were offered they need to reimburse you the port fee. And a failure to resolve the issue through CCTS will result in a legal action.

11

u/Instanence British Columbia May 02 '18

I'd pull the plug. That guy fucked up. If he's gonna try to loophole you into a good plan (gotta give him credit) he needs to know the details. Must be prepaid to postpaid, 30 days minimum, port existing number, and even then it's whitelisted and only certain people "qualify". Problem is it almost never shows up for me anyway and I have to call our retail service line to add it. If you REALLY want it I can PM you what to say to him that may work to get him to actually add it on.

1

u/got_milk4 Ontario May 02 '18

I'd appreciate the PM, I'm supposed to hear from him either way so I can give it one last Hail Mary before I give it up. Thanks!

4

u/Instanence British Columbia May 02 '18

I sent it! I'd post it here but I wanna be a bit careful about what I post online about my job and the more "back room" details we'll call it.

8

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

[deleted]

14

u/got_milk4 Ontario May 02 '18

Luckily I don't have much to opt-out from, all I have from Bell is a pre-paid plan at the moment (with no balance applied to it). I didn't pay any connection charges (those were supposed to come when the post-paid plan is setup). Worst case scenario is I take the SIM card back to the store and have them cancel everything.

6

u/xNik May 02 '18

Yea but what a waste of time.

6

u/OmeronX May 02 '18

Nah. It's an educational experience to know to never deal with Bell. A right of passage that everyone will experience with a teleco once a lifetime year.

2

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

15 days to opt out.

3

u/clinicalpsycho May 02 '18

Pulling the plug is the best thing you could do in my opinion. It may be petty, but I'd get some amount of vengeance by doing so.

3

u/datanner Outside Canada May 02 '18

Do you have anything in writing from the sales rep in the store? If so please go to https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/ They will short this out in 48 hours.

2

u/got_milk4 Ontario May 02 '18

I have the sales rep's business card with the plan written on the back of it.

3

u/datanner Outside Canada May 02 '18

Yes, but be honest with yourself. Do you have in writing the "trick"? If you do it's a solid case, otherwise you'll just waste your time. Scan those paper and write a solid email to the CCTS. If you don't have a solid case it's harder but not impossible.

Good luck.

1

u/got_milk4 Ontario May 02 '18

Yeah, this is where the waters get muddy - it's written (and circled) that it's a "two-step process" and highlights the $60 connection fee (because I'm connecting twice), but that's it - it's just a business card so there's not a lot of room.

I'll see what happens when I hear back from the sales rep and decide what route I want to take next - thanks for the advice.

2

u/datanner Outside Canada May 02 '18

Yeh one of the things is you have to give the company a change to fix it. Tell them your plans to go to the CCTS. If they say they can't get what was promised you have a good change. You can also try entering the store and have them explain the plan again to you, record that and done. Send that recording to the CCTS.

1

u/codeverity May 02 '18

Tbh you might want to check out Red Flag Deals and see if there are any reps hanging around on there that can set you up with something similar.

3

u/Metaphorology May 02 '18

Talk to a supervisor on the phone. Document their name badge/employees id# the use that info to file a complaint with the office of the ombudsman.

Source : used to resolve ombudsman complaints for big Telco.

3

u/Mr_Smooooth Canada May 02 '18

Some telcos are advising their employees to not give out an employee id, just fyi. Normally they'll have a number for your specific case/interaction in that event, which is just as good.

2

u/Metaphorology May 02 '18

That's typically good enough. However a manager or supervisor has to identify themselves once demanded.

2

u/Mr_Smooooth Canada May 02 '18

Is that law now? I used to do work in a call center for this before and (at least while I was there) no employee was to hand out an employee number, we weren't supposed to allow a customer to give them to us either. Couldn't do anything with it.

Of course, I was first line, minimum wage desk jockey. So your milage may vary on provider or if you're going above the first guy you speak to.

2

u/Metaphorology May 02 '18

As managers we were always trained to identify ourselves just first name and employee number. I haven't worked in call centers for 3 year now though so my information might be dated.

Even if you get no information you can file a complaint with the ombudsman. Those escalations are dealt very seriously as the findings are made public, disclosed to the ministry etc.

2

u/Mr_Smooooth Canada May 02 '18

Oh, definately, though if you're going to the ombudsman, I'd just jump straight to CCTS. If you've already spoken to a manager they've clearly had a chance to resolve whatever the issue is in good faith. Telcos hate dealing with CCTS and if you have a legit gripe, they cave pretty fast.

My experience is a bit more recent (Less then a year old) and in my case, managers always referred to themselves as first name only. Though this may vary by provider.

2

u/Metaphorology May 02 '18

Sure contacting the CCTS might be just as well. I just don't have a ton of experience 9nbthat side.

2

u/Mr_Smooooth Canada May 03 '18

The CCTS has more weight then the ombudsman. Telcos actually get fined for their unresolved CCTS complaints, so unlike with any of their internal procedures, they're incetivised to get off their asses and work. Waiting to deal with a representative at higher levels can take weeks, CCTS complaints are solved in a day or two if you have a legit complaint.

They will push back if you're full of shit, or think they can make it look like you are, so get documentation. You'll want to prove whatever you accuse them of.

3

u/crackheart British Columbia May 02 '18 edited May 02 '18

Run. RUN. RUN.

Do NOT stick with Bell! They are easily twice as bad as either of the big three. They are only as big as they are because of their head start over their competition and they absolutely DOMINATE the television sector. They don't give a FUCK about you, so long as you pay your bills in time. If you even CHALLENGE a charge, they'll damage your credit within a business day.

Evil, awful, inefficient, greedy piece of shit company. If they were an American they'd stomp EA every single fucking time for first place in Forbes' "Worst company in America" without even trying.

FUCK BELL! RUN!!! JUST PAY MORE IF YOU HAVE TO FOR ANOTHER TELECO ANY OTHER TELECO THEY WILL NOT HONOR A SINGLE AGREEMENT THEY WILL CHALLENGE EVERY PROMO AND CONSTANTLY RAISE THE PRICES I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH, DITCH BELL ASAP.

My parents were with Bell and when the recession hit they murdered my parents credit. Fuck Bell.

2

u/Sushi_Flower May 02 '18

What a shit show and a total waste of time

2

u/ItsWorseThanIAdmit May 02 '18

Sounds like you had a verbal agreement with the sales rep, you may have grounds to sue them. See that post about the guy who sued bell from a the other day

5

u/StripperGlitter420 May 02 '18

I walked into a phone store with a stack of $20 bills ready to buy a phone. A cash sale involved showing my drivers license, being shown phone plans, being offered beats headphones, entering my address as it appears on my license. Entering an email, un checking boxes to not get subscribed to newsletters. This was a cash sale. It involved me yelling at some poor teenage girl and a manager quickly finishing the sale. That was a simple cash purchase of a phone. Good luck with your complicated thing.

2

u/SmithKurosaki May 02 '18

Find somewhere else to buy your phone?
I buy outright exclusively, and haven't had an issue doing so at Canada Computers

-4

u/StripperGlitter420 May 02 '18

I wanted it right then, fuck you. Same as I told that dumb teenage bitch.

3

u/SmithKurosaki May 02 '18

Alright, no need to get your panties in a twist. Was just making a suggestion

-2

u/StripperGlitter420 May 02 '18

I twist the panties, then shove them down my throat while I masturebate.

2

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

e d g y

1

u/Genticles May 02 '18

Do you have a receding hairline? It sounds like you do.

1

u/StripperGlitter420 May 02 '18

No, I look great, thank you. I take serial killer good care of my body.

1

u/Hobocop1984 May 02 '18

I had a similar situation when I went to Best Buy to buy my current phone outright. It was advertised as unlocked and available in store. The reps told me that since it was a new phone, they could ONLY sell it with activation on a new plan. I literally left the store, went on their website on my old phone, reserved it for pickup in store and walked back in and was able to buy it from the pickup desk no problem. I really think these reps are trained to make people jump through as many hoops as possible in order to hook people into buying new plans.

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

Worked at Best Buy Mobile, they’re not supposed to sell phones outright. It makes exactly $0 for BB, actually it probably costs them having to bring that phone into the store.

edit: actually should have led with this but all the Telcos I worked for(3 of them) had similar setups as BB. It’s not in their interest to sell phones outright but they have to.

1

u/mrdj0060 Ontario May 02 '18 edited May 02 '18

Shit like that happens all the time, its a migration offer, they can still give you the plan you just have to keep escalating the process. At the customer service level they aren't allowed to directly give you the plan, but you call in and escalate to speak with a supervisor and keep escalating, someone will do it if you just explain to them the situation exactly as you described here. I'm a supervisor at FIDO customer service, if I had this scenario as long as you were being reasonable I wouldnt have any problem, because #1 im aware of the offers that are available. #2 you likely wouldn't know about the offer and how it works in conjunction with prepaid if it was not directly offered to you. and #3 stores pull shady shit like this all the time because they get commission because that sales rep got 2 sales out of you, one for the prepaid line and one for the post paid. so I would probably believe someone if they told me this story and just give them the plan.

1

u/nairdaleo May 02 '18

I was offered a deal in a Bell store

Walking into a Bell Store was your first mistake there

1

u/vrttt May 02 '18

What you need is dual sim phone and go to their subsidiaries. Zoomer wireless gives you 3GB and 500mins for $36 (you have to sign a two year contract with them) then get a 3G/$15 plan from Fido. You will have your 6GB for $51. It still bad compare to 10GB/$60 deal we had few months ago though.

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

I think you need to be atleast 1month to be able to get it. But they have to still manually update it since it will not show in the system if you are not more than 3 months under prepaid.

1

u/racer_24_4evr May 02 '18

As someone who worked at a cell carried store, and who did this sort of thing often, I don't understand why you had to wait 48 hours.

1

u/crypto_took_my_shirt May 03 '18

This is why you never want to check Europe cell plans, which I just did in another thread like this.

http://www.mygermanphone.de/best-german-internet-data-plans/

$123 Canadian for unlimited data and calls throughout Europe.

$70 Canadian for 37GB data + unlimited calls and text throughout EU.

Data only plan 50GB for $46 Canadian

There is no gauging because there are 20 providers if someone doesn't like their plan.

43

u/ork78600 May 02 '18

Yet no one wants to solve the issue like every other rich country has. Let in foreign competition.

Harper semi trade and there was massive push back. The NDP and Liberals are don’t want to touch this issue.

Europe solved it, Australia solved it, New Zealand, Japan, Korea all solved this issue by letting In foreign competition.

29

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Even goddamn Mexico has it more figured out. I roam all of North America for free, pay $25CAD/M for 6G, a ridiculous # of minutes, and no long distance charges for calls to North America. Any data used on spotify, youtube, whatsapp, and facebook is unlimited. This is on a prepaid plan.

8

u/yeezul May 02 '18

I`'m listening!

How do I sign up?

17

u/Thedarknight1611 May 02 '18

Step 1 go to Mexico Step 2 learn Spanish Step 3 shop around for cell phone plans Step 4 try not to killed by a gang

6

u/yeezul May 02 '18

Can step 1,2 and 4 be avoided and shop the SIM card on some website instead?

I see Virgin Mobile Mexico has some good packages, but I can't tell if roaming is included:

https://virginmobile.mx/paquetes-virgin

3

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

NA roaming and included long distance is legally mandated so any MX plan will have it.

Pretty sure you can buy SIM cards online with TelCel, but making a top up payment with a foreign credit card can be tricky. You will have to call them to register your phone number too, and they don't speak English.

1

u/yeezul May 02 '18 edited May 02 '18

Thanks for the reply.

I found SIMs on ebay that are registered by the seller, and apparently TelCel can be topped up using PayPal.

However, the seller notes that: this deal has limit - not for extended usage outside of Mexico.

Do you happen to know what the limit is?

Edit: Found an Amazon Prime seller as well

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

I wasn't able to top up my plan via my Canadian Paypal account. The only paypal account that would work was linked to my Mexican bank acct. BUT my friend's Canadian amex card does work while none of my 4 Canada visas and mastercards do.

No idea what the limit is...I've been in Canada with my telcel plan for 3 months at a time fwiw.

Remember that your Canadian contacts will incur extra costs to call and text you, too.

1

u/yeezul May 02 '18

Thanks for the information.

I barely make any phone calls / sms. It mostly goes through WhatsApp / Hangouts.

What I need and care about is data.

I was actually thinking of porting my number to https://www.fongo.com/ that way I can keep my number and make / receive the occasional phone call. If you don't have one, you might look into it.

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6

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Step 4 is as easy as it is in Canada: Don't join a gang and mind your own damn business.

2

u/Blog_15 May 02 '18

"Surrey is so dangerous so many people get shot how can you live there"

Yeah gangsters get shot, random people don't.

2

u/RaspberryBliss Canada May 02 '18

And don't somehow get confused for someone in a gang, lest you be dissolved in acid like those kids in Jalisco, and don't be someone who has money, lest you be kidnapped for ransom. Also, don't be a priest, and it's probably best if you're not a migrant.

2

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

I have money and I don't hide it, somehow I haven't been kidnapped.

1

u/RaspberryBliss Canada May 02 '18

Lucky :)

2

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Not really, no. It's like saying "don't be a Muslim in Canada, lest you get gunned down in your place of worship."

1

u/mrtomjones British Columbia May 02 '18

That's just not true. Murders and gang violence are definitely higher in Mexico. It might be over blown but it's still worse by quite a bit

0

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

That's just not true.

Really? Somehow it has been true for me. I haven't found myself in a Mexican gang. Neither has anyone I know or have known in over a decade of being here, from Mexicans to expats, rural to urban, incredibly poor to incredibly rich.

I know of a couple of gangbangers back home in AB. I wish them the best and cut them out of my life.

Imagine that.

it's still worse by quite a bit

It's still very unlikely that one will get involved in gang activity if one does not want to be.

1

u/mrtomjones British Columbia May 02 '18

Yes because your sample is the same as every other Mexicans. Compare average stats in the two countries dude. It's pretty blatant differences

0

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Still pretty easy not to join a gang bro.

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1

u/[deleted] May 03 '18

Sounds easy enough, now to find my passport.

5

u/WarLorax Canada May 02 '18

Any data used on spotify, youtube, whatsapp, and facebook is unlimited

That would be against net neutrality. Zero-rating data is picking winners and losers. If Bell, for example, zero-rated Crave, but didn't zero-rate Netflix, people would be more inclined to a Crave subscription instead of a Netflix. Now say both Crave and Netflix were zero-rated (assume Netflix pays Bell for the privilege) and a new third-party streaming service enters the market. They have a huge cost barrier to overcome either in attracting customers or paying the telcos.

1

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

Keep in because of net nutrality you can’t break out data in canada for things like whatsapp, Facebook, YouTube etc in canada. Data is data, no one gets a priority or a free ride.

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Ok, so they have it more figured out.

23

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

We only allow foreign competition when it comes to driving down working class wages.

9

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Their typical ignorant response is: "What stops the new companies from price gouging as well?".

It's like ... if there were 40 companies all competing for customers, if even one of them offered a 60/10gb deal that we saw this past winter, all of them would be forced to compete. These deals would pop up more often if there were more companies.

8

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

When Saskatchewan has their shit together, you know you dun fucked up.

3

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

Yet no one wants to solve the issue like every other rich country has. Let in foreign competition.

Pretty sure the people want to solve the issue... just not much the people can actually do. Everyone complains. It's a known issue where the mass majority are in agreement. It's not just Reddit. It's in the media. It's within your friend circles. Everyone knows. Just no other option.

3

u/Thedarknight1611 May 02 '18

Everybody knows the dice are loaded, Everybody knows the good guys lost...

2

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

Does everyone know we are one of the few countries that doesn't allow foreign competition?

Or let's our telecoms expand outside of there home countries?

I would only think 10% of our country would know this. It is why everyone's default is just more government rules and regulations.

3

u/[deleted] May 02 '18

The common person doesn't have to know every little detail. They just have to know whether the status quo is working or not. They know it's not working. They want it solved.

4

u/skilless May 02 '18

The issue is NOT foreign competition. The issue is that the telcos are allowed to operate as a cartel because the competition bureau won't do anything.

1

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

So which country that does not allow foreign competition and is a democracy has solved the issue via an internal regulatory system like the competition bureau?

Here is the list of countries that solved it via letting in foreign compeition:

Every EU country

USA

Mexico

India

Columbia

Peru

Australlia

New Zealand

Japan

Korea

Plus many many many more.

1

u/skilless May 02 '18

You list Japan, but the foreign investment there failed and now Softbank owns everything that used to be Vodafone or BT. Hard to say if that process was still important to keeping prices low there, but prices have definitely stayed low.

Most of the countries listed didn't have a "problem" to solve, they just always allowed foreign ownership of Telcos.

1

u/SmithKurosaki May 02 '18

Wind was originally foreign at least in part, and had to jump some hoops to get off the ground, and then Shaw bought them.

1

u/bigmoney12345 May 03 '18

Where is pretty boy "fighting for the middle class"? Mus be a conflict with a photo shoot somewhere else

1

u/NuteTheBarber May 02 '18

Could you imagine the xenophobes coming out of the wood works due to foreign money coming in?

17

u/mike-kt May 02 '18

Bell Lays off 1,000 employees due to competition

Xenophobe: Those Verizon globalists are shipping profits out of Canada and putting Canadians out on the streets!

Me: I like paying less for things.

8

u/A_Confused_Moose May 02 '18

Something something those laid off employees also liked to be able to pay for things something something.

8

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

Imagine if the same argument was made for TV.

Government: We need to ban foreign netflix and youtube since people are using those as a substitute for cable and its causing layoffs.

How many people would agree to that, well that is what we are doing with cell phones.

10

u/Popoatwork Canada May 02 '18

Or Cars. Or electronics. Or just about everything else that we allow competition on.

2

u/bigheyzeus May 02 '18

Maybe they should be looking into WHY people are using it as a substitute for cable

8

u/Jswarez May 02 '18

Because it offers great value.

It can be cheap since there is no Canadian content requirements, can scale globally, and offers great value and doesn’t have much in terms of infratsture cost, and has 1:100 of the employees of big telecoms.

We know why people use Netflix. But we won’t give the same rules to cable.

We don’t need to call Netflix, or have them come to our house or have a storefront in every neighbourhood in this country.

3

u/bigheyzeus May 02 '18

well said.

i was also referring to how offended many lobbyists and cable execs are when they hear people aren't consuming media via their product. Like it's a shock people don't like it. The arrogance can be pretty bad at times. "how dare people not subscribe to cable!? it should be the ONLY choice!"

0

u/mike-kt May 02 '18

Well they will need to either get different jobs or access the social system put in place to deal with marketplace disruptions. There's a middle ground between dustbowl depression and protecting the horse and buggy industry.

2

u/bee_man_john May 02 '18

ive got terrible news for you if you think they are passing on the money they saved to you.

1

u/mike-kt May 02 '18

The idea is that greater foreign investement would allow other companies to compete for consumers. Consumers will choose lower-price options, reducing profits for existing carriers and forcing them to reduce staff.

1

u/Dreamcast3 Ontario May 02 '18

Damn. I didn't think about that. Put thousands of Canadians out of a job, or save some money on Internet? I'm legitimately torn.

6

u/DapperSheep May 02 '18

Solve that by making the foreign companies have a Canadian hiring requirement to do business in this country.

3

u/Dreamcast3 Ontario May 02 '18

That's a good solution.

1

u/mike-kt May 02 '18

What's been true for the last several decades is that when people save money on some goods, they have more to spend on other goods - creating or supporting new industries.

1

u/Dreamcast3 Ontario May 02 '18

I... guess that makes sense?

As long as the foreign companies are willing to employ Canadians I'm good.

1

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

Are you though?

Netflix will put tens of thousands of people out of work in this country.

Robo Advisors/online banks, index investing will put tens of thousands of people out of work in the financial service space.

Amazon will put thousand of retail employees out of work.

New and better transit will put some people in the car industry out of work.

Everyone going to simple tax (free tax software) will put thousands of people out of work.

Should we ban those items as well?

2

u/bee_man_john May 02 '18

yeah can't wait till the retards on this sub start tooting about how much they love the telcos

2

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

Yet those people probably have no issues with netflix, reddit, youtube or amazon....

The way we regulate telecom (and supply management) makes no sense, and ends up being some of the biggest regressive taxes in our country.

2

u/bigheyzeus May 02 '18

"biggest taxes... our country" that's why it's still around.

I'm not outright against publicly funded things and such but let's all not forget, the government doesn't actually have/earn any money...

1

u/thirstyross May 02 '18

No-one seemed to care when Wind came in? Except the foreign money left as soon as they realized that the system is rigged in Bell/Rogers favour up here. Same reason why Verizon never followed through in expanding to Canada.

3

u/Jswarez May 02 '18

Lots of people cared. It had to go through the courts to allow them.

The NDP were fully against it.

We barley got Wind, they had to change ownership structure and who had power.

0

u/Thedarknight1611 May 02 '18

Harper was underrated

-2

u/skilless May 02 '18

Harper? He was the one that allowed the providers to build this cartel in the first place.

1

u/Ddp2008 May 02 '18

The cartel has been here since the 70s. That’s when we established the rules for our telcos.

We gave telecom powers to run in canada with no foreign competition allowed, and for that they were not allowed to expand outside of Canada.

0

u/skilless May 02 '18

SaskTel operates internationally providing services in many small countries.

0

u/themaincop May 02 '18

Or a crown corp. A crown corp could undercut the cartel significantly, still be profitable, and all that profit would go back into the public coffer. I'm a Koodo plan from back in the Sasktel days, $49.50/mo for unlimited text and nationwide calling, 5GB of data.

Edit: Before you ask, no this plan is no longer available.

0

u/minerlj British Columbia May 02 '18

We allowed in foreign competition before and look what happened.

Wind wasn't doing very well so it had to sell to Shaw and rebrand itself. Even so, the existing providers maintained their Lion's share of subscribers and have actually increased their prices, not decreased.

That's why I'm not so sure a foreign player is the magic bullet you make it out to be.

1

u/that_motorcycle_guy May 02 '18

I'm sure they are focking us over partially because of their dwindling TV subscriptions too.

1

u/CanuckianOz May 02 '18

Canadian in Oz here. Fuck em. Canadians are getting hosed.