 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion Groups General General TopicsGSMBluetoothProviders AlltelATT WirelessCingularFidoNextelSprint PCST-MobileVerizonManufacturers EricssonNokiaMotorolaCountry Specific Australian GroupUK GroupRelated Topics PocketPCPalmMore Topics ... |
Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Fido / October 2003Interesting sign up experience with CityFido today
So I call up and ask for my Business 1000 plan to be changed to CityFido. No pitch from them, no "here's the features" which is fine by me. But two things happened. a) they didn't ask what landline number I wanted ported (in fact, I'm a bit worried that they may try to take my landline number regged with them, that being my office number, and port it! I should call back...) b) I was told, and I quote: "due to a glitch in our ordering system, you might see a $50 charge on your next bill. If you do, it will also show a credit of $50 on your next bill". I said, what's the $50 for (acting innocent)... the CSR said "it's a maintenance fee for new customers signing up, but as an existing customer, you do not have to pay that...." Inneresin... if true, the CityFido deal is looking even sweeter - no $7 monthly access fee, and now no $50 "maintenance fee"! I went from $73 base a month - $50 Biz 1000 daytime /150 E and W, $5 CD and VM, $3 SMS, $10 LD (dropped that), and $7 SA fee (and about $120 real time, cuz of all of the minutes I use in a month) to $48 a month ($40 + $5 +3) and my monthly bill will probably be only about that $48 on average, cuz the bulk of my minutes are in local calls, or toll free to a calling card LD plan. I actually worry about Fido a bit - instead of getting $100-$120 a month from me (plus another $50 for unlimited GPRS), they may only be getting about $50 a month (plus $50 GPRS).... good news for me, but not so good for Fido? Mark > I actually worry about Fido a bit - instead of getting $100-$120 a > month from me (plus another $50 for unlimited GPRS), they may only be > getting about $50 a month (plus $50 GPRS).... good news for me, but > not so good for Fido? it reminds me of the time i got a call from customer service last year... they said 'hey, your package plan is too big for what you use... you can get away with spending $20/month less than what you pay now.' they called to decrease my bill! mind you, it pretty much ensures that i'll be a fido customer for a very long time...... >So I call up and ask for my Business 1000 plan to be changed to >CityFido. No pitch from them, no "here's the features" which is fine [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >getting about $50 a month (plus $50 GPRS).... good news for me, but >not so good for Fido? I may be wrong in my assessment of it, but it seems like part of the aim of this program is to lure people away from their regular wireline service. If that's the case it's definitely to Fido's advantage. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To send an email reply send to GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com Hi Mark, They won't automatically switch your landline number to your fido account unless you ask them to do so. They are treating city fido as simply a change in price plans at this time. The $50 administration fee is apparently only charged to new City Fido accounts for new subscibers or those who have subscribed to Fido after October 8, and then switch to City Fido. I was told that if you were already a Fido customer before October 8th, you will not be charged the $50. That is great! It is going to cost me more per month to be on this plan but I won't have to worry about how many minutes I have or have not used up. The little bit of extra money is worthwhile for the peace of mind ;). Fido is going to dramatically increase their subscriber base with this new plan (unless other companies jump on board quickly and do the same thing). The downside is that roaming and long distance is going to cost you more regardless of how much you have or have not used your phone. From the US, a call to Vancouver is going to be 20 cents US plus 20 cents CDN plus 10 cents long distance. Local calls from the US to the US are going to cost 20 cents US plus 20 cents CDN. Of course that is still decent. Joe > So I call up and ask for my Business 1000 plan to be changed to > CityFido. No pitch from them, no "here's the features" which is fine [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Mark From what I understand, there is no extra 10 cent fee to call to Canada when in the US. You simply pay 20 cents roaming, plus 20 cents for a call outside your "city zone." At least, this is how it works on regular Fido. Besides, even if I had to pay 60 cents per minute to call in the US (20 cents US is roughly 30 cents CDN, plus 20 cents for a minute, plus 10 cents ld), it's still cheaper than what I currently pay with Bell. I pay $1.35 CDN (60 cents US for roaming plus 30 cents US for ld) to call to Canada from the US with Bell, and that's when I'm in digital. In analog, it doubles to $2.70 CDN!!! CU > Hi Mark, > [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > > > > Mark dang... I just called in and change to CityFido and they are going to charge $50 admin fee... What will happen if I called in and pretend innocent when I receive my bill... something like.. "your rep says I will be credited.. etc" heehee... Phillis > Hi Mark, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Joe > dang... > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Phillis No exceptions for anyone (including employees). You will never pay a SAF again, so it's not that bad of a deal. > > dang... > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > No exceptions for anyone (including employees). You will never pay a SAF > again, so it's not that bad of a deal. I don't understand this, do you mean the government is no longer charging the fee or do you mean it's just included in the price? > > > dang... > > > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I don't understand this, do you mean the government is no longer charging > the fee or do you mean it's just included in the price? The "system access fee" has NOTHING to do with the government, it is a cash grab, with a very weak "excuse" for existing. TTYL >The "system access fee" has NOTHING to do with the government, >it is a cash grab, with a very weak "excuse" for existing. TTYL Technically it is NOT a cash grab, or an excuse. Going back to 1985 when Bell Cellular and Cantel first got their licenses the government began charging them a licensing fee based on the number of subscribers they had. Bell and Cantel decided at that time to pass this cost along to subscribers as a separate charge, rather than build it into the cost of a plan. When the PCS providers came along they were hardly in a position to buck the trend, since it would have made their price plans appear less competitive compared to Bell and Cantel, who continued to separate the charge. Granted, it would much more honest to simply fold the licensing costs into the price of a plan (which technically they do with pre-paid plans), but who would be the first provider to be dumb enough to do this? However, make no mistake about it. The provider has to pass the cost of their licenses along to the subscriber somehow, so whether it is folded into the plan price or not, you will STILL pay it. I guess for some people, "out of sight, out of mind" are words to live by.  SignatureSteve Punter http://www.arcx.com/sites >>The "system access fee" has NOTHING to do with the government, >>it is a cash grab, with a very weak "excuse" for existing. TTYL > > Technically it is NOT a cash grab, or an excuse. Going back to 1985 when During my first couple of years as a Fido subscriber the "fee" was included in my $20 plan. Later they made the fee visible, simultaneously raising the effective price of my plan to $27. Now the fee may always have been there, meaning that I was paying $13 + $7 but now I'm paying $20 + $7. And frankly, that's a >50% increase in the cost of the actual plan. A money grab, pure and simple. ============================================================ Gardner Buchanan <gbuchana@rogers.com> Ottawa, ON FreeBSD: Where you want to go. Today. You must have been on a different Fido network that I was. Right from the very day they launched service in Toronto (in 1997) Fido charged a $48 per year access fee just like the others. They may have had a promotional plan that didn't charge the SAF, but it has ALWAYS been charged on standard monthly plans (either as a YEARLY charge, or a monthly charge). You might have THOUGHT you weren't paying it because you'd already paid for 12 months in advance (back when it was $48 per year). SignatureSteve Punter http://www.arcx.com/sites > echnically it is NOT a cash grab, or an excuse. Going back to 1985 when > Bell Cellular and Cantel first got their licenses the government began > charging them a licensing fee based on the number of subscribers they had. > Bell and Cantel decided at that time to pass this cost along to subscribers > as a separate charge, rather than build it into the cost of a plan. In my first year as a Cantel subscriber, I had to purchase a radio license from Department of Communications (now Industry Canada). This was replaced by the system access fee. DOC sent out a letter explaining that it was cheaper for them to charge the carrier based on the number of subscribers than to bill each cellphone customer individually. Made sense to me! Brendan > Granted, it would much more honest to simply fold the licensing costs into > the price of a plan (which technically they do with pre-paid plans), but who > would be the first provider to be dumb enough to do this? Bell Mobility would be that "dumb" provider. Their new price plans include the SAF, by raising the price 10$. CU > > > > dang... > > > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > The "system access fee" has NOTHING to do with the government, it is a > cash grab, with a very weak "excuse" for existing. TTYL I've done some research into this "fee", I just assumed it was some sort of tax but your right it's not! It appears the government originally allowed the local phone company to charge a fee for cellular phones to have access to the local phone system. But this doesn't make a lot of sense anymore. It does appear to be just a cash grab. > I've done some research into this "fee", I just assumed it was some sort of > tax but your right it's not! It appears the government originally allowed > the local phone company to charge a fee for cellular phones to have access > to the local phone system. But this doesn't make a lot of sense anymore. > It does appear to be just a cash grab. At the time Fido switched from the $49 annual fee to the monthly $7 fee, it was partly as an increase of the cost charged by industry canada to help subsidize rural phone service. It went supposedly from a per-subscriber fixed fee to one which was based on average revenu per subscriber. However, from what I remember, a big chunk of that $7 remains with Microcell and the others. And in the case of Bell Mobility and Telus, a big chunk returns to them so they can use it to subsidize rural service. Of the money that Fido sends to the government, I do not know what proportion returns to landline telcos for rural subsidies, what portion is kept as a tax, and what portion is used by the governmemt to defray costs of bandwidth management etc etc. However, to me, no cell provider should be allowed to advertise a $20 plan when in fact, this plan is $27.00 minimum. It is false advertising. It is a bit like Air Canada adversinging a $99 fare from Montreal to New York, but that is really a $198 return fare before taxes, fees, taxes, fees, taxes, fees where the total is more around $400. That was declared misleading advertising and airlines were told to stop doing that and to start including all fees and taxes in their advertising. (There is no way a normal citizen can calculate the taxes and fees for a flight, not quite the same thing as when you see Canadian Tire advertising a hammer for $25, you know you need to add 7% GST on it and then 7.5 QST (in Québec). >> I've done some research into this "fee", I just assumed it was some sort of >> tax but your right it's not! It appears the government originally allowed [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > hammer for $25, you know you need to add 7% GST on it and then 7.5 QST (in > Québec). i bought a round trip montreal/vancouver ticket from jetsgo recently online: paid $1 for half the trip, $61 for the other half. after taxes the trip was $207! an incredible deal, but the taxes and fees were more than double the actual ticket fare! >dang... > >I just called in and change to CityFido and they are going to charge >$50 admin fee... What will happen if I called in and pretend innocent >when I receive my bill... something like.. "your rep says I will be >credited.. etc" heehee... Just as a quick update, many of us on howardforums who signed up did NOT get charged the $50 fee because we were Fido subscribers prior to the CityFido plan. The $50 fee only seems to apply to new activations, or people who switch to the monthly plan from prepaid after the CityFido plan became available. > Hi Mark, > [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > > > > Mark Actually, when you travel to the states..if you make a call with a City Fido plan, it will cost you 20 cents CDN plus 20 cents USD. Fido includes the long distance charges in the 20 cents usd..so if you're there..it's 20 cents to make or receive a call, and since City Fido users don't have any bundled minutes they have to pay for the local airtime + roaming rate. There is no additional 10 cents. According to the customer service rep at Fido, they do charge an additional 10 cents CND but only if you are calling long distance. If you are in the US and making a local call there, then the extra 10 cents is not charged. I'm just repeating what she said. Joe > > Hi Mark, > > [quoted text clipped - 66 lines] > users don't have any bundled minutes they have to pay for the local > airtime + roaming rate. There is no additional 10 cents. This is fact, you aren't charged 10 cents on top of the 20 cents. The CSR is getting Canada roaming mixed up with US roaming, and needs to read a bit more. He probably was talking about analog roaming, where you are charged 20 cents CDN because you're using analog, then add 10 cents for the LD..if you're making one. When you travel to the states, it's just a flat fee of 20 cents USD. From the Fido website: "All incoming calls and local or long-distance calls within the U.S. or to Canada, including forwarded calls, are charged at the rate of 20¢ US per minute, plus airtime, rounded up to the nearest minute." That's why they have the most reasonable roaming rate out of all the carriers, excluding the MiKe network. > According to the customer service rep at Fido, they do charge an additional > 10 cents CND but only if you are calling long distance. If you are in the [quoted text clipped - 84 lines] > > users don't have any bundled minutes they have to pay for the local > > airtime + roaming rate. There is no additional 10 cents. That makes sense to me, Jay but I will clarify further what was said. As you pointed out, on their website it says: > "All incoming calls and local or long-distance calls within the U.S. > or to Canada, including forwarded calls, are charged at the rate of > 20? US per minute, plus airtime, rounded up to the nearest minute." It was my understanding, from what the rep said, that you are indeed charged the 20 cents US per minute, plus airtime (charged at 20 cents CDN per minute) plus long distance (if it is a long distance call). Apparently they are not going to be including the airtime as part of the city fido package. Does that make sense? She said that is one of the benefits of staying with a regular plan if you don't use a lot of airtime. Joe > This is fact, you aren't charged 10 cents on top of the 20 cents. The > CSR is getting Canada roaming mixed up with US roaming, and needs to [quoted text clipped - 103 lines] > > > users don't have any bundled minutes they have to pay for the local > > > airtime + roaming rate. There is no additional 10 cents. I went further in to the roaming stuff: "Roaming rates U.S. travel Any call received or call made to any number in Canada or the U.S. is charged at the very low rate of just 20¢ US per minute, in addition to airtime deducted from your monthly package. Calls made or received while in the U.S. are rounded up to the next minute. Calls made to numbers outside Canada or the U.S. are charged at the local U.S. GSM operator's international rates." The long distance is included in the 20 cents USD..so if you're in New York, and make a call to Toronto..it's 20 cents USD, and your regular airtime is taken off. If you are on city Fido..there are no bundled minutes. So if you go to the states, you have to pay 20 cents USD roaming rate PLUS 20 cents for the local rate. That's the advantage a normal plan has..since you have bundled minutes that work anywhere, not just in a zone. > That makes sense to me, Jay but I will clarify further what was said. > [quoted text clipped - 153 lines] > > > > users don't have any bundled minutes they have to pay for the local > > > > airtime + roaming rate. There is no additional 10 cents. > The $50 administration fee is apparently only charged to new City Fido > accounts for new subscibers or those who have subscribed to Fido after > October 8, and then switch to City Fido. I would have thought that the $50 fee was to cover the costs of number portability. (moving phone number from bell to fido, then paying (I presume) for your listing in white pages etc. If you are just switching plans but not changing phone number or "stealing" a Telus/Bell phone number, then Fido doesn't really need to pay anyone. The real test would be when an existing customer really wants to move his landline phone number onto his cell phone. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.