Stumbling through the mobile networks in Canada.

Mobile networks and their numerous packages are a minefield at the best of times. Here is a thread I thought I would start so we can help people looking for a mobile phone or people upgrading their mobile phones.

As a South African we are used to paying only for outgoing calls and sms’s (Texts). Not so in Canada and the USA depending on your package but most networks, you pay for incoming and outgoing.

We live just outside the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)  and as such finding a suitable mobile phone package has been difficult to say the least.  If you live within the GTA it is still a problem because if you travel in your car, you run the risk of being in an area that falls outside the GTA and you get a surprise when you get your bill.

So after changing providers a few times trying to settle on a service provider that does it for me we settled with “Bell”. The service was good because you can list 10 of your friends and family to call without charge. Now that business is picking up and we need to do more traveling we are all too often falling into that trap of calling outside the GTA calls are then at 50 cents R4.50 a minute.

Reading through all the providers current packages I have found nothing that even comes close to what I need. You get lots of minutes and no data or lots of data and local minutes and so the matrix unfolds.

So I decide to go into the store and ask Bell my current provider for assistance. Lo and behold I can upgrade my package (300 shared local minutes , no voice mail, no calling line id, unlimited text and 1Gb data for $65) to Unlimited “Canada wide” minutes , 2Gb of data,  voice mail , Calling line id and unlimited text for $5 cheaper.

Who knew! I guess the thing I am learning is, you have to ask and then go back and ask every few months because you can sometimes get a better deal they do not advertise.

I wonder how many people “Churn” through the providers instead of asking and getting those unadvertised deals.