topic Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid in The Lounge

Prepaid vs. postpaid

411 — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 05:51:47 GMT

Hey, this is just a random question that suddenly came to mind, but I am genuinely curious: what is your reason for choosing prepaid over postpaid?

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

srlawren — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 21:50:33 GMT

@411 wrote:
Hey, this is just a random question that suddenly came to mind, but I am genuinely curious: what is your reason for choosing prepaid over postpaid?

@411 I would say the reasons generally mentioned are:

No credit check or security deposit upon activation
No surprise data (or any) overages, should be zero bill shock
Dislike of contracts/24-month terms (though, you can always cancel post-paid even under contract so long as you pay out any tab balance but people still hold on to this)
Ability to stop service temporarily (by not renewing) for up to 90 days and resume again with little hassle
Keep things simple (no frilly services you may or may not need--good for younger children or elderly parents for example)

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

BKNS27 — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 22:32:14 GMT

@411

No 24 month contact and you don’t have to pay for early cancellation fee.

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

srlawren — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 23:00:17 GMT

@BKNS27 wrote:
@411
No 24 month contact and you don’t have to pay for early cancellation fee.

@BKNS27 and again, as I noted, there really isn't any early cancellation fees any more (except possibly on commercial/business lines, but not on personal lines). If you bought a phone on a tab and have an outstanding tab balance, that has to be paid off, but they're not allowed to charge you a cancellation fee any more.

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

srlawren — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 00:27:18 GMT

@411 I never really answered your question about my reasons.

I came to Public Mobile in... I think it was fall 2015. I was on a post-paid plan at Telus at the time, and paying far too much for what I was getting. (I don't even remember the details of the plan now.) I chose PM not really because of the reasons I listed above as I didn't really care about pre-paid vs. post-paid. I chose it because it was on the same network and the plans on offer at the time were subjectively a better value, and I found one that met my needs, gave me more than I was getting with parent Telus, and for less spend every month. The pre-paid nature was never a factor.

Fast forward a few years and I actually left PM for Koodo in 2018 when Telus was targeting a segment of the PM customer base and offering them migration deals to switch to Koodo post-paid. If I remember correctly, they offered me the same $ per month I was paying PM but with more data and there were some generous startup credits applied. So again, not really caring about pre-paid vs. post-paid, I went for it. No regrets. Truth be told I could still get by with PM if I had to, but I'm loving access to Call Control, international roaming (not that I'm travelling internationally these days--stupid pandemic!), VoLTE, and so on. I don't use the tabs for hardware purchase as I'm a "direct from the manufacturer" fan but at least it's an option if I ever wanted it.

That said, a couple of years ago I once again became a PM customer. I have a line for my mother that I've been paying for for as long as I can remember (worth every penny to know she can reach me or emergency services if she ever had a problem). It was with Fido post-paid for quite a while, but then PM improved their $25 plan and again it ended up providing more for less than what I was paying Fido. She's a very casual user and doesn't need any of the "extras" from a post-paid plan and the pre-paid plan keeps thing simple for her as well as means I don't have to worry if she forgets to connect to her home WiFi that I'll get a big overage bill. (Both of these items are on my list in the earlier reply.)

So, that's my long story. Since you asked. 🙂

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

411 — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 01:56:32 GMT

@srlawren

So, that's my long story. Since you asked. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your long story 🙂 Appreciate it!

No surprise data (or any) overages, should be zero bill shock

This is exactly why I prefer prepaid over postpaid. Unfortunately, though, in Canada, prepaid plans, even at the Big 3, don't include the "extras" like Wi-Fi calling, VoLTE, etc.

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

popping — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 05:37:07 GMT

As a parent who pay for children mobile phone bill, I prefer prepaid. No unexpected monthly charge.

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

411 — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 05:38:45 GMT

@popping
That makes sense.

Re: Prepaid vs. postpaid

makkahn28 — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 05:46:25 GMT

I think that Some Postpaid stuff that's practical can be converted to Prepaid.

I also prefer Prepaid, No Shock, No Muck,less fuss, and effective