Give me a reason

[iamnopreacher]

Yesterday I found out that Freedom Mobile is offering the following for $50 per month:

- 5GB Data (+3GB Bonus if you sign up by end of today)

- Canada Wide and US Calling

- Global Texting

I did a quick check on PM and found that for the same features as above (except the addl. 3GB) costs $72 per month.

Moreover, Freedom Mobile has a lot of retail stores and an actual Call Center. Above all, it works in the TTC, underground...amazing. 

So, I would like to get one reason why I should stay with PM?

[thorfan1989]

Let me say this as a former Freedom/WIND Mobile loyal customer now switching to Public Mobile:

Sure, you can look at the initial cost and see you should be getting more bang for your buck. You can look at the fact that they do in fact have more gigs of data available for cheaper than any other carrier. You can also get texts/calls at TTC subway stations. But that's about where the train stops at (double entendre).

I first signed with WIND Mobile back in 2012. The service was a godsend to people who were calling for fair pricing and not needing to pay for basic **bleep** with the Big Three like call-display. True Story: Rogers was charging on basic plans for call display an extra $10 per month.

As most things go, you know you are signing up for a cheaper service but you have faith that they will continue to improve that service. For years they continued to seemingly expand their coverage to the point where it wasn't patchy in big cities.

It was always patchy outside of major cities though... You will never truly understand the frustration of wondering when you travel outside of the Toronto if you will have phone coverage or be charged $0.15 per text and something like $2/min while roaming because your cell phone company's coverage is just lackluster.

It went completely bonkers once they switched their 'name' to "Freedom". The irony being that the only "Freedom" we got was from our cell phone connection..... Constant outages came around, even in Toronto, pretty much every second day. I had issues getting or sending out text messages, receiving phone calls, even accessing my voicemail. I wasn't the only person who was experiencing these issues. It's horrifying to be stuck in that kind of scenario and making other people worry about your well being because of an invisible wall of **bleep** up from your carrier.

Their mantre was that they were "working constantly to improve their service"..... You know what, after nearly 10 years with the same company, paying for the same service, I was not expecting discounts, I was wanting expanded coverage. I had the humilliation of having to buy back-up SIM cards to visit places out of town because even when I tried turning on my roaming for Freedom, nothing came from it.

No amount of gigs is going to make up for the fact that when I go to visit my grandfather, or my cottage or check out a beach that isn't in Toronto that I would have to buy another service to just have simplified access so people knew where I was and that I was safe....

That being said, if you're in Toronto always and think you will never leave to any remote areas, you can cheap out for more gigs. Just don't depend on them to have coverage anywhere 'exotic'.

[iamnopreacher]

Got it. Thanks.

[stonechucker]

Only used WIND for about a year.  Got a refurbed iPhone 5s, so I could leave the phone in my window to receive signal, and charge, while using my iPad or MacBook to make, receive calls and sms.

At the time, I was previously on Rogers, and Rogers had no signal in my new to me apartment, this the switch.

WIND signal sucked at work also....when I found PM, I tested a 10 day plan to make sure everything and everywhere I needed would work.  It did.

7months later, I joined Public Mobile.  Haven’t been happier.

[Luddite]

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@iamnopreacher wrote:

I would like this discussion to stop now, so thanks to all, once again.

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Sorry, stopping a discussion can't be done. 

You can, however, eliminate your notifications by "Unsubscribing".

[computergeek541]

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@iamnopreacher wrote:

That all makes sense but I work with 4 people who have been with Freedom since the time they were Wind. I personally had issues with Wind years back, but the reports I get from my 4 colleagues doesn't sound bad at all. They have not faced any major issues and i specifically asked about calls going directly to voicemail and their answer was 'never'. So maybe your information is either outdated or based on bias towards PM. In any case, thanks for the information. 

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Of course there is some bias and that is my opinion clearly leading to my choice to be with Public Mobile being the chocie for my main line. 

I used WIND/Freedom for years as my main line.  It was not good. I only put up with it because of the price.  It was fine most of the time, but it was not at all hard to find problem areas.  That whole area near Park Lawn and Lake Shore has been a problem for years, and it still is. Go in the Humber Bay Park West or go into the Metro grocery store accross the street and watch what happens.  You're right in that I haven't checked up on that one in about a year, but according to publicly available information, they have no installed a new tower anywhere around there since one that went up back in 2016 in the Mimico area. I still have a low-usage line with Freedom. 

As for the calls going to straight to voicemail, this is a common complaint. I have a freind still using Freedom as her main line and she'll complain constantly about having missed calls without the phone even ringing.

The question about Freedom Mobile has never been to me whether the network is good.  I never thought it was.  It was always just a matter of whether or not the network was  good enough for the price that was being paid. 

[will13am]

Lol.  This is a good example of confirmation bias. 

[iamnopreacher]

Thank you to everyone who made the attempt to give me a reason to stay with PM, but unfortunately, most of the suggestions were based on out-dated information. My experience so far, with Freedom, has been nothing but great. I will keep you guys updated on how it goes in the coming weeks. I would like this discussion to stop now, so thanks to all, once again.

[iamnopreacher]

Oh, I am already with Freedom for the past 10 days and so far no issues. All the reasons I got so far are not good enough or correct, to keep me with PM.  

[iamnopreacher]

That all makes sense but I work with 4 people who have been with Freedom since the time they were Wind. I personally had issues with Wind years back, but the reports I get from my 4 colleagues doesn't sound bad at all. They have not faced any major issues and i specifically asked about calls going directly to voicemail and their answer was 'never'. So maybe your information is either outdated or based on bias towards PM. In any case, thanks for the information. 

[smp99]

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@iamnopreacher wrote:

I live along the lakeshore and have had no problems so far, even indoors.

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Ok - you have asked for reasons, we have given you reasons You have countered most of that reasoning. So what is stopping you from signing up with Freedom? Just do it.

[iamnopreacher]

I live along the lakeshore and have had no problems so far, even indoors.

[computergeek541]

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@amarieyyz wrote:

Freedom Mobile was rebranded from Wind Mobile - although the service is great in USA, in Canada, in a major city centre (i.e.Toronto) you'll get reception, but if you leave and go to the GTA such as Markham, you'll barely get reception.

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You don't even have to leave Toronto to get the "WIND" experience.  Just go over to Park Lawn and Lake shore.  Barely works out on the street, doesn't work indoors at all, and go into the parkland there and there's no signal even though you're outside.   

[computergeek541]

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@iamnopreacher wrote:

Yesterday I found out that Freedom Mobile is offering the following for $50 per month:

- 5GB Data (+3GB Bonus if you sign up by end of today)

- Canada Wide and US Calling

- Global Texting

I did a quick check on PM and found that for the same features as above (except the addl. 3GB) costs $72 per month.

Moreover, Freedom Mobile has a lot of retail stores and an actual Call Center. Above all, it works in the TTC, underground...amazing. 

So, I would like to get one reason why I should stay with PM?

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Frist and foremost, Public Mobile is using a much, much, much better network than Freedom Mobile.  Freedom's network is not good, the exception being service in the Toronto subway system.

Call centre access consideration should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to Freedom Mobile customer service.  Customer service's answer to anything and everything that is not in the basic questions script (the types of questions that even non-employees can often answer) is to refer you to another department (called Back Office).  The standard line is "Back Office will contact you within 3 to 5 business days".  Honestly, if first level customer service was replaced by an answering machine or computerized prompts, it would make almost no difference. 

Honestly, I've started to believe that Freedom Mobile's "Back Office" is the exact same department as regular customer service but that the 3 to 5 days thing is just a stall tactic.  Yes, Freedom's customer service has almsot always been that bad!  The Wind customer service used to be excellent at the very beginning, but if they couldn't fix something on the spot, they would give you the "back office" speech, but you would never actually hear from them, nor would anythng ever get fixed.  In the rare cases you did hear from Back Office, they were really good.  Now, the "back office" routine has become standard, but the department is just really regular customer service is disguise.  When Freedom's Back Office does call back, watch out for the "we need to escalste this to IT" line that they give you.  When they do that, nothing will ever get fixed, and you will never hear back from them again.

Yes, LTE plans are quite expensive when compared to Freedom's price when it comes to LTE data services.  But sure, the speeds can be good, but the network is so unreliable that I would argue it doesn't matter what the maximum speeds are.   To me, a service working virtually all the time is much more valuable than than service from a network (Freedom's) that has dead zones to this very day within the City of Toronto even when you are outdoors.

You always would not believe how many times calls go straight to voicemail for Freedom Mobile customers.  This is a common daily routine for many.  The switchover from LTE to 3g (for voice calls) has always been broken and often results in people have to call Freedom Mobile customers multiple times to get through.

I believe many customers would be much happier with Public Mobile's 3g speed (3Mbps) data services combined with voice and text compared to Freedom's LTE.  Let's also remember that 3GB bonus over at Freedom is only temporary. 

[CalvinW]

Go for it if you need 8 GB. Reconsider if you need reliable reception when you travel to the outskirts of your city 

[koimr1 · Accepted solution]

Everybody is going to have their own opinion on what's acceptable and what's not. Best thing to do is find out for yourself. You can sign up with them and try them out for 15 days:

Terms of Service - Freedom Mobile

(scroll to "13. Trial Periods")

To add my own two cents to the conversation, it's always the friends/acquaintances on Freedom who have issues (very delayed texts, calls straight to voicemail, slow mobile data despite phone showing strong signal strength). These were the same things that I and family experienced when we were with them.

[iamnopreacher]

Thanks for the update. I guess I'll have to see for myself. 🙂

[will13am]

I will give a really good reason based on my own personal experience which includes about 5 years with the former Wind Mobile in two separate stints.  The reason for not going to Freedom is plain and simple, the network is terrible.  The lure of lots of data at a cheap price might be really enticing.  However, if you have to consume that data on a network that may not yield a reliable signal at critical times, it far from the panacea.  While one could argue that was then, this is now, here is an ongoing discussion of the virtues of the Freedom service.  There continues to be major coverage issues being reported, in spite of the LTE roll out, implementation of AWS-3.  They remain no so ready for prime time.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/opinions-freedom-mobile-formerly-wind-mobile-1725817/78/

[iamnopreacher]

True, but I don't really travel to those areas that are not covered, so Freedom's coverage suits my needs. Thanks.

[iamnopreacher]

Yes, PM's online support is good but the wait time to get service is not the best. Sometimes you need to be served right away. The point is to move away from the big 3. They are ruining the market. Art some point the prices offered by PM will be at par with their parent company. It's already getting there. The prices a few years back were a lot better. Big 3 - they will get you any which way they can.

[jp2]

The best thing to do to check if the coverage is good enough for you is look at the home network coverage map those areas are good; it's everywhere else you can have issues.

[iamnopreacher]

No, bro, 3G is slow. I like LTE and, yes, the more data the better, whether I use it all or not. Atleast I don't have to think about running out of data. That's one less thing to think about. 🙂

[iamnopreacher]

You are probably right, but I rarely go to those cities. I live in Toronto and , so far, where ever outside I went the signal was great. Haven't tried Markham yet. Thanks.

[iamnopreacher]

Well, PM doesn't work in basements either. I live in a condo and I can't get a signal with PM from one level below ground. As a matter of fact, I couldn't get a signal from the basement level of my office building, which is right in the financial district. Amazingly, I got a signal from Freedom, in these same place as well as in the subway train.

[adil-5aar]

Ok Good for you, maybe im not up to date about their service..

but i think if u travel out of big city its not the same coverage ..

[jp2]

If your always in the city then switch but remember if you leave the city you will be on the away network probably 0 data included and there isn't good signal. Also while your traveling between major cities this will be a problem. 

[iamnopreacher]

That's strange you say that. I was skeptical too, but I work with 5 collegues who have been with Freedom for some time now and they don't complain. Looks like their service has improved. I even tried out the subway today and it works, crystal clear, from the train. 

[iamnopreacher]

I am covered in most of the cities I've travelled to. In Toronto, it works amazingly.

[adil-5aar]

The reason you will know it yourself when you leave PM and start using the new Network..

as you said in your message they have a good network but once you will use it you will see the difference between what its said and what you really trie it..

have a Good luck ...

even if PM they dont have Call center but they have people working 24/24h when u need assitance ..

have a great day

[mimmo]

Do you need 8 gb? If yes then go it's a great deal. If you only need 4.5 gb @3g@ then stay.

[amarieyyz]

Freedom Mobile was rebranded from Wind Mobile - although the service is great in USA, in Canada, in a major city centre (i.e.Toronto) you'll get reception, but if you leave and go to the GTA such as Markham, you'll barely get reception.

Unless you don't travel outside the city center I would not recommend it.