Leaving PM going back to fido...

[akuma4u]

something unbelievable has happened

I left fido after 13 years to come to pm. I gave fido so many chances to keep me and match or do something to keep me there cuz of the 13 year relationship. They couldnt match pm. So i left .

3 days later...

I get a call today. Its fido. Some special department. He asks me what it will take to come back. I said nothing since u guys cant match pm plans .He said he is a special department and he can do a lot more than i think.

So...here is what he offered me

Reimbursement for pm sim and any charges ive built up while with pm

He give me 5gb and unlimited can wide for 40 a month

Now heres the unbelievable part...

He will give me almost any phone i want for the price of...FREE. 

he suggests samsung s9..i suggested huawei p20 pro..he said yes to that..then i changed it to pixel 3 xl..he said yes to that but plan would change to 60 a month for 2 yrs...then he said to get back to him tmrw and let him know which phone i want and tmrw the deal will expire so i gotta do this by end of day tmrw

The deal is too good to pass on..i wish i couldve stayed with pm but how can i turn down a free 1000$+ phone???

[computergeek541]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@computergeek541 yeah well put.  They aren't stupid, and they aren't running charities--they have shareholders to keep happy.  Inflating the price of the phone to create artificial cancellation fees is pretty smart.  Even if they don't inflate, they get the phones at a discount due to bulk quantities so even if they charge MSRP/market value for the phone, they're still making money on the hardware, whether or not you cancel early. 

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I've always found it strange how the carrier branded stores, whether authorized dealers or corporate, often refuse to sell phones to customers.  They claim they lose money, yet they list $400 devices at prices $850+! 

They often only want to deal with new customers and only with those activating a new plan.  Some have gone as far as refusing to any renewals I also remember how outright purchase prices were advertised but when you tried to make the purchase, they would try to add an extra fee because you weren't activating service. 

[akuma4u]

Nah pm or koodoo or anyone else cant touch it because fido is tossing u basically a free 1000 dollar phone with the ridiculously low plan. Now u say its not free and im paying for it. Which is true but then that plan for 5gb becomes 20 bucks a month lol. So whos gonna beat that?  

Also i got in writing that there will be no price hike or anything..i was also told thay after the 2 years the price for the plan will stay the same if i choose continue under no agreement or i can negotiate another phone (possibly another free one) and also stay at 40 ..

[kav2001c]

@akuma4u

The plan you have (and other one I mentioned) are all over the internet

It isn't a "secret plan" or anything

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/fido-40-5-gb-fido-offer-2241234/

(PS and Koodo def could touch it as they offered Public clients $40 for 4GB, $40 for 5GB, $40 for 6GB AND $40 for 8GB; we have thousands of posts on these boards about it)

Don't beleive the hype about "deserving" or "rare" plan

Also watch out for the inevitable price creep cause we all know its coming

@akuma4u wrote:

Sorry .. Im not in the same boat as them .sure some may be getting offers for an iphone x for 100 bucks but then their plan is like 100 bucks a month on a 2 year agreement. Mine isnt. Mine is 40 a month for 5gb and no company can touch that..its the cheapest plan around for that many gigs and a free more than decent phone on top of that.  

Guys i know this sounds to good to be true but believe me ,after being with them for 13 years..i deserve this. And i firmly believe thats why im getting it. And thats what the agent kept saying as well. And he also kept driving home the fact only a very very few people get this kind of offer. I totally believe him. 

[akuma4u]

Activation fees are horrible and such an unnecessary rip off plain and simple. Cell phone providers and gyms..esp goodlife are notorious for pulling this scam. I hope some new government regulations abolish the entire activation fee process

[srlawren]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

Carriers sometimes deliberately inflate the retail price of phones, sometimes by hundreds of dollars.  They often do this so that they can include a hidden cancellation fee, of which arbritrary cancellation fees aren't even allowed any more. They put it in the price of the phone so that they can say that they're only making you pay for the device.  It's the carriers' way around the rules.

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@computergeek541 yeah well put.  They aren't stupid, and they aren't running charities--they have shareholders to keep happy.  Inflating the price of the phone to create artificial cancellation fees is pretty smart.  Even if they don't inflate, they get the phones at a discount due to bulk quantities so even if they charge MSRP/market value for the phone, they're still making money on the hardware, whether or not you cancel early. 

The other thing they have done to recoup the inability to charge cancellation fees is to charge activations fees.  This one irritates me just as much as cancellation fees, or maybe more.  Cost of customer acquisition should be absorbed as a cost of doing business and should not be charged directly to the customer, IMHO. 

But I guess the TL;DR is:  you may pay now, or you may pay later--but you're gonna pay!

[srlawren]

@akuma4u thanks for the follow-up.  That makes more sense.  They take a haircut on the plan and bundle the tab cost in in order to win you back, in the hopes you keep your service long-term.  The beauty of them hiding the tab in is that starting in month 25, you're still paying $40 because that's your plan cost, and that extra $18 is additional profit.  It's a long-play gamble.

But the good news for you is that your early cancellation is only $18 x # months remaining, which is exactly what you'd expect (and regulations allow).

I was pretty sure that $521 was for the phone.  So yeah $521 + $18x24 = $953, which sounds about right for the phone.  So you won't be getting 13 months free, but you are still getting a very good deal overall.  I think you made a good choice, and thanks to the questions raised here you now understand exactly what your obligations are.  Win-win!  🙂

[akuma4u]

For those who are interested, i called in and figured out the exact terms of my 2 year agreement. Yes there is a tab. But fido uses hidden tabs which are built into the price of the plan. So..this makes my 5gb can wide unlimited plan 22 dollars a month and the phone is 18 a month thus bringing total to 40 a month. If i decide to leave early before the 2 years is up i have to pay 18 x remaining months to cover the cost of the phone. 

The 521 dollar credit was indeed a credit applied to cover the cost of the phone. 

I still did receive a 150 dollar credit as promised to cover my charges with public mobile. This is more than 3x what i needed. 

So..at the end of the day..a great deal.

Thanks

[akuma4u]

Sorry .. Im not in the same boat as them .sure some may be getting offers for an iphone x for 100 bucks but then their plan is like 100 bucks a month on a 2 year agreement. Mine isnt. Mine is 40 a month for 5gb and no company can touch that..its the cheapest plan around for that many gigs and a free more than decent phone on top of that.  

Guys i know this sounds to good to be true but believe me ,after being with them for 13 years..i deserve this. And i firmly believe thats why im getting it. And thats what the agent kept saying as well. And he also kept driving home the fact only a very very few people get this kind of offer. I totally believe him. 

[kav2001c]

They always do that

Tons of threads on other boards about offers for even stuff like iPhone X for $100 recently

Problem is either incorrect / incomplete info on what promo / penalty are

And twice as many complaints threads about things like price increases (Rogers is worst in industry for this; far worse than Bell or Telus) or misleading sales pitches

I mean think this way; departments such as winback and loyalty do exist

But logically WHY does Rogers pay these employees MORE and let these employees make better offers than the stores

In the long term the cellcos always win

Financials are always public and they make insane amounts of profits

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@BarryS wrote:

I think fido must be incenting customers with free phones to stay with their service.  I recently bought a phone on kijiji (brand new iphone 6s) and when I asked the seller where they got it and why they were selling it, they said they were given them by fido (her and her husband - she had 2 iphone 6s for sale) as an incentive to renew their two year plan(s).  She said they both had iphone 6s' already, which were working fine, so they decided to sell them and make some $$ on the deal.

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[akuma4u]

U may be right regarding the early cancelation of the contract and me having to pay for the cost of the phone. I will find out tmrw..i still think i will have to pay 40 for each month remaining which coincidentally turns out to be almost the same as the cost of the phone...

Regardless... I wouldnt even consider leaving anyways UNLESS another company can beat 40 a month for 5gb unlimited can wide.

[akuma4u]

I hope so too..i will know for sure if that 521 turns into 150 after receiving my phone or not .one thing i will add..the agent and i had a good convo and i madr him laugh a lot by saying it felt like a bad breakup with a long term gf and then we get back together and the free phone is like the make up sex. He liked that compairison and said he is gonna hook me up nice but didnt tell me what hes doing. Maybe this is what he meant i dunno..i will wait and see once i get my phone. 

[computergeek541]

When a carrier says "free", they only mean that you don't have to pay anything immediately for the phone.

Potentially, there are tab-like fees that take care of the price of the phone over a specified period of time, usually 24 months.

Even if there are no fees added to your monthly plan fee to pay for the phone, I'm almost certain that you're now on a 2 year contact, although carriers have long hated calling them contracts and Fido insists on using the term "agreement".  If you cancel your Fido service today, you're pretty much going to have to pay the full (greatly) inflated retail price of the device.  Carriers sometimes deliberately inflate the retail price of phones, sometimes by hundreds of dollars.  They often do this so that they can include a hidden cancellation fee, of which arbritrary cancellation fees aren't even allowed any more. They put it in the price of the phone so that they can say that they're only making you pay for the device.  It's the carriers' way around the rules.

That isn't to say that there aren't sometimes good deals for people willing to sign up and then just cancel, but things are usually stacked in the carrrier's favor.

[krazykiwi]

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@akuma4u wrote:

I called fido today to confirm i had the original 150 credit on my account. He said no i actually have 521 dollars of credit on my account amd this is after the free phone. He told me i dont have to pay anything for my plan for the next 13 months roughly because the credit would take care of it until then.

Of course the ultimate test will be seeing if that 521 exists after receiving my phone. But according to them ..that credit isnt going anywhere amd its mine to use .

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Sounds like it is too good to be true....and you know what they say next. If I was you I would be concerned about the extra credit. You were suppose to get $150 but got $521, thats a huge chunk of cash for no apparent reason. I hope for you sake nothing goes wrong!

[akuma4u]

D a m m i t....my covers been blown!

/end thread..

Nah man..im just being honest and sharing my experience. I actually put over pm service and said it was better than fidos..so would a fido employee say that? And im not making this into a huge thread..im just answering peoples questions. 

[Anonymous]

Ok I have some booze in me so that's my excuse 🙂

After 6 default pages apparently I'm alone in this thought but...I don't care. A post or two maybe but 6 pages??!! Hey folks I got a great deal at Fido so I can't resist and I'm leaving. So long and thanks for all the fish. That's it.

I know I know maybe some day you'll be back but come on...just enjoy whatever deal you think you got and go. It didn't need to get dragged out for 6 pages over a coupla days.

One could almost imagine maybe you work for Fido with all of this.

I'll return to my rock now. 🙂

[BarryS]

@akuma4u I think you got a good deal with fido. Enjoy the plan and new phone!

[akuma4u]

Yes so many people r doing this on kijiji..their phone their choice i guess..i did this once years ago with a blackberry..

But as for now..ive been using a lg g3 for 3 years and im waaay overdue for an upgrade so sure i can sell mine too but im gonna keep and use it 🙂

[BarryS]

I think fido must be incenting customers with free phones to stay with their service.  I recently bought a phone on kijiji (brand new iphone 6s) and when I asked the seller where they got it and why they were selling it, they said they were given them by fido (her and her husband - she had 2 iphone 6s for sale) as an incentive to renew their two year plan(s).  She said they both had iphone 6s' already, which were working fine, so they decided to sell them and make some $$ on the deal.

[Carld123]

Interesting thread..at first..check out the offered deal then let us know after some time has past...happy fidoing.....

[akuma4u]

U r right they didnt tell me that. I assumed. However the tab cant be 40 because thats the price of the plan. I figure they r doing all this to win me back as a long term customer. The department that called me with this offer is called the winback department as well lol .tmrw i will call and ask what happens if i cancel before the 2 years is up. But why woild i want to its a sweet plan and sweeter price amd they tossed me a great phone on top of that for free. 

[kav2001c]

@akuma4u

Again be VERY careful

Think this way; *HOW* can the phone be "100% free"?

If so there is NOTHING to legally stop you from activating service, cancelling service, and taking your "free phone" to another carrier

There is no way in heck Fido would do that since they have no hook in you

Again get it in WRITING and do not beleive a salespersons pitch over the phone

*edit- Actually from what you just wrote there; your Tab is the $40

It is NOT LEGAL for them to bill you months in advance

The part in red is illegal under Canadian law so I am very doubtful they told you that

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@akuma4u wrote:

There is no tab for my phone. It is 100% free. How can there be a tab or subsidy on a 40 dollar 5gb unlimited plan? No company in canada offers this cheap and good of a plan.  The only penalty i will have if i leave before the 2 year term is i will pay 40 for each remaining month left on the term. On top of this i got 521 dollars of credit that will make my plan free for 13 months.. Its just full of win no matter what angle u look at it. About time if u ask me..i spent 13 years with them. 

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[akuma4u]

There is no tab for my phone. It is 100% free. How can there be a tab or subsidy on a 40 dollar 5gb unlimited plan? No company in canada offers this cheap and good of a plan.  The only penalty i will have if i leave before the 2 year term is i will pay 40 for each remaining month left on the term. On top of this i got 521 dollars of credit that will make my plan free for 13 months.. Its just full of win no matter what angle u look at it. About time if u ask me..i spent 13 years with them. 

[kav2001c]

@akuma4u

Obviously make sure to get it in writing (most of the call centres can do this, on all 3 major carriers but follow through is the issue)

Most phones are always free on flanker brands (Virgin / Fido / Koodo) but make sure you understand how your Tab payments are working (often for a "free phone" the Tab contribution is artificially low meaning you can not cancel during 2 year term without heavy penalty)

Just get it in writing is my advice

[popping]

@akuma4u

Fido is making sure that you will stay with them for 2 years by paying your bill for 13 months.

But you may try PM trick again after 2 years with Fido.  Thumb up for a comsumer.

[srlawren]

@akuma4u you may want to pick up a few lottery tickets!

[akuma4u]

I called fido today to confirm i had the original 150 credit on my account. He said no i actually have 521 dollars of credit on my account amd this is after the free phone. He told me i dont have to pay anything for my plan for the next 13 months roughly because the credit would take care of it until then.

Of course the ultimate test will be seeing if that 521 exists after receiving my phone. But according to them ..that credit isnt going anywhere amd its mine to use .

[srlawren]

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@akuma4u wrote:

In a further amazing twist of events for me...i dont know if this agent made a mistake or what..but he said he would credit me 150 dollars on top of the free phone and 40 dollar 5gb unlimited plan in order to take care of all charges i incurred while with public mobile (55 dollars is my total spent with public mobile so 150 is 3x more than what i needed) i just found out today i got 521 dollars of credit sitting in my account LOL.  I Knew holding doors open for people over the years would finally pay off. 

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@akuma4u I wonder if some of that is bill credits to cover the up-front cost of the phone?  Just speculating.  

[akuma4u]

Haha who knows at this point...but nah i think this is where it ends. 

[Carld123]

@akuma4u

Wow...whats next a new car?..lol...😀

[akuma4u]

In a further amazing twist of events for me...i dont know if this agent made a mistake or what..but he said he would credit me 150 dollars on top of the free phone and 40 dollar 5gb unlimited plan in order to take care of all charges i incurred while with public mobile (55 dollars is my total spent with public mobile so 150 is 3x more than what i needed) i just found out today i got 521 dollars of credit sitting in my account LOL.  I Knew holding doors open for people over the years would finally pay off.