@Ludditewrote:
While the demise of PM2 (circa 2016) has been confirmed by @Dave_M no destination has been provided. Of course this will make it easier to claim "we've arrived" once plans and the customer base has changed enough. By no means exhaustive (because it's no longer worth my effort), here's how I read the tea leaves.
a) grandfathered means a 12 month guaranteed price - Freedom promo just makes this time frame
b) opaque beats transparent - the current Koodo offer can be enhanced by negotiating after you've moved, there is a special "retail" deal just for new customers, no pre-warning of changes
c) PM3 circa 2018 would rather not have LTE customers - even some customers on a current 6 Gig/90 days plan have been offered Koodo deals
d) small carrot and major stick is the preferred mode to realign the customer base - both pioneer and promo customers were offered current plan at a higher price along with a Koodo offer at their current price
The bottom line: PM3 still has some great pricing compared to the competion BUT assume this is PM3's operating style when evaluating carriers and recommending PM3.
Thank you @Luddite for your thoughts & reading of tea leaves. I was quite surprised & concerned at the sudden large price increase in Feb and the approach taken (more of the stick to stay & here's an out) and felt encouraged that so many others joined to voice our concern & opposition. I have split the difference moving one account to Koodo with the semiofficial 5G offer & left one account here (fall 120/12 plan).
ANy chance you could expand on b) what retail/ extras you are aware or heard of?
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I appear to have been able to get the unofficial 5G/$40 plan but had hoped to get call forwarding due to the weak signal at our home.
In case it helps others who still have a week before the expiry here's my pro/ con
Koodo Pros:
Canada wide minutes - might be useful for those that travel more or regularly talk to other provinces but with other options (apps) I think Canada minutes are more of a convenience).
Data: the official 4G offer is not a carrot. PM has 12G /90 & flexibility. If you are able to get bumped up to the 5Gb/mo it will offer a buffer - but don't go over the overage charge is steep $7/100mb).
Data: they do advertise 'shock free' data & as I understand pause/ stop data when you reach your limit - thus hopefully won't hit the extra charges without actually ordering them.
Phone discount: access to phone discounts. Fortunately, the migration plans are the medium tab. Generally, the newest phones/ best discount is a Large tab which is available to those on more expensive plans but there's often some for medium too.
Customer service/ Kiosks: they have a community but also have phone/ chat & Kiosks. Note that some service items that can be done self-serve may have a fee but for PM we should be adept at self-serve.
Roaming: more roaming options. USA is $7/day -which is more than Rogers at $6, it is only charged if you use the service - so if you are camping in remote regions - your phone is there for emergencies. ALso might be cheaper than PM for day trips. Can also roam around the world for $10?/d but both have $100/mo cap. (So local sim might be an option).
PM:
Data: 90-day plans offer great flexibility for uneven data use.
No extra charges/ roaming: hey it's pre-paid so no way to wind up roaming in USA of using too much data without buying an add-on.
CON: risk of price hikes/reward charges or movement to 3G speed.
