I got my wife a new phone so I went to Walmart in Ajax, ON to get her a new SIM. The employee at the wireless desk was very helpful. Sold me a SIM and I was on my way.
My mom wanted to port her # to Public so I went to the Walmart Morningside Scarborough Supercentre to get another SIM. There was no one at the Walmart Wireless desk. After two pages and almost 30 minutes of waiting, a guy walked out and told me that he's "not allowed" to sell me a SIM without activating. I said I got one the day before in Ajax so I know that's not true. He said, my manager told me not to do it, I'll get in trouble.
I went to the store manager to complain about the wait and not being served and he said that Walmart Wireless is a third-party and he has no knowledge of what their policies are, so he assumes that they are not allowed to sell me a SIM. You'd think that with Walmart in their name there would be some kind of accountability with the store itself.
OK, next day, my mom still needs a SIM so I head back to Ajax. There's a different guy there. I ask him for a SIM and he says, "oh you're that guy who tried to buy a SIM without a plan! My manager is really pissed off. The guy who sold you a SIM is new and didn't know the policy. You got him in big trouble." But never fear, he's happy to sell me a SIM... if I activate there. I say, my mom's not here, her phone's not here, I don't have her IMEI so you can't do the port. He says, no no it's fine. I can port without her IMEI. I say, no you can't. Please sell me a SIM. I'm leaving on vacation and my mom's plan is about to run out. She really wants to be set up on Public before I go. He says, go to Telus or Koodo, they have SIMs.
NARRATOR: they don't have Public SIMs.
Moral of the story: go to PC Mobile Shop. No hassle, no runaround, friendly staff.
