Prepaid vs. postpaid

[411]

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?

[makkahn28]

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

[411]

@popping
That makes sense.

[popping]

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

[411]

@srlawren

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

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Thanks for sharing your long story 🙂 Appreciate it!

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

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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.

[srlawren]

@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.  🙂

[srlawren]

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@BKNS27 wrote:

@411 

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

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@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.  

[BKNS27]

@411 

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

[srlawren]

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@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?

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@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)