Tag: Fido

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Carriers offer $40/20GB plans for Black Friday, but only in stores

If you’re looking to get a good deal on a phone plan, you’ll need to head to your local carrier store. We can’t say that these deals will be available across the country, but we’ve found many in-store deals in Toronto that are as much as $10 cheaper per month than online prices.

As Back Friday approaches, the Big Three (Bell, Rogers, Telus) are offering an online deal that nets users 15GB of 4G data for $60 per month. The carriers have a better arrangement of 20GB of 5G data for $55 in-store. However, most sales associates pushed us to their flanker brands (Virgin, Koodo, Fido) since they offer better deals.

All have some variation of a 4G plan with 20GB of data for $40 per month. These plans are bring-your-own-device promos that require a new activation and only last for 15 months. However, since you’ll need to switch off your current plan to a new carrier to take advantage of this deal, I expect there’s a considerable chance that your old carrier will call you with a stellar deal sometime within the 15 months.

My girlfriend Alex’s phone plan was an aging $65/10GB Koodo plan, so she needed to jump ship to another carrier. We chose Virgin since they offered to waive the $50 activation fee, and the giant Rogers/Fido outage this summer was still fresh in our minds. Not to mention that the girl working the Virgin Plus store at the mall was friendly and the only one to open her pitch by being transparent about the 15-month fine print. It’s also worth noting that if you choose Koodo, you’ll have to pick your perk. This could get you roll-over data, which is cool, but it comes at the expense of international texting (although you can pick international texting as a perk instead).

Shopping in stores is much more annoying than online, but the deals are worth sitting through sales pitches on 5G, awkwardly empty showrooms and suffering through rude or misinformed employees. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to buy a data plan in person, and the experience was not fun, but the deals are well worth it. Who knows, I might even head back next week to see if I can get a better deal on my home internet too.

You can view a complete list of online phone plan deals in Canada here.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Best Canadian carrier Black Friday 2022 deals so far

Several Canadian carriers and flanker brands have released Black Friday deals with discounts on smartphones, plans and more. There’s a ton going on, so we pulled some of the best Black Friday offers into one place, so it’s easier to keep track of everything.

Below, you’ll find some of the best Black Friday offers split by carrier. Deals are still rolling out, so make sure to check back for updates and new additions.

Rogers

  • iPhone 14 — starts at $0 down, $0/mo financing with Upfront Edge and when you trade in an iPhone 12
  • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 — $0 down, $15/mo financing with Upfront Edge online (in-store: $360 or $0 with eligible trade-in)
  • Pixel 7 — $0 down, $15/mo device financing with Upfront Edge
  • Samsung Galaxy S22 — $0 down, $0/mo device financing when you trade in a Galaxy S20 in-store

Upfront Edge allows customers to get a discounted monthly financing cost if they agree to return the device after 24 months or pay off the difference.

Along with smartphone discounts, Rogers launched some limited-time plans, including a $60/mo plan with 15GB of data and student plans starting at $55/mo.

Check out all of Rogers’ Black Friday deals here.

Bell

Along with smartphones, Bell is offering customers up to 50 percent on select accessories. Learn more here.

Telus

  • Samsung Galaxy S22 – $0 down, $10/mo financing with Bring-It-Back (Telus claims $1,120 in savings)
  • Pixel 7 – $0 down, $11.67/mo financing with Bring-It-Back
  • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – $0 down, $15/mo financing with Bring-It-Back plus get the 512GB storage for the price of 128GB ($1,490 in savings)
  • iPhone 14 Pro – $o down, $37.83/mo financing with Bring-It-Back and get three months of free Apple TV+

Telus’ Bring-It-Back program reduces the monthly financing cost of smartphones if customers agree to return the devices at the end of 24 months. Customers can also pay the difference to keep the phone.

Moreover, Telus is offering a $10/mo bill credit for 12 months on its $95/mo 100GB plan.

Check out all Telus deals here.

Fido

Fido also has a plan deal offering 20GB of data for $55/mo, plus customers can save $5/mo for 15 months with promo code ‘YAYFIDO5.’

Check out all of Fido’s deals here.

Virgin Plus

Virgin also has deals on home internet plans, including a $45/mo credit for 12 months on its $90/mo 100Mbps plan. Moreover, the Bell flanker brand had bonus data available on several plans, bumping offers up to $65/25GB, $60/20GB, and $55/10GB.

Check out all of Virgin’s deals here.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Koodo, Fido, Virgin roll out another $65/20GB promo plan

Over the weekend, the Big Three flanker brands added new $65/20GB promotional plans after removing similar limited-time plans earlier this month.

Telus’ Koodo, Rogers’ Fido and Bell’s Virgin Plus now offer some form of a 20GB plan that costs $65/mo. Koodo and Virgin both just have a $65/20GB plan in place of the $65/15GB plan they had before. Fido, on the other hand, adjusted its $65/15GB plan to include a bonus 5GB of data, bringing the total monthly data up to 20GB. Interestingly, Fido’s website notes that the data bonus will be applied automatically and won’t show up until customer’s second or third invoice.

Moreover, both Koodo and Fido note that the $65/20GB plan is only available for a limited time, but neither displays an end date on their websites. Virgin Plus makes no specifications about its version of the plan.

Koodo also has its $60/mo 10GB plan listed as a promotional offer despite it being identical to the non-promotional $60/10GB plan it offered before.

Beyond that, there’s not much that’s special about these plans. They all include unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting, 4G data speeds, and other features like voicemail and call display (although some features vary from provider to provider).

If you missed out on the last $65/20GB offer from these providers, now’s your chance to take advantage.

You can check out Koodo’s plans here, Fido’s plans here, or Virgin’s plans here.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Koodo, Fido remove $60/20GB and $55/10GB promo plans

It looks like Koodo and Fido finally ended $60/mo 20GB promotional plans the carriers have offered since July.

Judging by updates to both providers’ websites on October 4th, the $60/20GB and $55/10GB promo plans are no longer available. Interestingly, Bell’s Virgin Plus still has both of these promotions, as well as the limited-time $5/mo bill credit for 12 months. However, I’d expect this will leave soon too.

In place of the promo plans, Telus flanker brand Koodo now offers a $55/8GB plan, $60/10GB plan, and a $65/15GB plan. Moreover, Koodo had added notices to the promo plans on its website that said they would go away on October 3rd — looks like that’s exactly what happened.

Rogers flanker brand Fido likewise offers $55/8GB, $60/10GB, and $65/15GB plans. Fido previously removed its $5/mo for 12 months discount for these plans but re-added the promotion shortly after.

It’s definitely a bummer to see these plans go, given the (debatable) value relative to the Canadian wireless market. The Big Three offer plans starting around $85/mo for 25GB of data — while those plans do include 5G access, that benefit remains minimal as carriers are still in the early stages of rolling out 3,500MHz spectrum.

You can check out Koodo’s new plans here and Fido’s new plans here. Although, with the holiday season around the corner, it might make more sense to wait and see what, if any, deals come with it.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

$38/25GB, $43/30GB plans available to some Fido customers

Some existing Fido customers might be able to get a $38/mo 25GB plan, at least according to a recent post on Red Flag Deals (RFD).

According to RFD user ‘saadhs’ (spotted by iPhone in Canada), Fido has a $38/mo plan with 25GB of data and talk and text available in the ‘Change Plan’ section of the provider’s online account manager. Moreover, saadhs said in an update that the plan offers 4G LTE data after confirming the detail with a Fido agent (previously, saadhs posted that the plan was limited to 3G speeds).

Along with the $38 plan, saadhs also noted there was a $43/mo 30GB plan.

Fido’s $38/25GB and $43/30GB plans | Source: RFD

Both options are quite a bit better than what Fido offers to new customers on its website. Currently, the Rogers flanker brand offers $60/20GB and $55/10GB plans, both of which can get a $5/mo discount for 12 months with a promo code. That offer has been ongoing for weeks now.

Other Fido plans include $45/6GB, $41.25/4GB, and $37.50/2GB, all of which are considerably worse than the offers spotted by RFD, although it’s worth noting pricing may differ based on region.

Regardless, if you’re a Fido customer, you may want to check your account for any of these offers and make a switch if you can.

Source: RFD

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Fido removes $5/mo bill credit promo, still available at Koodo, Virgin

At the end of July, Koodo, Fido, and Virgin Plus rolled out $60/mo plans with 20GB of data. Shortly after, the three flanker brand providers added $5/mo bill credits for 12 months, effectively making the plan $55/mo for 20GB. However, Fido has removed the bill credit from its website and while you can still add the promo code, the site prevents you from checking out.

As of writing, Koodo and Virgin still list the bill credit, but it doesn’t show on Fido’s website. Moreover, you can still add the ‘PROMO5’ code, and while the website shows that you have the $5/mo credit for 12 months, when you try to check out, Fido says the promo code needs to be applied to an “eligible option” to continue.

Considering the $60/20GB plans and the $5/mo bill credit were both promotional offers available ahead of back to school, it’s no surprise to see them starting to go away. Unfortunately, the removal of the $5/mo bill credit from Fido may signal the end of these promotions elsewhere, since when one Canadian provider makes a change, the rest tend to follow.

If you want to claim the $5/mo bill credit before it’s gone for good, head to Koodo or Virgin Plus to sign up for a plan. Both providers offer it on the $55/10GB and the $60/20GB plans.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Rogers locks store doors, asks customers for ID to enter

Next time you go to a Rogers store, you might find the door locked. At least, it will be until you show your government-issued ID, then Rogers will let you in.

According to a CBC News report, Rogers is locking the doors at stores in an effort to reduce robberies and fraud. The Toronto-based national carrier claims it’s a national policy implemented over a year ago, but Rogers also said it only applies to some stores. The company didn’t say which stores had the policy or where they were located.

“The safety of our team members and customers is of the utmost importance to us. Several measures have been put in place over the last few years to improve safety in the stores, including robust training, upgraded cameras, and enhanced door screening policy,” Rogers spokesperson Chloe Luciani-Girouard told CBC Toronto in a statement.

However, CBC News spoke with a few Rogers store patrons who described the process as a hassle. Others noted that they weren’t asked for ID but saw other people being asked for ID at the same location.

The publication shared a picture of a sign from a Fido store (Rogers owns Fido) that warned people they were on camera and said they would need to provide the reason for their visit, look at the camera and identify themselves, briefly remove their mask for facial visibility, and present their ID through the glass window/door before they could enter.

Fido store sign asking for ID to enter the store | Image credit: CBC

The whole scenario seems extreme and bizarre. As someone who worked at a cellphone store for years before joining the MobileSyrup team, it’s unclear how this could help reduce fraud. To get a phone and plan from most Canadian carriers, you need a government-issued ID — asking for it at the door won’t change much. It’s also unlikely you’ll catch fraudsters before they come into the store. Locking the doors could help deter potential robberies, but if locks were all you needed to stop robberies, there’d be a lot fewer robberies.

Moreover, there are better ways to prevent theft in stores. CBC News spoke to analysts who suggested things like securing inventory in the back of the store (which most phone stores do), and other options for reducing crime. Locking the doors, on the other hand, will probably just frustrate customers (and if they’re going into a Rogers store, chances are they’re already pissed off).

Source: CBC News

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Rogers, Fido win-back offers include $45/mo 25GB plan and bill credits

Toronto-based national telecom Rogers is apparently offering a steal of a deal to former customers in an effort to win them back.

These so-called ‘win-back’ deals were explained by RedFlagDeals (RFD) user ‘mango100’ in a recent post (spotted by iPhone In Canada). According to the RFD post, mango100 received a call back from Rogers after moving their entire family to Virgin Mobile last year. The Rogers rep offered a $35/mo plan with 12GB of data or a $45/mo plan with 25GB of data. Additionally, the offer included a $100 bill credit for each line, regardless of the plan. Finally, while the offer is no-contract, the discounted plans would expire after 24 months.

Interestingly, one commenter linked to another RFD post from user ‘rback085’ who highlighted a similar win-back offer from Rogers’ flanker brand Fido: a $45/25GB plan with a $300 bill credit per line.

Overall, the win-back offer seems pretty good, if you can get it. In my experience, win-back offers like this often carry a large ‘your mileage may vary’ warning. Plus, those hoping they might get a sweet deal after ditching Rogers following the July 8th outage may want to reconsider — mango100 only got the win-back offer a year after leaving Rogers. From my experience with win-back offers, it can take a while for them to be available after you switch. Plus, special offers can change often and it can be hard to get them — this isn’t a deal on Rogers’ website that just anyone can claim.

Still, we’ve seen $45/25GB win-back offers before. Rogers and Fido have previously offered these win-back plans, and other carriers have too.

To put in perspective how good this offer is, Rogers’ in-market 25GB plan starts at $85/mo ($90 if you don’t sign up for automatic payments) for the majority of Canadians. That’s $40/mo in savings — over 24 months, it’d total up to $960. If you can get a win-back call from Rogers with this deal, I’d say it’s worth getting (just make sure you don’t have Rogers home internet too).

Source: RFD Via: iPhone In Canada

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Koodo, Fido, and Virgin reduce talk and text plan by $5/mo

Koodo, Virgin Plus, and Fido logos on smartphones.

Fido, Koodo, and Virgin Plus have all lowered the cost of their basic talk and text plans by $5/mo.

The change appears to have happened sometime in the last few days. Previously, all three flanker brands priced the talk and text plans at $32/mo — now, the same plans cost $27/mo. Interestingly, Koodo lists the $27/mo talk and text plan as a limited-time offer promotion.

Talk and text plans are exactly as they sound — they just have talk and text. Data access is ‘pay-per-use,’ which means it’s quite expensive. Koodo charges $13 for 100MB, Virgin charges $15 per 100MB, and Fido doesn’t appear to publish the overage costs on its site since adding a data overage protection feature that pauses data and asks customers to buy additional data if they want to keep using it. When that feature launched in 2019, it cost $15 for 1GB — it’s not clear if that price changed.

Anyway, the price change makes the talk and text plans slightly better value for customers who don’t need any data, although they’re far from the best. Public Mobile, Chatr, and Lucky Mobile all offer $25/mo plans with unlimited talk and text plus 1GB of data at 3G speed (Chatr and Lucky actually offer 500MB of data and a bonus 500MB for customers who get auto pay, which totals to 1GB).

In other words, there are still better value options out there for people who don’t need a lot for their mobile plan. As a reminder, Koodo and Public Mobile are Telus flanker brands, Fido and Chatr are Rogers flanker brands, and Virgin and Lucky are Bell flanker brands.

Koodo, Fido, and Virgin also recently rolled out cheaper $60/20GB and $55/10GB plans, and then added a $5/mo bill credit for 12 months.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Fido, Koodo add $5/mo for 12 months discount to match Virgin Plus

Koodo and Fido have rolled out new bill credits to match a Virgin Plus offer launched over the weekend.

As a quick refresher, on July 29th, the Big Three flanker brands launched new $60/mo 20GB plans in most provinces (Quebec, as usual, has better deals). The next day, the three providers quickly added $55/10GB plans. At the same time, Bell’s Virgin Plus added a $5/mo bill credit to the $60/20GB and $55/10GB plans. The bill credit runs for 12 months, giving customers a $60 total discount.

Koodo’s $5/mo discount

Now, Telus’ Koodo and Rogers’ Fido have added similar discounts. Like Virgin, Koodo’s bill credit comes as a $5/mo discount for 12 months ($60 total). Koodo’s website notes that the discount only applies for customers who bring their own phone (dubbed BYOP). Moreover, the provider notes that “some offers may be offered online exclusively,” although I don’t see anything indicating the $60 credit is online-only.

Fido’s $5/mo discount

Fido, on the other hand, explicitly states the $5/mo credit is only available online, and customers need to enter code ‘PROMO5’ to get it. Although the website isn’t clear about the duration of the $5/mo discount, when you enter the promo code, it does state the discount lasts for 12 months (again, $60 total).

Ultimately, $5/mo off is $5/mo off, even if it’s only for 12 months. Still, since all these plans are BYOP, customers aren’t on a contract and can freely leave after 12 months if they want. (Anecdotally, if I were grabbing one of these plans, I’d add a reminder to my calendar 10 months from now to give me a two-month head start on hunting for a better deal to grab before the $5/mo credit expires.)

Anyway, you can grab one of these plans from Fido, Koodo, or Virgin Plus. It’s not clear how long the discounts will stick around, however, and some of the providers mark the plans as limited-time offers, so you may want to hurry.