To take part in discussions on talkSFU, please apply for membership (SFU email id required).
Cell Phone Question
Ok, I'm a total newbie at this sort of thing.
Assuming for the moment that I am getting a telephone through Fido, what exactly happens when you sign yourself up for a phone? Back in the 1990s people who got them complained about needing a credit check which I find a little invasive. And all these plans. Urgh.
:confused:
Assuming for the moment that I am getting a telephone through Fido, what exactly happens when you sign yourself up for a phone? Back in the 1990s people who got them complained about needing a credit check which I find a little invasive. And all these plans. Urgh.
:confused:
Comments
Pretty much, no matter what cell phone you get, you are going to be paying a lot.
Are you hypothetically getting pay as you go, or a contract? I don't think pay as you go is as exhaustive
a)you get the credit check, shouldnt be any longer than 10 mins, you gotta have a cosigner or pay a deposit if you arent found to be "good" enough
b)you have to select how long of a contract you want, 1, 2 or 3 years?
c)decide what phone you want, you can get one free if you choose whatever the oldest thing is they offer, or buy one that you like, and the longer the contract you chose, the more you save on the phone
d)decide on what plan you want, this part might take a while as they try to sell you all the high points -long distance, caller id, total minutes per month or whatever special promotions you want, so you can be paying anywhere from 20-50 a month + all the dumb adminstration fees each month
e)you pay they set up all the internal functions of the phone and youre on your way
I think my plan is 30 dollars a month, but then i opted for unlimited txt and caller ID, so with that in addition to taxes and other shit I end up paying 50 a month. You can change your type of plan at anytime but theyll charge you an admin fee if you choose to, so its best to figure out what you really need before you go in, sometimes theres contracts you can only get at the initial sign up.
I dont know if that explains it all?
the advantage of choosing GSM (fido/rogers) instead of CDMA is in the case you lose your phone, or you don't want your current one, you don't have to buy a CDMA phone that costs more than the phone should be worth. with gsm , you can always switch phones by basically moving your SIM card into the next phone, eg you lose yours, you can borrow your friends phone instead of going to telus/bell and paying another 150$ for a phone that isn't worth nearly that much.
a plan is suited for what you need and use, now it's the 4th quarter so the new phones such as w580 and iphone, lg shine, are out with promotional plans for christmas which are slightly more advantageous for you.
keep in mind, there will always be service charges and system fees added to your plan so although it advertises 25$/month, it may turn out to a bit less than $30 depending on whether you over-use your minutes / extra functions etc.
EDIT:
fido phones :http://fido.ca/portal/product/product.do
ROGERS phones: http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wireless/products/phones/Overview.asp?shopperID=8NUWTJJ6P2EM9MWWPS7CJ3GXT01GD5E3
being a bit of a phone fanatic, rogers phones are definitely better than the ones fido offers.
and then he goes "zomg, i totally forgot to get you a cell phone!"
and then he picks you up a pretty phone and hands it to you, and it just magically works and you don't pay a single penny.
and then you turn 20 and you're like "zomg daddy, i need more minutes!"
and then he goes "kay. but you're paying for the extra time"
and then you don't pay, and he doesnt say anything about it, but you kinda feel guilty, but you're broke, so you don't say anything.