Fido $57 plan 3 year coming friday

[Fritz Z24]

In my opinion, if people are leaving to get the iPhone 5 at $489.00 with the $57.00 package at Virgin by example, maybe they will follow the same path.

Otherwise I'm pretty sure Customer Relation is doing a good job to satisfy some subscribers.

Also, high demands always bring price up... I believe the $57.00 is a great alternative with a different handset model...

...Now they are back to the exact same behavior and hoping most people won't notice. People might not rage this time. They'll just leave.

[Paolo]

knowing fido, they might keep people on three year terms ineligible to switch to this price plan because they know some people may be gullible and will pay ecf to switch, whcih is extra income for fido, then on the last day, fido might make the plan compatible with 3 year on the very last day, so the people who switched already fido made extra proffit from them and the true genuine ones who really need to switch and dont care about phone eligibility can switch on the last day and save money by not paying ecf to change plans, people dont normally think abou these things but spend ish loads of money on ecfs and such and dont realize later that if they wait they could save money those restrictions typically can be liffted

[Fritz Z24]

... Duplicate...

...Now they are back to the exact same behavior and hoping most people won't notice. People might not rage this time. They'll just leave.

[eonibm]

Honestly fido should understand there are more people who want to switch to this plan not because they want an iphone, its because they ALREADY have a plan from fido and fido is LIMITING them from changing plans because of a plan decision they made a few years ago. so let me repeat myself, more people are wanting to switch to this plan because they are on a 3yr term and want either more minutes or have unlimited minutes but want to reduce their monthly cost. For me, I could care less about being eligible for an iphone with this plan, I have a great phone already, Fido needs to realize, there are people out there who dont care about being eligible for iphone, and want to switch to this plan because it would save them $17 per month off their bill. Like I said before, not everyone wants to switch to this plan because of the hard ware upgrade, most people are on great plans, but this is a BETTER plan, and not everyone wants to pay a cancellation fee of their 3-year term just to change to this plan, maybe they dont need new hardware, have you thoguht about this demographic fido? probably not, but thanks for not thinking about us

Well from Fido's justifiable point of view, if they are on a 3-yr plan with a subsidized phone that is not available on the 2-yr plan then they shouldn't be able to switch. I am not even on a contract right now and I can't get a 2-yr plan with a phone that is available on a 3-yr plan (the iPhone). I have to go on a 3-yr plan to get the iPhone. Fido could ask for a payment in order to allow people on 3-yr plan subsidized phones to go on the less expensive 2-yr plan (in order to compensate Fido for what they feel is not an expensive enough plan to get the subsidy Fido had provided for the phone that was only available on a 3-yr plan). But, Fido has chosen not to. It's not 'just to change to this plan' as you say. It's to do that and pay Fido a lot less money over your remaining contract period. If you ran a business and people signed contracts to pay you a certain amount of money over the contract period would you suddenly let them walk in and pretend the contract did not exist?

I don't blame Fido for not changing people's plans mid-contract though as the whole idea behind a contract is you are committing to something. Fido is not forcing anyone to sign a contract (ie the 'plan decision [you] made a few years ago). People do it of their own free will and know the choices before they sign. If people want to be able to switch plans at will and suddenly pay Fido less money they should not sign a 3-year contract and not take the subsidy, but go on a monthly plan and forgo the subsidized phone. Or, they should take their business elsewhere. I am sure other carriers don't allow you to break contracts mid-stream with no penalty as that is bad business practice. If they do, then you should switch to them once your contract is up.

I can't get as good a 3-yr contract as I am getting with Fido with any of the competitors (certainly not the free iPhone 5 I am getting). I could care less what happens once I sign the contract. Why? Because I signed a contract. I'll review things again in 2015.

[MacDruid]

Well from Fido's justifiable point of view, if they are on a 3-yr plan with a subsidized phone that is not available on the 2-yr plan then they shouldn't be able to switch. I am not even on a contract right now and I can't get a 2-yr plan with a phone that is available on a 3-yr plan (the iPhone). I have to go on a 3-yr plan to get the iPhone. Fido could ask for a payment in order to allow people on 3-yr plan subsidized phones to go on the less expensive 2-yr plan (in order to compensate Fido for what they feel is not an expensive enough plan to get the subsidy Fido had provided for the phone that was only available on a 3-yr plan). But, Fido has chosen not to. It's not 'just to change to this plan' as you say. It's to do that and pay Fido a lot less money over your remaining contract period. If you ran a business and people signed contracts to pay you a certain amount of money over the contract period would you suddenly let them walk in and pretend the contract did not exist?

I don't blame Fido for not changing people's plans mid-contract though as the whole idea behind a contract is you are committing to something. Fido is not forcing anyone to sign a contract (ie the 'plan decision [you] made a few years ago). People do it of their own free will and know the choices before they sign. If people want to be able to switch plans at will and suddenly pay Fido less money they should not sign a 3-year contract and not take the subsidy, but go on a monthly plan and forgo the subsidized phone. Or, they should take their business elsewhere. I am sure other carriers don't allow you to break contracts mid-stream with no penalty as that is bad business practice. If they do, then you should switch to them once your contract is up.

I think the point Paolo is trying to make is that it's now more difficult and costly to switch plans. Previously, when voice and data were separate and you had a subsidized smartphone, you could switch your voice plan as long as your voice+data did not go below $50. Now, if your are on max plan with a subsidized iPhone, you can presumably only switch to another max plan without breaking contract. If you are on a smart plan, you can presumably only switch to a select smart plan based on Android or BB subsidy without breaking contract. Im not sure you could even switch to a max plan without breaking contract. You can't mix and match voice and data on a standard plan with a subsidized handset, iPhone or not, to make up the $50, because the standalone data packages are month to month only. There's less flexibility now, to save money.

[eonibm]

I think the point Paolo is trying to make is that it's now more difficult and costly to switch plans. Previously, when voice and data were separate and you had a subsidized smartphone, you could switch your voice plan as long as your voice+data did not go below $50. Now, if your are on max plan with a subsidized iPhone, you can presumably only switch to another max plan without breaking contract. If you are on a smart plan, you can presumably only switch to a select smart plan based on Android or BB subsidy without breaking contract. Im not sure you could even switch to a max plan without breaking contract. You can't mix and match voice and data on a standard plan with a subsidized handset, iPhone or not, to make up the $50, because the standalone data packages are month to month only. There's less flexibility now, to save money.

And the point I am making is a contract is a contract and that one has to accept that your worst case scenario, and one that should be expected, is that you have to honour your contract and any penalties that are contained therein for you to break it. Fido might make exceptions or change their policy so that it is more lenient that the contract allows, but they don't have to.

[Stately Automat]

Um, my objective was not to have him agree with me, nor to argue with him. He told me they have management meetings where the CSR's give input from callers to management and I asked if he would pass on my viewpoint if I told him it. He said yes.

So, I did. More people should do this.

Your original post seemed to paint the interaction in a different light. Fair enough, then. There is certainly no harm in providing feedback.

Sent from my Evo 3D GSM using HowardForums

[Paolo]

And the point I am making is a contract is a contract and that one has to accept that your worst case scenario, and one that should be expected, is that you have to honour your contract and any penalties that are contained therein for you to break it. Fido might make exceptions or change their policy so that it is more lenient that the contract allows, but they don't have to.

and when I signed my contract, fido was advertizing the fact you can change your plan at ANY TIME. Ok the new plan came out, I want to change to it now, Fido is now telling me I can not do this unless I pay more money, cancel the contract and go on another one? now do you see the problem? The problem is nothing to do with my contract, I want to KEEP my contract, after all I DID sign it, and i want to Honour it. If fido wants us to honour our contract they should atleast honour theirs too. get what im saying?

[eonibm]

and when I signed my contract, fido was advertizing the fact you can change your plan at ANY TIME. Ok the new plan came out, I want to change to it now, Fido is now telling me I can not do this unless I pay more money, cancel the contract and go on another one? now do you see the problem? The problem is nothing to do with my contract, I want to KEEP my contract, after all I DID sign it, and i want to Honour it. If fido wants us to honour our contract they should atleast honour theirs too. get what im saying?

Hmmm, you never said before that Fido actually advertised that you could change your contract at any time. But, if so, the ability to change the plan should be in your contract. If not, find that advertisement. If you don't get satisfaction then there are many remedies you can pursue. Complaining on here, while it is interesting and helps for others to know how Fido treats customers, won't get you anywhere. You should:

1. Bring the term in your contract that allows you to change your plan and the advertisement to their attention.
2. Escalate your complaint to the Office of the President (of Fido, that is, lol).
3. Complain to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.
4. Sue them in Small Claims Court for specific performance of the contract.
5. Complain to Advertising Standards Canada about Fido's misleading advertising.

Let us know what happens as I am sure there are many others who were promised the same as you were (if indeed you were).

[MacDruid]

^ Don't need an advertisement or even contract terms. It's right here on Fido's site as policy.
http://www.fido.ca/web/content/accou...e_monthly_plan

You can change your plan any time, to an in-market plan, with the caveat that if you change your mind, you may not be able to revert to your old plan if it's no longer offered. No additional details are cited regarding breaking contracts.

[eonibm]

^ Don't need an advertisement or even contract terms. It's right here on Fido's site as policy.
http://www.fido.ca/web/content/accou...e_monthly_plan

You can change your plan any time, to an in-market plan, with the caveat that if you change your mind, you may not be able to revert to your old plan if it's no longer offered. No additional details are cited regarding breaking contracts.

Well if that link allows him to and he has brought it to Fido's attention (which he obviously shouldn't have to since it's their link) then he needs to go to step 2. But, maybe the problem is that Paolo is on a 3-yr plan and he wants to switch to a plan monthly price (but not term) that is not available on 3-yr. It seems reasonable that he should only be able to switch to prices that are available on plans that are the same term length as he has. But I guess one could also attempt to read the terms more broadly than that to encompass a price available on any length plan.

Let us know what happens Paolo.

[Fritz Z24]

With all due respect Paolo, in my opinion, I don't think they will do that...

Make more business sense to bring another model (Ex. Galaxy S3) to boost sales with $57.00 package instead and keep the iPhone 5 as a Premium Flagship Fido phone.

knowing fido, they might keep people on three year terms ineligible to switch to this price plan because they know some people may be gullible and will pay ecf to switch, whcih is extra income for fido, then on the last day, fido might make the plan compatible with 3 year on the very last day, so the people who switched already fido made extra proffit from them and the true genuine ones who really need to switch and dont care about phone eligibility can switch on the last day and save money by not paying ecf to change plans, people dont normally think abou these things but spend ish loads of money on ecfs and such and dont realize later that if they wait they could save money those restrictions typically can be liffted

[simbella]

Now they are back to the exact same behavior and hoping most people won't notice. People might not rage this time. They'll just leave.

That's what I did. And it's the best move I ever did. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

[ToastyinCAD]

Hmmm these are good points. I am pretty confident that these rules relate to the "old" plans where voice and data were separate. Doesn't make it right but in my conversations with folks at FIDO, I could change voice plans at anytime but data was much hard to do unless the term was the same. Since the 57 dollar plan includes voice and data, the issue is probably confused. I guess you can fight it if you really want to.

Well if that link allows him to and he has brought it to Fido's attention (which he obviously shouldn't have to since it's their link) then he needs to go to step 2. But, maybe the problem is that Paolo is on a 3-yr plan and he wants to switch to a plan monthly price (but not term) that is not available on 3-yr. It seems reasonable that he should only be able to switch to prices that are available on plans that are the same term length as he has. But I guess one could also attempt to read the terms more broadly than that to encompass a price available on any length plan.

Let us know what happens Paolo.

[ToastyinCAD]

Update

I just phoned in for my wife's account which has a 3 year data on it (expiring in less than 2 years) and they said they couldn't do it because you need to change to a plan compatible with the existing contract.

I didn't really argue about it since her plan is good for her anyway - but just want you folks to know I asked the question. I even pointed out what the website said and they said that the plans need to be compatible.

Cheers

Well if that link allows him to and he has brought it to Fido's attention (which he obviously shouldn't have to since it's their link) then he needs to go to step 2. But, maybe the problem is that Paolo is on a 3-yr plan and he wants to switch to a plan monthly price (but not term) that is not available on 3-yr. It seems reasonable that he should only be able to switch to prices that are available on plans that are the same term length as he has. But I guess one could also attempt to read the terms more broadly than that to encompass a price available on any length plan.

Let us know what happens Paolo.