NOKIA 6101-Rogers Plan. IS it a good deal

[little cow]

Hi, guys
I consider having my first cell phone

And a Rogers rep offered me a plan like below

- Free NOKIA 6101-under two-year contract from Rogers
-20$/month ( plus additional fee + tax )
- Inlimited evening and weekend
-200 minutes daytime/week
- 1000 minutes between Rogers subscribers
- Free incoming text messages
- Free caller ID
...
I'm currently a student and I'm very broke. But the thing is i love to keep in touch with my friends by cellular ( as home phone is not that convinient ). However, i don't want my monthly free go over 30$ ( include tax and everything ) Should I take it or not ?

I would appreciate any suggestions/advice
Have a nice weekend

Little Cow

[Oversized Rooster]

Hello bovine,

That looks like a cool plan to me! Remember that aside from the monthly plan price, everyone must pay the monthly "system access fee" and "emergency call fee".

Also, logically if you wanna take advantage of the good Rogers 2 Rogers minutes, your friends had better not be on Telus or Bell. If you're not a big talker, it won't matter. The 200 anytime minutes will cover you.

System Access Fee: $6.95 / month
Emergency Call Fee: $0.50 / month

Add that to your offer, and taxes, and your true plan price comes to $31.57 per month.

I don't wanna sound rude, but you can't really achieve any comfortable plan for under $30. Even if you do, you will always worry about going over your minutes. And when you do, it's gonna cost you more in total for that month compared to if you had a $35 or $40 plan to begin with which allows you more airtime.

http://www.alumni.utah.edu/u-news/january05/images/bovine.jpg

[Gee]

Listen to the rooster, he knows what he is talking about.

200 Minutes is very low. But you can get the plan and upgrade at any time with out penalty.

[Ghost_Rider]

Why won't you think about taking over my plan.... read my post. :
Click here to view my thread. (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292317)

[little cow]

Oh, thanx guys esp Oversized Rooster ( for your detailed analysis )
I never used cell phone ( though I wanted for a long time :| ). At first, I even planned to use prepaid card (as I told,I don't want to go over 30$/month). I'm an international student and have to pay a lot for school stuff already . I just happen to change my mind after seeing this great deal ( in comparison to other plans offered by Fido, Bells, Tellus ) .
BTW, I don't know if I may get a better deal in Fall ( Back to School Occasion ) or in December ( before Christmas Holiday, and Boxing Day ).
I just started looking for a cellular recently, so I have no idea about other year-promotion.
Any ideas ?
Thanx in advance
Have a great weekend, guys :)

[Oversized Rooster]

Well the thing is that it's true the companies offer certain promotions around the holidays. But those deals would be on midrange plans. Other than that, every company has a year-round promotion. One month is can be a specific phone model, the other the may be offering Call Display for free. Another month they might offer you unlimited local calling. You get the idea.

You just have to prepare yourself to pay. You will have neither large gains nor losses no matter when you decide to sign up.

The system access fee and emergency call fees are the same with every single provider, so you cannot escape this.

I do want to warn you though that many times when you see a really good promotion, it is usually only valid if you sign up for that plan in 2 or 3 year contract. That's the catch. The company now "owns" you and in fact are making more because you're guaranteed to be with them for those years.

So for example, you sign for a $30 monthly plan for a 3 year contract. If you decide you've had enough before the 3 years up, then you still owe the company the remaining months' pay. If you decide to quit on the second month, you basically still owe them 34 months x $30 = $1020.

Being in a contract is awesome for someone who knows they will pay their cell phone bill, and they need this for sure. Because you can get cheap or free phones, phone upgrades, and general discounts. But for someone uncertain, or unwilling to commit for that long time, you will simply pay more upfront. For instance, they'll give you no discount on the phone.

So when you're ready, remember this stuff. Ask many questions, and consider your future wisely. I'd hate to owe monthly payments! :cheesygri

[Aero]

For $20 thats good enough. Considering that some companies offer only 200 minutes for $20 wthout any caller id, etc...