Am I stuck with my current carrier?

It's sad how the carriers in Canada can make things so complicated, almost making their customers hostages

Sounds like you have a better plan than you can get anywhere else, but you want a better plan. Good luck with that. lol

iHateShaw wrote: ↑It's sad how the carriers in Canada can make things so complicated, almost making their customers hostages

?? How is it complicated..op has a plan that'd cheaper than any current in market plans..but want to pay even less

Geeze..why dont you goto loblaws and ask them to charge you less just because you want to pay less

iHateShaw wrote: ↑It's sad how the carriers in Canada can make things so complicated, almost making their customers hostages

I disagree here, nobody is being held hostage and the OP actually has a good plan as it is.

LostInTruth wrote: ↑I disagree here, nobody is being held hostage and the OP actually has a good plan as it is.

I guess what I'm asking is how does one go about getting your carrier to sweeten the deal? Regardless of the fact that my plan is decent: say it was just BORDERLINE as good as what was available 'off the shelf', how does one go about getting your carrier to sweeten the deal.

If it wasn't for the 6 gig of data, it would actually be a pretty crappy plan.

LandKing wrote: ↑?? How is it complicated..op has a plan that'd cheaper than any current in market plans..but want to pay even less

Geeze..why dont you goto loblaws and ask them to charge you less just because you want to pay less

I do it all the time, and it works! Some people call it "price matching". Sometimes it's "Scanning Code of Practice". Other times I say "gee are you sure that price it right it seems high" and they go "Oh, you're right" and fix it. You would be surprised what you can get just by asking.

So I'm asking. Clearly, I'm not asking YOU, but still... anyone else?

LostInTruth wrote: ↑I disagree here, nobody is being held hostage and the OP actually has a good plan as it is.

The issue is that such a lack luster plan is considered "good" because the op is getting 6gb for $55. That's pathetic. We shouldn't be paying that much for our cell plans, let alone Data.

$55 for 6gb that's already a deal. No need to look else where.

lorax1284 wrote: ↑ How does one go about this?

Sorry, OP. No-one seems to know how to go about bargaining for a better price. They all want to comment on your plan.

Service provider are in business to maximize their profits for their shareholders. As technology matures there are more and more people wanting more and more data. Service providers are obviously aware of this and are creating plans which make large allotments of data expensive. IMHO it's as simple as that.

Marzipan wrote: ↑Sorry, OP. No-one seems to know how to go about bargaining for a better price. They all want to comment on your plan.

Because there is no better price than that. Lol. Not sure what the issue is here with a plan like that. Geeze.

Either keep the plan and be happy or move to another carrier and pay more



And the other carriers will just offer you the plans listed on the website. Don't know of any carrier that will negotiate for a new customer anymore (they used to, some of them). You'd have to take a market plan (or a promo plan like the 1gig Koodo one right now) and try negotiating down the road. But you won't beat what you have now, OP. Unless things change in the fall with the CRTC announcements the other day.

lorax1284 wrote: ↑Here's the thing: I have what I'd call an OK plan: 100 minutes, unlimited EveWE 5pm-7am, canada-wide, *6 gig data*, 50 outgoing text, $55 a month. It was a 3 year term that lapsed years ago: I have no intention to get a device subsidy (I'll do BYOD).

How do I negotiate a better deal? My carrier won't do anything unless I threaten to quit, but I'm not willing to give up the data (or go lower than 3 gigabytes per month) but there aren't commonly available plans that are anywhere near that much data for that price.

If I could get a plan from a competitor (RoBelUsVirFiKoo... "Robelus Virfikoo, Sith Lord!") with maybe even 200 minutes, unlimited text, 5pm-7am evenings / weekends, and still have at least 3 gig of data at $55 per month or less, I'd switch. If my carrier would add a few perks without switching plans (100 anytime minutes and unlimited texts), I'd stay.

I have no power to make my carrier just offer me more stuff, but threat of switching would surely do the trick... but I'm not going to bother with EMPTY threats: I'd like to approach other carriers and allow them to win my business with a custom plan.

How does one go about this?

Lucky you given that your current plan is not bad at all. I doubt if you can improve by talking to the big 3.
Use skype to call out (US/Can#) which will supplement your talk limit (100min) in day time. That costs you $3 a month. Night time you can talk non-stop.

danieltoronto wrote: ↑Use skype to call out (US/Can#) which will supplement your talk limit (100min) in day time. That costs you $3 a month. Night time you can talk non-stop.

Thanks for this idea: it is so good I already have a Skype subscription that I use often when I think I'll be on a lengthy call on my mobile during 7am-5pm... but... skype suuucccks! On mobile I find it to be too unreliable: calls drop all the time, getting it to even connect sometimes is flaky, half the time the call display shows up as someone anonymous so the people I'm calling don't want to answer... and it doesn't resolve the issue of txting.... but it does get me through in a pinch, even if it is frustrating to use some time (Skype on my desktop with wired internet is fine for the most part).

Marzipan wrote: ↑Sorry, OP. No-one seems to know how to go about bargaining for a better price. They all want to comment on your plan.

Yeah... thanks for the support... I guess the other posters think, like me, it's not a bad plan... and I know how wrong it is of me to demand more of profitable carriers who lie and gouge and overcharge and rip people off and actively lobby the government to allow them new ways to do all those horrible things more easily as part of their day-to-day operations. I'm ashamed... but I can't help being greedy and selfish and ungrateful for all the carriers have done for me. I mean, they take something that's totally free like OTA TV, put it on a wire, reduce the picture quality, and charge $50 a month for it. What a wonderful bunch of humanitarians they all are, and here's me greedily wondering how I can get them to give me unlimited texts for free when the cost to them is 2 cents a month. What is WRONG with me. Have you read their annual reports: for the love of pete, their GROWTH is NO LONGER IN THE DOUBLE DIGITS!! I mean, they're hugely profitable, but what about GROWTH!? WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN OF THE MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR SALARIED C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES?

I hope there isn't some RFD rule where I have to APPRECIATE every response to a question I post just because someone "bothered". I don't know why people bother. I wonder if there is a person reading this right now that knows EXACTLY how to do this, but because I don't fall on my knees in thanks or ignore pointless responses, they're saying "Well, I won't tell you because you're a d*ck." That is my cross to bear... that, and being an assemblage of wood planks usually found in suburban back yards: a deck.

Your posts keep getting longer. Lol. But you basically answered your question in your first post didn't you? If you want to negotiate with your current carrier you have to threaten to cancel. You need to speak to retentions dept. That's the only way you could conceivably get anything better than what you currently have. But even then, more than likely they will look at it and no be able to do anything better.

Yeah, sure they are making profit on you at that price. As they should be making profit. But the profit on you is WAY less than someone paying over $100 for the same plan or worse plan than you. You need to keep it in perspective to what 'the market' is allowing for pricing.

It's BS. But like I said above there is hope things will change in the fall with the recent announcements for MVNO's.

lorax1284 wrote: ↑Thanks for this idea: it is so good I already have a Skype subscription that I use often when I think I'll be on a lengthy call on my mobile during 7am-5pm... but... skype suuucccks! On mobile I find it to be too unreliable: calls drop all the time, getting it to even connect sometimes is flaky, half the time the call display shows up as someone anonymous so the people I'm calling don't want to answer... and it doesn't resolve the issue of txting.... but it does get me through in a pinch, even if it is frustrating to use some time (Skype on my desktop with wired internet is fine for the most part).

People can drive and talk on the cell. But making skype call on a moving cell phone is not there yet.
Skype has one big advantage: it is cross platform .

lorax1284 wrote: ↑I guess what I'm asking is how does one go about getting your carrier to sweeten the deal? Regardless of the fact that my plan is decent: say it was just BORDERLINE as good as what was available 'off the shelf', how does one go about getting your carrier to sweeten the deal.

If it wasn't for the 6 gig of data, it would actually be a pretty crappy plan.



I do it all the time, and it works! Some people call it "price matching". Sometimes it's "Scanning Code of Practice". Other times I say "gee are you sure that price it right it seems high" and they go "Oh, you're right" and fix it. You would be surprised what you can get just by asking.

So I'm asking. Clearly, I'm not asking YOU, but still... anyone else?

You can't goto a store without price matching policy and ask them to price matchmatchmatchmatch

And to your point..other than threaten to leave or ask nicely..nth

LandKing wrote: ↑You can't goto a store without price matching policy and ask them to price matchmatchmatchmatch

And to your point..other than threaten to leave or ask nicely..nth

I would think that like retailers' price matching you should be able so show that you can get a better deal elsewhere.

If I were a CSR I would want the particulars of the alternative.

Another angle might be that you have poor reception but would consider staying if the price were right.

I don't know if you can get a plan any better/cheaper than that.

I have unlimited local calling, unlimited texting, 3gb of data for $65 and that's on a business plan with Rogers.

I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't get any Canadian LD minutes with that but they wanted an extra $10/month. I just said forget it since my LD rate is only 10 cents/min.