Three $100 Plans

[OLDYELLR]

I have the basic $100/year plan which gives me a balance of $100 and calls and texts are charged at 50¢ and 30¢ per minute respectively.  It was due to expire next February, but my balance was low, so I would have to renew sooner. So I was looking at the two promotional $100 plans Rogers has,

UNLIMITED Canadian Text Messaging and UNIMITED Evening and Weekend Calling

I liked the look of the first one because it looked like I'd have exactly what I had before, except outgoing and incoming texts would be free. I had recently received a whole slew of texts from Facebook after giving it it my cell number "for security purposes" not realizing by default Facebook would send me all comments as texts as well, depleting my balance. I got that fixed so now I only get warning texts if Facebook thinks someone else has logged in as me after I've been messing with my browser. Nevertheless, I still liked the idea of "free texts".

Anyway, I called PayGo to renew to the $100 Unlimited Text plan and was told my balance would still be the same. What? Well, reading the fine print, this plan does not give you any balance, but "100 anytime local calling minutes for the year", which at 50¢/minute is $50, so I'd have a virtual balance of up to $50 and the "Free Texting" would in fact be costing me the other $50. I should have known there was no free lunch!. So what I ended up doing was just renewing my basic plan for a year and adding $100 to my balance. She did say that my talk rate would go back down to 35¢/minute from 50¢/minute, which is a bonus. I don't know what that's about, but I expect customers were very unhappy with the increase this year.

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[ShakTiburon]

I am actually used to that plan the way it is for about a year now.
I thought it was a choice and with that choice; the offset of pricing recovers the cost of unlimited. The plan isn't suppose to give you both for cheap, right? isn't that the purpose?

I personally think Unlimited Canadian Text Messaging is useful.
I use maybe 25 mins a month (if ever). If someone told me, I can't call anymore or it will cos tme money. I'll stop using the 25 mins as well, my life style is all typing and texting, day in day out...

The rates of 50¢/min doesn't bother me, and I think that's why the First plan seems more suitable.

But @OLDYELLR what I don't understand is the calculation of $50 + $50?

Your 100 anytime local mins is included, not at the rate. you don't pay for it. Where did you read that you do?

Aren't you just buying the plan for $100?
hmm. Oh wait, are you doing a break down?
If someone doesn't use the 100 mins, it is still used up though; the $100.

I see what you are saying, essentially $50 for the SMS and $50 for 100 mins as per calculation of 50¢/min.

I see I see, but if the user doesn't use 100 mins, it is still used up, and on top of that you still pay 50¢/min on top of the $100.

Edit:

-___- No free lunch indeed. But I see PayGO as lighter than Light users. Monthly plan works better if your usage is higher than PayGO.

[OLDYELLR]

This is the way I look at it.  I don't live with my nose in my cellphone all day, like some younger people. It's basically a device for people to call me in emergencies when I'm not home, or for me to call someone while I'm out and there's no payphone nearby.  Or if I want to order a pizza to pick upon the way home  while I'm out shopping. I never use $100 worth of minutes in a year, so the plan costs me $8.33 a month, or until I apply $100 from my balance against a renewal, when it's less. Some people's lifestyle requires a $50-$150 a month plan, but not me.

[barndoor]

@OLDYELLR ... I get the feeling  your expectations are too high here  because  you lucked out and were able to renew your plan using funds from your balance.  

I have never really understood why Rogers allowed you to do that . But Rogers Logic has always escaped me. 

Basically what you are  getting then is unlimited texting,  100 free local anytime minutes,  unlimited local evening and weekends ,  and you have to maintain a balance over and above the initial $100 to cover any long distance  and the other minimal usual costs.  And this is going to cost  a flat rate of $100/year with the $100 not being part of your balance?  

Edited to ad ... I reread and see the error I made. 

There are two plans costing $100 and each with 100 local minutes per year  but one combines that with canada wide texting and the other is the evening s and weekends.  

So wouldn't the texting and 100minutes be a better deal thatn the one you are currently on  and are going to have to top up before the year is up ?

[OLDYELLR]

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@barndoor wrote:

@OLDYELLR ... I get the feeling  your expectations are too high here  because  you lucked out and were able to renew your plan using funds from your balance.  

I have never really understood why Rogers allowed you to do that . But Rogers Logic has always escaped me.

<snip>

So wouldn't the texting and 100minutes be a better deal thatn the one you are currently on  and are going to have to top up before the year is up ?

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Using $100 of my balance to renew for another year is actually something Rogers suggested. A few years ago I had a balance over $200 and received a letter from Rogers that I could draw from it to renew. I called the number when it was close to my renewal date and it was done. Since that time, I've done it like that at the Rogers store and the last couple of times by calling the Paygo number. It's an unpublicized option and reduces the cost if you use substantially less than $100 worth of minutes a year.

If I didn't make it clear, I stayed with the original, no longer advertised,  $100 plan and didn't switch to one of the two promotional $100 plans because they don't leave me any balance to accumulate towards a free year. 

Yes, unlimited texting would be cool if I were a texter, but I'm not really. I foolishly gave my cell number to Facebook and Google, supposedly for "security" and was deluged by texts eating up my balance, which is when I considered the $100 unlimited texting plan, but I put a stop to the texts instead.

[barndoor]

So, do you think if I just added $40 now to a $100/year plan that will have $85 in it at expiry in a couple months, I could get it rolled over for another year using that balance ? 

[OLDYELLR]

Good question. You should probably call the Paygo number and ask. (You can reach them at 1-800-575-9090. To reach a representative choose option 4, then option 4 again (how to contact Rogers). At the end of the information on how to contact us, you will select option 1 to speak with an a agent.)

Here are the top-up rates and periods.

$40 will give you 30 days. But then if your balance is $85 and you add $40, you'll have $125 and should be able to renew for a year, dropping the balance to $25.