beckiwoo

Been looking at koodoo's prepaid options today. I'm looking at getting the $15 a month and then adding on data and call minutes ( I'm guessing these minutes can be used across the country and not just local area???)

Only issue is when I looked at the prepaid phones available the ones I am looking at (S4 or S5 - depending if I want to splurge or not) are not available on prepaid, only contract - surely if I pay for the phone outright I should be able to go on prepaid..?

Gozit

Yes, minutes are nationwide They also have a cool bit for international calls

1 min of calling to a Canadian number takes 1 min off your bolt on
1 min of calling to a US number takes 2 min off your bolt on
1 min of calling to an international number takes 5 min off your bolt on.

Get the S5. I just picked it up on Wednesday and I love it.

If Koodo won't sell you the phone on their prepaid offering, head into a Telus store and buy it outright there. Telus owns Koodo and they use the same network, so Telus locked phones will work on Koodo.

But i'm 90% sure the reason you can't "see" the S4/S5 on prepaid is that Koodo's website is not allowed to advertise it on the site, but it is in fact available on prepaid in store. If I happen to be in a mall over the next few days i'll pop into the Koodo booth and ask for you.

beckiwoo

Great! Thank you.

beckiwoo

Right so I'm in a bit of a confused state.

Have visited Koodo and best buy in pacific centre, Vancouver.

Both will let me have S4 but best buy said they could do me a deal with Fido where the phone is on 24 month plan, I pay nothing upfront for phone but $50 + tax for 500mb data and 500 unlimited minutes and all the other usual stuff. It does mean if I leave after a year it will have to pay $200 for the phone and then another $50 to get in unlocked.

Koodo will let me buy the phone outright for $500 or I can have the tab and pay a bit extra a month. The plan would then be (if I pay $500 for phone) $40.50 (+ tax) for 500 minutes and 500 mb data, unlimited texting etc. It is only $35 to get phone unlocked as well

Which one would you go for - I'm thinking Koodo as I don't have to pay a load of money for the phone if I leave + not tied into contract...

Gozit

I'd go Koodo. Its owned by Telus which is a better company with better morals than Fido's parent company (Rogers) which is notorious for bad coverage, frequent drops to EDGE/2G signals, awful awful customer service (we have them for internet and cable) , you name it. Telus/Koodo on the other hand has a superior 3G/4G/LTE network, although they don't have 2G/EDGE towers, their 3G/4G/LTE service is so good they are not needed.

I personally like Koodo. We have a prepaid phone with them and our other 4 phones are with its parent company, Telus, and they have been nothing but helpful with any customer service issues that may arise. I assume if you choose Koodo you will pay the $500 for the phone so the tab runs off by the time your visa expires, correct? I would also not choose the Fido option because of the whole 24 month contract bit.

Hope this helps

By the way, welcome to Canada!

beckiwoo

Thanks - I'm starting to love this place

I think I'll go with Koodoo then. Much prefer a bigger payment upfront then having to pay a lot of money when I leave

Gozit

Good choice

Word of advice - best get it unlocked as soon as you can whilst still on the plan - ie get it unlocked BEFORE you call to cancel the plan if you are indeed going back to the UK this time next year. I believe on tab the wait time for unlock is 3 months, even if you are doing a small tab. So do it as soon as you are eligible to, to get it out of the way.

beckiwoo

Thanks they said it would $35 to unlock so ill do that after 3 months - can I go into a store or does it need to be done over the phone?

Gozit

Over the phone. Easy process. Call 611 from your handset after 3 mos and they'll do it

prairiechicken

Have just found that Staples sell unlocked phones. Not many, but a few different ones, so might have a look at that. I am still dragging my heels, partly because my husband still hasn't got his head around this idea that we'll have to use minutes to receive calls as well as making them. It's driving me a bit mad as we don't actually have a phone number yet (only the number of the landlords upstairs!)

Does anyone know if we are likely to get any better deals by bundling tv/internet/mobile with Telus (or some such)

Gozit

No ! Bundles are a right ripoff.

Cell with Koodo
Don't need TV
Don't need landline
Shaw for internet.

And the staples unlocked phones aren't good. Lots of lag and no support if something goes wrong. Go with one of the big names. Samsung Galaxy S5, iPhone 5S, etc. The Google Nexus 5 is a great phone at a cheaper price point.

hutchy100

I have a Samsung s3 phone for sale its open to bell , I have moved back from Canada but I cant use it here, its brand new as I cracked my screen before I left and got a replacement phone

SchnookoLoly

I am on koodo prepaid!!! And I love it.

I bought a Nexus 5 outright from the Google Play store for $460 after tax and delivery. Works with Koodo, and it's LTE-compatible.

I just pay the $15/month for service, then buy minutes and data in the largest chunks as that's best value, so that's $25 for 500 minutes (incoming and outgoing) and $30 for 1GB of data. I've been with them for 10 months.

Data I top up every 6-8 weeks. Minutes I've topped up ... once? Maybe twice? If it's twice then the second time was very recently as I don't use my phone much for speaking... and my data has gone down since I worked out that I can actually get onto the wireless at work (oopsies - been here 6 months!).

About once a year they do a Double promotion, so you get double the minutes or data for the same price... last year it came out in December, so I'm keeping an eye out for it again. When it comes, I'm just going to buy like 6GB up front for $90 and probably 1000 minutes, and that should last me about a year. Your add-ons don't expire, they're good for as long as your account is active, so a lot of people just load up during the promotion and it lasts ages. So that's my plan for this year!

They are really good, I have no complaints with them.

My husband uses his phone way more as he also uses it for work, so he's on a monthly plan. Pays $55/month for 1000 minutes, unlimited texts, and 1GB of data (which he destroys every single month, but I digress!).

KOodo is great. Their plans are great, their service is great, their coverage is great... really, no complaints at all.

Gozit

Is the N5 from Play Store sold unlocked?

And FWIW, I would destroy that 1GB data in about 6 days.

prairiechicken

Great. I still haven't got a phone organised but have dithered around with this. Was talking to a store that does Koodo prepaid today and got really annoyed - the sales guy knew less about how it works than I did, and spent his whole time trying to convince me to buy a pay monthly plan.

SchookoLoly I think have decided that at least in the first instance we go with what you do - the basic base plan plus minutes and data added on via boosters, buying the biggest add ons. Will also look out for the double promotion too, that's well worth knowing.

I think we're going to connect his phone to start with, and manage with one for now.

I will also check out the Google Play shop (didn't know about that). Although I am wondering whether with the release of iPhone 6, iPhone 5 will get cheaper?

Question for everyone - since it costs to receive calls in Canada, but texts seem to be unlimited for all plans, whether prepaid or not, do you tend to find that people generally use texts rather than calls to talk to each other? Or do I need to be very selective about who I give my number to ?