Ottawa 711 Stores Closing | 7-Eleven Rates and Plans | Consumer forum

Did I read that correctly?

huntech said:

1) Stay with SpeakOut but get your equipment and top-ups online

Does this mean SO is starting an online web interface for top-ups, etc? Can anyone else confirm that?

Guess I better go out and pick up a top-up before they close. My phone is expiring in January, so the 90 day limit will work.
Any indication if the no-charge switch-overs are a short term offer, or if they will be available 12 months from now?

Seems like an opening for some enterpreneur in Toronto; buy the top-ups for us, and email us the codes; for a nominal fee of course.... Can anybody think of a reason that wouldn't work?

By "get your equipment and top-ups online", I mean buying them from individuals via the for sale forums or over the phone top-ups (if they offer that service).

Sorry for the confusion!

>>>> I was told that the service for my cell phone would no longer be available in Ottawa and was told the service for 7 Eleven phones will be available in Toronto, or I can switch my service to PetroCanada. <<<<<

That doesn't sound right at all. Perhaps you misunderstood what they said? Since Speakout phones use the Rogers cell phone towers and network, your Speakout phone will work (i.e. have "service") wherever Rogers phones work, and they certainly will work in Ottawa for the foreseeable future.

The fact that Ottawa 7-11 stores will no longer "service" and support Speakout phones is a different issue altogether. If you live in Ottawa, the stores there will no longer sell the airtime vouchers. However, you (or someone else) can buy Speakout airtime vouchers at any other 7-11 in Canada, and you can use those vouchers to top up your Ottawa phone.

Make sense?

I just spoke to them and what she told me is that you have until December of 2009 to switch providers, free of charge. After that date, I'm not sure what happens.. either you pay a fee to switch over and keep your number, or you lose your remaining minutes and get a new phone number (i.e. new SIM card, unless you'd have to get a new phone with PetroCan or Good2Go?).

Meh, I think I will stick with 7-11 and buy my minutes when I go out of town.

The Petro-Can rates page shows that for $25 worth of minutes (100 min), these will expire after 120 days which is 4 months which is 6.25$ per month. It is like they are saying the monthly cost to you is $6.25. So I don't see anything that says that this is a monthly fee.

The fine print shows that 911 fees do apply, which they will deduct automatically every month until the airtime expires in 120 days. That's $3.96 to you on the $25 plan and if you stretch your time out over the 4 months then you will lose about 16 minutes of airtime overall because of the 911 (if my math is correct)

"An additional monthly fee of $0.99 for 911 services.
Minutes based on local calling rates of 25¢ per minute.
Days of service expire when airtime value is depleted. "

I think that 911 charges should be made on a pay per use basis. If you call 911, then charge my account the extra $1.00 at that time. This is obviously their cash cow.

True enough bylo. 911 fees are like an insurance plan. Other providers likely hide the fee in something else, or scoop a cent off the minute fee. (I like to conspire).

Anyway, it really sucks that SO can not be purchased here in Ottawa as I went with it because of the reviews provided by this site. I was just at the point of purchasing a second phone for another relative when the text message came in. And so now I am looking at Petro-Can for a phone but facing the $75 per year minimum fee to keep the phone active. But come to think of it, my business phone might cost me $100 if I don't use up all the minutes when I got the first SO phone. hmm... small price to pay in reality compared to $30/mon on Bell's plan to just have an active phone for those few calls that are ever made.

Thanks for the great work on this site!!

Cheers