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2:31 pm
June 24, 2014
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I am an American who will be visiting Vanouver BC regulary – daughter start UBC this Fall. My US cell phone's Canadian plan is not economical. I am looking for low volume, pay per use plan. SO seemed to be perfect, but reading a lot of negative reviews on this forum especially re customer service.
I appreciate feedbacks on service coverage (Vanoucver), and your subjective experience with SO. I know one gets what s/he pays for, but expects SO service to work as advertised.
Also base on what I read, Canada to US call is 0.45/min., while txt is 0.1/min?
If I posted the wrong forum, please kindly re-direct
Thanks,
Rook
4:44 pm
April 22, 2009
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Speakout is probably a good option for you. $35 gets you a SIM card and $25 credit that has a 1 year expiry, which can be renewed when more money is put in.
Speakout uses the Rogers networks, which offer decent coverage to most towns and cities in Canada. You should have very good coverage in Vancouver.
That looks about right on the rates, 45 cents to place a call to the US, and 10 cents to text. Received and local outgoing calls are 25 cents, and received texts are free.
As for Speakout customer service, they do have their days. I doubt Speakoout provides any worse customer service than any other Canadian carrier. From personal experience, I found a few of them to be curt, but professional. Just make sure you have everything you need on you if you have to deal with them.
I do not think you have to deal with Speakout customer service anymore to activate a SIM, just register it on the website. https://www.speakout7eleven.ca/ I could be wrong about that though.
If you are using a US phone, make sure the phone is unlocked, and when the phone was used in the US, hopefully the phone works with T-Mobile or AT&T. Verizon and Sprint phones generally do not work with Speakout.
Out of curiosity, what phone are you going to use?
9:00 pm
June 24, 2014
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Thanks bridonca for the info and feedback. I have an old ATT "semi" smart phone (brand is Pantech) given to me by a friend. I unlocked it and bought a SIM card to use in Asia - interestingly - via a 7-11 plan in Taiwan. I had Verizon - its phones do not accept SIM cards - yes sorting out different providers/phones was an educaton. Crossing borders also make everything complicated. Appreciate this forum and posters like you.
12:27 am
August 19, 2014
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You might also consider Ting.
Ting is a U.S. MVNO, so you'd buy it to use primarily in the U.S. But, they are based in Toronto and provide very reasonable roaming rates in Canada. They have excellent GTA (Toronto) based customer service.
In the U.S., they run on Sprint, with voice roaming on Verizon at no extra charge. U.S. rates are very cheap ($6.00 per month plus pricing based upon your actual usage). See ting.com for more details.
In Canada, they run on Bell: 15 cents per minute for voice calls and free text messaging (both in and out, and even to and from the U.S.). Data is $.50 per MB which is steep, but if you are going to just make calls and send text, and you have good Sprint coverage in the U.S., Ting is a great all around option for you..
You should also sign up for the Nexus program to get you through border checkpoints faster….
11:47 am
June 24, 2014
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Thx adv999 for your thoughtful input. I've never heard of Ting (in WA state). We have a family plan with Cricket (ATT) and quite happy with it, but Cricket has no out of country roaming at all.
I did sign up with SO during my last visit. I had problem with online activation, but quickely fixed by a phone call. Used it 3-5 times with very short calls - works. However, when I checked my account, I noticed I already used $6 (seem to be excessive), and unable to find any breakdown on the charge. Is that available on SO account? Otherwise, I am happy with the whole experience so far.
11:10 am
March 12, 2009
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Hi Rook,
You will have to try timing your calls. Remember that at 25 cents per minute, they will ding you for a full 2 minutes if your call is 1 min. 1 sec. long. Also, they are deducting $1.25 per month for 911 fees.
12:42 pm
June 24, 2014
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Thanks 46jimbo, did not know about the $1.25 911 charge. Also Canada to US call is 40 cents/ min.?
12:45 pm
January 18, 2009
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Consider the 29.99 T-Mobile sim cards on Ebay fwith $90 balance and gold rewards, legacy paygo account. Use them in Canada. Good for a year. No 911 charge. $10 yearly renewal.
I'm getting a couple to add to my USA options. Consider the 1/3 cost in with the roaming and it might be the cheapest option.
4:38 pm
August 19, 2014
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Ting is what's called a Mobile Virtual Network Operator. They use Sprint as their primary carrier, so if you have good Sprint coverage in the U.S., Ting will work for you. You can buy a phone from Ting on their web-site or bring almost any Sprint phone to Ting.
You should definitely check out Ting's web-site and call them.
We just got back from Vancouver and did a brief drive around UBC. It's a beautiful campus.
I picked up a Speak Out SIM while I was there (for next time), but ultimately concluded that it's cheaper to just pay the Ting roaming rates than it is to keep up a whole separate phone account.
I kept my data off except when I needed it, and ended up paying about $7.00 in data roaming (14MB). I sent lots of free text messages and made no phone calls. I have an Android phone which I use for the GPS feature, so I'd turn on the Data, search for my destination and start the GPS routing, and then immediately turn the data back off. If you leave it on while driving, it uses a lot more data downloading traffic information and searching for alternative routes..
Rook said:
Thx adv999 for your thoughtful input. I've never heard of Ting (in WA state). We have a family plan with Cricket (ATT) and quite happy with it, but Cricket has no out of country roaming at all.
I did sign up with SO during my last visit. I had problem with online activation, but quickely fixed by a phone call. Used it 3-5 times with very short calls - works. However, when I checked my account, I noticed I already used $6 (seem to be excessive), and unable to find any breakdown on the charge. Is that available on SO account? Otherwise, I am happy with the whole experience so far.
