service provider recommendations?
 

my contract is almost up with telus. i've had a bad time with them (poor service, billing issues, dropped calls, etc.) and i'm looking to go elsewhere.

can people here make recommendations please? i went to best buy over the weekend but only managed to confuse myself :confused:

what i have now:
- bluetooth/camera (almost all have this anyway)
- caller id
- voice mail
- no text/data plan (only use it for work)

i don't use the phone much.... short calls mostly. maybe 1 hour actual talk time per week or less. i spend so much time at work i do everything on a land line.

what about a prepaid plan?

also if i move away from telus, will i lose my current number?

as far as i know most companies will transfer your # over for you so you shouldnt have to cancel.

pre-paid is about 30cents a min for $10 card and i think 15cents a min for $20 and up. comes with free caller ID and text messages get subtracted from your $ amount as opposed to being added on top if you dont have a txt msg plan.

i find prepaid is good if you use under 50min a month. otherwise you're probably better off getting a modest plan. plus it really sucks having to watch your min on a prepaid and trying to minimize the length of your calls.

Lol I was in the same situation with you but with Rogers. Now I'm with Telus. :lol

All depends where you work, and where you will make most of your mobile calls from. If you are in a city, in my opinion, all the 'big' providers available here are basically the same. I have both a rogers and a telus cell phone. In cities, I have better luck with my phone on Rogers. My luck could be just the phone itself though, you never know. When I am on the road and in smaller towns, my Telus phone is king.

Rogers: BB Pearl
Telus: Palm Treo

If I had a job where I was going to be in a city the whole time, I would probably go with Rogers. I have had better experience with their customer service, everytime I call I seem to be talking to another Canadian. Outside of cities, Telus for sure. Although with Telus I find their customer service to be shitty, I rarely have to call and talk to someone anyways.

There are a lot of things to consider. Throw out as much information as you can so we can help you.

Coverage/Reception: All the networks now have 3G coverage and you should be covered (for the most part) in urban areas. Some things like being in a basement, living on a hill or if you're blocked by a forest contribute to poor reception but this can be discussed in a different thread. If you go out to the boonies/rural areas more often, Telus and Bell will cover you for the most part. Rogers provides coverage to where there are larger populations/markets.

Billing: All companies will have billing issues. There is no one better provider than the other when it comes to billing - there are a lot of variable factors behind this.

Phone: The phone can make a difference in your overall experience. I have seen some phones that are bottom-of-the-barrel which can outperform a flagship phone and vice versa.

Number Portability: You can simply port your number to another carrier. You do not have to lose your number.

coverage/reception: i'm always in the city, and my calls keep getting dropped, and it's not because i'm in a building, etc.

billing: i had a billing error back in november. i'm still trying to resolve it. every time i call $!@#! telus i get a different excuse/answer. i don't really want to discuss it... i'm still in therapy :flamemad:

phone: got a shitty samsung right now that i had wanted to change because i qualify for a free new one but because of this $!@#! billing issue i can't. dosen't matter now... in a few months i'll be done with it.

Chances are, you're dropping calls because of the phone. Try switching to either their 3G network or switch to Rogers/Fido, but considering you don't appreciate the fact that they cannot solve your billing issue, I get the feeling you're adamant on switching providers. :p