Are people still signing 2 year agreements?
 

For the people that don't already know, you're not actually saving any money when you sign a 2 year agreement with a phone company and going on their super expensive plans. Phone companies always advertised that you'll save $500 if you go on their premium plans, yada yada yada, but in fact, they're lying to you.

The reason why the big 3 (telus, rogers, bell) average plan starts at $90 (if you want a decent amount of data) is because the price of the subsidy for the phone is built into it, they just don't tell you.

Companies that have a "tab" is basically telling you that you're not saving money on the phone. The discount is divided into 24 and added back into your monthly bill. Worst part is that, when your agreement ends, they continue to charge you the tab without telling you and some customers are too oblivious to even notice it.

So do yourself and everybody a favor and stop signing these two year agreements, they're robbing you blind. Buying a phone outright and looking for cheaper plans elsewhere is a better option for you. Otherwise, look for cheaper and older version phones on promotions at third party kiosk like Wal-mart where they also give you a gift card.

thanks but I'm still saving on my retention plan on a 2 year vs no agreement and full phone buyout.

just depends what plans people have and if its worth the increase and agreement or not.

That's all well and good for the savvy people, but there's a large chunk of the general public that want the latest phone for the least out of pocket cost. Unfortunately, people need to learn to live within their means.

I refuse to sign 2 year agreements now. I don't mind being locked in for a set term but as mentioned, I end up paying more money down the road by signing a 2 year contract with a max plan than I would if I buy the phone outright 3rd party. I think it'll be nearly $500 extra in a period of 24 months if I locked myself into a max plan just to get a discount on a phone.

I'll buy what I can afford rather than extending my budget today to obtain something I can't afford now and pay more money in the long stretch.

There's really no point of me signing a contract.

With my retentions plan, I'm not eligible for any phone "upgrades".

BS.

i wish the big three would start doing data roll over on plans already
there are some months when i don't use my data for squat


i haven't looked around for a plan for a while, i signed a corporate 3 year contract that's expiring this year...i have every intention of keeping this plan so I will be buying my next phone outright. Hell, if Rogers had a 20 year contract for my plan, I'd happily sign it.

nope haven't signed a phone contract in years. Just been doing what OP said about buying a phone outright and finding the cheapest plan.

It does hurt a bit looking at a phone that costs like $1100 outright lol

I'm happy with my plan and don't mind locking in for another 2 years, when I'm not going to change it and it includes a subsidized phone.

anyone here with a corporate plan?

will the plan still cost the same after the term is up? Or are they free to bump your costs up? (assuming you don't get a new phone or sign another agreement with them).

I don't sign on phone contracts either. I'd lose my amazing plan if I were to sign onto one.
I just buy the newest phones through craigslist for a good deal

I am on corporate plan. Cost is still the same but they try everything to get you to upgrade or give you very unreasonable rates (IE. roaming data was about 15c/mb) or something along those lines.


I believe they will try to bump the cost up at some point. Friend's parents is on a grandfathered plan but recently received notice saying they will have a price increase.

my corporate plan went form $54 tax in to $65 tax in, still a better price than what is offered currently to the public

I pretty much explained in my OP how a 2 year agreement isn't going to save you any money unless, like others have mentioned, you're getting a retention plan.

Too much hype gets put into these new devices yet their difference in features does not equal extra $500 in difference.

well, if every person thought like OP, how will the phone company be able to offer the savvy ones their retention plans? c'mon guys, THINK before you post... geeze.. its 2016.

We need enough people to keep the ARPU up, so a handful of us can keep paying 2005 rates.

Oh I read it. Like tiger_handheld mentioned, you're the small handful. The majority of the public just doesn't want to pay for a handset, yet they want the newest device.

I agree though, manufacturers price/hype up the devices way too much. Look at the hype for Apples September 7th announcement.

*Disclaimer* I do work for a telecom, but not sales. Not all of us lie to customers about their options.

i wont be giving up my koodoo manitoba/saskatchewan plan unless koodoo takes it away. i honestly have zero issue playing up to $1k for a phone mostly because i'm stupid. lol. i dont waste money on clothes or expensive nights out so i just buy a new phone whenever i feel like it.

at the moment i'm switching back and forth between using a galaxy s7 and nexus 6p. at the same time, i'm also thinking about selling both and buying a note 7.

yeah, i'm weird.

If you've done some research, you'll find that mobile carriers don't pay per MB of data transmitted, nor minutes, nor SMS text. They pay for bandwidth, as in how much GB can be downloaded at once. This is supported by the number of infrastructure they have around the city/country.

People have to stop falling into the sales gimmick of these plans and contracts, thinking they are saving $500 on a note 7, when they're not.

A 6gb plan does not actually cost $100 just because It's TWENTY SIXTEEN and that is the so called "rate". It was just a numbers game and they could come up with any price they wanted, as long as the revenue they generate is not less than the cost to maintain their infrastructure. It is also a numbers game when they are selling so-and-so GB for $100. They can up it to 10 GB, 20 GB, etc. and the cost for maintaining their infrastructure would not increase.

Anyone on retentions successfully got a phone upgrade by renewing their contracts?

Wow same here. We switched to Telus and their plan is $62 or so and only 5gb of data vs $50 from bell with 6gb. Pretty happy I signed onto the Bell one a few months before we switched over and hoping I can renew it (with phone upgrade discount) in 2017

I agree with everything you said in the original post and this post. All I'm saying is that we need the people who sign up on the $100 plans willingly (or for new phone) so Robelus can still give out $55 retention plans to retention clients and also show a healthy profit for shareholders. It's basic math after all...

meh.. i think the only way i would save money is switching to some 3rd rate carrier now

me and le wifey pay $182 a month for unlimited everything and 10GB shared data now on Robbers

2 year commitements may not save me big $$$, but paying $600-700 for a new iphone the day it's released as opposed to 1100-1400 upfront feels a little better. Also outside of insane corporate plans basically no one i know has a better plan than we do, so i might as well reup. I'm going to be with rogers 2 years from now, and i've been saying that for the past 14

When is the last time you dealt with retentions and managed to get a competitive price point with a well subsidized phone?

Times have changed.

If you don't have a grandfathered plan, regardless of a contract or not, the going rate for data is about 4GB for $100. Unless there is good forecast that prices will drop, I don't see why the masses shouldn't sign up for 2 years contract for a few hundred off.

Its just completely bullshit because many years ago 60$ for 6gb was the norm but now its the only technology/business commodity that i know of that got more expensive with time.

You can theorize this in two ways, more new customers, could also mean less retention plans because they're raking in more money now, and want to get rid of people on old grandfather plans.

Or, less new customers, more retention to keep old customers.

I can bet my money that if they don't get as much new customers as they expect to in an annual year, they will sell you retention plans.

Your plan is only as good as it suits your need, you cannot say it's "better". I use an average 3 GB out of my 5 GB every month, and I'm paying half the amount you're paying for one line. So to me, my plan is better.

The going rate is as much as you're willing to pay. There is no blue book that says 4 GB is worth $100. If you look hard enough, and some of us already have, we're paying $48 for 5 GB.

I just don't understand how people cannot scrounge for deals online. Maybe they're lazy or just oblivious.

6GB for $30

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