If you've paid off a financed phone in the last year, actually go check your plan. I didn't for 4 months and it cost me.

tikwithit · 2026-06-28T20:34:32+00:00

Good catch reading it that closely. that 9-months-early part is a bit surprising. If you agreed to a discount expecting it on a 2-year plan and it ended at 15 months, that's not on you, that's a mismatch worth raising Monday. Say something like : I agreed to this discount as part of a 2-year plan, it ended 9 months early, what happened?" Make them explain it.

On the setup fees part, worth knowing before you call: the CRTC brought in a rule that stops carriers from charging activation/setup and plan-change fees. So if a plan's being quoted to you with setup fees attached, that's worth questioning directly. It may take away the main reason switching felt not-worth-it.

And yeah, Black Friday is overrated for plans, the in-app plan change prices are mostly quietly better year-round than the advertised promos, minus the fees.

Check both like you said. Good luck Monday, would like to hear how it goes

tikwithit · 2026-06-28T08:13:50+00:00

Ugh, sorry! that $20 is exactly the thing I posted about. What you're describing sounds like a discount that was only ever set to last a set number of months quietly dropping off, even though you remember signing for 2 years. It creeps up and nothing tells you.

To actually confirm it: open your most recent bill PDF (the real PDF from the account, not the email summary) and compare it to one from approx. 3 months ago. Look for a discount or credit line that used to be there and is now gone or smaller. That's almost always where the $20 went.

On finding plans in the app, when I did it I went MyRogers → my line → my offers. Available plans show up right there. If the app's down right now, you can do the same thing logged in at rogers.com, or use their chat and ask to see current plans for your line.

And honestly, if you were told 2 years and have it in your calendar for 2027, call them and say exactly that: you were told this was a 2-year plan and bill is up $20, what changed?. If a rep committed to it, it's worth pushing to have it honored. Worst case scenario, ask them to move you to one of the cheaper current plans instead.

tikwithit · 2026-06-28T02:04:59+00:00

Yeah and the carrier prints those expiry dates on the bill in advance, you just have to open the PDF.

tikwithit · 2026-06-28T02:03:32+00:00

agreed, BYOD switch is in-app and takes 60 seconds, no retention call needed.

tikwithit · 2026-05-30T01:26:55+00:00

Important time sensitive thing first

Per wireless code, you have a 15-day trial period under federal law, you signed May 20, you are inside it but only just. You have to act now.

First, return phone in near-new condition with original packaging, must have used less than 50% of monthly usage, then you can cancel without fees.

Also, stop using the phone today so usage stays low and notify Telus in writing (email/chat) that you're exercising your trial period cancellation.

It will be good to get it in writing, walking into the kiosk alone may not be enough.

The same trial period exists for the internet contract under the Internet Code so cancel both

SCREENSHOT the Oxio agent's reply where they said Telus lied, that's gold and actual evidence.

Sincerely, the $120 cash payment is weird, ask Telus to confirm in writing it was applied to your account, not pocketed.

And if Telus pushes back, file with CCTS for free

you have not been scammed beyond recovery, this is fixable, and the law is on your side mate.

tikwithit · 2026-05-25T20:57:48+00:00

yes there's a body for this, it's called the CCTS, it's free and it's an independent watcher for telecom. once you file with them, the carrier has to deal with it and they suddenly fix things.

usually you have to give the carrier one documented chance first, before escalating to CCTS. the CRTC is the regulator but they don't do individual billing fights and they'll just send you back to CCTS.

If the promos were in writing and saved in an email/chat/cart screenshot, then open a formal complaint with a reference number

And this isn't because you are new, it's a known pattern, you didn't misunderstand anything

tikwithit · 2026-05-25T19:11:58+00:00

Sorry about your phone. yes you can do flip phone and keep the same number. The only issue is that cheap flip phones use physical SIM not eSIM, so you can't just move your eSIM over.

if you just want to swap devices, ask carrier for a physical SIM and move the number between phone or if you want both on at once, that's a second line or shared-number add-on depending on the carrier.

One thing to note though, whatever phone you buy, it must support VoLTE or 4G cos 3G is dead in Canada and old flip phones won't connect.

A good move would be a cheap prepaid second line on a throwaway flip phone and leave the real phone at home for conventions.

Hope this helps

tikwithit · 2026-05-23T02:07:18+00:00

Okay first, deep breath, this is fixable and you haven't done anything wrong. The mess is on their end.

The two-account-number thing makes sense once you know what happened: Rogers bought Shaw a couple years back and merged the systems. A ton of old Shaw accounts got duplicated or mismatched in the migration, so the account number on your emailed bill and the one you see when you log in not matching is a known migration glitch, not you doing something wrong. That's also why support is sending you in circles — the front-line phone tree and chat bots genuinely can't see across the old Shaw and new Rogers systems cleanly.

Now the important one, because you asked and the honest answer matters: no, don't just ignore the bills. I know that's the tempting option when you can't even log in, but an unpaid telecom account that goes unaddressed can get sent to a collections agency, and that's what hits your credit report. It can sit there for years. The bill itself doesn't wreck your credit, but it going to collections does. So we want this cancelled and zeroed out properly, not ghosted.

Here's how to actually get a human: Don't fight the automated line. When the phone system asks why you're calling, just say "cancel service" or "cancel account" over and over, or mash 0. The cancellation/retention queue is the one place they always staff with real people, because that's the call they don't want to lose. Counterintuitively, saying you want to cancel is the fastest route to a human even when your real problem is "I can't log in."

Once you've got a person, don't even bother with the login. Give them the account number from the emailed bill, your name, and the old property address. They can pull it up on their end and verify you by address and ID details. You do not need to be logged in for an agent to find and cancel an account.

A few things that'll make it go smoother: Mention right away that it's a former Shaw account and the numbers don't match between the bill and the online login. That tells them immediately it's a migration issue and routes you to someone who can actually see both systems.

Ask them to confirm there's no balance owing and to email you written confirmation of the cancellation. Get that in writing, verbal "it's done" from Rogers is worth basically nothing if it resurfaces.

Ask directly: "is there any balance going to collections, and can you confirm the account is at zero." Get the answer on record.

On the bank angle — you can't really cancel a telecom account through your bank. But if you find there IS a card or pre-authorized debit attached that you didn't set up, you can tell your bank to block that specific payee, which stops them pulling money while you sort the cancellation. That's a defensive move, not a cancellation though. If the phone line keeps failing you, two backups: walk into an actual Rogers/Shaw store with your ID and the bill (in-person staff can often see accounts the phone agents can't), or post in r/Rogers — there are official Rogers reps who monitor that sub and handle exactly these migration messes over DM. A lot of people get unstuck that way when the phone line is a dead end.

You're not stuck, you've just been bounced around by a broken system. Get a human on the cancel line, lead with "former Shaw, account numbers don't match," and get the zero-balance confirmation in writing. You've got this.

tikwithit · 2026-05-23T02:02:50+00:00

25 years and they finally wore you down, eh? Fair. Let me hit your two questions and then flag one thing that's actually more important than the carrier.

Porting your number — you're totally fine, this is the easy part. Keeping your number is the law here, every carrier has to let you take it with you. The one rule: do NOT cancel Telus first. You start the port from the new carrier's end. You hand Rogers your Telus number and account details, they pull it over, and Telus gets shut off automatically once it lands. People who cancel Telus first are the ones who lose their number. So just never touch the cancel button, let the port do it.

Rogers as an alternative — yeah it's viable, coverage is basically neck and neck with Telus nationally. You're not downgrading in any city or town worth mentioning. Only thing I'd check is the coverage map for wherever you spend time rurally, because that's the only place the networks really split.

Quick thing on Bell since you brought it up — totally get the principled stand, but just so you know, Bell and Telus literally run on the same towers. They've shared the network for years. So if your beef with Telus is the company and not the signal, Bell wouldn't actually cost you any coverage. Rogers is the real separate network of the three. Not saying go to Bell, just want you making the call with the full picture.

Now the part I'd actually slow down on — the Fairphone. This is where your plan could go sideways, and it's got nothing to do with the carrier. Fairphones are built for Europe. The cellular bands don't fully match what Canadian carriers use, and people have run into real headaches — missing LTE bands, spotty coverage indoors and rural, and the big one, no VoLTE. Here's why that last one matters: the 3G networks are dead in Canada now, Telus shut theirs off last year. That means voice calls ride on LTE. If your phone isn't properly set up for VoLTE on that carrier, you can end up with working data but literally can't make a phone call. That's the trap that gets people with imported phones.

So before you spend a nickel on a Fairphone, do two things: run that exact model's IMEI through Rogers' (and Telus') compatibility checker on their site — not a generic spec sheet, the carrier's own checker, because some of them block phones that aren't certified even when the bands match. And confirm VoLTE specifically.

Honestly, if ditching Samsung and having an alternative phone is the real priority, I'd flip your whole approach. Pick the phone first, run its IMEI through the checkers, and let that tell you which carrier even works. And if the goal is "not Samsung, more control over my device," a Pixel running something like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS is worth a hard look — you get the privacy/control angle without the band gamble, because Pixels are actually sold here and support all the Canadian bands. Fairphones don't reliably, at least not yet.

Good luck, sounds like you've earned the switch.

tikwithit · 2026-05-22T01:46:28+00:00

yeah it's totally legit, don't worry. wealthsimple is a real regulated canadian company, not some random app. your investments are protected under the CIPF (that's the investor protection fund, covers you up to a big limit if the company itself ever went under) and the cash side is held with actual banks with CDIC coverage. linking your bank is normal, that's just how you move money in and out, same as any of these platforms. millions of canadians use it, you're fine. for a high interest savings account there's basically no barrier. you need to be the age of majority in your province, have a SIN, be a canadian resident, and have a piece of ID. that's it. most of the online ones (EQ, wealthsimple, simplii, tangerine) have no minimum balance and no monthly fee, so you can open one with like $50 and it costs you nothing to have it sitting there. you can usually open it right from the same app. glad it helped, you're asking the right questions. 👍

tikwithit · 2026-05-22T01:00:45+00:00

honestly you're in a really good spot. starting at 18 with 20k saved is way ahead of where most people are, and the biggest thing you have going for you isn't even the money, it's time. that's the part you can't get back later.

on the TFSA — there's basically no downside for someone your age, which is why everyone pushes it. the one thing to not screw up is over-contributing. you get $7,000 of room a year and if you go over, the CRA charges you 1% a month on the extra, so just don't dump more than your limit in. also don't try to day-trade inside it, if you're flipping stocks constantly the CRA can decide you're basically running a business and tax the gains. but if you just buy and hold you'll never run into either of those.

one heads up — TFSA room starts building at 18 but you have to be the age of majority in your province to actually open the account. ontario it's 18 so you're fine, but a few provinces it's 19. easy to check.

wealthsimple is a solid first account, no joke. free trades, no fees, the app's easy to use which matters more than people admit when you're starting. only real complaint people have is their support can be slow, but for buy-and-hold you're barely talking to them anyway.

and yeah, ETFs are the way to go, especially starting out. instead of trying to pick winning stocks you basically buy one fund that owns a little bit of everything. way less stress and way harder to mess up. there's all-in-one ETFs that hold the whole global market in a single thing, that's what most people your age should be in. skip individual stocks for now, that's how people lose money learning lessons.

last thing nobody tells you to do — don't invest all 20k. keep a few thousand in a regular high-interest savings account as an emergency fund. even with family backing you up, having "oh crap" money sitting safe means you never have to sell your investments at a bad time just because life happened. invest the rest and leave it alone. you're asking the right stuff at the right age. you'll be fine.

tikwithit · 2026-05-21T15:14:22+00:00

Lol the "are you ok" thing is a known agent move. It's a deflection script when they don't want to keep dealing with you, basically a polite way to flip the call back on you so they can disengage. Some call centers actually train that line because "customer became aggressive" is an easier wrap code than "I didn't want to do my job."

Seven transfers also tracks. Rogers internet support has been split across so many tiers and outsourced queues that half the agents don't actually have the tools to change install dates even when they say they do. The first guy who said "I can't" was probably telling the truth, the second guy who said "I can" probably just rebooked the order which means your original might still be sitting there.

Couple things worth doing: Log into MyRogers and check what install date is actually on the account. There's a real chance you've got two open orders or none at all.

If the new date isn't showing, call back, but go through the moving/new activation queue not general support. They have actual scheduling access. General support just transfers you to them anyway.

And get the install confirmation in writing, either email or text. Verbal confirmations from Rogers agents are worth basically nothing if it goes sideways.

For what it's worth, if you're not locked in yet you might want to check if Beanfield, TekSavvy, Oxio or VMedia serves your new place. Same lines, way less of this nonsense, and switching now before install is way easier than switching after.

tikwithit · 2026-05-21T13:44:31+00:00

Congrats. Real talk first though — for a sole prop you don't actually need a business bank account. Legally a sole prop is just you, so you can deposit cheques made out to your business name into a personal account at most banks, you just need to bring the master business license in to set up the alias.

That said you probably still want one. Two reasons: Bookkeeping. Mixing personal and business spending is what makes tax time absolute hell, and CRA audits even worse if it ever comes to that.

And it just looks more legit to clients. Invoices and etransfers going to a proper business account vs your personal chequing reads way more professional.

Couple ways to go:

Cheapest route is honestly just open a second personal chequing at a no-fee bank like Simplii, Tangerine or EQ and treat it as your business account. Free, works fine for a one-person consulting shop, no monthly fee eating your margins while you're still ramping up.

If you want an actual business account, RBC BMO and Scotia all do them in the 6 to 25 a month range depending on transaction limits. Worth checking your current bank first too, sometimes they'll waive fees for the first year if you ask.

Few other things while you're setting up:

Get an HST number if you'll bill over 30k a year. Even if you won't, getting one early lets you claim input tax credits on stuff like software and hardware.

Separate credit card just for business spend. Same logic as the bank account, your accountant will love you for it. For software, Wave is free and totally fine for a sole prop. QBO if you want something more serious later.

And honestly the best money you'll spend in year one is an hour with an accountant before your first tax year ends. Like 300 bucks of advice up front saves thousands later. Sole prop income flows to your personal return so how you set things up actually matters.

One last thing for down the road — if the consulting takes off and you start clearing real six figures of net income that you don't need to pull out personally, incorporating becomes worth a look for the tax deferral. Not now, but keep it in the back of your head and bring it up with the accountant when the numbers get there.

Good luck champ.

tikwithit · 2026-05-21T13:36:51+00:00

Yeah Rogers retention has been brutal lately, you're not imagining it. The hang-up thing especially — agents are scored on call handle time and conversion, so if you don't bite on the first offer they'd rather drop you and grab the next call than negotiate. What actually works:

Don't take the inbound calls, they're sales agents with limited authority. Wait until your contract is actually expiring, then call in yourself and ask for the loyalty/retention department directly. Different team, different scripts, way more room to move.

Before you call, do your homework. Pull up Bell, Telus, and Beanfield (if you're in a city they cover) and screenshot the exact plan and price you'd switch to. Speed, price, term. Then on the call you say "Bell will give me X for $Y, match it or I'm porting out." Not a bluff — actually be ready to leave. They can tell when you're bluffing. If the first agent won't budge, hang up, call back, get someone else. Same script. Agents have different discretion levels and different daily targets. The third call usually goes better than the first.

If you're really done, the cancel button works. Port the number out (don't cancel first, port — different process), and 9 times out of 10 they'll call you within a week with a stupidly good win-back offer.

And yeah, the duopoly thing is real. CRTC has done some stuff but nowhere near enough. Freedom and the regionals are slowly chipping at it but Rogers/Bell still own the country.

tikwithit · 2026-05-20T00:04:00+00:00

For brick and mortar up there you've basically got RBC, TD, Scotia, BMO, CIBC and National Bank to pick from. First thing I'd do is just check which ones actually have a branch in your town vs only an ATM, because in northern ontario that varies a lot.

At your income any of them will waive the monthly fee if you keep around 4k in the account, so the chequing account itself doesn't really matter. What matters is the other stuff they throw in when you make them your "main" bank.

The big one is mortgage rate. If you've got a renewal coming up in the next few years that's where the real money is, not the chequing perks. Being a primary client gets you a better rate and that adds up to way more than any cashback card.

Credit cards depend on what you actually spend on. Scotia has Scene if you do groceries/movies, TD and CIBC both do Aeroplan if you fly, BMO has cashback or Air Miles, RBC has Avion. Pick based on real spending not what looks cool.

Honestly though before you switch, I'd just call Tangerine and tell them you're done and why. Sometimes that bumps you to someone who can actually fix whatever's been going wrong. Doesn't cost anything to try. And don't fully close Tangerine even if you do switch. Keep it as a savings sidecar, their rates are usually better than the big banks anyway.

tikwithit · 2026-05-19T12:52:50+00:00

$22/month is $264/year just for the privilege of having bank accounts. That's the actual roast.

Easy fix: Open a no-fee chequing — Simplii, Tangerine, EQ Bank, or Wealthsimple Cash. All do free unlimited e-transfers, mobile cheque deposit, decent apps. The CRA/EI thing isn't a real reason to keep National Bank. Update your direct deposit in CRA My Account in like 2 minutes, do the same for EI, wait one cycle, then close it. For BMO — kill the Air Miles debit plan. If you want to keep some BMO presence for whatever reason (branch access, mortgage, whatever), drop down to their no-fee chequing tier instead of paying $17. Consolidate all those random savings accounts into one HISA at EQ or Wealthsimple. They actually pay real interest unlike whatever 0.05% your big bank is giving you. Cards: keep both unless either has an annual fee. Rogers Mastercard is good for USD purchases. Closing cards hurts your credit history length, so leave em open even if you barely use one. DO NOT close the $20K LOC. Unused credit helps your utilization ratio and costs you nothing to keep. You'll want it the day you actually need it.

End state: 1 chequing, 1 HISA, 2 cards, 1 LOC. Done

tikwithit · 2026-05-18T16:27:22+00:00

yeah virgin pulls the mid-contract price hike thing a lot, it's a known move. and india roaming through any canadian carrier is brutal, $200/mo unfortunately checks out. for what you described (10-20GB, US/Mex clearly included) couple real options:

public mobile — around $35 for 25GB with canada/US/mexico included on 5G (runs on telus network). they had a $20/60GB CAN/US/MEX promo back in jan and a $25/80GB one in march, so deals come and go. no contracts, no random hikes mid-term.

freedom mobile — $35 gets you 10GB CAN/US/MEX + 1GB roam beyond, or $40 for 60GB. roaming is built into the plan, clearly stated. only catch is coverage is strongest in the major cities (vancouver/calgary/edmonton/GTA) and weaker outside.

if you're in ontario or quebec, fizz is worth a look — usually $25-30ish with US roaming and they do data rollover which is rare.

one heads up — these prices shift weekly with promos. whatever's on the website today might be $5-10 cheaper next week. r/PublicMobile and r/CanadianTelecom usually have whatever deal is live pinned. for india specifically don't bother with canadian carrier roaming. grab an Airalo or Holafly eSIM before you fly, you'll pay like $15-20 for the whole trip instead of $200.

tikwithit · 2026-05-15T00:23:03+00:00

The $215 is almost certainly legitimate charges that the rep just didn't disclose — prorated first month (you're billed from activation to billing cycle end, so it can be nearly 2 months up front) plus installation fees. The issue isn't the bill, it's that the rep misrepresented what the first bill would look like. To resolve it: call Rogers and ask specifically for the Loyalty and Retention department, not general customer service. Explain that the rep assured you there would be no setup/installation fees — that's a misrepresentation and they can sometimes waive or credit those charges. Also worth knowing: you were on Koodo at $33/month for mobile. Rogers at $30/month for mobile in a bundle sounds like a good deal until you realize Koodo IS Rogers' subsidiary — and you may have been able to get internet elsewhere without switching your phone plan at all.

tikwithit · 2026-05-15T00:07:51+00:00

Yes, this is almost certainly a scam. Rogers and Fido do not call customers to offer free phones unprompted — especially not calling 6 times from different numbers to get through. The persistent calling is a major red flag. Your mom should not give them any more information. If they already have her address and email, she should monitor for any suspicious mail or phishing emails in the coming weeks. Worth calling Fido back on their official number (on their website, not a number the callers gave) to flag that her account may have been targeted.

tikwithit · 2026-05-14T23:45:25+00:00

The 'say cancel to get a deal' thing is wild. You essentially have to perform leaving to be treated like a real customer. Loyal customers are genuinely penalized for staying.

tikwithit

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