Since my cellphone contract was ending soon, I tought I could try to negotiate a better plan instead of switching to Fido’s appealing 25$ plan. I gave Rogers a call and told them I was not going to stay with them once my contract expires. Almost machinally, the customer support girl offered me a better plan that suited my needs and a price I couldn’t get anywhere else.

However, I had to get a 3-year contract in order to benefit from this offer. I am currently on my father’s account and need to go on my own, so this is a big no-no for me. I managed to negotiate this down to 2 years (which was still too much) before saying I’d think about it and call later. This morning, I called back and got rid of this little requirement.

Now I’ve got a great plan, no contract (I will take one when on my own to keep this plan) and a brand new unlocked iPhone I got for 550$ on eBay. The Rogers customer service, I must admit, has greatly improved and the telephonists have been very helpful, which is a breakthrough.

Here is the plan I had for 37$ a month (taxes included):

• 150 minutes
• Unlimited calls and texts with 5 people
• Unlimited evenings nights and weekends from 9pm
• That’s it!

And now, the much more down-to-earth plan I got for 25.48$:

• 200 minutes
• 500 text messages
• Unlimited evenings and weekends from 6pm
• Call display, which is something you need to pay for nowadays.
• No contract

I hate to admit it, but I’m a satisfied Rogers customer. This time.

Morale of this story: haggle.

UPDATE (03/31/2010):

This was too good to be true. I received the cellphone bill today and they decided they would charge everything above. Looks like I will have to waste more time on the phone getting Rogers to play nice with me.

UPDATE: (04/07/2010):

I called Rogers and two friendly customer support people fixed the problem. They couldn’t credit the call display since I didn’t renew my contract, but at least I end up paying 10$ less at the end of every month. The least I can say is that their customer support people is very nice, a breakthrough in the field.