Ever since Rogers new CEO Guy Laurence has taken the helm of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, weekly changes seems to be the catchphrase of the day. It was a week ago that they announced an August increase of $5 a month in their 6GB/$30 data program. Now we learn that when a customer upgrades their device, they will be required to change over to one of the new Share Everything plans. Up until now, the customer had a choice to either switch over or keep their grandfathered plan as long as it was $60 a month or greater – these older plans will no longer be an upgradable option.
There are two exceptions to this new policy, although both are being strongly discourage and a one-time exception even requires a store manager’s approval. If you are spending $80 a month on a plan and its features, you can keep that $80 plan, but the reps are being “strongly encouraged to migrate clients onto the new plans.” If you spend between $60 – $79 a month for your plan and features, you may also keep your existing plan, however, this exception “requires store manager approval and an expectation will be set with the client that this is the last upgrade at your current price point.” In other words – one more upgrade and then you must change over to a Share Everything Plan.
People discussing this on our source, HoFo, are not happy at all with Rogers and their recent decisions, as most Canadian plans have seen several increases announced this year and it’s not even the end of June. The cheapest Share Everything Plan is $80 a month, and while it does include unlimited text and talk, you are only eligible for 500MB of data – hardly enough for one ‘active’ phone, let alone sharing with others on your plan. If you jump to $90 a month, Rogers will throw in 2GB of data, which really makes that plan the smartest and ‘cheapest’ way to go. When MobileSyrup reached out to Rogers about the change, they responded in the usual bureaucratic jargon:
“Our previous policy made exceptions for some customers, allowing them to stay on their old plans when they upgraded to a new subsidized device. Going forward we’re asking customers who want a subsidy on their premium Smartphone to move to a current plan. Customers who want to bring their own devices can remain on their old plan. This change will allow people to take advantage of the great value our current plans deliver. They’re easy to understand and are designed for how customers use their phones today, including LTE devices. They include services like unlimited Canada-wide long distance and texting, voicemail and call display- features that customers on older plans pay extra for.”
The Share Everything Programs are “easy to understand” and allows customers to “take advantage of the great value” Rogers’ new plans offer – if it costs the customer more, how is it great value? Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know how you feel about the ‘great value’ you receive on your Rogers’ plan…as always, we would love to hear from you.