Trying to save on phone costs.

[pampam]

We cancelled our long distance plan with Bell. Now they have stuck another charge on our bill called Canada and U.S. block of time for $29.95 which is more than the long distance plan we had with them.

We have residence line 20.91
Canada and US block of time 29.95
Network charge 5.95
call display/number 8.95
911 seervice access .19
touchtone service 2.80
Wirecare maintenence plan 6.95


for a grand total of 75.70 plus taxes.

I'm considering Distributel or any other service except Bell. I am sooo annoyed with Bell, I'd rather not give them any business at all. Any recomendations? Has anyone had a problem with Distributel or another service provider?

 

[DeniseinNS]

We were with Bell for a long time for phone/cable/internet and had a long distance plan that was 20 something a month which we thought was a good deal. We were having major problems with Bell so we switched everything to Eastlink (phone/cable/internet) and now we are saving about $40 a month. The long distance plan we have through Eastlink is 5 cents a minute for Canada/U.S.

 

[DaniB]

I'm considering Distributel or any other service except Bell. I am sooo annoyed with Bell, I'd rather not give them any business at all. Any recomendations? Has anyone had a problem with Distributel or another service provider?

My husband & I, and my parents (2 seperate households) had Distributel. In fact, my parents still do. No problems ever! Loved them.

I only switched our household because Primus had basically the same plan and cost but also gave us AirMiles.

The only thing to know about Distributel is, if you need to phone overseas to another country (no problem and cheap rates) - make sure they add that country to your list. When my brother's family & my parents went to Portugal, I wasn't able to phone them for 24 hours until Distributel "added" Portugal to our system.

 

[Alderbrook]

We switched our phone to our cable company. We pay $23.99/month for phone with 3 features + $10 a month for their North America long distance plan, but their overseas rates are really good & we don't normally call overseas so not a big deal. If you're with cable do they do digital phone yet? We've been switched for 4 years from Bell & I would never go back to them, no matter what!

 

[Cdn Gal]

Call Bell back and tell them that you have been loyal customers and want a discount and that you are thinking about switching. We did and they gave us our long distance for free. (except overseas) Mind you, as I have posted before they can't seem to get anything right- but why not ask?? It's worth a try!

 

[Debbie]

Call Bell back and tell them that you have been loyal customers and want a discount and that you are thinking about switching. We did and they gave us our long distance for free. (except overseas) Mind you, as I have posted before they can't seem to get anything right- but why not ask?? It's worth a try!

I tried that and got nothing. After I switched to Rogers, Bell called-but only to get me to switch the entire bundle. I explained that after decades of being loyal to Bell for home phone, I was going to offer that same loyalty to Rogers for a decent amount of time. So far, so good! (and, yes, I know that there are horror stories about Rogers, but customer service has been great so far )

 

[GrUvGrL]

We had VOIP with Vonage for a LONG period of time. I had to switch because well pretty much everything in my house except the kitchen appliances are hooked up to our internet and both my hubby and I work from home on.... yes you guessed it the internet! SO I had to switch, to a land line.

But we were paying $25 a month for all phone features available, Voice mail, 3 way, call display, you name it... all local calls and 500 minutes a month in free long distance Canada and US calls and for $20 more you get unlimited long distance Canada and US calls.

 

[mithuri]

Hi;

Please check out teksavvy dot com - Personally don't use them but they receive very good reviews on redflagdeals - However, I think they provide VOIP service - but if you're looking for internet + phone service, they may be worth exploring.

Thanks, Al

 

[squirrel]

I switched to Shaw. They gave me a good deal with my internet and phone.

I can call areas that would be long-distance with Bell or Telus and it's free. Then the other long-distance is .4 a min. I also get call display.

 

[susanv]

Not sure where you are located, but we are in the GTA and have switched to 395 ( I believe it is through World Line but not sure). It is $3.95 a month for unlimited long distance in Canada and the States. We also pay a $10.00 a year access fee (much cheaper than Bell). So far so good. We use their internet service 295.ca and heard about it through my mother-in-law who has been using this service for over a year with no problems. It is available in many areas in Ontario, not sure about the rest of Canada. The only pain is that you need to dial an access number before you dial the number you want to call.

 

[Sue M]

We are on Telus with a NorthAmerica long dist pkg. that plus 2 calling features, caller id and voice mail, for $50ish/mo. We did have Primus long dist, but cancelled it, after awhile. Bad customer service. I could never get thru, esp beacuse they are based in the east & I'm on the other coast. Also their calling card was horrible. The codes changed depending on where you were. With Telus calling card you just phone their 800 # and it's easy.
May look into Shaw phone as we have internet and TV with them.

 

[jakoky]

hi there...we are with shaw and pay $20.95 a month for our line plus call display...long distance is 4 cents a minute to almost anywhere...no complaints at all and my bill is cheap, cheap, cheap...