Rogers to kill the SAF… sort of

By on Sep 22, 2009 at 8:05 AM
Services September 22, 2009

rogers-evil

Yes, yes, we know — Canadians hate the System Access Fee just as much as they hate American beer. “Thankfully” as of October 5th, new and existing Rogers customers will finally be able to ditch the SAF. It’s not that Rogers has all of a sudden found its heart and decided to give its customers a respite. Oh, no, no. It’s simply going to lower the fee, rename it the Government Regulatory Recovery Fee and jack up the price of each and every plan by about $5. If the GRRF gives you the impression that it’s a government mandated fee then you’re sorely mistaken. It’s just another way for Rogers to pass the buck on all of the various federal, provincial and municipal fees and taxes that it itself pays in order to offer its services in a given area. For the most part, all existing consumers need to know is that they are free too keep their current plan with SAF, but any voice plan changes after October 5th (or anyone who joins Rogers, for that matter) will result in their account being switched over to the GRRF system. But hey, it’s not all that bad: Rogers is going to give you Call Forwarding, WhoCalled, and Call Manager for free. Wait a tick, those are already included most value packs…

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  • WR

    Years ago, when Rogers went to minimal paper billing. My monthly bills jumped from $100-150 to over $300 an then up to $600 a month without being able to PROVE what i was being billed for.

    I played this game with them for three months an called my lawyer.

    After my account was terminated with them, i still received mystery bills for months afterwards..I wonder how many others just kept paying through auto payment from their CC before realizing, we were, being robbed.

    NEVER AGAIN ROBBERS

  • Asim

    Rogers is the biggest thief. I am sick of them and moving all my services away from them. They use to offer a bundle discount, for example, to attract customers to sign into multiple services (cable, home phone, cell, internet, etc..). But, now they are forcing you to sign a minimum 2 year contract to get the discount (even existing customers). Well, SCREW THAT!!!

    BTW, it not only Rogers; its all the big players (Bell, Telus, etc..). Bell & Telus are, however, offering very competetive plans, just because they want to lure customers and since they do not have GSM (big disadvantage and a lesson of arogance on their part for being not early adapters of the technology)

    Canada has the WORST cell phone plans in the world (well, at least, among the countries I have visited in Europe and Asia). Everywhere I have visited (including some third word countries) all incoming is free, you are billed by the second, and roaming within the country is free. Vodaphone now has Europe roaming free.

    In Canada, for example, thousands of people live in Hamilton Ontario and travel to Toronto Ontario everyday for work, etc… (and vice versa). As a result, they have to pay long distance changes. And to top it off, get billed by the minute and for both incoming and outgoing minutes – long distance (how primitive).

    The problem is that we Canadians don’t say anything and keep quiet. Therefore, these theives are getting away with this robbery. They also hamper efforts by global players from entering the market, just so there no competition for them (as they have a big say and control over CRTC).

  • Prolab

    @ Aaronaaron

    Cause, robbers is the ultimate carrier villian in Canada – dontchanoh??

    Dr. Evil just fits.

  • mech

    I canceled my Robbers landline, which was a money dump with garbage calls every day.

    Went with 7-11′s SPEAKOUT payasyougo, bought the iPhone from Robbers, threw in my SO sim into it, and am now enjoying cheap calls to a humongous area: 416/647, 905/289, 613, and several others. All are considered local. And all the SO sims use the Robbers’ towers!!! How great is that? For those Hamilton/Toronto commuters, all ur calls would be considered LOCAL!!!!!!!!!!!

    SO details: No SAF, caller ID free, voicemail free, call waiting free, call forwarding free. 5cent SMSs (to and fro). If you don’t use ur phone for a long time, the only charge that you receive is for 911 service of 99cents. Beats the SAF+911 any day.

    Stop wasting ur money people. I get by fine without 3G service as I’m almost always near a wifi spot. Each voucher w/ SO expires after 365 days. Get some Skype-out for $30/year and ur golden. Free US/Canada calls via Skype, and if you miss a Skype call, it rings on ur iPhone (or whatever) if you set it u with your Skype-out plan.

    Save ur money, Canadians!

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