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Sean8
join:2004-01-23
Toronto

Sean8

Member

Is Fido getting any new phones anytime soon?

My contract is up for renewal and looking at the different phones now, I'll probably get the Nokia C6. But does anyone know if they will be bringing out any new phones that might top the C6 (outside of the smartphone category)?
jfmezei
Premium Member
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC

jfmezei

Premium Member

Look at actual phone stores. You might find better deals than what Fido has to to offer even locked/under contract.

I once bought a Sony Ericsson from »www.puremobile.ca
xtachx
join:2005-11-19
canada

xtachx to Sean8

Member

to Sean8
said by Sean8:

My contract is up for renewal and looking at the different phones now, I'll probably get the Nokia C6. But does anyone know if they will be bringing out any new phones that might top the C6 (outside of the smartphone category)?

You are in Toronto, so why not try Mobilicity or Wind? Both of them have a very stellar signal in Toronto from what I have heard!!

Wait for it:

Mobilicity: $25 unlimited talk text data!! (data is at 3.5Mbps, no caps!)

Wind: $29 unlimited talk text data!!! (data doesnt have speed limits, meaning approx 5Mbps, but there is a softcap of 5GB after which you get throttled to dialup)

I myself use mobi and I can recommend them! Very good service. Wind is good as well!! (If you are not happy with these 2, you can take the SAME phone to fido - it will work)

pallo
@bell.ca

pallo

Anon

said by xtachx:

You are in Toronto, so why not try Mobilicity or Wind? Both of them have a very stellar signal in Toronto from what I have heard!!

Mobi and Wind are both AWS so most phones just won't work on their network. Their coverage is problematic once you leave toronto, expect to get dinged 25 cents a minute for roaming and same with text messages!

He's better off with Fido, imo.

FiReSTaRT
Premium Member
join:2010-02-26
Canada

FiReSTaRT

Premium Member

It depends on how often he leaves the city. In my case, answering the occasional call on my weekend motorcycle trips doesn't break the bank. I've had good experiences on 3 smart phones (so far) with Basatne Electronics in Mississauga. 2x Nexus 1, 1x Desire.

Sean8
join:2004-01-23
Toronto

Sean8

Member

The main reason I'm still inclined to stay with Fido is because I've been on this retention plan for ages:

200 daytime minutes, unlimited incoming, 1000 evening/weekend minutes, unlimited text, caller ID, and unlimited mobile browsing (which on a Symbian phone acts as data), plus unlimited 3G tethering, for $30/m plus tax, and I don't need to buy the phone upfront.

I guess the main problem is I have to actually buy the phone with the other guys. I would much rather give my business to them but I have a hard time justifying buying the phone outright when Fido will pretty much give it to me.

However, I can't seem to find the $25 mobilicity plan you're talking about. The best I see is unlimited talk and text for $25 plus $10 for unlimited data making it $35, in which case I'm already saving $5 for more with Fido.
djcake
join:2007-04-19
York, ON

djcake

Member

»mobilicity.ca/25backtosc ··· oolplan/

Sean8
join:2004-01-23
Toronto

Sean8

Member

Thank you! This will give me more towards my negotiations with Fido later today.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron to pallo

Premium Member

to pallo
said by pallo :

Mobi and Wind are both AWS so most phones just won't work on their network. Their coverage is problematic once you leave toronto, expect to get dinged 25 cents a minute for roaming and same with text messages!

He's better off with Fido, imo.

WIND now has slightly better roaming arrangements outside of Toronto for both data, and talk/text packages.

I'm with WIND and I leave the city every weekend, I'd say I use my cell as much as I normally would (shoot off a couple of texts and answer my phone when folks call) and my overages usually range in the $5 to $10 range per month.

You'd get at least that much with Fido if you were roaming.

pallo
@bell.ca

pallo to djcake

Anon

to djcake
Unlimited talk, text and data but no voicemail.

There's always a catch with these providers.
bjlockie
join:2007-12-16
Ontario
Technicolor TC4350
Asus RT-AC56
Grandstream HandyTone 702/704

bjlockie

Member

said by pallo :

Unlimited talk, text and data but no voicemail.

There's always a catch with these providers.

Voicemail is extra with Wind which is why I won't switch.
I'm a pay-per-use user and they won't compete with that.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron

Premium Member

said by bjlockie:

said by pallo :

Unlimited talk, text and data but no voicemail.

There's always a catch with these providers.

Voicemail is extra with Wind which is why I won't switch.
I'm a pay-per-use user and they won't compete with that.

That's incorrect. Voice mail is included with most plans. I'm not saying Wind is for everyone but "pallo" over here is obviously trying to sway the vote towards the incumbents.

JoJoBlue
join:2009-12-08
Scarborough, ON

JoJoBlue to Sean8

Member

to Sean8
Anyone know how the reception is for Wind and Mobilicity in the East-Scarborough/Pickering areas? I've also been thinking about switching to one of them, particularly Mobilicity. But in the past, I've heard their reception wasn't so great in this area, especially indoors. I have a basement, and I'd imagine it'd be even worse down there. Although I have also heard they've recently done some upgrades around Scarborough.

Another thing is that sales reps that call me for Wind sound like they're from call-centers in India who are reading off a script (like Bell). This has me a little concerned about customer service quality. Anyone have any input on their experiences with either companies?
nelectronics
join:2011-08-23
Costa Mesa, CA

nelectronics to FiReSTaRT

Member

to FiReSTaRT

Basatne Electronics Scam

said by FiReSTaRT:

It depends on how often he leaves the city. In my case, answering the occasional call on my weekend motorcycle trips doesn't break the bank. I've had good experiences on 3 smart phones (so far) with Basatne Electronics in Mississauga. 2x Nexus 1, 1x Desire.

Meet Ammartech Inc. Owner Ammar Aboulnasr

A Canadian supplier of mobile electronics.

Located at

2 Robert Speck Parkway, Suite 764
Mississauga, ON L4Z 1H8
Canada

In my first dealings with Ammar it was all Refurbished devices. He was one seller that actually had a higher quality product so we decided to try to move these “hard to sell” refurbs in a way that would appeal to the customer. Our first deal was 5/29/09 for a small 3 pc order. This went fine. We started to do more and more with Ammartech as the items seemed to be of quality and customers liked that. A few were sent back for bad pins and some had a speaker issue, some were scratched, but overall not too bad of a return.

Later that year we started to catch some interest from other wholesalers, so we started to place orders with Ammartech in bulk. The first order was somewhat rocky as he gave a shipping estimate and shipped 4 days after, not a huge deal, but it got there. I believe it was a 10-12 day turn around from when the wire hit his account until the customer received their goods. The next order was placed for 110 pcs. 50 of these were all stopped by customs for Copyright infringement. I spoke to Ammar, the owner, regarding this and he said that the Accessories are “high copy” and that he warned me of this. The package was shipped late, 60 were shipped on time and 50 were shipped 3 days later. Only the later of the 2 packages were held by customs. I felt this was ok, since I figured the phones would be released. He reassured me that customs does this and they should be released soon. In the meantime we placed a larger order for refurbished devices. On 7/27 we submitted our PO for 380 of these “Refurbished” devices. We wired the funds the next day and we were invoiced 5 days later. These packages did not all ship at the same time. 2 of them were sent out shortly after we were invoiced, and then the last one was shipped a few days later, but I was “told” they shipped at the same time. He just stated that his “company” out there in China just switched shipping couriers and there was a small delay. Again I didn’t really worry as everything was paid for in full by us to him, and we have tracking. The later of the package was stopped by customs.

Later that month I receive a letter in the mail, stating that all the devices (the first 50 pc shipment stopped by customs) were in Violation of Copyright Infringement. I contacted Ammar about this and he said it was because of the accessories and then he emphasized “High copy”. I said to him, that I was under the impression that the Devices were all legitimate Blackberries and he then assured me they were. I contacted the agent at the customs location in which the devices were held. They spoke with the inspector and read me the report. ALL THE DEVICES ARE IN FACT FAKE BLACKBERRY DEVICES. I insisted on another opinion and they granted me that request. The 2nd opinion came from another inspector, specializing in Electronics. He then confirmed what the 1st inspector verified in the first place and that they were FAKE, every device as well as the accessories. I contacted Ammar and he emphasized that the ACCESSORIES only were “high copy”, which to this day he will still not admit that “High Copy” = “Fake”. I told him that the 50 pcs in customs are fake and that they are destroying them. I appealed this matter and it was immediately denied by the customs office.

Back to the 380 pcs shipment. 1 package (the later shipped pack) was stopped by customs for the same issue. This package had over 100 pcs of Blackberry devices and again, they claim that the devices and accessories were FAKE. I contacted Ammar and he said that we would attempt to get them back from customs and send them back to China. I believed him and didn’t worry too much on it. I contacted the Customs office and they told me that there is nothing notated about an attempt to return these to the sender, and that they do not handle that. I begged for an appeal and they issued me the form to fill out. I filled this out and it was denied within 3 weeks. I told Ammar that regardless of if I was knowledgeable about the accessories being “High Copy” AKA FAKE, I would have never EVER sold my customers Fake phones! This is a serious crime and I would not risk my company or my companies name to profit so little on RB phones.

Ammar blamed me for this, stating that I knew that the Accessories were fake, and I simply told him that is not the issue. It’s the devices that are fake.
During this time we did continue to do business, but each time we did, Ammar felt that I would take advantage of the situation, because in all essence he does owe me the devices, as I paid for devices that I do not have. Since this occurrence we have done over 250k in business and each time I was treated as if I was to run off with the money, or “screw” him in some way to get back at him. I simply stated that I was not like that, and was hoping for a resolution.

Ammar did confirm with me that after the New Year he would work out a plan to pay me back for my loss, or over 150 devices. I was happy to hear this as now I didn’t have to pursue him legally, which he advised against as “he can’t be touched” and “try to come after me” were his exact words. I didn’t want to knowingly hurt someone’s business, though I was given the opportunity to many times.

Lately Ammar has been distant, as he is being investigated for selling Proto-type devices illegally, and selling them for huge profits. I myself have purchased over 50 proto-type devices from Ammar. Paid him directly for these, but he refuses to invoice them as he claims that would get him in trouble. It doesn’t matter much to me, as my records indicate that the devices were all purchased from him, he was paid in full for them, and they were shipped from his location, with tracking numbers to verify this. I simply told Ammar that if anyone from RIM asks, I will tell them where I purchased the devices. He was very upset to hear this as he seems to run an underground business up in Canada.

I am still hoping on a resolution from Ammar, as I do not want to hurt someone’s creditability or knowingly hurt their business. But my business was crushed, due to this $30k loss because I unknowingly purchased fake blackberry devices from Ammartech Inc. I currently do not owe any money to Ammartech; he has been paid in full. The only balance open is 3 phones that were sent back to Ammartech for being faulty, which he agreed to replace or repair for me and send back. This was 4 months ago when these were sent back to him.

We are Still hoping for a resolution, so if any one has any information on Ammartech that I can use to help retrieve some of the money that is owed to me. I know there was a case a few years ago where a seller in Canada was caught selling fake blackberry devices and the police simply handed the company over to RIM, which spend years suing this company and put them into bankruptcy because of all the litigation. I do NOT want this to come of that, for Ammartech’s sake. I simply want my funds back and I want to discontinue business with this company. There are simply too many falsehoods and lies in dealing with them, and I can not handle doing business with someone of this stature.

You can contact me at ryan@negrielectronics.com with any information you can provide regarding this company.

(ALL SUPPORTING INFORMATION SUCH AS WIRE TRANSFER COPIES, TRACKING, TRANSCRIPTS OF EMAILS, AND US CUSTOMS LETTERS CAN BE SENT UPON REQUEST)

Update 3/2/2010

After weeks or attempting to work out an agreement to be paid back, Ammar has agreed to repay 90% of what is owed. An agreement was due on January 31st with a payout schedule. Ammar didn’t reply with any sort of agreement or acceptance. His only email to me regarding this was to “require” me to purchase X amount of inventory each month and a refund of X will be given.

I simply replied that I have no intention of purchasing a required amount so that I can get “my own money back” from him. I was worried about dealing with inflated prices, and stock limitations. Worried he would say “well you didn’t buy X from me this month, maybe next month you will see some money back”.

My reply was simple. Offer me $2000 credit each month, and I will order from him. He gets me 10k worth of goods and says “take $500 off for the refund”, I wire the $9500.00.

Still there has been no reply to that email, only Ammar telling me he is “out of town” and will “get back to me” when he “gets back to the office” This has been going on for a month. I am done dealing with him, and his tactics to not pay me. He is running a failing business and does not have the funds to repay what he stole. Stated that 80% of his business is shut down due to the fact that people caught on to him selling FAKE phones.

I just want him out of the picture. There is no reason anyone would need to buy from someone like this, someone that sells things they do not have, things they can not afford to purchase, using the customers funds to purchase them, and in the meantime, selling fake phones.

Update 3/3/2011

A few months ago Ammar changed his company name to Basatne Electronics.

Ammartech/Basatne Electronics Inc.
5250 Satellite Drive, Unit 7
Mississauga, ON Canada L4Z 1H8
Most likely to try to cut all ties to Ammartech as there were probably plenty of other companies who he had the same kind of dealings with, and he figures that if that company is no longer doing business. Well please rest assured that we can connect the two companies. Its been almost a year since the last update on this document, and so far Ammar has paid back a whopping $6k of the $29k in which he agreed to repay. (emails can be provided). This balance was to be repaid in 6 months. Instead he has repaid 20% of the balance due in 1 year. The worst part is that I continue to purchase from Ammar. Hoping that one day that he will “see the light” in that he cost me $30k at one time, I am only asking for a % of each purchase that I make from him to be refunded back to me, or a credit issued. Since the last update I have wired Ammar a total of $592,759.00. And he has repaid $6,000.00 of that. That is just over 1% of his gross sales to me was repaid as credit. (Documents available upon request). While Ammar still feels that he is doing be a “favor” by repaying me, I am thinking he doesn’t want to admit that what he did was illegal, however Ammar never thinks about anyone but himself. He is still on the defense stating that I said it was OK to ship my customers fake phones.

Ammar doesn’t think that he should experience any inconvenience by his actions. He feels that he is doing the right thing by paying back 1% of his sales to someone that incurred a $30k loss all at one time. Ammar is small, he is a small organization, however I was doing my part in purchasing from him, and almost 600,000.00 in the past 366 days. Which in the end was a huge mistake. What I did was help Ammars company grow, and all the while I was not getting my credits and refunds I deserved. It was foolish of me to purchase from this company, however I had hope to resolve these issues in a different way.

Please look for updates in the next few weeks while another course of action is taking place.

Betty's shipment (H8284533633):

Total: 125pcs
1. BB 8110: 21pcs Black, 4pcs Silver and 10pcs Pink (35 @$135) = 4725.00
2. BB 8100: 45pcs Black (45 @$95.50) = 4297.50
3. BB 8320: 26pcs Black and 19pcs Pink (45 @$195) = 8775.00

Shipping $190
TOTAL LOST $17,797.50
_________________________________________________________________________

Steve Shipment

Total 10 pc

BB 8320 @$ 201.20 = $2012.00

Tracking 1Z9FX9290443071716
TOTAL LOST $2012.00
_________________________________________________________________________
Marino Polito Shipment

100 pc Blackberry 8100 @$100 Each

Tracking 1Z9FX9290445566474

TOTAL LOST $10,000

TOTAL COSTOF ALL SEIZED PACKAGES $29,809.50
cog_biz_user
i ruin threads apparently
join:2011-04-19

1 edit

cog_biz_user

Member

just be lucky he didn't sell you stolen phones...

Police are investigating the theft of 2,700 BlackBerry smartphones from a warehouse in Mississauga, Ont., earlier this month -- a heist that's believed to be worth about $1.1 million.

Three skids of BlackBerry 9810 phones were taken between the evening of August 19 and the evening of August 20.

Officials said 900 grey phones and 1,800 white phones were taken, according to investigators.

Police said the thieves may have a difficult time selling the devices because the [[IMEI's]] have been tracked.

»m.ctv.ca/topstories/2011 ··· 825.html

--

on the topic of fido getting new phones, don't hold your breath. rogers pretty much treats fido like dirt, so they barely ever get the newest phones. don't get me wrong, the optimus 2x seems like a nice phone, but it's still froyo, and it still has a wvga screen. i'm seriously considering buying the atrix off bell, flashing at+t's gingerbread onto it, and using it on fido.

milnoc
join:2001-03-05
Ottawa

milnoc to nelectronics

Member

to nelectronics
I would have stopped dealing with the individual as soon as it was confirmed the first batch of phones seized by customs were indeed counterfeit phones.

dillyhammer
START me up
Premium Member
join:2010-01-09
Scarborough, ON

dillyhammer to Sean8

Premium Member

to Sean8

Re: Is Fido getting any new phones anytime soon?

Long time Fido user, 2/3 of the way through a 3 year contract, my third after several years of PAYG.

IMHO, Fido has been completely Rogers'd. Gone for shit. Crap phones, crap customer service, tired of it. I'm done. It's just the math that's left, I can't get out fast enough.

#%$^

Mike

pallo
@bell.ca

pallo

Anon

said by dillyhammer:

IMHO, Fido has been completely Rogers'd. Gone for shit. Crap phones, crap customer service, tired of it. I'm done. It's just the math that's left, I can't get out fast enough.

They do offer the iPhone...

But seriously, if phone selection (GSM/HSPA) is a priority for you, then you're kinda stuck with Fido.

ekster
Hi there
Premium Member
join:2010-07-16
Sainte-Anne-De-Bellevue, QC

ekster to dillyhammer

Premium Member

to dillyhammer
Fido has been surprisingly well for me for the past 4 years.

The trick, I learned, is to never again buy a phone from any phone companies here. I bought my own LG online fully unlocked, then got on Fido's retention plan with a decent deal. So far, I've been pretty happy with them.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron to dillyhammer

Premium Member

to dillyhammer
said by dillyhammer:

Long time Fido user, 2/3 of the way through a 3 year contract, my third after several years of PAYG.

IMHO, Fido has been completely Rogers'd. Gone for shit. Crap phones, crap customer service, tired of it. I'm done. It's just the math that's left, I can't get out fast enough.

#%$^

Mike

Is WIND/Mob an option for you? I have a Nexus S with WIND and it meets all my smartphone needs, and the price is right. Roaming is fine at $0.25/min and $0.15 a text.

My only issue with WIND and Mob is if I'd need data out of the home zones. I'd like it, but I don't need it at the moment.
jfmezei
Premium Member
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC

jfmezei to ekster

Premium Member

to ekster
Because Fido is a low-cost brand for Rogers, Rogers makes sure that Fido doesn't have all the good phones/features that Rogers has. This is a marketing decision. And that even lower cost brand Chatr has even fewer features.

dillyhammer
START me up
Premium Member
join:2010-01-09
Scarborough, ON

dillyhammer to El Quintron

Premium Member

to El Quintron
said by El Quintron:

Is WIND/Mob an option for you? I have a Nexus S with WIND and it meets all my smartphone needs, and the price is right. Roaming is fine at $0.25/min and $0.15 a text.

My only issue with WIND and Mob is if I'd need data out of the home zones. I'd like it, but I don't need it at the moment.

Very much an option, though I'm inclined to buy an unlocked phone of my own accord. Do you know offhand if they support BYOD?

Mike

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to jfmezei

MVM

to jfmezei
said by jfmezei:

Because Fido is a low-cost brand for Rogers, Rogers makes sure that Fido doesn't have all the good phones/features that Rogers has. This is a marketing decision. And that even lower cost brand Chatr has even fewer features.

Fido's smartphone selection isn't that bad, and they do have some decent phones... Here's what they have:

Android:
Samsung Galaxy Q - Low-end hardware with QWERTY hardware
Xperia Pro - Upper midrange, single core processor
LG Optimus 2X - Middle of high-end, tegra 2 with dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9, but a bit starved for RAM (384MB system, 128MB GPU)
Google Nexus S - Upper midrange, single core processor
Acer Liquid E - Low-end hardware

iPhone:
3GS - Low-end hardware comparable to Acer Liquid E or Galaxy Q
4 - And probably 5 soon. Upper midrange hardware comparable to Xperia Pro

BlackBerry:
Curve 9300 - Ultra-low-end hardware, comparable to original iPhone 3G due to low clockspeed and tiny RAM

So, yeah, the Optimus 2X is really the only high-end phone they have until the iPhone 5 is out, but they do have the entire market range from low to high covered.

pallo
@bell.ca

pallo to dillyhammer

Anon

to dillyhammer
said by dillyhammer:

Very much an option, though I'm inclined to buy an unlocked phone of my own accord. Do you know offhand if they support BYOD?

They do.

I use a site called GSM Arena for looking up phones which can be filtered according to frequency (UMTS 1700 in mobi/wind's case). You get a clearer picture of what's available...

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron to dillyhammer

Premium Member

to dillyhammer
They do, like pallo said as long as the phone supports UTMS 1700 (1700/2100) it will work on WIND and Mobi.

What type of phone were you thinking of bringing?

Mauricio0
aka CigaR
Premium Member
join:2008-12-06
Montreal, PQ

Mauricio0 to Sean8

Premium Member

to Sean8
If only they would offer decent phones...I have a good amount of fido dollars waiting to be spent on something worthwhile.
cog_biz_user
i ruin threads apparently
join:2011-04-19

cog_biz_user

Member

the fido rewards plan is an utter joke. the only useful thing you can use them on is new phones. they won't let you use them on stuff you already have (ie: you can't use them to pay a bill for you). you can use them to pay for 2 months of a new phone feature, but that's the restriction, 2 months, new feature only. it does have some usefulness for a prepaid user, but who in the world does prepaid anymore, except for burner phones?

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz

MVM

How does the fact you can only use them for new phones make them useless? Do you keep your phones forever?

Smartphones are like computers. You don't keep them for a decade, you have to replace them every 2-4 years depending on the model you got.

I got an iPhone 3GS in June of 2009. If I buy an iPhone 5 in October of 2011, I will have roughly $112 FidoDollars, I will qualify for Fido's upgrade pricing, and hopefully my 3GS will be in good enough condition to qualify for Fido's FidoTRADE program and fetch a decent value.

If I'm lucky, I can upgrade my phone to the newest model without paying a dime. If not, I still can get a new $800 smartphone for $100-200.
cog_biz_user
i ruin threads apparently
join:2011-04-19

cog_biz_user

Member

its useless when fido has the worst offering of phones ever... for the longest time they only had one android phone (acer liquid e), and a really old blackberry, and this was while they offered the iphone. (which i refuse to buy for reasons i won't go into here) i also have over $100 in fido dollars.

in the past, i've only ever upgraded my phone to keep up with new technology... i've only had 3 phones in my lifetime:
a nokia 5120 on cantel/at+t (now rogers)
a motorola razr v3 (on rogers, then fido)
a motorola z6w (on fido)
gruntlord6
join:2010-06-10
Barrie, ON

gruntlord6 to El Quintron

Member

to El Quintron
said by El Quintron:

said by dillyhammer:

Long time Fido user, 2/3 of the way through a 3 year contract, my third after several years of PAYG.

IMHO, Fido has been completely Rogers'd. Gone for shit. Crap phones, crap customer service, tired of it. I'm done. It's just the math that's left, I can't get out fast enough.

#%$^

Mike

Is WIND/Mob an option for you? I have a Nexus S with WIND and it meets all my smartphone needs, and the price is right. Roaming is fine at $0.25/min and $0.15 a text.

My only issue with WIND and Mob is if I'd need data out of the home zones. I'd like it, but I don't need it at the moment.

You have the carrier I want and the phone I want. I hate you