My Response to Rogers Form Letter
Dear Jennifer,
Thank you for your form letter response that has been sent to numerous other people. Please allow me to address your points which are nothing but blatant misinformation put out by your company in order to try to justify it's monopoly based price gouging.
1. Yes, these plans offer more data then past plans but are still incredibly poor. I will agree that 90% crap is better than 100% crap. But it is still 90% crap.
2. How exactly are we supposed to make most of our iphone 3G experience? Your base plan which will come out to around $75 when you factor in the repulsive System Access Fee you carriers in Canada tax us with will give us about 7.5 minutes of talk time per weekday (free evenings after 9:00pm really does not count as 9:00pm is getting close to being to late to politely call people). No caller ID. Very limited data use. The data usage numbers Rogers quotes would be accurate for internet use about 6 to 8 years ago. Today most webpages are at least 1MB in size if not larger. So if there is absolutely no other data use I could surf to about 12 to 14 web pages per day. Of course, emails will eat up some of that. Many emails today are html based with attachments etc. So that will eat into data usage far faster than your quoted email figures which are based on the simple text based emails of yesterday. I will also not be able to enjoy much of the iphone's GPS functionality as that will rely on access to google maps further using up data minutes. Let's not even mention the use of the iTunes store or Apple's App store or any other applications that may require internet access and data usage.
3. Yes, some carriers around the world are offering limited data plans but many are offering unlimited data plans as well. If Rogers is such a progressive company that is a leader in Canada then why is not amongst the best in the world rather than running at the back of the pack? The closest market to canada geographically and culturally etc. is the USA and AT&T offers a far more compelling plan than Rogers does. For about $75 AT&T offers three times as many minutes of talk time. Those minutes by the way are anywhere in the US minutes so no additional long distance charges apply. They also offer 200 SMS messages per month rather than 75. AT&T bills by the second rather than per minute. AT&T included caller ID. So instead of Rogers being a leader and amongst the best in the world we see Canada as a third world nation where Rogers is offering poor value. This is a poor excuse. It is like me saying that some countries allow a husband to beat or even kill his wife under certain circumstances so I should be allowed to do so too. Don't point your finger at others and say we are the same as them. Be the best you can be here and offer me compelling value for the money you ask me to pay you.
4. I would like a link to or a copy of the reports that show that the average user of the iphone was using less than 100MB per month. I find this hard to believe and if true it is likely due to the fact that the first generation iphone was using EDGE which is slow and probably discouraged people from using the internet etc. With 3G the iphone is being touted as having the internet in your pocket and as being close to broadband speed so that is meant to encourage people to use it for data based functions and services. Sadly, Rogers will not discourage that due to their regressive pricing. As somebody on one of the web forums said, Rogers is offering the device of tomorrow with yesterdays plans.
In order to get close to any real usage out of the iphone with the necessary features we will have to choose your top plan and pay closer to $150 per month when all the costs are factored in and still not receive the same value AT&T provides at half that cost.
I was planning on switching to Rogers from Bell mobility so I could have an iphone but will not be doing so now. I may have been willing to pay about $100 per month all in (SAF etc all included) for a fully featured plan with a decent amount of talk time (at least 400 minutes) a decent amount of SMS (at least 150), caller id etc. included, and a compelling amount of data usage (ideally unlimited data but at the very least something like 5 or 6GB).
Honestly, I'm not surprised by these appalling plans as it is all we can expect from Rogers which has continually demonstrated its focus on abusing its monopoly to fleece Canadians and offer the least value for the most money. Rogers, you blew it badly and I hope other Canadians finally take notice and boycott the iphone and your other phones until you can offer real value for our hard earned dollars.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxx
On 28-Jun-08, at 11:50 AM, Rogers Wireless Customer Service wrote:
Dear xxxxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of
online customer service.
In your recent email, you have informed us that our newly released
iPhone 3G plans are a disappointment to you.
We are sorry to hear that our iPhone 3G voice and data package values
are less than you were expecting. We would like to point out that they
do offer more data and airtime than our traditional packages and they
also come with the added features of bonus text messages and visual
voicemail. However, we appreciate that this release has come with
expectations from our customers.
Each carrier has a different pricing strategy. Rogers has designed a
pricing structure that offers high-value, flexible voice and data
packages so that Canadians can make the most of their iPhone 3G
experience.
To fully appreciate everything this device has to offer (phone, iPod and
Internet in one 3G device), our price plans include both voice and data.
We have a wide selection of high value, flexible plans to meet your
needs.
? The majority of carriers offering iPhone 3G worldwide do not have
unlimited plans for this device. Some carriers have implemented a ?soft
cap? so the plan isn?t truly ?unlimited?. For example, in France the
soft cap is 500MB where we have a plan that includes 4 times that amount
in your bucket. Unlimited plans could end up costing you more for what
you don?t use.
? Based on reports that the average usage for the first generation
iPhone was less than 100MB per month, our iPhone 3G plans more than
accommodate the vast majority of customers. Rogers?s customers get 4
times the data on our $60 entry level plan (400 MB) and 20 times the
data on our most comprehensive plan.
At Rogers we are always aiming to improve service to better meet the
needs of our customers and we appreciate your feedback. Your comments
will be passed along for further review and consideration.
Phone 3G will be available to new customers and existing customers who
are eligible to renew and upgrade (upgrade is available every 12 months
during your existing contract). All Canadians will be able to take
advantage of very competitive pricing for this device. iPhone 3G will be
available for $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB) paired with one of the four
price plans. Please review those plans online, we have included a
helpful link below with our current plan offerings for iPhone (that
includes Visual Voicemail - New with iPhone) including iPhoneValue Packs
that include the Wireless Essentials that are in demand.
http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-products/iphone_voice_data_pa
ckages
We are pleased to have been able to address your inquiry. For additional
information please visit our website at
www.rogers.com .You are a valued
customer and we thank you for your business.
For future email correspondence with respect to this e-mail, please
quote reference number 38963469
Regards,
Jennifer F.
Rogers Online Customer Service
http://www.rogers.com
Original Message Follows:
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*** Your Cellular General Inquiry ***
Account Number -->
Name -->
Email -->
rkertesz@shaw.ca
Address 1 -->
Address 2 -->
Postal Code -->
Subject --> Your Cellular General Inquiry
Comments --> Dear Sir or Madame,
I see you finally announced your iphone rate plans today and quite
frankly
I am appalled. I was eagerly looking forward to the availability of
this
device in Canada but will now not be purchasing one. $60 for a 400MB
plan? $100 for 1GB? You have got to be kidding. AT&T offers unlimited
data for $45. If Rogers is so progressive you would offer an unlimited
data plan at a similar price point. You don''t even offer unlimited
data
at twice the price. It is clear that Rogers is not interested in being
the premier mobile phone company and offering excellent service to your
customers. You obviously only care about exploiting your monopoly to
fleece hard working Canadians to fill your pockets. Pathetic. You will
not be getting my business!
