Cellular: Switching from Rogers to FIDO - Process Explanation

[User14a]

5 Dec 2020. I was looking for detailed information on the process of switching a cellular phone service from Rogers to FIDO and I couldn't find anything on the web. This is my first post here and it looks fairly similar to the Rogers Community. 

At 10:05 am I entered the store – I explained my current plan. Shared data with 2 iPhones, iPad and mini iPad. I just wanted to switch one cell phone from Rogers to FIDO to save about $35/month. I didn’t want to change anything else for now. I wanted to see what the FIDO service was like. The Plan offered was for $40/mo plan for 4 GB of data.  I also tested the LTE speed with Rogers before I switched. It was 92mbps download and 22 mbps upload.  When I tested LTE speed afterwards with FIDO it was 96 mbps download and 31 mbps upload. I am sure I won’t notice a difference as speed depends upon many equipment factors and simply the time of day..

First problem. I said I was using BELL internet but I kept my Rogers cellular plan and email. They said I was not supposed to have a Rogers email if I cancelled Rogers internet.  I took the time to explain that the Rogers emails were associated with the Rogers cellular plan. There is a lot of misinformation out there on this issue. Believe me when I say that I cancelled my Rogers internet in June 2019 and the email was transferred to the Cellular department.  

I told the agent to simply remove one cell phone from the current Rogers plan and don’t touch anything else. I will keep my Rogers email, but I won’t be using it for FIDO registration and invoices.

They asked for 2 pieces of ID, one of which needs a photo.  I gave them my Drivers Lic and Master Card. They did a credit check.  Passport was also ok but not a photo ID Health Card.  

They also explained that the $45 activation/set up fee would appear on my first bill, but not to worry as there will be a credit of $45 coming later.

At 10:25 am I got a text on my cell phone from Rogers stating they received a request to transfer my wireless number to another service provide. Reply with YES.   You also get another text message saying Rogers have received approval to transfer and if I didn’t authorize it, to call 1-877-327-8503 now.

Now I had to get the FIDO Sim Card installed and electronically sign two documents.

1. Customer Commitment Checklist - By signing this acceptance, I acknowledge that I have reviewed all of the above information regarding my recent mobile purchase

1. Critical Information Summary –

You also get a third document. All three are sent to the email you registered with FIDO.

1. FIDO Customer Commitment Summary

At 10:41 am we are trying to install the sim card. ( Covid protocols.)

Problem: My phone is locked with Rogers and needs to be unlocked.  To provide the device info you use the telephone keypad and  press *#06# and the IMEI identification shows up. They then use some application to unlock your phone. 

Now you need to have your APPLE ID and Password ready to activate the phone with the new sim card.

This keeps getting rejected because it takes time for the databases to get updated.

At 10:45 we were finished, but the phone still had not activated when I left the store.  You get the old Rogers sim chip when you leave and the used FIDO card with their sim chip serial number.

I kept trying to activate service when I got home and it eventually activated with the Apple ID.  I assume this has something to do with all my cellular data being backed up on the icloud and getting the phone synchronized off Rogers to FIDO with Apple. 

The three documents are all sent to your FIDO registered email address. You get some more documents afterwards as well. Rogers email is still active on my phone but I chose to register a gmail.com address rather than my Rogers address with FIDO.   Now you have Rogers sending you emails. FIDO also sends you an email to the Rogers Account asking to open a FIDO Account.  You have to ignore this email, because it is not the one you just registered with FIDO.  So just go to FIDO.CA and find where you want to register. Follow the process where you forgot your ID and password.Now use the email you registered at the store with FIDO and continue. Once you get this done you have MyAccount with FIDO.

When you log into MYRogers, you see that your cell phone is now CANCELLED.

I hope this detail helps someone who is thinking of switching service providers.  

[User14a]

17 Dec 2020  First Bill arrives. It seems I am a Subscriber, not an Account Holder. 

So, I logged out and re-registered as an Account Holder. When I tried to use the same email as indicated above, I got the message that the email was already being used.  Glitch in the process?

[User14a]

19 Dec 2020  For the record related to this process, you are requested to fill in a Social Media Support Authentication Form which asks for your Twitter or Facebook user name. It is a mandatory field so I would suggest putting in your name if you are old like me and don't have a Facebook or Twitter account. 

[User14a]

20 Dec 2020  More info on the process 

The FIDO  Account Holder Registration process was not done at the store when I opened the Account.

I was registered as a SUBSCRIBER and you cannot view your Bill.  Note that at the store I was told there was a $45 activation fee which I am curious about. I suspect my initial $58.32 Invoice is due to a partial month service plus the $45 activation fee, but at the moment I can't access My Account as the Account Holder. Make sure this issue is sorted out at the store when you open your account with FIDO. Also, the process on How to switch from a Subscriber Profile to a Primary Profile does not work when you try to use the same email address. 

Also be very careful and clear about the terminology you use. e.g. Mobile Number, Account Number, FIDO Number, Cell Number, IMEI Number, SIM Number, etc..  

[User14a1]

20 Dec 2020. cont'd  I think the business processes for clients at FIDO really need to be improved. Has anyone who writes your programs ever heard of the term "business process engineering"?  

Anyway - just to explain to those following this, my email was finally disconnected as a SUBSCRIBER and I was sent an email stating that I had a Private Message (PM).  I had to assume the PM told me to re-register as an ACCOUNT HOLDER, because I could NOT log in to the Community Forum to get the Private Message with the instructions because I had been disconnected. 

So I registered as the ACCOUNT HOLDER as shown in the image of the above post. I was sent the verification email to change my password and I managed to get to see my bill. 

Now comes the funny part. I tried to log into the Community Forum to see the last Private Message.

Guess what! My User Name has already been taken. 

Now I am User14a1 and I still can't get the last PM for User14a. 

From a Business Process Engineering point of view, this registration process is very unprofessional and really needs to be fixed. What I am doing is not that complicated to model with some built in security verifications.   

The good news is that I am now the ACCOUNT HOLDER, and I can finally read my bill, but I still have questions regarding the statement "Your first bill may be higher than expected as it includes partial charges and credits or one time fees."  But that is another story for another day as I signed up on 5 Dec and my billing date is from 13 Dec, so there are some partial charges in there somewhere.  

[User14a1]

20 Dec 2020  First Bill details

I mentioned in my last post that I signed up on 5 Dec and my billing date became 13 Dec. So I was charged on a pro-rated daily basis the full nine (9) days at $40/mo between 5-13 Dec.  9 days / 31days in Dec x $40 = $11.61  There is the set up fee of $45 which was credited back to me on my first bill resulting in $0. The monthly service fee of $40 for 13 Dec to 13 Jan was added. The bill separates out the taxes so the bill looks a little convoluted but you do pay the $40/mo in the end. i.e.  $11.61 + $40.00 + Taxes ($6.71) = $58.32.  All is good. 

I hope I have provided the detailed explanation that I was looking for when I first asked about switching from Rogers to FIDO. There are a few key tips also to avoid the process glitches. 

[FidoSaira]

Thank you again for all the explanation @User14a1. 😊

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @User14a,

That's the right process to register as an account holder, however a customer service agent must de-link your email address from the Subscriber profile first if you wish to use the same email address. 

I'll send you a PM to help out with this, talk soon  

[FidoPhilippe]

Hey @User14a! Philippe here. Welcome to the community.

Thanks for sharing your experience!