Hello Speakout Wireless.
Why would one choose Speakout Wireless?
I am a low usage user who wants cheap topup rates and long expiration dates on said topups. They tick all the boxes with these features:
- FREE Voicemail
- FREE Caller ID
- FREE Call Waiting
- FREE Incoming Text Messages
- 365 Day Expiration on all Top Ups
As of November 9, 2018
- Local Talk Rate: $0.30/per minute for incoming and outgoing local calls, including toll free numbers. Rate now includes Canada Wide Calling!
- U.S.A. Long Distance Talk Rate: $0.45/per outgoing minute
- International Long Distance Talk Rate: Contact Customer Care for the per minute rate to your destination country
- 411 Calls: $3.50 per call plus Local Talk Rate per minute
- A 911 Emergency Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee of $1.25 will be debited from your account on a monthly basis. The monthly fee of $1.25 is a Government Regulatory Recovery Fee charged to all wireless subscribers regardless of where you reside.
I’ve had numerous issues with my previous provider Rogers Pay As You Go. One of the many annoying issues was the fact that I had to pay out of my pocket for all the spam voicemails left on my number. I noticed this several months ago and it totalled up to over 18 dollars wasted on this nonsense. Their call records are only kept for 3 months so the number was assuredly higher.
One of the many annoying issues was the fact that I had to pay out of my pocket for all the spam voicemails left on my number. I noticed this several months ago and it totalled up to over 18 dollars wasted on this nonsense. Their call records are only kept for 3 months so the number was assuredly higher. Rogers solution was to disable voicemail. Speakout does not charge for voicemail messages left on your box. This alone is the killer feature for me.
I ordered a 3in1 SIM via their website on October 11, 2018 for 10 dollars and a quite expensive 4 dollars shipping. I was expecting them to use letter mail in a standard envelope and I was correct. The annoying part was that the Canada Post strike had started so I didn’t actually receive the shipment until October 25, 2018. The card was shipped out of Calgary, odd choice.
The SIM card was quick to setup. Create an account on the site, enter the required information and you’ve got a new number. Add a minimum top up of 25 dollars and you’re good to go.
Porting my previous number was equally painless. Submit all required information and the port was completed in less than 24 hours. Easy peasy.
Some cons include per minute billing and the cost in general but you need to include your type of usage. For a low usage user such as myself this fits the bill nicely.
The in store experience at a 7-11 was quite different.
I needed a second SIM card and was not going to order it online. I found a store and made my way over there. Upon entering I found they had one of those gift card sections whereby the actual card isn’t there and instead it’s a cardboard voucher that you must bring to the clerk for the real deal. All customers are criminals now.
I wander around checking out the store and grabbing a couple of other items. The store is quite empty but as usual when I walk up to the counter there are 3 people there who look like students buying the weeks groceries. The clerk is ringing through their purchases and this is taking around 5-10 minutes until the final price is determined. A confusing few minutes passes where they can’t believe the total and are trying to determine who will pay the bill. Eventually this is sorted out and it’s my turn.
I place my items on the counter and explain that I need the Speakout Wireless SIM card while handing over the cardboard placeholder. The clerk looks at it and rummages through cards up on the back wall. We don’t have any. I look at the clerk and ask how they can be out of SIM cards for their own wireless service? No response. I proceed to ask then where is the closest 7-11 in relation to this store? The response I can’t understand. I say pardon? She repeats the same unintelligible response? Sorry? Once more she yells and I make out the intersection. I say that’s the intersection of THIS store.
At this point I look behind myself and start to see a lineup forming of 4-5 people deep.
As a final attempt I ask if you could please check in the back as I find it hard to believe none are available. The clerk yells over to another employee, who looks like the manager and I hear this new individual say “We just got a shipment of 20-30 SIM cards yesterday”. This other employee comes over and pulls out the stack of SIM cards off the wall and hands me one. I thank the woman and finish the checkout.