Follow Us:
Consumer Reports rates Canadian cellphone carriers
In the January 2011 issue of the Consumer Reports they give a good breakdown of different cellphones – mostly based for models in the United States. However, they have compiled a list of the Canadian cellphone carriers. Ratings are based on 12,317 Canadian responses (combined of prepaid and postpaid) with the categories of overall value, services (voice, texting, data) and consumer support (phone, website, staff knowledge and issue resolved). Here are the results:
Based out of 100, SaskTel came up on top with an overall reader satisfaction with 71. Virgin came in next with 69 and Rogers and Bell tied for last place with 57. In regards to overall value – SaskTel and Virgin again came out on top and deja vu happened with Rogers and Bell at the bottom. For some reason none of the new entrants are even listed on the poll. Overall it looks like Virgin Fido and TELUS generally have a clean slate. Ironically, Bell scored fair or poor in most categories and their goal is “to be recognized by customers as Canada’s leading communications company”.
So what do you think… is this an accurate representation of the carriers listed?
Source: Consumer Reports
Discussion
56 comments for “Consumer Reports rates Canadian cellphone carriers”
Post a comment
- CES 2012
- Mobile News
- Airtel Wireless
- Bell Mobility News
- Chatr
- Clearnet
- Eastlink
- Fido News
- Globalive News
- Koodo Mobile News
- Mobilicity
- MTS
- NorthernTel
- PC Mobile News
- Petro-Canada Mobility
- Primus Wireless News
- Public Mobile
- Rogers Wireless News
- SaskTel News
- Shaw
- Solo Mobile News
- Speak Out Wireless News
- tbaytel
- Telus Mobility News
- Vidéotron News
- Virgin Mobile News
- WIND Mobile
- Reviews – Carrier
- Reviews – Manufacturer
- Various News
unfortunately very near my experience with Bell. No clue why sasktel is #1
Like or Dislike:
12 
3
They are the best because they are a crown corporation. You take out corporate greed and the profits go back into the community.
Like or Dislike:
10 
5
TBR, Karl Marx never had a cellphone! lol You make a good point…there is no way a private company would build out a network like theirs in Saskatchewan! Look at what Rogers/Fido and all the new entrants have for coverage in Sask!
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
Can’t wait for carriers generic “We take these reports seriously, and will continue to focus on achieving excellent customer service and satisfaction” response, then just go back to counting their money.
Like or Dislike:
51 
1
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Like or Dislike:
3 
19
That’s not true… Same towers and same network are not the same thing. They have different systems that process texting and data on the back end. So they may have the same coverage, but not the same quality of service at all… Telus’ new HSPA network ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS has problems with texts! They SUCK!
Like or Dislike:
11 
9
@ Thomas
Keegan basically explained everything to the T but in addition, what makes one provider better than the other is 1) their plans 2) their service and 3) their selection of phones.
In BC, Telus has the best connectivity and cellular service because they’re using the same towers since BC-TEL days ( i stand to be corrected) there may be another reason why their reception and etc is usually better.
Thomas, you’re right in a sense about the towers as Bell uses Telus towers for the phones, at least in BC.
Anyways, what makes one company better than the other is that the CSR’s are attentive and don’t ream you out for calling and asking them questions.
Then there’s the whole, how much they want to compromise their plans and offer you more bang for your buck in order to lack you in on the 3 year contract.
In my experience, Bell CSR’s were okay, the phones were s**t, but the service was okay. Reception was meh at times.
But all in all, I think we can all agree that ANY cellular network that is calling about upgrading your plan or calling to change your network, they suck. Sometimes rude, but it’s part of their job so meh.
Like or Dislike:
1 
2
It’s not about the network it’s about how you treat the customer. I think the reason Bell and Rogers are more despised is that they offer other services: Internet, Home phone, Television. If Rogers is dicking you around with your cable bill that hatred is going to carry over to Rogers the wireless provider.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
Nowhere did they say they were talking solely about network performance, that has little to do with the overall customer experience.
Like or Dislike:
11 
0
Bell mobile’s service is really funny. My friend who has a dated cell phone plan on a joint account with her parents, called Bell to ask what current offers they had. 80 Minutes a month just don’t cut it anymore, even if it is less than 20$/month tax incl. My friend was considering to have her partner move to Bell as well, if there was a good offer. No new, subsidized phones necessary, as he has compatible, unlocked HSPA phones already.
Bell recognized her as an authorized used, and she was calling from said cell phone, still they wouldn’t tell her anything.
Her mother had to call. She’s from a different generation and not interested in anything like that, so the only question she asked was: “How long does it take to cancel?” (10 days, BTW.)
My friend ordered a new phone&plan from a competitive carrier, 52$/month plus tax. Her partner pays 74$ plus tax (and soon maybe 94$ plus tax).
Bell could have easily multiplied their revenue from my friend and her partner. (Going from something around 15$ to something like 120-150$ would have sounded nice to me, eh?) Instead, they are loosing it all. Not because the network is not up to date. But because they wouldn’t deal with a customer offering more money.
It remains to be seen, of course, if her new carrier’s service is any better.
Like or Dislike:
6 
5
Here’s the thing Daniel….I work in the industry (not Bell though) and the issue is privacy law. It wasn’t her account, it was her mother’s therefore they can’t disclose personal information (which is pretty much all account info BTW) so her mother had to call.
We have the same policy. Wish it wasn’t the case, as I would sell more phones that way. But people have been fired for doing it so I won’t risk it. Will some people? Sure. Just not me. Not worth the risk.
Cell phone companies can be brutal – I get that and I’m not defending them. But in this case there actually was a good reason, just not convenient that’s all.
Like or Dislike:
27 
3
@Pablo
Well what Bell could’ve done is at least let her know of her options but not execute it until they could maybe get authorization from her mother.
I know Telus does that where they won’t complete the transaction until they have full authorization of the account holder who pays the bills, even if the one calling in has the PIN number and is the account administrator.
Bell could at least provide her with the options and note it on the account. Hey, that’s an idea eh Bell!
Like or Dislike:
8 
0
@Arshad Exactly! She WAS authorized on the account. She could have answered about any “security” question. And she was calling from the very phone number in question.
They could just have said: “If the account holder agrees to these terms and conditions, bring that extra customer, etc. we would offer you these services for that price. Please make the account holder get in touch with us.”
Easy. Works without disclosing any privacy related information on the account or it’s users.
Or they could have said: “We will e-mail/fax an offer to the account holder if you tell us what your needs are.”
That wouldn’t disclose ANYTHING at all, but at the same time show that Bell is interested in the customer.
But since my friend was honest and gave her name as Ms. Smith jr instead of Mrs. Smith sr., she was denied service. It is as simple as that.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
That’s what happens when there’s such a cell phone monopoly in Canada. I was with Fido, and was happy with their service, technology, quality and small size (at the time). Wait times were low if you had to call in for tech support, and they were nice to deal with. Then Rogers took over.
I left Fido for Bell 2 years ago, and I’m regreting the decision. Locked into a 3 year contract, horrible service, constant technical problems with the phone. I even submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, and Bell ignored both of their letters. UNBELIEVABLE. Telus, Bell, and Rogers are amongst the worst ratings with the Better Business Bureau for complaints and unresolved issues.
So these results do not surprise me at all.
Like or Dislike:
11 
4
Same thing happened to me. Was with Fido and was very happy with them, was with them for over 4 years and only had a few problems, and those problems were taken care of with ease. A few months ago i decided i wanted a Samsung galaxy s but didn’t want to buy it full price, i figured what the hell, these companies are all the same. i completely regret going to bell Ive already had multiple problems with them and they are the polar opposite of Fido with customer service, its more like pulling teeth with bell. the galaxy s is a great phone but not worth going to bell.
BTW my galaxy s broke, sd card curruption, and they wanted 200 dollars for a loaner phone.
Like or Dislike:
4 
3
This is Consumer Reports! Independent 3rd Party! Bell & Rogers look to be in the exact same position that Chrysler & GM were 5 years ago!
Like or Dislike:
12 
2
Hate is not a strong enough word. I hold the entire Canadian telco industry in contempt. Eff them all.
Like or Dislike:
21 
6
Rogers rock bottom. No surprises there! ….actually, a little surprised they scored that high.
Like or Dislike:
27 
2
Why even include sasktel/mts if they’re not national carriers?
Its the lesser of the ‘big three’ evils IMO. These reports don’t mean squat.
Like or Dislike:
9 
7
I think this is accurate towards the year old market.
If you took this survey a year from now, judging on NEW customers over the course of a year (NO RENEWAL STATISTICS. )
It would be entirely different.
Mostly because Telus’ cancellation policy doesn’t suck anymore, it’s FAIR, it’s expensive, but entirely FAIR.
Virgin has an unlimited plan, that looks awesome.
Rogers? Whatever.
Bell? Getting better. Ish.
What value does fido have, seriously? Am I missing something? Unless you can get city fido, it’s a useless brand.
Like or Dislike:
7 
2
Telus seems to be the brand to go with it seems like…..their devices are competitively priced and they have pretty sick plans too….they’re the ones who started with all the 40 blackberry plans….good job Telus.
Like or Dislike:
22 
6
If the measurement is based on the most Black/White dots, Rogers and Bell clearly are winners!
Like or Dislike:
4 
10
I’ve been with telus for 3 terms now, very happy with them, overall their network is good and always improving and their service is good get a bad agent here and there but your gonna get that with any company.
Like or Dislike:
10 
3
Yes great go to Telus they have gutted that company so bad in a few years they will be asking for government money to help build up their core. Everything went off shore tech help, network admin, they canned thousands, slashed wages for hundreds, I could care less if they offered the best cell phone service in the world, screwed over lots of my friends and broke up familes and marriages! Slim ball CEO
Like or Dislike:
12 
19
@firefight16, how were your friends screwed over? Nobody is guaranteed work. A business is entitled to find the best value for its work force…What business wouldn’t look for ways to remain profitable during a recession? Also, how did telus manage to break up families and marriages? Did the business sleep with their spouses?
Like or Dislike:
20 
11
Seems too much like you used to work for Telus and recently got let go. Are you sure you’re not an ex Telus employee ’cause then your response won’t be fair.
Like or Dislike:
5 
1
@stu Are you kidding me? Where do you work (if you have a job)? How would you like showing up for work one day, to hear that you have been s&*t-canned, and your job is going overseas to someone who will do it for $20 a week…What if you had been in that job for years, and your life depended on it (mortgage, bills, FOOD)…you think maybe that might put some hardships on families and marriages?
What about them locking out unionized employees in 2005, because they hadn’t given them a raise since 2000? Pretty douchey if you ask me…I agree with firefight16…F Telus
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
No, they would do things like invite you to a dinner and hand all of those invited pink slips, or ask for you to move into management and then give you a pink slip right after you did. They never had a problem with profit they just have a anti union CEO. And no I never worked for Telus like I said I knew lots of people who did and still know some, and they won’t take propmotions into management still to this day!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This is a bit scary.
Virgin is just Bell with different marketing. So this means that all they have to do to get their customers to like them more is to market themselves differently.
Unfortunately, there is some truth in this. No matter how bad they are, if they spend enough money and effort switching brands, playing with complicated plans and promotions, and generally marketing themselves, they can keep getting away with all the same crap.
Doesn’t say much for consumers.
Like or Dislike:
12 
4
A customer is happy, if his service experience is above his expectations. He is unhappy, if his expectations are not met. Very simple.
So with a discount brand you can lower the customer’s expectations, thus keep them happy more easily.
Though it is not rocket science, managers are known to have paid thousands of $$$ to learn what I have just said in a weekend seminar somewhere in a ***** business hotel. They would get some nice Powerpoint slides with it, of course. You’ll have to make without here, I’m just too cheap for that.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
There report is flawed,Bell owns Virgin mobil in Canada.Yet Virgin rates at the top,Bell at the bottom.I was with Rogers for 15yrs,I switched to Bell in July I find there service is a way better than Rogers ever was.I only had to phone customer service once was treated great got threw easily.I will never go back to Rogers ever.Also known as Robbers.
Like or Dislike:
8 
5
@Larry think of the customer base though, virigin is more targeted towards kids so their opinion compared to other is different and also virgin is one of bells discount brands along with Solo, so the value for your money with Virgin is obviously going to be better because thats the whole point of the company, also despite the companies having the same ownership they are still going to have different customer service reps
Like or Dislike:
6 
0
There’s actually a little more to it than Jarrod mentioned. Virgin is in the same boat as The Source. They are owned buy and get their buying power from Bell, but are allowed to do the day-to-day stuff (policies and what not) independently. That’s why we get things like the Red Glove Service.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
In before JAWG blames orascom for bribing the consumer reports editors to put Rogers last.
Like or Dislike:
4 
0
This is a very bogus study and everything here seems to be based on perception of the brand and the amount you pay at the end of the month.
How does Virgin deliver better voice service than Bell? They operate on the same network. What makes Telus’ texting poor in service compared to all the other carriers, other than the incoming fee (which is apart of the value section). Virgin and Bell have very similar price schemes (same company, after all), yet Virgin is seen as being more valuable.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Telus most definitely has the worst texting, despite both them and Bell being on the same network they have more issues and it’s not just towers there’s more to it than that.
Stop posting about it.
Bell at the bottom should surprise no one.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
Teluss does have the worst texting out there. My gf is on Telus and I only have text problems with her. None with Bell, or Rogers (I’m on Rogers)
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
Like this comment if you agree that JAWG is a troll.
Like or Dislike:
5 
2
Thanks to this web site for reporting constructive criticism from CR. Our cell carriers need a lot more competition and regulations. Speaking of which:
http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/business/article1832165.html
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Like or Dislike:
0 
10
Sasktel has a bunch of blanks (no circle things). What does that mean? Were they not rated the same as feveryone else? Sasktel is not all that great from what I’ve heard from friends and people I talk to, but was the only real option for many in Sask, especially in rural areas and people who travel within the province a lot.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I’m not sure where the value score comes in. I was recently looking at smartphone plans, Bell, Rogers and Telus offer the same amount of service for the same price. $50 gets you 200 minutes and 500MB of data. So how does Bell have the worst value.
I ended up buying the Galaxy S from Bell outright for $500. Which was cheaper than both Rogers and Telus. Bell just seems universally hated by everyone regardless if they even have a reason too.
I would prefer a comprehensive analysis of plan options, prices,reliability and customer service. As I see it everyone hates their carrier and Bell has more customers so more to hate.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
If you read the fine print at the top of the image, there is really no difference between add of the carriers. The spread is 5 points, and anything less than 5 points is statistically insignificant. Maybe Consumer Reports could do a real analysis for a change.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Good to see Rogers on the bottom. They sent a collection agency after me and my bill wasnt even overdue and Ive never missed a payment! I was harassed by this agent at work! Nice way to treat a customer after giving them 3 years of my hard-earned money!
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
This list should be broken down to “National Carrier” and “Regional Carrier”. And too bad they didn’t include the new companies.
Just switched from Rogers to Telus because the Customer Service…. The report makes sense to me.
I think the phones and plans are similar among the “Big 3″. The only thing that makes a difference is the customer service and call quality.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
I know virgin is now Bell but I always had a nice customer service with em. Maybe because they are managed differently and the customer service center is somewhere else.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Why Sasktel is on top is beyond me. I’m with Telus presently and I feel that their score could probably be higher. I have never really had a problem with them. Although I think every company is overpriced.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Customer service is a problem with the Canadian mobile companies. When they are on top with the most subscribers they have the worst customer service. When they start to lose subscriptions they improve their customer service and offerings. It becomes a vicious circle in Canada of poor and semi-poor customer service. The same goes for television service, notice how it’s owned by the same three crooks. It would be great if Canada just nationalized the TV broadcasting.
We do have the new entrants to thank for many changes such as:
-you can by the latest and greatest phone without
contract. Imagine how expensive these phones would be
to get without contract if the new entrants were not
here.
-introduction of unlimited service by the big 3 sub
brands
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
My family and I were with Bell for a number of years, they provided us with all our services, home phone, cell, satellite and high speed business internet. After a number of instances of “miscommunication” as Bell termed it (they claimed we weren’t paying our bill [we in fact had over paid them]) we made the switch to Rogers for all our services except internet. That was about 3 years ago and ever since then we have always gotten what we want (sometimes long talks to CS is needed) but overall they have been more then understanding and offered very good customer service. We would never go back to bell for mobile, home phone or television! Just my two cents!
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
I agree Mack, for me Bell is the worst out there for any service they provide.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
This makes sense, I was with Bell for 3 years and it was a terrible experience! switched over to Fido and much better now, they don’t have the best phones but I bought an unlocked Desire Z working on Fido and its fantastic. Fido also has the best customer service retentions in the the business; hooked me up with a sweet plan. Bell customer service is brutal and hardly cared about any of my issues.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Of course we (Rogers) are in last. We strive for that. Why do you think we are trying to buy the last place Leafs and Raptors? It is called mediocrity. We want to lead in that category. We expect people to pay more and get less.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I agree with saying Telus is horrible. There text messages never go through, cant connect to web and drop calls constantly. While I understand it may be the area I live in to call them anything near the best is a joke. People seem to have so many problems with Bell yet the only issue I ever had was a high bill. Their service and Customer support was first class. Its funny about people saying Telus comes out with new plans when I signed with them they were the leader in coming out with new options for the customer since then they have regressed considerably and just copy what every other providers plans are. There add ons are ridiculous too $20 to add on five favorite numbers national $15 for local they also keep sending me texts about $15 unlimited incoming like I would ever pay that and get gouged by them
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I wouldn’t trust this survey, basicaly because it’s not a fair one.
Every single company has it’s own good and bad sides, but not all of them have the same number of customers. So, basicaly Bell and Rogers will have more unsatisfied people because they have more customers. Sasktel or MTS on the other hand which is only available in a certain region with a very low population density is not a fair competitor.
Personaly I believe Virgin Mobile has a good future with it’s better rates and offers, but I wish they had a better phone selection as well.
PS:not a VM customer tho.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
meh
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Let me just say that there is no choice Bell and rogers owns everything. So no matter which one you pick the service is all the same. I was with bell mobility no good. Rogers also no good telus no better now fido and no better than the rest. Dont look for good service from any other these. What we need is some new compition that is not owned by bell or Rogers.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0