Rogers reportedly removed ability to transfer prepaid balances ahead of shutdown

Last week, we learned that Rogers and Fido will shut down their prepaid services on December 16th, with customers being pushed to migrate to postpaid or switch to another Rogers brand, Chatr, to continue using prepaid services.

However, several unanswered questions remain about the upcoming changes, including whether prepaid customers will be able to retain their existing balances. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it will be the case.

Fido prepaid customer with username u/Annual-Pin-4023 took to the r/FidoMobile subreddit to explain that Rogers changed its policy in June 2024 to make prepaid balances non-transferable. According to this customer, they migrated to a postpaid plan and lost nearly $60 in prepaid credits and warned that anyone else who takes a migration offer will lose their remaining prepaid balance.

MobileSyrup also received an anonymous tip from another Fido customer who was told they couldn’t transfer their prepaid balance to their new postpaid account and couldn’t get a refund for the balance. The tipster said they planned to file a complaint with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS).

I wasn’t able to locate this particular policy on either the Rogers or Fido website, but I did find a Fido support forum post from June 2024 confirming that prepaid balances can no longer be transferred to postpaid accounts. MobileSyrup reached out to Rogers about the policy but did not hear back in time for publication.

A Fido support forum post confirming the removal of prepaid balance transfers in June.

Moreover, u/Annual-Pin-4023 detailed the migration offer they received after calling Rogers. They were able to go from a $25/mo prepaid unlimited talk and text plan to a $5/mo postpaid unlimited talk and text plan. They also reported that these migration offers are guaranteed for at least three years with no bill increase during that time, citing a representative from Rogers’ Office of the President.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether that will be the case in the long run. Rogers and other Canadian carriers often include loopholes that allow them to raise prices even when guaranteeing they won’t raise prices — just this week, Rogers was criticized for raising the cost of TV box rentals by $7/mo despite giving customers a fixed two-year rate.

That said, $5/mo unlimited talk and text is a pretty solid offer when most providers still charge $25-$30 for that kind of basic plan. Here’s hoping the company’s other migration offers are as good.

Source: Reddit, Fido support forum