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How do i switch my mobile phone plan from Fido to Chatr and still keep my existing phone number?

+8 votes
5,122 views

I had been a loyal customer of Fido for at least 13 years and i used to renew my contract with Fido or a new phone every two or three years. The first phone i  got from Fido for renewing contract plan with Fido was a Iphone 5. Then after that, i renewed another contract plan with Fido for 2 years for a samsung galaxy S6 128gb. Finally the contract had almost come to an end for me with Fido and i have decided to go with Chatr mobile phone plan now. How do i keep my existing phone number and change plan from Fido to Chatr? How long does it take for my number to be transferred from Fido to Chatr?

Chatr Mobile Plan

asked in Winnipeg by Riley Shaw (141 points)

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6 Answers

0 votes

A lot of people are loyal their own favourite phone carrier until one day their mobile phone plans starts to become expensive and the other competitor phone company has a better deal. You could look at the price and the plans other competitor offer and you will find that most often you are probably paying too much for the same quality and service with your current mobile phone carrier. Some people will still stick on to their favorite mobile phone carrier because they believe that data and voice clarity is much clearer and they don't like changes. As a matter of fact, people do not like changes on their life. People would rather do the same old thing because they are quite comfortable with it and they need not go out searching for new things.

The mobile phone company would offer mobile phones on a cheaper price if you enter into a contract with them but if you look at it, you are still paying a good amount to them through your monthly payments with expensive plans. Then for the duration of the term contract you can't move over to other mobile phone carrier without paying a penalty. The penalty is usually the remaining price of the phone you got from them. It is usually a good idea to call their customer service first and ask how much is the penalty before making a decision to move to other mobile phone carriers.

To change from Fido to chatr mobile phone carrier, you need to have two things in hand:

1. You Fido mobile phone account number. This is not the same as your phone number which people often misunderstand. You can find your account number if you receive paper bills or online billing.

2. You also need one piece of photo ID such as drivers license, Ontario Photo IDS or Student Photo IDs.

3. Another form of IDS does not need to have photo in it such as Your credit card which contains your full name as it appears on your Fido account.

Once you have these few things available, you can simply go to the nearest chatr store and ask them to move your existing phone number from FIDO to Chatr. This is called PORTING the phone number. You will have to buy a Chatr Sim card and choose one of their phone plans. You can either sign up for Monthly Auto pay which means they will withdraw the required amount of your phone plan from your credit card each month on the anniversary date (The date you joined Chatr). Or you can choose to receive online billing where by the anniversary date, you will receive a bill online and you will need to pay for it through your online banking bank  (TD bank, RBC bank, CIBC bank, BMO bank, Scotia Bank) or you can also use a credit card.

Once those information has been entered by the store employee, it will take between 30 minutes to 2 days for the PORTING (Moving your existing phone number to Chatr from FIDO) to take place. Meanwhile, Chatr will give you a temporary phone number to use while the PORTING takes place. In my case, it took about 1 hour for PORTING to be done. Do not panic initially if it taking longer than it did for me because the time period differs with various locations. Do not be scared that you lost your phone number and instead got another lousy phone number. Once your existing phone number is PORTED, you will receive a text message or email from CHATR welcoming you to your new mobile phone plan.

Porting Phone Number

answered by Connie Anderson (170 points)
0 votes
Some of the shortcut you can use to check on your Chatr account without logging into your online account are as follows:

1. To check your Chatr Account details such as your phone number, your monthly phone plan and your phone anniversary date of every month:

Dial *100# and press call on your mobile phone.

2. To check the remaining data left for you to use, before the speed of your mobile data browsing will start slowing down:

Dial *225# and press call on your mobile phone.

3. To check if you have gone out of Chatr zone in order to avoid having to pay extras for voice call or data accessing:

Dial *#555# and press call on your mobile phone.
answered by Isaac Steele (168 points)
0 votes
Watch video on "How the porting of your phone number from existing phone carrier to a new phone carrier works":

answered by Porting phone number
0 votes
YOU HAVE TO GO ONLINE TO CHATR MOBILE AND CLICK ON ACTIVATE SIM. THEN KEEP CLICKING AS IF YOU ARE ABOUT TO ACTUALLY ACTIVATE A NEWLY BOUGHT SIM CARD. THEN IT GETS TO A POINT WHERE YOU NEED TO FILL IN YOUR PHONE INFORMATION, THEN YOU SEE AN OPTION TO USE YOUR EXISTING PHONE NUMBER. CLICK ON IT, AND THEY WILL TELL YOU TO PUT IN THE PHONE NUMBER SO THAT THEY CAN CHECK IF THE NUNBER IS TRANSFERRABLE.

IT ALSO SAYS THAT THE NUMBER IS TRANSFERRED WITHIN THE SAME DAY
answered by Fahyvorrr
0 votes
Can I switch to chatter and keep my same phone number 
answered by Christine Ann Pollock
Yes absolutely. You can switch from any phone provider to chatr phone provider and still keep the same phone number. Remember chatr will provide you with a temporary number for about 1 hour or so, while the porting of your phone number happens. During this time, people may not be able to reach you at your original number for 1 hour at least. After that time, your original phone number will be valid again and people can then call your original phone number again. 
0 votes
Can I switch from fido to chatr using my own phone and how much would it cost and keep the same phone number 
answered by anonymous
Yes of course, you can definitely switch from Fido to Chatr using your own phone and also keep the same phone number. Usually there is a charge of CAD$10 for the new chatr sim card and there are no activation fees. But sometimes some retail stores will waive off the CAD$10 fees for sim card.

So when u finished signing up for Chatr, your first bill will be CAD$10 sim card fees plus whatever monthly phone plan you chose. Your credit card is charged immediately for that amount for 1st month and thereafter, every month on the phone plan anniversary day, your credit card is charged for the monthly phone plan amount. It is sort of like the "First pay and then use concept".

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