Hi,Well, I went into Shoppers Drugmart and purchased a Chatr sim. Didn't need to show ID just gave them my PERB handle, my neighbour's address and fake birth date (I'm 10 years younger!). Told them I don't do much emailing (guess I looked the part 'cause the guy said he could put in a bogus one).
Ditched my old number. Unlimited Canada wide calling and 2000 texts per month!
Financial breakdown:
Chatr 3-IN-1 (SIM card) $10.00
Chatr top up (1 month) $25.00
Chatr fee(?) $ 5.00
SIM card reversal -$10.00
SUB TOTAL $30.00
GST $ 1.50
PST $ 2.10
TOTAL $33.60
Paid cash and will probably pay $100.00 to cover the next year when I need to top up in 30 days. Otherwise it's $19.00 + taxes=$21.28/mo
Cheaper and more convenient in the long run.
Left about $3.00 on my old Speakout account.
Yours is much more troubling, but my number was apparently wirth someone who sent out a lot of feelers to companies, and I get constant texts asking if she wants a test drive, or appointment for cleaning, food delivery, car service etc. Gets annoying, so I ignore them, but afraid if I respond in any way they know there's potentially another customer.Hi,
Based on this advice I made the same switch to Chatr. I like the anonymity and $100 for a year cash is a good deal.
However, my problem now is that the re-purposed phone number I have was OBVIOUSLY previously used by someone in challenging circumstances.
I receive multiple texts and calls per week from credit hounds and the medical system in a northern BC town imploring me to return to hospital.
I feel bad for this person.
But I hate that their problems follow me around in my pocket while out here in the burner phone wilderness.
Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks,
D
buy the annual plan for $149…unlimited texts and 20gb data (for 1 year)Yours is much more troubling, but my number was apparently wirth someone who sent out a lot of feelers to companies, and I get constant texts asking if she wants a test drive, or appointment for cleaning, food delivery, car service etc. Gets annoying, so I ignore them, but afraid if I respond in any way they know there's potentially another customer.
I'm hoping most will fade away in the new year.
Have another weird problem. In three months, I used up my 400 texts (mostly due to one SP who loves to text). Phone just suddenly stopped working. Without an account, does anyone know how I get another 400 for $100 update?
If you can still send text to 611, buy the top up from Chatr official store or London Drugs (as far as I know these places accept cash), and then send text to 611 again to refill using the top up. But if you can't do that, maybe talk to the rep at Chatr store to switch to the annual plan. Beware that for switching plan they will ask your identity that you used to sign up in the first place (name, DOB, address).Have another weird problem. In three months, I used up my 400 texts (mostly due to one SP who loves to text). Phone just suddenly stopped working. Without an account, does anyone know how I get another 400 for $100 update?
No 611, so had to go to Chatr store. Got the 1 year unlimited for $149. My old (fake) info was on their system, so no need to give anything but birthdate. Also had to change sim & number, and not sure why, but they switched me to Koodo. Things kind of happened because the guy in the store had a thick accent, and I didn't want to keep asking him to explain.If you can still send text to 611, buy the top up from Chatr official store or London Drugs (as far as I know these places accept cash), and then send text to 611 again to refill using the top up. But if you can't do that, maybe talk to the rep at Chatr store to switch to the annual plan. Beware that for switching plan they will ask your identity that you used to sign up in the first place (name, DOB, address).
You actually have 40GB! I did the same with the $129 plan. Works out to $10.75/month. Too easy, and now I can finally receive picture messages on my burner phoneI bought the 1 year $150 plan with unlimited texting and data. Fake name, fake address, fake birthday, the email I only use for this, and I don’t have to think about it again for 12 months. I’m actually happier with this because I only have Think about it once a year and I have 30 GB of data![]()
I have been using Speakout myself for years without any issues. Sadly, when they decided to make the changes, my credit disappeared too and it was very frustrating. Speakout was only offering monthly plans so I had to commit. Thanks to your advise, I will switch provider as well. The worst part is there is no customer service to talk to.Resurrecting this thread a bit to share my experience. I thought I was fine with speakout since I had a 2024 phone (newer model Samsung than the TCL 502 they advertise). I rarely use it so I thought it was fine - I'm a seasonal user of services. Then I decided to reach out to a provider a few days ago, I dusted off the burner and noticed I wasn't getting a signal anymore. Turns out the phone is 4G and newer but doesn't support the specific bands/voLTE that speakout needs. Also, my credits had disappeared. At first I considered getting a different burner phone with those signals plus the change in plans and losing credits with speakout made me not want to use them again.
Looking at the advice in this thread, I checked out chatr plans. Went to a london drugs in another town, bought a SIM card ($10) and $100 worth of pre-paid vouchers. Paid cash, no activation in store, no questions asked.
Then I was able to activate online using the vouchers and using a fake email address (well, a real email address that's for pooning purposes but not my real email). Again, anonymity maintained.
Resurrecting this thread a bit to share my experience. I thought I was fine with speakout since I had a 2024 phone (newer model Samsung than the TCL 502 they advertise). I rarely use it so I thought it was fine - I'm a seasonal user of services. Then I decided to reach out to a provider a few days ago, I dusted off the burner and noticed I wasn't getting a signal anymore. Turns out the phone is 4G and newer but doesn't support the specific bands/voLTE that speakout needs. Also, my credits had disappeared. At first I considered getting a different burner phone with those signals plus the change in plans and losing credits with speakout made me not want to use them again.
Looking at the advice in this thread, I checked out chatr plans. Went to a london drugs in another town, bought a SIM card ($10) and $100 worth of pre-paid vouchers. Paid cash, no activation in store, no questions asked.
Then I was able to activate online using the vouchers and using a fake email address (well, a real email address that's for pooning purposes but not my real email). Again, anonymity maintained.
Glad it worked out. I bought the 1 year $150 plan with unlimited texting and data. Fake name, fake address, fake birthday, the email I only use for this, and I don’t have to think about it again for 12 months. I’m actually happier with this because I only have Think about it once a year and I have 30 GB of data![]()
Please pardon my confusion. "$100 worth of pre-paid vouchers" sounds, to me, like there is no monthly nor yearly charge. Is that true? Is it actually a true "pay for what you use" situation (like Speakout used to be)? Or are you just applying the vouchers to a monthly charge?Looking at the advice in this thread, I checked out chatr plans. Went to a london drugs in another town, bought a SIM card ($10) and $100 worth of pre-paid vouchers. Paid cash, no activation in store, no questions asked.
Then I was able to activate online using the vouchers and using a fake email address (well, a real email address that's for pooning purposes but not my real email). Again, anonymity maintained.
He bought the vouchers and applied it for the yearly plan. I did exactly the same, except for $150 for the yearly plan with 30 GB data.Please pardon my confusion. "$100 worth of pre-paid vouchers" sounds, to me, like there is no monthly nor yearly charge. Is that true? Is it actually a true "pay for what you use" situation (like Speakout used to be)? Or are you just applying the vouchers to a monthly charge?
I did end up getting a month plan with SIM card from Chatr and I works on my 6.The oldest iPhone you can use with chatr is IPhone 8. Used older model iphones are relatively cheap nowadays, so good time to upgrade.





