[rarewolf]

Sorry ... none available

... but it does beg the question why not? That is, in this day&age, when cell phones are becoming more&more a necessity, what can't the service providers give those on meager&fixed incomes a break??

... any additional thoughts?

cheerios from the Avalon Peninsula

 

[Deckster]

I'm 39 and on a fixed income. If someone gets a discount and I don't simply because of age, that would be discrimination, which is illegal.

Already people think that they are entitled to every discount that they hear about, it would not take long for someone to threaten legal action against a carrier to get the discount as well.

 

[gzink]

Yeah I am a senior and senior does not translate into Poor/needy in a lot of cases. Do an income test then if truly needy, bare your financials. That doesn't even work because there are poor fishermen and farmers with millions in assets waiting to "give" them to family. Yeah let's subsidize them!!

 

[dm_4u]

I'm 39 and on a fixed income. If someone gets a discount and I don't simply because of age, that would be discrimination, which is illegal.

Already people think that they are entitled to every discount that they hear about, it would not take long for someone to threaten legal action against a carrier to get the discount as well.

Have you already filed a lawsuit aimed at the Grocery chains that give Seniors 10% off every Tuesday...or Restaurants that give 15% off to Seniors?

I didn't think so...

 

[Deckster]

I haven't because I don't care.

How would you feel is Seniors were given 10% off their electricity bill while the rest of us absorbed the extra cost? How about natural gas or fuel oil? Those are necessities, not a wireless service.

If my mother and father need help to pay for their cell phone bill that is my job, as their son, not the responsibilty of a carrier that will just pass on the expense to everyone else.

 

[JamesK]

^^^^
There are some Toronto mayoral candidates that are promising just that. If they grant seniors tax breaks then everyone else will have to pay more.

 

[57]

When you take your small children to the movie, would you like them to pay full price - same for transit? There are always going to be pricing disparities for different situations, be they age or time of purchase, etc.

If a company wishes to market differently to a different demographic, then they are entitled to do just that, provided it doesn't run afoul of real discrimination laws.

I don't believe that cellphones are a necessity, but if you want one for emergencies or occasional use, a $10/mo PAYGo plan is available from many providers.

 

[dm_4u]

I haven't because I don't care.

How would you feel is Seniors were given 10% off their electricity bill while the rest of us absorbed the extra cost? How about natural gas or fuel oil? Those are necessities, not a wireless service.

If my mother and father need help to pay for their cell phone bill that is my job, as their son, not the responsibilty of a carrier that will just pass on the expense to everyone else.

Actually I believe that would be fine...in fact I believe they shouldn't have to pay school tax either...it makes no sense.

With the aging population...if we don't cut seniors some breaks...we will have an epidemic of grave preportions with regards to seniors and their financial dilemna's.

Yes children should help if they can...but not every child is in a position to assit their parents.

So getting back on point...if a cell phone company wants to give seniors a break...I won't begrudge them as they helped shape our future...I believe it used to be called respect for your elders.

 

[hugh]

I'm 39 and on a fixed income. If someone gets a discount and I don't simply because of age, that would be discrimination, which is illegal.

Agreed. Changing the price based on someone's race, age or gender is discriminatory.

Politicians know this but they also know that people over age 50 are far more likely to vote so they conveniently overlook this discrimination by saying old people are in need.

BTW, 80% of all wealth in Canada is in the hands of people over the age of 50.

 

[dm_4u]

I'll just add one more comment...an addition of sorts to my previous post...justifying my point...

I have no idea if you are correct in 80% of all wealth in Canada is in the hands of people over the age of 50...but I do know that Twenty-five years ago, 81 percent of all workers with retirement coverage were entitled to a “defined benefit”—if they qualified under their plan. Today, less than 38 percent of the 100 million workers with any form of employer-provided pension coverage can still count on this. (Another 48 million workers have no job-based retirement benefits whatsoever.)

Boomers with pension plans have counted on monthly retirement checks at the end of their career, but more employers are ending their plans or halting future benefit accruals. Those at greatest risk include boomers in their late 40s and early 50s, who are still at least a decade from retirement but too old to save enough to make up the difference in their pension benefits.

An August survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that nearly half of companies that expect to change their pension plans in the next year are considering freezing benefits for all employees. More than a third that offered pensions have already pared back these benefits over the past three years.
"This will definitely be a problem for baby boomers," says Karen Friedman at the Pension Rights Center. "You've been at a company under the plan and worked for years with that expectation, and then it's taken away."

Combine those facts with our economy and add the fact that those same companies want to dump 50yo's and add kids and it truely doesn't look good for a lot of (soon to be) seniors. Even those that did invest a lot of money have been devastated by the stock market's spiral.

 

[Fry1989]

I'm 39 and on a fixed income. If someone gets a discount and I don't simply because of age, that would be discrimination, which is illegal.

Like how when I got out for dinner with my parents at Wendy's, they get a Senior's Discount and I dont?

I agree, there are some times when it's downright discrimination, such as auto insurance being higher for people under 25, but I don't really mind my parents getting a few cents off their chili and baked potato.

 

[Deckster]

If you bothered to read, when asked if I filed a lawsuit about discounts I said I didn't care if senior's get discounts. I am simply making the statement that age discrimination is illegal, and if I pay more than someone else simply because they are older then I am being discriminated against. As I said before, that is something I don't care about.

An arguement can be made for seniors discounts for necessities such as home heating, and electricity (although I'm already paying for the discount's that seniors already recieved from the old Ontario Hydro through my Debt Retirement Charge).

As for the previous comment from someone else about seniors shaping our future, I have to say that it is my generation shaping the future, they shaped our present.

 

[dm_4u]

Technically...according to the letter of the law...age dicrimination is only illegal as far as employment goes.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;
Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government;
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee; and
the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

Private companies can give discounts to anyone they want...based on age...(kids menus and ticket prices...senior discounts) and it's NOT illegal.

Also...technically...I said that seniors helped shape our future...

It was also my understanding that the seniors helped put the Canada Pension Plan into effect in 1965 and that pension ensured that everyone in Canada will at least have some money coming in once they retire...prior to that there were people retiring on savings...most with nothing...(would that not include shaping our future)?

The seniors also put together the infrastructure of our cities in Canada that we will all use in the future...perhaps within the next hour or two when we leave work.

Your generation is also helping shape the future...but it sure isn't doing it alone...and I fail to see anything as significant as CPP yet...although the iPhone is a great disposable toy.

 

[TorontoColin]

I would imagine that as it is, the seniors demographic is one of the worst values for carriers. From my experiences working with seniors I would imagine they would require the most technical support, use the least expensive plans, and be far less inclined to subscribe to add-ons like text messaging and data.

Obviously that's on average, there will be plenty of exceptions, and it's a changing demographic.

In my opinion, if you're on a fixed or meager income there are plenty of value oriented plans already out there. If money is an issue then services like data and devices like smartphones shouldn't be a consideration for you.

 

[gzink]

Give them a discount if you like. This retired freedom 52 guy with no pension, and certainly not defined benefits(iow start saving and quit bellyaching, save like my wife and I did) can pay $10 a year for an emergency phone, so perhaps seniors should look around for the "real" deal!

 

[dm_4u]

Give them a discount if you like. This retired freedom 52 guy with no pension, and certainly not defined benefits(iow start saving and quit bellyaching, save like my wife and I did) can pay $10 a year for an emergency phone, so perhaps seniors should look around for the "real" deal!

Ok you have the floor...these forums are best used when people share their information...

Where can people pay $10 a year for an emergency phone???