Canadian telecom's customers complain of missing unlimited data

Freedom Mobile customers who picked up the recent $19/1GB promo plan have found it doesn’t include unlimited data as advertised.

The $19/1GB promo plan, which ended March 17, offered 1GB of 5G+ data with "unlimited data at reduced speeds thereafter," a common feature of mobile plans these days.

However, several customers took to Reddit and RedFlagDeals (RFD) to share their discovery that after getting the $19 plan and using the 1GB, their data turned off instead of switching over to the slower speed.

Customers submitted complaints to Freedom. Some said that customer service representatives they spoke with claimed the carrier was aware of the issue and working on a fix. Others report reps being confused by the issue, with some even confirming that the plan should have unlimited data.

Some even submitted complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) over the issue.

Freedom Mobile has not yet responded to our questions about the unlimited plan issue.

As some customers pointed out on Reddit, Freedom's Unlimited Plans Data Policy on its website notes that "Freedom Mobile's unlimited data plans include (depending on your selected plan) from 3GB to 100GB of full-speed data that can be used at 5G and 5G+ speeds on the Freedom network (where available)."

The specific mention of 3GB of data at the minimum raised alarm bells for some, but it's worth noting this is the typical language for Freedom's policy and is likely related to Freedom's regular $25/3GB Canada/U.S./Mexico plan.

That plan was temporarily removed from Freedom's website while the promotional $19/1GB plan was available, but it's not clear if Freedom's policy language was updated accordingly during the sale period.

Freedom's unlimited data policy notes that once the data allotment is used, speeds are reduced to 256Kbps for downloads and 128Kbps for uploads on Freedom's network, and 128Kbps (download) and 64Kbps (upload) on partner networks.