Comments on: Cell Phones (the saga continues)

By: bigcajunman

bigcajunman — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:35:55 +0000

And that is well documented and of course, the customer service serf told me all about that as well? Um…. no… great to have all these alleged policies but if they are hidden from the consumer, what is the point of them?

By: marty

marty — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:39:04 +0000

Bell offers a service that you can call their retention department 30 days prior to porting your number to give them a heads up. They will add a special option on your account and when you port out your number the line cancels right away instead of continuing to be billed for 30 days.

I hate to break the news, but in case no one has noticed, to my knowledge as of 2009 all 3 incumbents in Canada charge a 30 day cancellation policy, meaning you have to give them 30 day notice or suffer their wrath. Ah the joy of (un)competition.

As for being billed for 2 months, that is not entirely true. You are only billed for 30 days, but depending when your billing date shows up it may seems as if your being billed 2 months. IE: Your billing date is on the 10th but you ported your number on the 15th of October. Your October bill will show a charge from the 10th of Oct to the 9th Oct (you get charged a month ahead), your November bill will again show a charge from the 10th of Nov to the 9th of Dec, but then on your Dec bill you get a credit from the 15th of Nov to the 9th of Dec.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:51:42 +0000

The company I work for used to service the equipment in Bell World stores and it was not uncommon for the place to be filled with irate cell phone customers. It’s a wonder some of those poor salespeople ever made any money.

We still have to deal with Bell in many other facets and the bottom line is that Bell is a dinosaur that should be extinct. They are slow to respond, will blame anyone OTHER than themselves for a problem, and are just a huge pain in the ass to deal with.

The only reason they are still in business is they can lure people in with their mountain of advertising and “cheap” rates. In reality though, their rates aren’t all that cheap, and they will gouge their customers at every opportunity. As you have found out, that includes when they want to leave.

By: GaryG

GaryG — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:58:58 +0000

I have had a very similar experience with Bell, and I too can’t wait for more competition! I will definitely be voting with my feet when my current contract ends. While Rogers and Telus are not much better my hopes and prayers rest on the new players about to enter the market.

By: your 2nd wife

your 2nd wife — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:02:56 +0000

I guess the morals of this story are: don’t get attached to your cell phone number, don’t think that you can possibly figure out how much that “free cell phone with a contract” is actually going to save/cost you and listen to your 2nd wife when she tells you pay as you go is cheaper.

By: Michael James

Michael James — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:38:57 +0000

Your experience with Bell seems similar to mine. When I canceled their internet service I was charged an extra month after sending back the equipment. As far as I know I’ve never had them switch plans on me, but they have called me to offer new plan A because it’s better than the plan B I’m in. But, in fact, I was actually in plan C that was better for me than plan A.

By: bigcajunman

bigcajunman — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:37:31 +0000

I suspect you are correct, however, I did manage to get back some of it, which made me happy.

It is important to fight incorrect charges and to stick to your guns to make sure you get compensated for it.

By: 2Hirondelles

2Hirondelles — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:59:14 +0000

I am told by others who have apparently done so, that had you pushed the issue, Bell could, and likely would have, forgiven all the extra charges. Curiously, my spouse and I have been considering the same transaction, with Bell, and are grateful for this ‘heads up’.