1. 

   Please Help.

   Terrible Abuse from Fido Solutions.

   (Please note, a proposal to push for new legislation is discussed at the end of this message)

   ALL I have tried to achieve thus far with Fido, is for a manager to look at my issue. This discussion has never occurred. Many of their customer service representatives have looked at my issue, have agreed that Fido needs to fix them, and promised to call me back with a resolution. I have never, ever had a call back. I am refused access to a manger when I call. I keep calling and calling and calling.

   I have finally had to cancel my credit card.

   I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau.

   I have begged, I have pleaded, I have spent many, many evenings on the phone with support, each time telling the entire complicated story over from scratch. When the rep realizes that it is a mess, they have to defer to their managers who they ‘promise’ will call me back. They don’t. It is an infinite circle.

   I have been so enraged and frustrated beyond my capacity that all I have left to do is to cry.

   Customer Service Reps openly admit that I have been grossly overcharged due to Fido errors, however, right or wrong, a debate never occurs because I never receive a call back. They simply ignore the issue and keep charging me.

   My plight is not unreasonable. It is clear I simply deserve a callback – without having to resort to a lawyer JUST to get their attention.

   Here is my situation:

   I had a previous cell phone with Fido with no contract. I moved beyond the city limits and unknowingly received huge charges on my Visa. This was accepted by me and to resolve this issue, Fido presented a new plan, new phone and a contract to solve the issues with my new address. After much frustration trying to understand the available services through their third party customer service companies, I managed to agree to a new contract and all should have been well.

   Since then I have received ‘unknown’ monthly charges ranging from $15 to $500 dollars. After many, many, many, many calls to Fido, their reps have identified their service doesn’t appear to cover my residence (with this package that they sold me to solve my new residence issues). For some mysterious reason according to them, my phone seems to be attaching to the “Rogers” network instead of the “Fido” network. Two reps have both agreed, after hours on the phone with me, that this should not be happening but despite the fact that it is, Rogers and Fido are the same company and I ought not to be getting billed anyhow – on top of it. They understand that the issue must be corrected but it is out of their hands and must be deferred to a manager. They ‘promise’ they will call me back with advice but never do. They NEVER do.

   Today, I received a call from Fido’s accounts receivable. Apparently they do not have my new Credit Card info and expiry date and they are having difficulties billing it, and a small amount had been reversed by Visa after-the-fact. I was very excited when I first discovered that Fido was calling me back. But after 20 confusing minutes of this person’s constant repetition of “what’s your expiry date,” I started to discover that she had no interest what-so-ever in the fact that they had been overcharging my Visa for seven months. She argued with me and told me she did not care. The phone call ended with me being so frustrated and defeated that water finally beginning to appear in my eyes. After this call, I proceeded to cancel my Visa. According to Visa, however, Fido could still ‘force’ charges on me, after all, they have been already without my proper Visa info.

   This isn’t the only problem. Over the last 2 months, the service to my neighborhood has stopped working almost entirely. Most likely – as per the service rep – because the phone is probably not picking up either the Fido or Rogers network. I have had to pay for another phone through the much-more-supportive, Shaw Internet.

   Also, the only reason I took a contract with Fido after many years of not trusting them enough to take a contract, was because they offered 100 extra minutes for the three year contract period. But, apparently, according the last rep with whom I spoke, there is no record of this what-so-ever. They have ‘forgotten’ about their programs from last summer already. I do not have 100 extra minutes.

   My proposal:

   (note, this unfortunately does not address my situation since the charges I have receive are in error and all I need is for their time, but this will help with the abusive nature of these corporations)

   A petition. A petition for new legislation governing the undisclosed charges to cell phone customers. As it sits, customers are constantly charged for large service amounts that they did not approve. Customers are charged for services they use on their phone, that were available out-of-the-box, for which the customer had no knowledge there was a charge. They are charged for internet services, text message services, call waiting services, roaming services, etc, etc, etc, which, to the great benefit of the corporation, all kick in unbeknownst to the user. The user just receives a bill much larger than they expected and have to struggle to find out why.
   Problems with non-disclosed charges are a common ‘legitimate’ means for a company to rip people off. The revenue generated is a horrendous portion of their overall sales. This type of activity has been controlled in other domains such as the much more mature Auto sales industry. Here, you will find a great amount regulation and government effort forcing ‘full disclosure’ of all charges on a vehicle (options, insurance, warranty, interest, etc)

   The cell phone business is still relatively young. It is not yet regulated. The government has not yet stepped in to protect consumers. Given the extent of the abuse, as most of us have witnessed ourselves and the magnitude of the money involved, legislation is inevitable; it just needs to start now.
   Please stay tuned for a petition to get this moving. I will first try to have a meeting with my local MP and/or MLA.

   http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/CellPhoneCompanyAbuse/message/3

   Like or Dislike: 1  0

   Posted by jon smith | March 6, 2009, 9:18 pm
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