Today, Bell has been served.
Celia Sankar, a resident of Elliot Lake, Ontario, has dreamed up a $100 million class action lawsuit against the telecom giant for “unfair practices” when it comes to their prepaid wireless business. Sankar has taken it upon herself to represent everyone in Ontario and claims that Bell, plus their sub-brands Virgin Mobile and Solo Mobile, advertise an expiry date with their Prepaid wireless cards. Apparently under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act prepaid wireless services cards are considered “gift cards” and can never expire, thus finding fault in Bell’s advertising claims.
Sankar noted that her balance on her Prepaid account was taken by Bell in September 2011 and February 2012. No word on what the amount she’s out, but Sankar is hoping she’s not alone. A dedicated website has been set up called BellMobilityClassAction.ca – however, it’s currently offline.
Louis Sokolov of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP stated that “The Consumer Protection Act exists to prevent companies from engaging in ‘unfair business practices’ that harm their customers. We are asking the Court to decide whether Bell’s systemic practice of seizing credit balances is unlawful. If it is, then the practice must stop and the money must be returned.”
Update – October 4th, 2013 – A press release today states that this $100 million case against Bell has become certified and can move forward as a class action lawsuit. There’s still a great deal of convincing to do as the defendant states ‘The allegations in the lawsuit have not yet been proven in court.’
Source: CNW
