Company information:
London, Ontario
Canada
I have been a customer of Bell Mobility for the past 8 years and, generally speaking, have been realitively satisfied. That is until now...
I recently "upgraded" my cell phone as well as my cell phone plan at a Bell World store. The reason for the "upgrade" was that I received numerous promotional materials in the mail along with several text messages which stated that I could upgrade my phone, for free, to a blackberry. So far so good...
I attended the store, spoke with a sales representative, and inquired about the costs associated with upgrading my phone and changing my plan. I initiated the topic of "Pro-rating" with the sales representative who assured me that the "pro-rating" charges wouldn't be too much, possibly $30 at most, and was satisfied with her explanation of my new plan costs as well as the "pro rating" charges. I was under the impression that my next bill would only be $30-40 dollars more than my old billing charges.
I recently received my phone bill from Bell which was $130 dollars more than what I had been assured by the sales representative that I dealt with. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. Fees that the representative assured me would be waived, a $35 hardware fee and a $50 bill processing fee, were not, and the "pro-rating" charges were higher than what was explained to me.
I attended the store, a 20 min drive, only to have the manager tell me that they couldn't change the bill. I then returned home and called customer service who advised they could only credit my account with the $35 fee as the other one wasn't authorized. I am not sure why the $35 charge was even on my bill if it was "authorized" to be waived. There was no explanation given for this by the customer service representative. The call lasted 50 min, and I was only able to get the $35 waived.
I am extremely angry with this company. Every bill you receive from Bell should be analyzed very carefully as they apparently will apply charges even though they were authorized to be waived. They are just expecting people to pay the bill with out reading it first. This is criminal.
Secondly, I would like to bring attention to what the cell phone industry refers to "pro-rating". I am not sure that anyone understands it, I have to admit, I can't really articulate my understanding of it. I think it is an elaborate way of scamming more money out of the consumer. Be aware that sales reps don't understand this and NEVER bring it up to the person buying into the new plan. To avoid it when switching plans, you should change your plan on the date of your bill or, cancel your plan/contract and start a new one. With cancelling your plan, you may have to get a new phone number...
I will continue my efforts with respect to the $50 fee and never, ever agin renew my plan with Bell Canada. They are one of the most unscruptuously deceitful companies I have ever dealt with.
