Walter Schultz doesn't like leaving anything to chance. The licensed private investigator documents everything — so when he contacted Bell Mobility in February for a better deal on his service, he recorded the exchanges.
Three different customer service representatives made the same offer, which he accepted, that included 10 GB of data for $55 per month.
But Bell later told the Kitchener, Ont., man he couldn't have the deal — because it didn't exist.
I know someone who used to work at a Bell call center. Too many reps, mostly foreign students, would often make ridiculous offers to customers to get them to stay but, in reality, those deals didn't exist for current clients. Many times such offers were exclusive to new customers but they came with a time limit -- the sweet low prices would apply for six months and then skyrocket to the original, high rates. Of course, this important information wasn't shared. So, one ended up with pissed off customers six months down the line but by then the reps already had met their numbers, got their bonus, and had moved on to greener pastures.
Bell and Rogers are truly hated by a large number of Canadians because what they're doing is deceptive and illegal. Why do they keep getting away with it? A law professor explains:
He says the biggest problem for consumers is "accessing justice," because it's often too expensive to enforce consumer rights if a telco refuses to budge and the CCTS rules against the complainant.
"Already consumers always feel that they're in a weaker position, and I think they are, which is why we have legislation to protect them… but what are [they] going to do? Commence a legal action for $100? Most people will not," he said.
Stop using their services. There are plenty of reasonable and cheaper alternatives.