pk
New User
Mar 17, 2006, 9:48 AM
Post #7 of 19
(17909 views)
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I agree with you all on Bell Mobility sucking the big one. I've been a Bell Mobility customer for ten years, though back in 1998 when I got that first digital cell phone and for $35 a month, I had free evenings and weekends (6PM - 6AM), 100min of anytime, free voicemail, call waiting and call display, I thought they were pretty cool. The first thing that jumped to mind was, "I don't need a phone at home anymore!" And it's all been downhill from there.
The problem with Bell Mobility being part of Bell Canada is obvious. If the deal is too good, they lose half your business.
Here's a little insight into Bell Mobility's strategy. First they lure you in with a free phone offer. Then they tell you it's only good if you sign a 3-year contract. Initially they give you some free services to sweeten the deal, so you feel like your business is appreciated. Your first year with Bell Mobility is wonderful. Then you get taken for granted for the remainder of your relationship, until you smarten up and cut your losses. If you lose or damage your phone, they try to hit you with a $50 ESN transfer fee on top of the cost of the new phone. If you threaten to cancel your contract and go elsewhere, they will smugly inform you that there is a $400 cancellation fee (which has, incidentally, quadrupled from $100 since I became a customer) to end your contract prematurely. In most cases, they will also inform you that the comparatively sweet plan you were on doesn't exist anymore and will have to be changed before your new phone can be added to the account. As time goes on, the plans offer less and less service for more money. As a paying client, you begin to feel as though you are being taken for granted. Wait a second, isn't this cell phone revolution supposed to be fun like in the TV commercials? Behind the scenes it's a nightmare.
The current plan I have is $35 a month plus the newly re-introduced $6.95/mo. system access fee, totaling $41.95 before taxes--$6.95 more than my original plan. Wait a second, as technology becomes more commonplace, isn't it supposed to get less expensive? Hmm... Now I get 100 minutes free anytime, NO evenings, weekends FROM 9PM instead of 6PM, no voicemail, no caller id, no transfer or forwarding. Thanks a lot for the "FREE UPGRADE" on my cell phone. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I won't be able to use it when I need it most, and when I compare it to Bell Mobility's other plans, none of them can satisfy my needs for under $60 a month.
I've been a Bell Mobility customer for 10 years, and I've had enough. I hate everything about it now, and that's a tragedy when you consider how this could have gone if they had only offered periodic rewards for being a loyal customer like everyone else does. It is clear to me that Bell's attitude has not changed much from the days when it was the undisputed heavyweight telephone monopoly of Eastern Ontario and was notorious for being abusive, inflexible and unappreciative of its customers. The worst part is that I feel like I should've known better, and that just makes me angrier (I'm holding back an immense amount of profanity).
The first $400 bucks I put away from now will be used to break my contract with Bell Mobility forever. I will hook up with a non-Rogers (another nightmare--stay away) high speed provider and get IP phone service. Bell Canada and its subsidiaries will never see another penny from me, and if more people like me join the boycott, Bell will be forced to step down from its pedestal and periodically say, "Thanks for being a customer" and give people some incentive to remain loyal instead of threatening them with cancellation fees.
In the near future the Internet will have an even greater role in communications. IP telephony will become a standard Internet routed protocol, and a phone will be able to connect to any other phone in the same way computers are able to freely interconnect now, without the need for special routing services such as Rogers Home Phone or Vonage. Cell phones will just be computers with Internet access that can do the VoIP thing if voice communications are needed. Distributed wireless networks with repeaters on every rooftop will mean that you won't have to hook up with companies like Telus and Bell Mobility to use your mobile device, and your home will be on the 'net 24/7. The future is bright, and for this stargazer the first step is shaking 'Ma Bell' off my back for good.
Thanks to everyone who has posted their comments here.
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Aftr 20 mins of her stating that there is no option and no way out of the contract, I gave up. I was trying very hard to explain that yes, I realize I was asking Bell to eat the discount on my phone after only 1 year, but the upside was I was going to pay for a more expensive phone. As well, I would be paying more for my plan and would be going from a 2 yr contract to a 3 year contract. Which translated to almost $3,800.00 to Bell over 3 years. No matter...a contract is a contract. I just could NOT get them to see I was asking them to let me out of my contract so I could turn around and get into a more expensive contract. At one point the phone seems real quiet. I asked the customer rep if she was still there. She said yes, but she simply had nothing else to say to me! 
