Never Purchase a Bell Mobilty pay as you go cell phone

[shelley]

Buyers beware of Bell Mobility especially if anyone is considering the "Pay as You Go" top-up service. Every month I faithfully would go to the local convience store and purchased a $15.00 "Pay as You Go" Bell Mobility . Well folks let me warn you. I had accumulated over 6 hours of airtime since I only use the phone for emergencies, well to no avail, my daughter tried to use the phone and the Bell Mobility message said, "your airtime has expired". Of course I said, I dont thing so, sure enough after trying to get through to a Bell Mobility Customer Service Rep and after having to press a dozen different buttons, they infact confirmed my airtime had expired.

The story is I load a prepaid card on December 25, 2005, then I really lost it because I was not even in the country at that time and upon returning load up my cell phone on December 28, 2005, but they were pigheaded in saying I loaded the phone on 25th, then I read off the pin number on the card and went as far as crumpling the paper in the agents ear to ensure here I was not making it up because they said the card had an invalid phone number. Rather than maintaining a good customer relationship with me, they refused to reinburse my account even though it was an error on Bell Mobility's account. Sure enough I type into my broswer bell mobility, no surprises people the negative comments and feedback surrounding Bell Mobility were astounding, well no wonder. The five people I told about this immediately cancelled their contracts even though there was a penalty because they were so appauled. I am writing this because I don't want to see anymore innocent people fall prey to the political Bureaucracy of Bell Mobility or anyother of Bell Canada's services.

 

[Andem]

Thanks for sharing your story with us. Unfortunately, it's not just Bell Mobility. Everybody seems to have serious issues of some kind with each of the 4 providers. (Fido is still a separate entity).

 

[LydiaM]

Bell Mobility

:angryfire::angryfire:Althought the first poster has ever right being upset about the problem of losing the value of the $15.00 phone call, the problem isn't due to the ""BELL MOBILITY SERVICES".

Let me try to explain this:

Apparently every card that is available for prepaid ANYTHING is being subjected to fraud. There are people who go around and COPY the number on the cards of any prepaid cards. Usually people buy them and wait for a week or two before using them. THIS IS WHY THIS SITUATION HAPPENED. The crooks knew the number checked to see if the card was taken and then use it for their OWN phones.

To avoid this people who own a prepaid card should USE THEM IMMEDIATELY (the same day) or don't buy them at all. Otherwise they may loose the value of the card to a theif.

What I do is this I go in to Bell Mobility and register it in the office. However, If I use the card that month great and if I don't I have the opportunity keep the phone registered for 3 more months without topping it up again. If you use the phone for emergency only THEN YOU HAVE 4 MONTH BEFORE YOU NEED TO TOP UP AGAIN.So I get the use of the phone for 12 months for only 60.00 instead of needing to pay $25.00 x 6 times or $150.00 a year.

So although I feel sorry for the original poster, I want to put the blame where it belongs. Not on the poster (because no one would think that was possible, but it is) However it is.

p.s. I am retired and don't use the mobility phone for any other reason except emergencies.

 

[TenPenny]

Here's my story on Bell Mobility prepaid cellular:

We bought one for my mother in law, and had it set to top up monthly on my wife's credit card. Gave it to my mother in law for Christmas.

By January, there were about $200 worth of top ups...and she hadn't used the phone yet.

After several months of trying to straighten it out, it turns out that it was, of course, a 'recycled' phone number...and whoever had it before had subscribed to several daily text messages (horoscopes, love messages, etc), that cost $1 per day. As soon as the number was activated, they started coming in and being charged for them.

Bell, of course, tried to blame me, and my kids, neither of which had touched the phone, and flat out refused to fix the problem, although the dealer where we got the phone INSTANTLY figured out what was going on, and demanded Bell fix it and refund us our money (which we never got in full).

The message was that somehow it was my mother-in-law's responsibility to figure out that the phone was subscribed to stuff she didn't want, and to unsubscribe from each one. Sure, every senior citizen is going to instantly think of that, aren't they?

Nice ****ing customer service, you bunch of assholes.

 

[VanIsle]

We use Bell for our satellite TV and I cannot wait for our contract to be up. I've never dealt with a company that treats it's customers the way they do. So, don't use them for that either. Once you've signed on the dotted line with them, they don't care.

 

[rodney2009]

well some one stold my phone once and told them to deactivate it till found and no luck I called cell one day a guy said what the f do U want I said excuse me U got 30 minutes to get to cop shop or ur arrested for theft sure enough he got there and cops told me to have him arrested so I did anyhow since then this guy calls me names all the time and 65.00 is rediculouse to actavate a second hand phone I mean I had a BB once and was used I could not afford a new one and U only get 10.00 credit on phone activation I think its sick but new phones u get 20.00 or 25 credit give me a break I also hate when they cahrge to talk to U cause some days they systom dont reconize the numbers U said or keyed in. Rod

 

[rodney2009]

Bell Net sucks too they said I had no contract for net I can cancell anytime so I did guess what 80.00 to cancell and yes was a contract I never paid bills yet and got collections after me I told them why not paying and blocked them too LOL Rodney

 

[nb420]

I am finishing up my bell cell phone slave contract in jan and i will never go with bell again they are jackasses. It cost me 100 bucks for month even though i dont talk much on the phone at all and everytime my crappy phone breaks i have to buy a new one at cost or get a 100 dollar rebate on a 400 dollar phone if i sing up for another 3 years which is ridiculous. My friend has a pay as u go phone from telus which he pays 30 dollars per month and got the phone with 100 dollars of time which cost 80 dollars with the phone. How does it make sense he pays less than me and gets a new phone when ever he wants and i have to pay 400 dollars (which i did 3 times in 3 years) to get a new crappy phone. I also have bell expressvu which is 100 dollars per month with terrible customer service which makes you run in circles and blames everything on you in an arabian or indian accent. I HATE BELL THEY SUCK NARDS I WILL NEVER SING ANYTHING WITH THEM AGAIN!

 

[SirJosephPorter]

I didn’t know Bell has such a bad reputation. My wife has owned Bell Mobility phone for years, she has never had any problems (I don’t have a cell phone myself). She has the contract whereby evening and weekend calls are free, included in the price. Her bill come to about 47$ per month.

She uses her cell phone mainly for business, when she is on call. But she has been with Bell since the inception of the cell phone, 17 or 18 years ago (she was probably one of the first one to get the cell phone), she has never had any trouble. She has gone through maybe three phones in that time, every time they let her keep the same phone number.

 

[TenPenny]

I have a Bell phone for work, never had an issue in over 10 years, but their customer service is ranked horrible in every survey done. And I can see why; if you ever have a problem, they are pathetic and useless.

 

[Nuggler]

I am finishing up my bell cell phone slave contract in jan and i will never go with bell again they are jackasses. It cost me 100 bucks for month even though i dont talk much on the phone at all and everytime my crappy phone breaks i have to buy a new one at cost or get a 100 dollar rebate on a 400 dollar phone if i sing up for another 3 years which is ridiculous. My friend has a pay as u go phone from telus which he pays 30 dollars per month and got the phone with 100 dollars of time which cost 80 dollars with the phone. How does it make sense he pays less than me and gets a new phone when ever he wants and i have to pay 400 dollars (which i did 3 times in 3 years) to get a new crappy phone. I also have bell expressvu which is 100 dollars per month with terrible customer service which makes you run in circles and blames everything on you in an arabian or indian accent. I HATE BELL THEY SUCK NARDS I WILL NEVER SING ANYTHING WITH THEM AGAIN!

Betcha they're sorry you're dropping out of the choir.

We've had an old Motarolla phone which we bought from the "Bell Centre" many years ago. We charge it when it runs down, and pay for a month or two service as we go. I'm no fan of Bell, but don't see the problem here. Must be if you sign a contract........?

Something in our purchase agreement allows us to buy a new phone if and when ours breaks, at the price we paid for our old one......which wasn't much. Maw Bell musta been horny for business at the time.
___________________
Hey, Sir Pendantic!!!!

Goes without saying they "let" you keep the same number for a new phone. Why not? Wish I had been there to watch Sir Joe grovel for the same number, please.
Too much..............mehhhhhhhhh what a maroon.8O

Does Bell send your wife a little thank you card for being the first to buy a cell phone, Sir Pendantic??

Thought you and wifey were all rich and retired and so forth............Sheesh, can't believe a thing ya hear.

Being "on call" does denote a wage slave; eh wot!! Nah, probably an on-call CEO, or manager or something, or doctor, nuclear scientist.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

I was told that in Europe the cell phone contracts are much more reasonable. For instance, I was told that British Telecom truly charges pay as you go. They may charge you 5 p per minute and that is it. If you use it for 100 minutes, you are charged 5 pounds, if you use it for 1 minute, 5 pence. That makes it much simpler and cheaper to have a cell phone (especially if you don’t use it much).

Consequently I understand cell phone use is much more widespread in Europe than in North America.

 

[lone wolf]

You ... were TOLD? How?

 

[DurkaDurka]

I have a Bell phone for work, never had an issue in over 10 years, but their customer service is ranked horrible in every survey done. And I can see why; if you ever have a problem, they are pathetic and useless.

Is there a major telcom company in Canada with good service? I have dealt with Bell & Rogers, both pretty bad overall. I prefer rogers support slightly more due to me speaking to reps in Canada opposed to India.

 

[Bell_Hater]

I totally Agree

Rogers / Bell / Aliant and Telus are under one D**k-head, Crooks!

i have been a Bell user for over a year now, when i first recived my cell phone at Christmas time i had a free 50 mins activation. i had to wait two weeks until they came back to the office in order to start my activation, i used my cell phone twice the next day for texts and 1 2 min phone call and then i ran out of mins, i was pissed and called them back and ask wtf was going on, they told me i spent all my mins.. i kept track of this and send a letter to Bell stating that they f**ked me over ..never heard anything for months i kept using my cell i put a $15.00 on it and had a 9:56 minute call and i quickly checked my Bal it was $7.??. I called them back and they said they can refund i started to curse at them and the B**ch hung up on me.. i never had such poor service.. i should have stuck with Presidents Choice, may be further to get a calling card but the service is great and friendly and they don't Scam your minutes

 

[gerryh]

Rogers / Bell / Aliant and Telus are under one D**k-head, Crooks!

i have been a Bell user for over a year now, when i first recived my cell phone at Christmas time i had a free 50 mins activation. i had to wait two weeks until they came back to the office in order to start my activation, i used my cell phone twice the next day for texts and 1 2 min phone call and then i ran out of mins, i was pissed and called them back and ask wtf was going on, they told me i spent all my mins.. i kept track of this and send a letter to Bell stating that they f**ked me over ..never heard anything for months i kept using my cell i put a $15.00 on it and had a 9:56 minute call and i quickly checked my Bal it was $7.??. I called them back and they said they can refund i started to curse at them and the B**ch hung up on me.. i never had such poor service.. i should have stuck with Presidents Choice, may be further to get a calling card but the service is great and friendly and they don't Scam your minutes

ROFLMFAO..... yup...you're an idiot.

 

[JLM]

Buyers beware of Bell Mobility especially if anyone is considering the "Pay as You Go" top-up service. Every month I faithfully would go to the local convience store and purchased a $15.00 "Pay as You Go" Bell Mobility . Well folks let me warn you. I had accumulated over 6 hours of airtime since I only use the phone for emergencies, well to no avail, my daughter tried to use the phone and the Bell Mobility message said, "your airtime has expired". Of course I said, I dont thing so, sure enough after trying to get through to a Bell Mobility Customer Service Rep and after having to press a dozen different buttons, they infact confirmed my airtime had expired.

The story is I load a prepaid card on December 25, 2005, then I really lost it because I was not even in the country at that time and upon returning load up my cell phone on December 28, 2005, but they were pigheaded in saying I loaded the phone on 25th, then I read off the pin number on the card and went as far as crumpling the paper in the agents ear to ensure here I was not making it up because they said the card had an invalid phone number. Rather than maintaining a good customer relationship with me, they refused to reinburse my account even though it was an error on Bell Mobility's account. Sure enough I type into my broswer bell mobility, no surprises people the negative comments and feedback surrounding Bell Mobility were astounding, well no wonder. The five people I told about this immediately cancelled their contracts even though there was a penalty because they were so appauled. I am writing this because I don't want to see anymore innocent people fall prey to the political Bureaucracy of Bell Mobility or anyother of Bell Canada's services.

I had a similar experience with Telus a few years back and the b*tch there handling the complaints refused to reimburse my minutes- like $60 worth, after a long argument she agreed to reimburse half on a "take or leave" it basis, so I took it and then emailed the head honcho and hold him if this matter wasn't settled to my satisfaction there would be a letter to the editor of every daily newspaper in the country. Guess what, a couple of weeks later I got a phone call saying they were very happy to tell me they were reinstating my minutes. I have one piece of advise that will save you all kinds of trouble, get automatic topup charged to your VISA/Mastercard. I've never had a problem since.

 

[JLM]

"Consequently I understand cell phone use is much more widespread in Europe than in North America."- THAT is scary sh*t. LOL

 

[gerryh]

I had a similar experience with Telus a few years back and the b*tch there handling the complaints refused to reimburse my minutes- like $60 worth, after a long argument she agreed to reimburse half on a "take or leave" it basis, so I took it and then emailed the head honcho and hold him if this matter wasn't settled to my satisfaction there would be a letter to the editor of every daily newspaper in the country. Guess what, a couple of weeks later I got a phone call saying they were very happy to tell me they were reinstating my minutes. I have one piece of advise that will save you all kinds of trouble, get automatic topup charged to your VISA/Mastercard. I've never had a problem since.

The main point is, it is NOT the providers job to ensure you "top up" your account on time. It is yours. Any "refund" they give, for YOUR mistake, should be considered a bonus.

 

[Shadow1100]

Don't use their prepaid iPad 3G service either if you need a receipt for tax purposes either. They take your money and charge hst but refuse to provid a legal receipt for tax purposes. This is illegal but there is nothing I can do about it.