Pre-paid Rip-off
When my faithful, old brick-sized Nokia died, I decided to purchase a new Audiovox flip-phone (mistake #1, see below) from Bell. I had been on a pre-paid plan for some time and paid 35 cents per minute during the day and 5 cents per minute in the evenings. I mostly use my phone at night. The young guy in the Bell Mobility store was transferring the service to my new phone and announced, "I just changed you to a new plan. You now pay 30 cents per minute all of the time. It will be cheaper for you." I said, "How is 30 cents per minute all of the time cheaper than what I had? Change it back." He went back to the computer and you could see it in his face that something was wrong. "I can't change it back," he said. He got on the phone and Bell Mobility REFUSED to change it back. I took the phone from him and demanded to get my old plan back. "We can't," they said, "we no longer offer that plan" "But, I didn't make the change!" I exclaimed, "the kid did it without my permission!" I was told "Too bad, we have no way of putting you back on that plan." I went up several levels of management and the answer was the same. Nice way to forcibly move customers to the new, more expensive plan! I should have told them where to go, but I live in a semi-rural area and Bell is the only cell that provides reliable service. I want to have a cell as a backup in case my car breaks down or if my home phone service is out. I took the phone anyhow. The prepaid plans changed a couple of months later and I am now charged 30 cents per minute for the first two minutes, then 10 cents per minute thereafter. Still more expensive.
About ten months down the road, the Audiovox wouldn't hold a charge for long or even take one at times. The phone SHOULD have been under warranty but Bell insisted that it wasn't. They offered me a loaner phone for $30 while the Audiovox was in for repairs. I said "No thanks!" and bought a car charger. The charge on the phone now depletes after one call.
I am going to purchase a new Nokia from Virgin Mobile. Same network, nicer people. I have never had a problem with a Nokia phone. They literally take a beating and still keep working for years. I now have Primus VOIP for home phone service and satellite from Star Choice. Just say no to Bell, people. If enough of us do it, they may eventually get the message.
When my faithful, old brick-sized Nokia died, I decided to purchase a new Audiovox flip-phone (mistake #1, see below) from Bell. I had been on a pre-paid plan for some time and paid 35 cents per minute during the day and 5 cents per minute in the evenings. I mostly use my phone at night. The young guy in the Bell Mobility store was transferring the service to my new phone and announced, "I just changed you to a new plan. You now pay 30 cents per minute all of the time. It will be cheaper for you." I said, "How is 30 cents per minute all of the time cheaper than what I had? Change it back." He went back to the computer and you could see it in his face that something was wrong. "I can't change it back," he said. He got on the phone and Bell Mobility REFUSED to change it back. I took the phone from him and demanded to get my old plan back. "We can't," they said, "we no longer offer that plan" "But, I didn't make the change!" I exclaimed, "the kid did it without my permission!" I was told "Too bad, we have no way of putting you back on that plan." I went up several levels of management and the answer was the same. Nice way to forcibly move customers to the new, more expensive plan! I should have told them where to go, but I live in a semi-rural area and Bell is the only cell that provides reliable service. I want to have a cell as a backup in case my car breaks down or if my home phone service is out. I took the phone anyhow. The prepaid plans changed a couple of months later and I am now charged 30 cents per minute for the first two minutes, then 10 cents per minute thereafter. Still more expensive.
About ten months down the road, the Audiovox wouldn't hold a charge for long or even take one at times. The phone SHOULD have been under warranty but Bell insisted that it wasn't. They offered me a loaner phone for $30 while the Audiovox was in for repairs. I said "No thanks!" and bought a car charger. The charge on the phone now depletes after one call.
I am going to purchase a new Nokia from Virgin Mobile. Same network, nicer people. I have never had a problem with a Nokia phone. They literally take a beating and still keep working for years. I now have Primus VOIP for home phone service and satellite from Star Choice. Just say no to Bell, people. If enough of us do it, they may eventually get the message.
