How does your telecom company deceive you most?
Nobody weeps for telecom companies, and indeed they shouldn’t.
Rogers, Bell and Telus quite literally seem to print money, their businesses thriving so much because you, like me, continue to pay and pay and pay.
Today, though, to no one’s surprise, the three big Canadian telcos have been caught practicing unethical business, by the Competition Bureau’s measure, and fined $10 million each for misleading customers.
Perhaps you’re not shocked, but the sordid case brings about a greater question: how do you feel telecom companies deceive you most?
The legal action against Canada’s largest wireless carriers stems from so-called misleading advertisements made by Rogers, Bell and Telus – in conjunction with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) – in the selling of digital content.
*Bing: How to lower your cable bill
According to the Competition Bureau, the three telcos failed to properly disclose that content like ringtones, trivia questions and jokes cost a fee to customers.
On top of the $30 million in total fines, the CWTA was dinged a further $1 million because it “facilitated the sale” of such content, the Competition Bureau said.
A shocker, you say, that telecom companies duped its customers!
But let’s strip away the cynicism for just a moment to discuss the obvious. Telecom companies deceive us all the time; it’s the reason, for example, we paid those $6.95-a-month System Access Fees all those years.
Though now that such a disputed fee is up before the courts, how do you feel telecom companies scam you most?
What about your cell phone contract, cable bill or otherwise do you feel is most deceptive?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: SP | Sep 17, 2021 5:50:02 AM
Most deceptive? Wow... tough call.
The fact that 1GB of data costs less than SIX CENTS to move through the system yet over $50 if you go over your artifically low 'data cap'.
Or....... that the big three are in bed with each other financially raping the consumer while professing to give value for money, but fighting tooth and nail to prevent ANY competition from outside the country.
Or the fact that they call themselves media providers, yet their goal is to limit our access to the things we want while they charge us extortionate pricing for things we are strongly opposed to.
Or... Heck, the list just goes on and on. If we lived in a bubble world where we didn't know that a text costs a fraction of a penny to send yet we get charged anywhere from ten cents to over a dollar depending on what and where.. then this might not be quite so annoying.
But it's not going to change. Our politicians are after the money from the cell companies so the public will be sold out again, and again and again.
.
Just like in the natural resource area. (People in Alaska get paid by their government for the raping of their State... Have you gotten a penny from any level of government for the resource rights that the government is happily selling to China?
Posted by: Patrick Daisley | Sep 17, 2021 6:08:40 PM
Together with the "three conglomorates" there is SHAW in BC. Throughout the years I have studied the "behaviour" of these four telecom companies.One of these companies (who shall remain nameless) has a rather unique accounting system;that can confuse the most qualified accountant.On one occasion I received a bill for an "overdue" amount.Since,all my bills are paid by online banking I visited my bank three times over a period of eight days.The bank convinced me that my account is paid,and that I should contact my telecom provider.Their customer service (telecom) informed me that their"statement" got lost in the mail,and that amount is outstanding.I pleaded with them to mail me another statement;which has never arrived.Another telecom provider (nameless) is the quintessential example of sophistication and deception.They even provide(smile) their own condoms.
Posted by: mascaren | Sep 18, 2021 10:01:38 AM
I have tried to find out, why in 2012, Bell Canada (BCE) still charges you a fee of around $3.00 a month on your landline home-phone bill under the item "touch-tone fee" in the Greater Toronto area.
Now who has "rotary dial" phones today? Maybe the museum.
How can they justify this fee & the gov't lets them charge it........................????
Posted by: redwall | Sep 18, 2021 6:52:39 PM
Hey, why so bitter about your cell services? Do we show this same outrage when we get our Hydro Bill, water bill, tax statement or even our paycheck with the taxes deducted. Do we freak out everytime we put gas in our car, buy a steak at the grocery store or have a night out at the movie theatre? Why do we save it all up for the cell companies? There is nothing else we own that we use more than our cell phones: email, text, gaming, watching shows and calling-for the amount we use it_$70-$80 is a bargain! Cheer up Grumpers, the I-phone 5 is here!
Posted by: Larry St.Vincent | Sep 18, 2021 8:34:48 PM
I've been with Telus for just over two years. And every month i have to argue with them over my cell phone bill. They are always always over billing me, I don't want to get into all the details it would take too long. However when I contact them and point out there errors i can get them to reduce the balance. And then my next bill comes in and it's the same dog and pony show all over again. I can just imagine how many other people are getting screwed like this every month.. You just can't trust these phone companies.
Posted by: RC | Sep 19, 2021 1:24:33 PM
I had Rogers Internet Express package. With the last price increase to $48.95 came a service increase to 18M speed and 70G (now at 80G) data cap, at least according to their website. I was monitoring my usage and noticed that I was still capped at 60G. When I asked I was told that I was on a grandfathered version of the Express package that is no longer offered that included 10M speed and a 60G data cap for $46.95. I replied that I was paying $48.95, the price of the current package. They told me that to get the current service I needed to rent a new modem, never mentioning anything about the grandfathered price that I should have been paying. At the Rogers store to check out the new modems, the person there was surprised to find out that I was being charged the current rate until I told him that I owned my modem I was not renting it. So I was dishing out more per month for the old service level because I wasn't giving them $4.95/month for a modem, even though the service and modem rental are two different things. Instead of getting a new modem I checked out the specs of one that I have. Turns out it supports up to 30M speed. So since data caps are a policy thing there is no technical reason why I was not getting the service I was paying for. I'm with Distributel now.