fido's questionable practices?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Hi everyone,

I've been a fido customer for years...but every time I talk to their
arrogant customer service people, my blood boils.

I phoned to find out how much money I have in my Fido Rewards account,
and I was told approximately $100. Great, say I, because my phone is
getting old and I'd like to get a new one soon.

I asked the "customer service" rep about the Sony Ericsson Z600 phone,
and asked how much it would cost me, assuming I use my $100 credit. This
is very "not obvious" because the website shows three different prices
for every handset. I was told that the credit comes off the "regular
price" after taxes are added on...so I would have to pay $400 + 14.5% tax
= $458 - $100 credit = $358. When I pointed out to him that this is more
expensive than the $350 that they sell the phone for without a contract.
I then asked how much would the phone cost me if I signed the 2-year
contract, and was told that it would be $232 including my credit and
taxes; this is more than the $229 it would cost for anyone else. After
much conversation, I asked to talk to a supervisor or manager, and after
much more yelling and threatening to cancel my phone...I actually got to
talk to someone.

He explained that they would be really nice and reduce the price for me
down to the $229 that everyone else would pay. I asked about my fido
rewards dollars, and he said that I would forfeit all of my credit...even
though I'm still only getting the same deal as anyone that hasn't accrued
any rewards dollars. What a bloody stupid program this is!

I'm constantly amazed at the stupidity of the Fido people. Right from
customer service people who barely speak english and have an attitude
that wouldn't fit on a 747 to marketing people that come up with
ridiculous marketing promos and pricing schemes.

What gives?!?

Wyley

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Wyley Ingeus wrote:
> I phoned to find out how much money I have in my Fido Rewards account,
> and I was told approximately $100. Great, say I, because my phone is
> getting old and I'd like to get a new one soon.

Fido Dollars/Rewards is a new programme that has not been fully thought out
yet. It coincided with Fido also wanting to help its competitors and starting
to offer contracts, penalising its loyal customers not on contracts by forcing
them to pay more for phone renewalls.

My guess is that both came from very uncoordinated parts of Microcell who
acted independantly and now those 2 programmes are clashing.

With fido dollars, you have EARNED a new phone. With contract, you are
promising that you WILL earn the phone you are getting now.

Seems to me that fido dollars should get you the same price as phones sold on
contract since in both cases, fido either already has or will receive back the
subsidy on the phone.

My guess is that customers will still have to wait for Fido to send individual
"invitations" to customers offering them sweet deals once the fido computers
decide a certain customer has earned a new phone. Otherwise, Fido will
strongly discourage customers from upgrading though prices that are way too high.

Both the fido dollar and contracts are mistakes by Microcell who probably had
to do those to please its conservative bankers.


If you are forced to apply yor fido dollars to the full price, you should
insist the phone be sold to you unlocked since you are not getting any subsidy
from Fido.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

On 2004-07-29 02:18:13 -0400, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> said:
>
> If you are forced to apply yor fido dollars to the full price, you should
> insist the phone be sold to you unlocked since you are not getting any subsidy
> from Fido.

speaking of unlocked phones, how can fido sell you a phone that's
locked in the first place? i mean you're stuck with their 2 year
contract so if you cancel you do end up paying some cancellation fee to
cover the phone... i could understand if it was a free phone or
something. basically there's no more risk for fido so they shouldn't
be locking the phones at all.

--
-justin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

In article <Xns9534D821A7C0Bihatespamdonotspamme@64.59.144.76>,
Wyley Ingeus <notthe@ctualaddress.com> wrote:
>
>I asked the "customer service" rep about the Sony Ericsson Z600 phone,
>and asked how much it would cost me, assuming I use my $100 credit. This
>is very "not obvious" because the website shows three different prices
>for every handset. I was told that the credit comes off the "regular
>price" after taxes are added on...so I would have to pay $400 + 14.5% tax
>= $458 - $100 credit = $358. When I pointed out to him that this is more
>expensive than the $350 that they sell the phone for without a contract.

Sorry I'm late. Remember, if you just bought the phone without using
your $100 credit, you'd have to pay $400, not $350, since it's not
a new activation. "Without a contract" doesn't mean you don't have
to get a account, just that you don't have to lock it in.
David
--
----------------------------------------------------------
David Gaudine, Systems Analyst, School of Graduate Studies
Concordia University, Montreal davidg@alcor.concordia.ca

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

davidg@alcor.concordia.ca (David Gaudine) wrote in news:celggs$3oo$1
@newsflash.concordia.ca:

> Sorry I'm late. Remember, if you just bought the phone without using
> your $100 credit, you'd have to pay $400, not $350, since it's not
> a new activation. "Without a contract" doesn't mean you don't have
> to get a account, just that you don't have to lock it in.

Yes, but what I object to is that if I decide to go with a 2 year contract,
I pay EXACTLY the same as someone who has $0.35 of Fido Dollars, or as
someone who has never used Fido before. Then, to make things worse, I do
not have the opportunity to not forfeit all of my saved Fido Dollars. So, I
give up all of my saved credit and get nothing more than anyone else...even
if they have no credit whatsoever. I should have the opportunity to say,
"alright, I'll pay $229 for that phone, and I'll keep my credit for when it
will benefit me." But no...Fido requires me to forfeit every last penny of
credit and get NOTHING extra in return. Damn you, Fido!

Wyley

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

"Wyley Ingeus" <notthe@ctualaddress.com> wrote in message
news:Xns953AD537A212Cihatespamdonotspamme@64.59.144.76...
> davidg@alcor.concordia.ca (David Gaudine) wrote in news:celggs$3oo$1
> @newsflash.concordia.ca:
>
> > Sorry I'm late. Remember, if you just bought the phone without using
> > your $100 credit, you'd have to pay $400, not $350, since it's not
> > a new activation. "Without a contract" doesn't mean you don't have
> > to get a account, just that you don't have to lock it in.
>
> Yes, but what I object to is that if I decide to go with a 2 year
contract,
> I pay EXACTLY the same as someone who has $0.35 of Fido Dollars, or as
> someone who has never used Fido before. Then, to make things worse, I do
> not have the opportunity to not forfeit all of my saved Fido Dollars. So,
I
> give up all of my saved credit and get nothing more than anyone
else...even
> if they have no credit whatsoever. I should have the opportunity to say,
> "alright, I'll pay $229 for that phone, and I'll keep my credit for when
it
> will benefit me." But no...Fido requires me to forfeit every last penny of
> credit and get NOTHING extra in return. Damn you, Fido!
>
> Wyley

I agree, the same thing happened to me. I don't understand why past usage
(Fido Dollars) and future loyalty (2 year contract) aren't mutually
exclusive. A supervisor did explain to me that this setup allowed you to
collect Fido Dollars during the time of the contract. I guess they don't
want to go out of business by giving away the phones for too cheap but they
should clearly say somewhere that Fido Dollars and the contract are
integrated.

Brian

 

[CC]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Can't agree more, I just run into the exactly same situation. I sent a
e-mail to the company and got zero response!! At least they will be "nice
enough to give you a discount" ha-ha
cc
"Wyley Ingeus" <notthe@ctualaddress.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9534D821A7C0Bihatespamdonotspamme@64.59.144.76...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I've been a fido customer for years...but every time I talk to their
> arrogant customer service people, my blood boils.
>
> I phoned to find out how much money I have in my Fido Rewards account,
> and I was told approximately $100. Great, say I, because my phone is
> getting old and I'd like to get a new one soon.
>
> I asked the "customer service" rep about the Sony Ericsson Z600 phone,
> and asked how much it would cost me, assuming I use my $100 credit. This
> is very "not obvious" because the website shows three different prices
> for every handset. I was told that the credit comes off the "regular
> price" after taxes are added on...so I would have to pay $400 + 14.5% tax
> = $458 - $100 credit = $358. When I pointed out to him that this is more
> expensive than the $350 that they sell the phone for without a contract.
> I then asked how much would the phone cost me if I signed the 2-year
> contract, and was told that it would be $232 including my credit and
> taxes; this is more than the $229 it would cost for anyone else. After
> much conversation, I asked to talk to a supervisor or manager, and after
> much more yelling and threatening to cancel my phone...I actually got to
> talk to someone.
>
> He explained that they would be really nice and reduce the price for me
> down to the $229 that everyone else would pay. I asked about my fido
> rewards dollars, and he said that I would forfeit all of my credit...even
> though I'm still only getting the same deal as anyone that hasn't accrued
> any rewards dollars. What a bloody stupid program this is!
>
> I'm constantly amazed at the stupidity of the Fido people. Right from
> customer service people who barely speak english and have an attitude
> that wouldn't fit on a 747 to marketing people that come up with
> ridiculous marketing promos and pricing schemes.
>
> What gives?!?
>
> Wyley
>
>
>
>