Bell Canada....I loathe Bell Canada...

[storybookmum]

My letter today:

Bell Canada Customer Service
Billing Department
P.O. Box 9000
Stn Don Mills
North York, Ontario
M3C 2X7

Billing issue: Account *****

June 3, 2009

Dear Sir or Madame,

I recently contacted one of your customer service representatives regarding adding a long distance plan to my account. I added a $5 monthly fee to my account to obtain a 5 cents/minute unlimited plan to Canada and the United States.

During that phone call, I learned that the long distance rate of a flat 15 cents/minute unlimited Canada/US calling could have been mine at any time for the asking without any fee whatsoever, and that I had needlessly been paying 24cents/minute for the past…well, forever, I suppose. To say I was unimpressed would be an understatement.

In reviewing my account, I noticed that I had been overcharged on 2 phone calls in the last billing period, to the tune of 54 cents/minute on one call, and 72 cents/minute on another. The representative credited my account, but left me wondering.

My mother was recently hospitalized in Ottawa, and I have had to place a number of long distance calls about her in the last week. I’m concerned that the billing for these calls will be excessive.

I pulled out some recent bills and discovered the following apparent overbillings:

Monday, February 23 – 4 minute call to Littleton, Colorado - $2.88 = 72 cents/minute
Saturday, February 28 – 17 minute call to Rigaud, Quebec - $9.18 = 54 cents/minute
Tuesday, March 31 – 3 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $2.16 = 72 cents/minute
Sunday, April 12 – 1 minute call to Ottawa, Ont - $0.54 = 54 cents/minute
January 13, 2009 – 1 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $0.66 = 66 cents/minute
January 13, 2009 – 5 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $3.30 = 66 cents/minute
January 13, 2009 – 1 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $0.66 = 66 cents/minute
January 15, 2009 – 7 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $4.62 = 66 cents/minute
January 19, 2009 – 23 minute call to Belleville, Michigan - $6.90 = 30 cents/minute
January 24, 2009 – 2 minute call to Belleville, Michigan - $0.60 = 30 cents/minute
January 26, 2009 – 1 minute call to Belleville, Michigan - $0.30 = 30 cents/minute

I even pulled out some of my older bills, and notice that the trend continues:

November 14, 2008 – 26 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Florida - $17.16 = 66 cents/min
November 15, 2008 – 8 minute call to Lake Buna Vista, Fl - $5.28 = 66 cents/minute
November 23, 2008 – 14 minute call to Rigaud, Quebec - $6.72 = 48 cents/minute
December 6, 2008 – 63 minute call to Ottawa, Ont. - $30.24 = 48 cents/minute
December 12, 2008 – 2 minute call to Belleville, Mi - $0.60 = 30 cents/minute

October 13, 2008 – 39 minute call to Ottawa, Ont - $18.72 = 48 cents/minute
November 6, 2008 – 8 minute call to Ottawa, Ont – $3.84 = 48 cents/minute

I decided to contact Customer Service again at this point to ensure that the normal billing address would be the proper one to use for this concern. At this point, a different customer service representative informed me that long distance billing without any plan was on a sliding scale based on distance, and might easily go as high as 80 cents/minute. Given how easily you can provide your customers with a flat 5 cent rate for all of Canada and the (Contiguous?) United States, I really find this outrageous, and also found the discrepancy between the two representatives’ conveyed information unhelpful.

It appears to me that I have no recourse in this matter, and that I will simply have to move forward with my new 5-cent rate for the time being. My satisfaction with your service has, however, been negatively impacted, and I will likely be undertaking research toward switching my services to a different provider.


Sincerely,

**