My contract ended but Fido kept charging me for my phone

[machete]

Hi! I phoned to inquire about a new plan and one of the "perks" was that when my potential new plan ends then the device would be paid off and I would no longer owe on it.  I said, "wait a minute, that was supposed to happen with my last phone, why didn't I notice my bill adjusted to reflect that the phone was paid off?" Then I was told that I had to phone in and let Fido know that my contact was over and go to a BYOD plan. 

I was NEVER told that I would have to let you know, not last time, and not this time, without me asking more questions, that I should be the one telling you that my plan is over.  

Fido has enough technology monitoring their customers to know that my plan is over and that my bill should be adjusted automatically, and I should not have to then enter in to a BYOD plan.  

Fido charged me $30 a month of my bill towards my phone plan and my plan ended on June 20th.  That means that for 6 months I was charged $30 towards a device that was ALREADY PAID OFF.  

Has anyone else had this experience!  When my contract is over, I should not have to tell Fido.  Fido knows every move I make and it is a crime to plead ignorance on their part that they didn't know my contract was over without me phoning to let them know!

[machete]

Hello Machete,

  Welcome to the community!

  Most of the Canadian cellular providers offer subsidised plans. That is, the plans incorporate the phone subsidy into the small, medium, etc plans. At the end of your contract, the subsidy remains as a part of your plan should you wish to get another phone. You should note this system is different from financed plans offered by some providers of the US and Tabs (see here). With financed plans and Tabs, once your contract is finished, the financing and Tabs are also complete. Most Canadian providers do not use a finance model while a few only recently started to use the Tab model. From you you mentioned, sounds like some of the newer Fido plans might be switching to a Tab model.

  With the subsidised model, while you are certainly able to switch to a Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP) plan (ie no subsidy), you should note that you will have to take a BYOP plan which is in-market at the time you decide to switch. That is, the plan details of an in-market BYOP plan (after 2 years) may or may not include the details of your current subsidised plan.

  Similarly, if you later decide you wish to subsidise a phone after switching to a BYOP plan, you would have to take a subsidised plan which is in-market at the time you decide to switch. Again, the plan details of that plan may or may not include the details of your previous subsidised plan (or 'current' BYOP plan).

Hope this helps

Cheers

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Machete,

  Welcome to the community!

  Most of the Canadian cellular providers offer subsidised plans. That is, the plans incorporate the phone subsidy into the small, medium, etc plans. At the end of your contract, the subsidy remains as a part of your plan should you wish to get another phone. You should note this system is different from financed plans offered by some providers of the US and Tabs (see here). With financed plans and Tabs, once your contract is finished, the financing and Tabs are also complete. Most Canadian providers do not use a finance model while a few only recently started to use the Tab model. From you you mentioned, sounds like some of the newer Fido plans might be switching to a Tab model.

  With the subsidised model, while you are certainly able to switch to a Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP) plan (ie no subsidy), you should note that you will have to take a BYOP plan which is in-market at the time you decide to switch. That is, the plan details of an in-market BYOP plan (after 2 years) may or may not include the details of your current subsidised plan.

  Similarly, if you later decide you wish to subsidise a phone after switching to a BYOP plan, you would have to take a subsidised plan which is in-market at the time you decide to switch. Again, the plan details of that plan may or may not include the details of your previous subsidised plan (or 'current' BYOP plan).

Hope this helps

Cheers

[FidoNick]

Hey @machete!

@Cawtau is correct and I do hope that info helps you out

It's also important to note that on our end we cannot change your plan without your consent; if you wish to change your plan once the agreement is up please contact us and we can help out! Keep in mind the quickest way is to change the plan via your Fido.ca account and all the options available to you will be displayed there.

Hope this helps!