Bill payment due date changes

[Ike38]

My original bill payment due date was the 27th of each month and has been for the past few months but it appears that for this cycle, Fido has changed this date to the 22nd. I was under the impression that the due dates are supposed to stay fixed based on the original service start date (the billing date hasn't changed on the latest bill, only the payment due date). Will these payment due dates keep creeping up a few days earlier each cycle? 

[FidoSaira]

Hello @sahe,

We officially communicate all changes via bill message only. It's important to check the bill each month to not miss out on anything.

Customers can also register to pre-authorized payment. This way they won't have to worry about not making a payment on time and late payment charges.

That said, if you require help with your services, your welcome to contact us through these channels. 

[Nikbak78]

I have constantly tried getting help and your agents never leave notes on the account and tell you "yes we can change the date and help you" but then it never happens and the agent doesnt leave notes for the next agent, also none of your agents give numbers to speak with managment, make you wait longer than 3mins to respond. shady is what this is and I will not stand for it. I feel since im in contract you breached it by changing billing dates and I never agreed to this. 

[LittleBlackDog]

I just downloaded my two bank-day bills- PDF format, to be printed out- that I usually take care of on the last day of the month at the bank, paid with cash tender, and was surprised and disturbed to find that the payment limit day was in fact the last day of the month, and not several days into the next one (June). 

"The bill will be considered paid once the payment is made through a financial institution by the new required payment date."

I need some very firm clarification on this: do you mean if I pay my bill at the bank with legal tender on that last day of the month (May 31st) it will count as having been paid by our mutual legal definition of the term, as opposed to in process and will neither be considered late if the former is agreed upon nor incur late penalties, which I stress that I am in a poor position to afford.

I mean, the fallback for me is to make two bank trips a month- my second would be to withdraw my ODSP stipend, that I usually do along with payment of both the bills I handle directly at the bank once a month- the former for my Fido bill alone, or just hope each given month's timing of my stipend deposit isn't right on the last day of that month.

"We informed our impacted customers about this change using bill messages."

No offense meant, but that's not good enough. This is an enormous change to add quietly in using that method, given that the days cut off at the end of the pre-penalty incursion period would be more than enough to process a manually paid bank transaction, and now it's cutting it very fine for my timing each month to pay my bill without having a defaulting penalty added on, including this month if I go out on a separate trip and get it paid first thing on Monday, and hope it goes through within two days.

This is going to affect a lot of people including and besides myself who have physical or psychiatric disabilities or cognitive limitations, and have long been accustomed to needing to gather themselves well enough physically and mentally to go out to the bank once a month, if we can't count on doing that anymore.

I am not at all happy about this change, nor how subtly and inconspicuously it was included in my monthly payment limitations.

[FidoAllan]

Hey @LittleBlackDog

The only difference is that the new required payment date will be 21 days after your bill date instead of 27 and that now your bill will be considered paid on time when your payment is made by the required payment date despite transfer delays. 
If you have set up Autopay for your Fido bill payments, which we highly recommend, the above changes do not impact you

Payments made from a financial (banking) institution may still take up to 5 days to post in our system. Bills will be considered paid on the date the payment posts within our system but late payment charges (LPCs) will be charged based on the day you process the payment with your financial institution.

As indicated on all invoices that we send, ''At most major Canadian financial institutions, it could take 2 to 5 business days for your payment to reach us.''

Here’s an example: If your required payment date is April 6 and you make a payment via online banking on April 6, due to the posting timelines of financial institutions, the payment may not be posted in the system for Fido until April 10. You won't be charged LPCs as you already processed a payment on the payment required date. On your invoice however, the payment will show as received on April 10th.

As for the bill message, we believe it's a great way to communicate bill-related changes since all important information about your services is already displayed there. 

This is outlined in our Terms of Services under 2. c. 

Hope this helps to clarify! 

[Ike38]

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@FidoAllan wrote:

As for the bill message, we believe it's a great way to communicate bill-related changes since all important information about your services is already displayed there. 

This is outlined in our Terms of Services under 2. c.  

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This is disingenuous at best - the fact that under 2c of the Terms of Services includes the option for Fido to send the written notice "by bill message, text message, letter, e-mail or by message to [...] My Account" and Fido specifically choosing the most inconspicuous way to disseminate important information about changes to the agreement does not really lend support to the assertion that "it's a great way to communicate bill-related changes". As customers already receive plenty of junk email/advertisements from Fido via email and text, I cannot fathom how great communication cannot be had for Fido to use both Bill Messages and email/text (or an alert that says "Hey! You should check your Bill Messages as we are making some changes.").

I sympathize with @LittleBlackDog.

[Ike38 · Accepted solution]

Hi @FidoValerie 

That is interesting - I wonder how shortening the payment required date helps with payment posting timelines by financial institutions. For example, pre-authorized debit dates could be moved up without affecting the payment due date (i.e., have PADs process on day 21 [or earlier] after the billing date without changing the original payment due date). Bill messages is also an interesting way of disseminating important contract changes - one would assume that in addition to bill messages, customers would have received an email notifying them about this change (or physical letter for those who aren't receiving bills electronically). One could gather the impression that this change will penalize an unsuspecting customer for late payment penalty fees, as opposed to late posting timelines of financial institutions penalties.

[Tipspeed200km]

I was an unsuspecting customer!! I'm pretty ticked off about this.  Also if my bill is the same amount.... wouldn't a 21 day bill cycle mean we pay more because the bills come more frequently.

[FidoAlex]

Hey @Tipspeed200km, Alex here! 

Your bill cycle will not change and you will still receive a single bill per month. The due date will simply now be after 21 days instead of 27 days.

Hope this clarifies!  

[Original_Lucy]

Good morning @Ike38 , that's a great question. I haven't noticed anything changing on my invoice,  you may want to check in with fido customer service to ask about the change. See Here  for ways to contact Fido's support 

[sahe]

This change definitely made a lot customer angry. This is easy money for fido to make this change. Can you tell us how much money were made as a result of this change. This is unfair to all the customer.