Confusion ADS

[antonio5]

Dera Fido Management,

Fido recently advertised customers to waive Canada wide long distance calls due to COVID 19 as help to Canadians, I made a big mistake I thought that this means international calls. Thinking that I have the privilege of calling the Philippines for free in the limited time I used my mobile phone instead of using my landline which charges me only $0.17 per minute. I was terribly surprised to have my bill charged me $1.95 per minute that is 10 times more than the normal long distance charges. I admit that it was a mistake and should ask and verify the ads carefully before I did call.

I had been with Fido for a couple of years and happy with their service but this time I think I am going out of FIDO once I have the chance. I don't mind paying the bill but please it should be reasonable. I wonder why charges like this are allowed by the Canadian government or any communication agency.

I talked to one of the customer service and he was very helpful and polite unfortunately he can't do anything about it because the $1.95 per minute is a legal or standard charge. I wonder if anyone on the management side can help me to make the payment affordable especially in a time like this.

Regards,

Antonio T

[Cawtau]

Hello Antonio5,

  Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear you misunderstood the measures Fido offered for Covid-19.

  If you regularly make calls to the Philippines, you might consider Fido's Preferred International Rate add-on which would offer similar long-distance rates to your landline.

~taken from here.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[FidoPhilippe]

Hey @antonio5! I hope you're doing well.

Thanks for being with us for the last two years and your candor! I totally understand your situation. It's certainly not pleasant to receive a higher than expected bill.

We're currently offering flexible payment arrangements during this crisis to all our clients through our credit operations department. You can reach them via *732 on your Fido phone and they'll be happy to see what they can do.

As for the amount, if it was a legitimate charge, it would have to be paid. That said, we'll be happy to take another look at your account, if you wish. Just request a PM from us and we'll send you one.

I'm happy to read that our service was helpful and polite to you, even if they couldn't help with your request.

Stay safe and let us know if you have any more questions.

[antonio5]

Fido,

Thanks for immediate reply from my post, what is a PM anyway? Yes the charges are legitimate and I agreed to pay and it was my mistake to misunderstand the promo. 

When I came here in Canada in 1991 the long distance rate to Philippienes is $ 1.00 per minute. It went down a lot and now it is $0.15 per minute (landline), it is just horible to be charged at almost $ 2.00 per minute. After this pandemic I will be pushing hard on this issue to make a change in charges in international calls and I'm sure the government will see that this is almost inhuman to implement, it is not a Canadian way to do business.

Please take a look into it, any discount or pardon will do I think I was with Fido for atleast more than 5 years.

Service is good, billing was fair except now due to that confusing promo of yours that should have not been out. It was useless and does not make sense to me now, make something that will really help or useful in the community. That promo is a waste of your money in advertisement and for sure I am not the only one who will be a victim.

Stay safe,

Antonio Tanafranca

[FidoJulien]

Hey @antonio5

We definitely understand that times like these are hard. This is why we offer flexible payment arrangements with our credit operations team. You can call them by dialing *732 from your Fido phone. However, it would not be possible to waive the long distance charges as they are legitimate charges.