Did not get offers I was promised with my new device

[Renribas]

Last year, around September, I was shopping for a new phone. I really wanted to stay with my previous provider, but the salesperson at Bestbuy offered me to change to Fido because they could offer me a really great deal. 

First, they offered me a free activation fee. I didn't receive it though. After getting my first bill I called fido and I was told that the activation fee would be waived on my second or third bill. So, I waited. I called them last month and after a while on the phone, the attendant said that I needed to go to Best buy and complain with them and I said to her that I had already done that and the store had referred me back to Fido. (This feedback loop is unacceptable, at some point either the store or the provider needs to take ownership and responsibility for the service!) After another while, the attendant returned to the phone and said that she could see it and the amount would reflect on my next bill. So, we hung up. A few days later, I received my invoice and surprisingly the fee had not been waived yet. Yesterday I called Fido again and the attendant pretty much confirmed that I was being lied to and effectively being robbed. There was nothing in my account saying that the activation fee was going to be waived. Contradicting information from the same exact company and the same exact phone line is extremely unproffesional. 

As if that was not enough I was promised that I would have a monthly discount of $20 towards my device. Instead of paying $47.00 for my phone I would pay $ 27.00, which I believe would help with the tax/interest of my plan. Instead the discount is being applied to my monthly plan, which initially was supposed to be $50 for 10 gbs. They make it really hard for us to understand our bill and exactly what exactly we are paying for. 

I believe that if the discount was being applied to the device, as I was promised, the difference in taxes and interest would amount to at least 1 free monthly payment over the course of my 2 year contract.

If it was not such a large amount to buy out my device, and such a hassle to jump through all of the hoops that you have put in place, I would go back to my old provider in a heartbeat.

[FollowThePolo]

The way it's advertised makes it easy to be confused, when you finally get the hang of it you realize that there is a discount but not as good as it looked at first glance.

as for the activation fee, I have upgraded my phone through Fido twice, both times I have done directly on the Fido app and to be fair it has been fairly easy, fast and the fee has not been charged to my account, or maybe I was just lucky....to be honest all the phone companies in Toronto are basically the same so we just gotta try to make the best of it...unfair but that's how it is...isn't it? 

[KAPABLE-K · Accepted solution]

Hello @Renribas,

Welcome to the community!

Sorry to hear you did not get the activation fee credited, I actually just recently did an upgrade at a store and was speaking to the agent regarding this same issue because I've seen so many people complain about this and the store agent did admit that sometimes other agents forgot to code the transaction and when this happens there is nothing that Fido can do because they do not know.

I would suggest you go back to BestBuy with the paperwork that was given to you and ask them to show you where it is coded that the activation fee will be waived if it is or isn't there they can call Fido and rectify this issue if the store rep does not want to help or keep referring you back to Fido I suggest you press and ask for the manager as they are the ones that did the activation. 

In regards to the device discount, it is always applied to the bill and does not reduce the actual finance cost it is done this way to avoid people gaming the system for instance if a device cost $480 you would pay $20/month for 24 months now if you get a $10 discount then it will make the device $240 for the next 24 months now if they actually make the financing for $240 for $480 device then people will just sign up then cancel and pay $240 for a $480 device and the carrier would take a big loss.

To prevent this from happening the device financing never changes but instead the credit is applied to the bill which in the end does balance out the overall cost Fido does not charge interest or higher taxes on devices being financed. 

I'm in Ontario and if my plan costs $50 and I finance a device for $25 it will be $50+$25= $75+13% tax =$84.75/month.

Now let's say I get a $10/month discount on the device it is applied as follows $50-$10=$40+$25=$65+13%=$73.45.

Now let's say they did apply the credit directly to the device it will still work out to be the same $50+($25-10)=$65+13%=$73.45.

Hope this clarifies how the discount is applied and in the end, you actually do get the full discount.