Feeling looted and taken for granted

[DiyaDaz]

I have been using fido since March this year.

After getting a sim from a Fido store in Toronto, I started getting calls from random companies and numbers asking for a man. Soon I realized it was the man who used this number before me. Unfortunately this man has not paid many of his due and is probably delinquent. I started getting calls every day, multiple times. So I decided to call Fido and raise a complaint. They said they can block few calls and it would take 48hrs. But unfortunately the calls continued. So I started calling the companies and informing them about the new ownership of mine. When I couldn’t be constantly calling these companies I called fido once again. They said there not much they can do about it. And asked me to change my number.

I was new to canada and had this number at various places for vaccines and jobs. So couldn’t do anything.

Later I got Call from bank asking me to pay the debts and dues. I freaked out and when to my bank branch where they said my number was associated with another man who was delinquent. This could have even affected my credit score. And I called cibc and requested them to remove that man from my number. Which was processed by my bank.

After all this I continued with Fido.

Then recently I got a bill for $240 for a month. Apparently I called to a country which was not part of my plan. The charges were never notified to me and now they say I have no option but pay. I usually get pop up messages for data usage and any additional charges but this never came. I feel looted and cheated by FIDO.

I understand the usage and I requested them to waive off the charges as I am a student and I cannot afford this. But they denied. I requested if they waive off any, but they simply denied and while requested for a manager, I was put on hold for hours and never connected to a manager. @Fido @Rogers 

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello DiyaDaz,

  Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear you're feeling looted and taken for granted. I understand how distressing it can be to constantly receive those types of calls. Unfortunately, recycling of phone numbers is a necessity. There is not an endless supply of new numbers. Generally, phone numbers are taken out of circulation for a certain amount of time before being available for new customers. The process is meant to prevent the issues you note with the previous owner of the number. However, it would be up to the previous owner to notify their contacts of their number change. Sadly, there are the instances where the previous owner might have deliberately failed to notify businesses of their number change. Alas, the mobile providers are not able to prevent that does not happen. If the phone number is associated with delinquent accounts, the only thing the providers can do is to change the phone number for you. I understand you wish to keep the phone number, though. If you do keep the phone number, you would need to continue as you are doing and inform people you are the new owner of that phone number. I don't think it should affect your credit score, though, since that is associated with more than just a phone number (ie your name, address, identity card, etc).

  With regards to the long-distance call(s), you should also note Fido does not provide notifications for long-distance usage. Unlike with data, it has always been the customers' responsiblity to monitor their own voice and messaging usage. I understand it can be difficult to recognise whether a number is from Canada if they use the same Country Code (+1) since it is also used for North America. You might consider verifying the area code is Canadian. If your plan includes Canada-wide calling, calls made to Canadian area codes should not be considered long-distance.

  I understand this is a difficult time and receiving such a bill even more distressing. If you're unable to make full payment on the bill, you might consider arranging a payment schedule. To make an arrangement, you'll need to contact the credit operations team. It should be mentioned that a payment arrangement might not be available in all situations.

  I also understand you have already contacted customer service. However, this forum is community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you would like to further discuss your situation, you would need to re-contact customer service. In addition, they can also be contacted via Live Chat, Facebook, or Twitter. Those methods can be accessed via the contact page posted above.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers