Fido is scamming new customers on first bill

[jkhanna92]

I recently received my first bill and I have activated 2 lines. 

According to what I was sold I would be 20.46$+tax for the first line per month and 34$ for the second line. 

My first bill cycle was split into partial and full periods. Instead of applying the discount on both the partial period and the full period, the agent told me they have decided to split the discount, and essentially asked me to pay full price for one month! I am essentially being asked to pay more than double for this month of the price I was promised.

This is truly a big scam run by Fido and I am going to complain with CCTS and CRTC as the agent was rude and unhelpful. 

[jkhanna92]

That is cheating and holding back information from the customer. When you say 20$ plus tax, it cannot be more than that for the first month! This is fraudulent behaviour by Fido and I am going to raise a complaint with CRTC.

I wish I never switched to you! Never has another provider shown such dirty tactics

[FidoVan]

Sorry you feel this way. The pricing you see are indeed per month or per cycle, and not per bill. If you follow the dates on your bill, you should see that you are billed ''$20+taxes'' for your first full cycle or month + partial charges for the other partial cycle or month.

You can follow this link below for more info:

https://www.fido.ca/support/billing-payment/understanding-partial-prorated-charges-on-your-bill

If you need further support, we're just a private message away on Facebook or Twitter.

[jkhanna92]

I fail to understand why weren't the partial credits applied to the partial cycle. 

Also, is the billing cycle same for every customer? Why did you not start the billing cycle for me from day 1 since I am a new customer?

[Cawtau]

Hello Jkhanna92,

  Welcome to the community!

  Just to add to FidoVan's post below, as far as I am aware, all of the providers prorate the first few days of service prior to the start of a customer's billing cycle (see here, here, and here). In addition, the US providers also prorate the days prior to the start of billing cycle (see here). I'm guessing a rationale for starting the billing cycle after the activation of services is to standardise the biling cycles. For example, customers who activate their services at 9am vs 4pm would have a very different first day service. Starting the billing cycle after the activation day would ensure all billing cycles start with a full day of service.

  I understand some people have argued that those first few prorated service days should also include the prorated discounts. However, as mentioned below, those discounts are for specified periods. For example, if a discount is provided for 12 months, including the prorated the first few days would actually be more than 12 months.

  I also understand some people feel that the providers should be willing to pay the extra discount amount. However, the issue also about standardising the discounts for everyone. As mentioned, the billing cycles start after the activation date. For some customers, the billing cycle might start on the next day or, in FidoVan's example, after 7 days. Prorating the discount for the first few days means that customers would receive different amounts of discount. Having the discount start when the billing cycle starts ensures all customers have the same amount of discount (as specified by discount).

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[FidoVan]

You'll find the following information at the link provided above:

• Your monthly billing cycle starts on the billing date assigned to you, and that billing date may not be on the same date your services were activated.
• Your first Fido bill will include any partial charges for services from the activation date until your assigned billing date, as well as full charges for the coming month.

For example, you activate on May 3rd, we then assign you the billing date of May 10th. On your first invoice, you will see those cycles:

• a partial cycle from May 3rd to May 10th
• a full cycle from May 11th to June 10th

Your credits, although split in two, will equal the total amount you should received for your first full cycle (or your first bill of the month) when combined together. As explained by Saira: '' you will [still] receive the discount for the full duration you were promised for (ex: if the discount is for 12 months, you will still receive the remaining 11 months). ''

In short, your first bill constitute the first instance of your credit followed by X number of months you were promised.

[FidoSaira]

Hello @jkhanna92,

We appreciate your feedback! Rest assured there is no scam.

If you completed your transaction in the middle of your bill cycle, there will be partial charges on your bill from your activation date to the end of your bill cycle, plus charges for the next full month of service.

Your first bill will have a discount that applies only to the first full month of service. It won’t include an additional discount for the partial charges.

This will appear on your bill as 2 separate credits that add up to one month’s discount. That said, you will recieve the discount for the full duration you were promised for (ex: if the discount is for 12 months, you will still receive the remaining 11 months). I hope this clarifies!

You can also send us a PM on Facebook or twitter for a quicker response if you still have questions about it.