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Fido overcharging for old plans

la16
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

I've been a fido customer for years, but I've found myself disappointed at the business practices lately. Namely how account billing is handled.
A 3gb plan I purchased two years ago currently runs way more expensive at 65$ than even the current 8gb data plan. This is without any sort of device payment included, as I've payed off my phone pretty much at the start of my original plan in 2015.

Why is this? Why do older plans overpay for data without any sort of indication that the same amount of data can be had for much less? Is it up to the customer to have to figure this out on a constant basis as new plans become available? It's a pretty misleading practice, and as a customer I feel disappointed that I've unknowingly overpaid by almost 20$ a month for my data.

If I hadn't looked at the newest plans, due to wanting a new phone, I would have probably continued to be stuck in my needlessly expensive plan. This is really disappointing, and I cannot continue to support this type of practice moving forward.

Why is the billing system set up like this? Surely giving customers the best performance for their money is in everyones interest. 

5 REPLIES 5

la16
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello Phillippe,

 

My issue was not that Fido did not go into my account to change my data amount. My issue lies with the fact that I am unknowingly overpaying, with no indication from Fido that this would be the case. This is a backwards way to approach customer loyalty, where customers that have older plans actually get a worse deal than current and new customers.

 

This seems to be a pretty common issue, and Fido's response over the phone, and on the forum, is that I should be checking the site constantly to make sure I'm getting the most up to date pricing on my data.

What that tells me as a customer, is that over time, I need to be vigilant on checking plans or else I will be consistently overpaying Fido, which is an inverse incentive to continue business with the company. Not that it really matters - I'm planning on migrating my service, but I made a forum post to give feedback on why this effectively causes the company to lose customers that would otherwise be happy with your service.

Hello La16,

 

  You should note that your old plan was a subsidised plan. Many mobile providers used a subsidised model for their contract devices. This model is different from a tab or financed model or the more recently available leasing model.

 

  With the subsidised model, the subsidy was incorporated into the plan (ie small, large, etc). Since the subsidy was incorporated into the plan, your plan did not automatically switch to a BYOP plan at the end of a contract (see here). It remained your previous plan, should you have wished to subsidise another device. It was not possible to merely remove the device cost from those plans. If you did not wish to subsidise another phone, you would have had to switch to a BYOP plan which was in-market at the time you decided to switch.

 

  That said, you should note that Fido has now switched from their subidised plans to a financed payment program for new devices. That is, the cost of devices is now separate from the cost of services. Once the payments have competed with the new program, your only remaining monthly costs would be for services.

 

  The difference in device offering models is one reason there's a different cost in plans. That's also the reason you were not necessarily overpaying for data. Your old plan still included subsidy for a device. That said, some of the old subsidised plans are not compatible with the new financed model. If you desired, you might need to switch to a new plan in order to finance a new phone. On the other hand, you would have been able to keep your current plan if you purchased your new phone outright.

 

  Why keep an old plan? Depending on the plan details, there may be some features which are not available with the new plan offerings.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

 


la16
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello,

 

I understand that my original plan was subsidized, but this is generally over a 24 month period. My iphone originally was purchased around end of 2015, so my device balance is (and has been for years) $0. The issue is still that I did not get any sort of indication that I could either continue to
A.subsidize another device, or
B. switch to a BYOP plan. 

either of these would have made more sense than continuing my plan after the phone was paid off.
The first link in your reply summarizes the problem exactly:

"After your two-year term expires, you plan theoretically should reduce in price, since the phone has been paid off. But this is not the case and does not happen automatically."

 

While I get that you've now switched from that model of subsidizing phones; this still leaves a portion of customers that, due to not being aware that their plan was still on that pricing model, were left paying their  "subsidized plan legacy pricing" over years at a great disadvantage to newer plan pricings. I still maintain that this needs to be communicated better to customers, as 20$ extra per month is not a negligible amount.

From a customer experience perspective, being told to keep an eye on plans that are ever changing to avoid getting an unfair deal, goes against the grain of customer loyalty in the first place. There are numerous threads on these forums that all to some extent bring this point up.

The fact is - if I had not been looking to upgrade my iphone to to the device's end of service life, I would have probably continued to unknowingly overpay for my data without any indication that I'd be doing so.

Hello @la16,

 

Since these plans came as a fixed price for your phone and your plan, the plan can't simply change pricing or features without your authorization. You would need to request the change. It's indicated on your bill when your contract comes to an end. 

 

I definitely understand what you mean is this is the advantage of our new way of financing your phone, everything is clear and once you're done paying for your phone, you no longer pay for it. 

 

-FidoAnthonyZ



FidoPhilippe
Moderator
Moderator

Hey @la16! Philippe here. I hope you're doing well. Smiley

 

Thank you very much for your feedback!

 

We're don't make any changes on customer accounts without authorization and/or prior notice as a rule. Our plans and promotions are available at all times through our website here and here. You can contact us pretty much anytime here if you have any questions or concerns about any of those, we'll be thrilled to help you out.

 

We also stand ready to help you here via PM at your request. We'll be happy to check-out your options with you. Smiley