International Calling Overcharge

[maryhutton]

Hello,

I have been using Fido service for some time. I have an add-on pack for 1000 international minutes, which I never avail entirely every month. 

I was really shocked to see a long distance overcharge of $ 227 this month. A warning message before a call is sent whenever we cross the limit where the operator says that I will be charged. So, I was under the impression that I would be notified. I did not receive any message or declaration. Finally, I received a bill through a link stating 'overcharged payment' once after the billing cycle is completed. 

I reached the customer care many times, but they keep telling that they cannot do away with the charges. It takes about 1-2 hours to get a customer service to get on call!!! And it resulted with nothing!!! 

I hope whoever reading this can understand my situation. I am a new student in Canada who is working part-time struggling to pay her college fees and rent. It would be very difficult to pay such a hefty overcharges in a monthly phone bill. As I was not assisted with the overcharge issue through customer care, I am posting my concern in the forum, hoping some one could help me out of this. 

Thanks in advance!

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Maryhutton,

  Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected long-distance charges. Firstly, you should note the 1000 International minutes is a promotional offer and not a part of any plan details. If the duration of the promotion was not outlined when it was received, it's end-date would have been provided in your bill a couple of months prior to its actual termination. Since you note you have been with Fido for some time, is it possible your promotion has ended?

  It is unfortunate you assumed you would receive a warning notifcation prior to long-distance calling charges once your promotion minutes had expired (if that is the case). I understand that you might not have been aware that promotion may have expired. However, it has always been the customers' responsibility to monitor their own usage and bills:

   It is not necessary to cap voice or text messaging service charges since the use of these services is generally well understood and managed by consumers. ~ The Wireless Code; point 127

...it considers that a requirement to provide usage notifications or usage monitoring tools is not the best solution to prevent bill shock. ~ point 124

  While Fido does not provide notifications for long-distance or additional long-distance usage, they do provide a means of monitoring call usage (ie My Account app). 

  I understand this is a difficult time and receiving such a bill even more distressing. Unfortunately, even if people understand your situation, that does not mean they will be able to rectify those charges.  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.

  You should note 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 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

[BobC83]

Welcome to Canada and our gawd-awful telecom market that's the laughing stock of the world. It's the wild west when it comes to telecom companies.

The CRTC, which regulates Fido, provides some vague and inconsistent rules about how telecoms must disclose fees and whether they need to warn you about overage charges. Companies like Fido tend to do the absolute bare minimum compliance and exploit every loophole in the rules that they can. Nevertheless, it may be worth going to the CRTC website to see if you're protected. If so, confront Fido with the rules, since they also bet on consumers being too busy to assert their rights, and they may back down.

Even though you're not a citizen, your member of parliament still represents you, so it may be worth contacting their office for help. They can at least help you navigate the rules so you don't get screwed again.

Not all Canadian institutions are as awful as our telecoms. Not all...

[maryhutton]

Thank you for your help. I'll try doing that.