LD and Airtime

[Neeti]

Hi

I just received my bill for the cycle - aug 2019 to Sep 2019 and the amount is whooping 458 dollars.

When i went through the bill, i noticed that i was being charged for airtime once my local 500 mins were over.

I called up customer care and i was told the same thing that my bill amount is so high because of the airtime charges since i have exceeded my local minutes limit.

On further probing that how come i exhausted my local minutes limit since I landed in Aug 2019 only and I do not know enough people to call which would result in exhausting my minues limit- i was told 2 things which i was not told at the time of buying fido network by the executive that

1. When i make a long distance call during daytime, the minutes get deducted from the local minutes and the LD minutes

2. The free 500 minutes also include the incoming calls - so if you are receiving a call an u talks for 10 mins then from the local minute tracker those 10 mins will be deducted as well.

First of all this is absurd.. what is the point of having those 500 mins in place when you are deducting every call minutes out of it whether it is incoming or outgoing.

SECONDLY, WHY THE SERVICE CONTRACT 

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Neeti,

  Welcome to the community!

  I'm sorry to hear you received that awful surprise on your bill. It's unfortunate you were not aware of how the minutes work. I understand that in some Countries, incoming calls are not charged airtime. However, as far as I am aware, most of the North American mobile providers consider both incoming and outgoing calls as airtime (see Terms & Conditions; section 3g).

  You should also note that long-distance (LD) charges (or 1000 International minutes, if applicable on your plan) are only for the LD portion of a call. Long-distance calls are charged LD + airtime. So as you are now aware, if you have a limited number of anytime minutes, you will be charged additional minutes for overage usage.

---

@Neeti wrote:... what is the point of having those 500 mins in place when you are deducting every call minutes out of it whether it is incoming or outgoing.

---

  The included 500 minutes with some plans are airtime minutes for customers to use to make and receive calls. As far as I am aware, all of the post-paid plans include Canada-wide calling, which is different from local calling. If you find you regularly require additional minutes, there are plans which include Unlimited minutes.

---

@Neeti wrote:...SECONDLY, WHY THE SERVICE CONTRACT 

---

  If you're under contract, then you are likely subsidising a device along with your mobile services. The contract does not prevent overage usage. If you wish not to have to worry about overage charges, there are pre-paid options. If a pre-paid account does not have sufficient funds for a particular service, you will not be allowed access to that service until funds are added to your account. While pre-paid options can prevent large amounts of overage charges, they also do not allow for subsidising devices.

  I understand you were not aware of how mobile services work in Canada. I'm not sure if much can be done to help reduce the amount of overage charges. If you would like to go over your bill, you might consider contacting customer services. Alternatively, you might consider sending @FidoSolutions a PM. Once they verify some information, they'll also be able to access your account.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers