I have been a loyal Fido customer for close to 2 decades, I can't remember the exact year I opened my first account with Fido, but it must have been at least 18+ years.
I have automatic payments setup (although no automatic payment discount), and I haven't been checking my bills the last few months. By chance, I looked at the June 2025 bill and saw a message inside about an increase in monthly charges starting in June 2025.
My current plan isn’t very large when it comes to data—only 2GB. It's the Fido Pulse 2GB BYOP plan. I’ve been getting by because of the extra 50GB perk that was added to my account last year, but with this price increase, I’m questioning if this is still the best option for me. At this new price point, there are a lot more alternative options available with other providers.
Apart from the price increase, I've also encountered issues with my texts. I have unlimited international text with my plan, something that's less relevant nowadays, but still valued by me. But, since last year, I had not been able to successfully send out texts to international phone numbers from Canada.
Being a loyal customer, I tried to talk to a specialist over the phone to discuss (I had to take a scheduled appointment via the phone bot of course) and see if there’s a solution here that makes sense for both myself and Fido, whether it was a retention plan or some type of other offer or discount. I was genuinely trying to find a way to keep my costs manageable, especially since the service issues and the price increase are causing me to reconsider my options.
To my surprise, the specialist said that there was nothing that can be offered to me. There was also minimal follow-up on the international text issue. I was a bit taken aback by this supposedly new approach from Fido. Despite Fido's response via this specialist, I still valued my loyalty to the company, because it meant something for me to be with the same company for so long. I asked about possibility of maybe getting a automatic payment discount or the possibility of other options, and there was nothing.
When the discussion was not going anywhere, I was left with no choice but to ask about the logistics of switching service provider for my phone, especially since it's so hard to reach a live person nowadays. I asked about the logistics to ensure that my number is ported and that my credit balance from overpaying my bills is returned to me, to which she answered. At that point, she basically stopped engaging in discussions, and gave the sense that she was waiting for me to hang up.
I'm a polite and very reasonable person when it comes to contacting customer service or specialist to resolve issues. I'm also straight-forward in my approach. I made it clear to the specialist that I would not play the game that some have no choice but to engage in. I reached out to Fido in good faith to find a solution, if nothing is offered to me (because you don't think I'll switch) and I end up moving onto a more competitive provider, I will not entertain offers to "win" me back after the switch.
It's ironic that people often say "we value your loyalty" or "thank you for your loyalty", yet I see special offers for new customer on Fido.ca but there's not even a retention plan for loyal customers. It's sad but I guess that's the reality. When you stay with the same company for too long, you are taken for granted.
Thank you for listening/reading to my rant as a loyal customer, and so long. And who knows, maybe our paths will cross again in the future.
