Repugnant Price Gouging

[disgusted1]

Dear Fido,

I am writing with regards to an absurd fee you have charged to my account on Wednesday, March 18th at 8:32 p.m.  At 8:15 you alerted me that I had used 90% of my data. 15 minutes later, you alerted me that you had charged me the maximum allowed by CRTC - $50 -  for exceeding my data limit. I was stunned, to say the least.

I had not used data in that time period and certainly did not suddenly decide to use 1 GB within 15 minutes! A look at my data usage through the years will clearly show that such use is an outlier for me. Given my data use patterns,  I have no doubt that Fido is aware that this is (an unprompted) system update, but, chooses to see it as an opportunity to make an extra buck off of a loyal customer. This is a disgraceful practice.

I am not arguing that my phone did not use the data – it did, whether I approved it or not.  I am arguing to pay a fair market price and not to be subjected to such disrespect from a company that I have supported for years.

I have been a loyal Fido customer for years and years, and rarely do I even use half of the data I pay for. This large data use within minutes is an obvious anomaly to my data usage and so obviously a system update.

That said, I do not take issue with being charged for data my phone used.

However, I do take issue with the outright greed and price gouging Fido has displayed. This practice of blatantly overcharging at such ludicrous rates – particularly on what is obviously a system update - is absolutely repugnant. I am embarrassed for Fido and embarrassed for myself in supporting a company that would treat any of its customers in this manner.

We use 3 devices plus our home phone line with Fido -4 services- I will dump Fido altogether if you cannot see fit to offer me a reasonable rate on the system update data usage. I understand I am under contract for another year; I will weigh out my options with that.

Hey, how about the $20 rate you offered me 3 minutes after you charged me $50? That rate seemed fair. I wonder if you realize what a slap in the face that offer is coming off of an opportunity for you to gouge the customer first. Disgusting….

This is an abhorrent practice at any time, but especially now, at a time when people are losing jobs, are using savings to survive, not knowing when they will be employed again. Fido should not be trying to make an extra buck off of its loyal customers at any time, but especially not in a time of national and international crisis.

Again, disgusting….

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @disgusted1,

We know that having a higher than usual bill is never a pleasant surprise! We truly understand the importance of our customers being able to keep track of their usage to be able to avoid any overage fees and we offer multiple ways to verify your usage in Real Time at all times:

- My Account the App

- My Account on fido.ca

- by dialing *3337 from your Fido phone

It's important to note that the text message notifications that we send when you reach 90% and 100% of the data included in your plan are sent on an informative base only and are not in real time. Receipt of these warnings is not guaranteed and we strongly recommend tracking your usage through My Account instead.

I understand where you're coming from and that the usage you made wasn't intentional, however, there is no way for our system to differentiate between intentional usage/browsing or an app or OS updating through data. The best thing to avoid these situations would be to set up all updates in your device through your WiFi only. This will avoid any updates that require more data to go through LTE. 

Also, the overage rates for data can be different depending on your plan, but you can double check the applicable rates through your online account directly. In an effort to avoid data overages, we now also offer plans that come with Data Overage Protection which will pause your data once you’ve reached your limit. From there, you can choose to add a data option if you'd like to continue using data and un-pause it. If you have an older plan that doesn't come with this option, we can always look into changing the plan.  

Rest assured that during those difficult times, our main concern is supporting our customers and communities as best we can, you can learn more here.

If you'd like us to revise your account, you can reach out to us through those channels or we can send you a PM on the Community, let us know.