Post by kidliquid on Aug 28, 2010 0:43:47 GMT -5
Alright here is my story:
I had just purchased a new HD TV and wanted to make the most of it. At the time I was with shaw for cable and internet and telus for phone service. I decided now was the time to find the best bundled service and stick with 1 provider. I wanted basic high speed internet, home phone with caller ID and international discounted rates, and a mid level digital/HD television package. I called both companies and asked for the price after any promotional packages included have expired, promotions are great but I want a price I can live with down the road. Shaw quoted me $130 or thereabouts and telus were around $121. So it was decided. I had heard rumours about a contract so I asked the telus rep if this was the case a simple yes was all I received back, no length of term no mention of cancellation fees or possible rate hikes, so I had assumed that I would be sent a copy of this contract or shown one by the tech coming to do the install, nothing, in fact I'm sure had I not asked the rep myself I would have been none the wiser about this "contract".
It was quite early on when the problems began. I would lose my internet connection and consequently the tv would go down. I was advised that a simple reset of the modem would remedy this problem. After about the 3rd time home remedying this problem and only a few weeks into service I was feeling overwhelmingly dissatisfied and I called telus to come and get their crap out of my house. This is when I was first made aware of the $120 cancellation fee, the rep said if I didn't give them the opportunity to send out a tech to fix the problem they would have to charge me. The tech came, gave me a new modem and told me that some of the modems were refurbished, or crap in other words. This was alright for another few weeks when I noticed quite a lot of channels were cancelled. I thought at first that it must be the promotions expiry, until I noticed a channel I had requested missing. So I tried calling to figure it out, got the whole sitting on hold treatment hearing how valued of a customer I am and the likes, hung up tried calling back later, the problem dragged on for about 3 weeks, before I was informed something had gone screwey with my service and they would rectify it ASAP. They gave me a lovely free movie rental($5 value) for my troubles.
Moving on, I sold my house and called to discontinue my service, as I wasn't sure if I was going to be staying in the country. This is when I learned the full extent of the early termination charge. It was $120 each for the internet and tv, plus I was charged for the cost of all the equipment(to be returned to me upon receipt of their equipment) I had a final bill of about $1000. They told me if and when I buy another house I will be credited back the cancellation fee if I were to resume service. So I did that, and to be honest I haven't had a problem for a good months until recently. I missed a payment on my bill, because someone had taken in the mail and misplaced the bill. I had ordered a UFC HDppv, and had quite a few international calls. Due to all this chaos(as it appears on my telus bills anyways) I had quite a large bill last month, and somehow missed the actual total of last month's stripped away bill, but I had a feeling it was a bit high. So the following few weeks I decided not to add any usage fees to my bill so as I could see exactly what my monthly, bare bones, charge was. Now my bill is $160 a month, so I called a rep to help me understand this updated charge. He, rather patronizingly, recited all the individual charges to me as if the simple addition of these charges together was the cause of my confusion. I said I can see these charges in my bill, I think I'm being charged too much for my TV, to which he, again, was so kind as to list off all the separate tv charges, pretty irksome to say the least. I had enough of this carry on, so I told him about my original quoted price for the service bundle/month. He said well if you add your tv and internet that price sounds right, maybe because I had telus home phone at the time I forgot to factor this into the bundle, ridiculous, making me out to be some kind of idiot. I said no, no, no because I requested the same quote from shaw and they were $10 more a month, to which he goes, that's shaw they're a completely different company. I had enough so I said goodbye and hungup. I was looking over the bill again and noticed they're going to up the price per theme pack as well effective October sometime.
Enough is enough, surely I can't be expected to bow down to whatever charges they decide to level me with because I am somehow bound to a contract I never seen much less signed and apparently in agreement to terms of service I never agreed to. Terms to the effect that telus reserve the right to increase charges as long as 30 days notice is given. I mean surely there is a bit of contra proferentem at play here. Surely I can't be expected to pay to get out of this service. Can I?
I had just purchased a new HD TV and wanted to make the most of it. At the time I was with shaw for cable and internet and telus for phone service. I decided now was the time to find the best bundled service and stick with 1 provider. I wanted basic high speed internet, home phone with caller ID and international discounted rates, and a mid level digital/HD television package. I called both companies and asked for the price after any promotional packages included have expired, promotions are great but I want a price I can live with down the road. Shaw quoted me $130 or thereabouts and telus were around $121. So it was decided. I had heard rumours about a contract so I asked the telus rep if this was the case a simple yes was all I received back, no length of term no mention of cancellation fees or possible rate hikes, so I had assumed that I would be sent a copy of this contract or shown one by the tech coming to do the install, nothing, in fact I'm sure had I not asked the rep myself I would have been none the wiser about this "contract".
It was quite early on when the problems began. I would lose my internet connection and consequently the tv would go down. I was advised that a simple reset of the modem would remedy this problem. After about the 3rd time home remedying this problem and only a few weeks into service I was feeling overwhelmingly dissatisfied and I called telus to come and get their crap out of my house. This is when I was first made aware of the $120 cancellation fee, the rep said if I didn't give them the opportunity to send out a tech to fix the problem they would have to charge me. The tech came, gave me a new modem and told me that some of the modems were refurbished, or crap in other words. This was alright for another few weeks when I noticed quite a lot of channels were cancelled. I thought at first that it must be the promotions expiry, until I noticed a channel I had requested missing. So I tried calling to figure it out, got the whole sitting on hold treatment hearing how valued of a customer I am and the likes, hung up tried calling back later, the problem dragged on for about 3 weeks, before I was informed something had gone screwey with my service and they would rectify it ASAP. They gave me a lovely free movie rental($5 value) for my troubles.
Moving on, I sold my house and called to discontinue my service, as I wasn't sure if I was going to be staying in the country. This is when I learned the full extent of the early termination charge. It was $120 each for the internet and tv, plus I was charged for the cost of all the equipment(to be returned to me upon receipt of their equipment) I had a final bill of about $1000. They told me if and when I buy another house I will be credited back the cancellation fee if I were to resume service. So I did that, and to be honest I haven't had a problem for a good months until recently. I missed a payment on my bill, because someone had taken in the mail and misplaced the bill. I had ordered a UFC HDppv, and had quite a few international calls. Due to all this chaos(as it appears on my telus bills anyways) I had quite a large bill last month, and somehow missed the actual total of last month's stripped away bill, but I had a feeling it was a bit high. So the following few weeks I decided not to add any usage fees to my bill so as I could see exactly what my monthly, bare bones, charge was. Now my bill is $160 a month, so I called a rep to help me understand this updated charge. He, rather patronizingly, recited all the individual charges to me as if the simple addition of these charges together was the cause of my confusion. I said I can see these charges in my bill, I think I'm being charged too much for my TV, to which he, again, was so kind as to list off all the separate tv charges, pretty irksome to say the least. I had enough of this carry on, so I told him about my original quoted price for the service bundle/month. He said well if you add your tv and internet that price sounds right, maybe because I had telus home phone at the time I forgot to factor this into the bundle, ridiculous, making me out to be some kind of idiot. I said no, no, no because I requested the same quote from shaw and they were $10 more a month, to which he goes, that's shaw they're a completely different company. I had enough so I said goodbye and hungup. I was looking over the bill again and noticed they're going to up the price per theme pack as well effective October sometime.
Enough is enough, surely I can't be expected to bow down to whatever charges they decide to level me with because I am somehow bound to a contract I never seen much less signed and apparently in agreement to terms of service I never agreed to. Terms to the effect that telus reserve the right to increase charges as long as 30 days notice is given. I mean surely there is a bit of contra proferentem at play here. Surely I can't be expected to pay to get out of this service. Can I?