Airdrie Man "shocked" by $8000 phone bill

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Well that was a little bit of a exaggeration, but my point still stands. Go watch one of those cell phone kiosks in the mall and I'll gaurantee you if you watch 10 people get a new phone and sign a contract not one will read it all before signing.

All they do is say "sign here" and everyone obliges.

Edit: And I think this guy is a idiot and should pay the bill, but not because he never read the fine print, but because he was warned on his iphone that he was entering A area where he would be charged for being overseas and accepted those terms. If he wasn't warned then yes I think he would have A case.

[OzSome]

I don't know if I should feel sorry for this guy or not. Come on you must be stupid to think about using your cellphone outside Canada and not get charge for it. I am with Telus and I know that whenever I travel to the US, i get charged for like .90 cents a minutes talking while in the US. Texting on the other hand is free though. I don't even know how much they charge for roaming data but i don't even bother to find out since I refused to use my tiny cellphone to surf the Net.

[CaptainCrunch]

It would be nice if Virgin could post his name so that when he goes to another carrier he is refused.

People whine that corporations are evil and soley there to screw people around, and that does happen. But not in this case, I would love to see him go to Bell, Roger's, AT&T and others and they politely tell him to F off.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

It would be nice if Virgin could post his name so that when he goes to another carrier he is refused.

People whine that corporations are evil and soley there to screw people around, and that does happen. But not in this case, I would love to see him go to Bell, Roger's, AT&T and others and they politely tell him to F off.

He already gave his name. It's Jason Boutang.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by puckluck

He already gave his name. It's Jason Boutang.

Yeah but someone will be stupid enough to give him a cell phone.

They should set up an industry wide lookup on this guy.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah but someone will be stupid enough to give him a cell phone.

They should set up an industry wide lookup on this guy.

If he even pays $2000 I would love someone as stupid as him as my customer if I was Rogers or any other wireless phone company. He says his average bill is $200 so I don't think anyone would refuse his business as long as he is paying the bills.

They are still making a lot of money whether it be 8k or even as low as $1500.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by puckluck

If he even pays $2000 I would love someone as stupid as him as my customer if I was Rogers or any other wireless phone company. He says his average bill is $200 so I don't think anyone would refuse his business as long as he is paying the bills.

They are still making a lot of money whether it be 8k or even as low as $1500.

Really to me as soon as he said he was going to another carrier I would have taken the $2000.00 option off of the table, posted pictures in my ads of the sms messages and crushed his credit when he didn't pay the $8000.00 bill.

All they've done is open it up for every idiot that gets behind on his bills or runs his charges up to go whining to the papers.

the bottom line is that Virgin opened the door, it will be interested to see who runs through it next.

[bcb]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah but someone will be stupid enough to give him a cell phone.

They should set up an industry wide lookup on this guy.

This isn't the insurance industry.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by bcb

This isn't the insurance industry.

Funny, I was just thinking about this! In the insurance industry the standards for what people are signing and buying are rigorous. I know, we are talking apples and oranges here, but seriously does a cell phone contract need to be as wordy and complex as it is? Why does that contract need to be 15 pages (and take some people 3 hours to read!!)?When you purchase life insurance for example the agent has to go through the contract with you and explain what you are buying. Why can't the same thing be done for a cell phone contract? Frankly the life insurance costs you a lot less money per month than the cell phone these days!

It just seems so much more complicated than it needs to be. I turn off roaming when I leave the country, but things like that are just plain gouging. Rogers advertises this plan for the US, but it doesn't actually include your current data...it just gives you a reduced rate for the roaming. They also advertise a replacement handset should something happen to yours...sounds great! My business partner had his iPhone crushed by a c-Train and was given a refurbished BB Pearl for the replacement...so the data plan and such was useless. Its basically false advertising IMO, although I'm sure that someone is now going to tell me how (a) he shouldn't have had the phone crushed (because it was clearly a decision he made) or (b) at least he got something or (c) he should've read the fine print.

At what point though does the wireless provider just have the onus to provide the good service and customer satisfaction that they know customers would like?

Anyway, rant over.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

You are probably the same person that signs up for a 3 year contract with Telus for a free craptop and then complains when they don't let you cancel after 6 months. If you never read fine print and don't know anyone that does you should meet new people.

Fair enough. I seriously doubt 99% of people read the 'fine print' in any contract they've ever signed. So... yes, I'm one of those people. The 3 year aspect is usually pretty obvious. You're also kind of an ass... maybe I'm not the one who needs to meet new people.

[HPLovecraft]

This is why I use a pay-as-you-go phone. No contract for me. I hate those got-dang things. I try to avoid them like the plague whenever I can.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

You're also kind of an ass... maybe I'm not the one who needs to meet new people.

Apparently I need to meet more realtors or CEO's/deities of oil & gas companies. Would either of you happen to be one?

. . .

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I'm curious where people are getting 15 pages for a cell phone contract. They're 2 pages, if the stores printed off on legal sized paper they might even be one. They're filled with white space to make them easier to read and understand. They aren't complicated, very straight forward and simple really.

[CaptainCrunch]

I just picked up a new cellphone with Bell today and the contract was 2 pages long, didn't have a lot of small print and the rep offered to go through the contract with me.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I just picked up a new cellphone with Bell today and the contract was 2 pages long, didn't have a lot of small print and the rep offered to go through the contract with me.

And did you go through it with him? Be honest now. . . .

[Locke]

So, I'm with Telus and I just signed up for Text Message alerts with a soccer team in England. They send me text messages whenever theres breaking news at about £4.99 per text.

Are there going to be additional charges associated with this?

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

I'm curious where people are getting 15 pages for a cell phone contract. They're 2 pages, if the stores printed off on legal sized paper they might even be one. They're filled with white space to make them easier to read and understand. They aren't complicated, very straight forward and simple really.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I just picked up a new cellphone with Bell today and the contract was 2 pages long, didn't have a lot of small print and the rep offered to go through the contract with me.

ARen't these a result of (relatively) recent government action? I thought they have set rules that things such as these must be presented in simple terms, and short. I am pretty sure it applies to banks, but maybe it is to everything.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I'm just doing this to make fun of you, but in what math book is $1000 much larger than $8000?

peter's a words guy, not a numbers guy.

There was a big philosophical book on it, give me a sec and I'll find the books name and author so you can read it for yourself.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

And did you go through it with him? Be honest now. . . .

Yup