Bell Mobility Help/Discussion

[Nehkara]

Hello CP!

I am with Bell, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note II, and my contract expires in 24 months.

About 6 months ago the reception in my house began to degrade. It has gotten to the point where, for the past few months, I get little to no signal in my house... my phone occasionally even starts roaming. I drop a lot of calls and a lot of my texts fail to send.

I live in Huntington Hills, obviously I should have EXCELLENT cell reception where I live. There is a cell tower less than two blocks from my house.

I get excellent cell reception elsewhere so the problem is not my phone, and one of my neighbours has noticed the same problem with Bell and has phoned to complain.

I called Bell in early September about this problem. The tech support guy I talked to said that there appeared to be something wrong with the tower but that because it was a long-standing problem, it would be listed as low priority for repair. I asked him if I should call back in a month or so if it was not resolved and he said yes.

I called a few days ago and the tech support guy I got this time said that because it is a long-standing problem, it will not be fixed. Period.

I explained that I can't really stay with Bell if I get no signal in my house. He agreed but reiterated that it would not be repaired any time soon (if at all).


What I want to know is do I have any recourse here? Can I successfully argue that I shouldn't be bound by my contract if they can't provide the service I am paying for? Do you at least think I could get a reduction in my bill if I called to complain to customer service?

Comments/questions/opinions welcomed.

Thanks!

[MarchHare]

I'm not sure if you have any recourse or not, but if/when you switch providers, make sure you don't go to Telus as they share towers with Bell and you'll just have the same problem again. Also, in case you weren't aware, Koodo = Telus and Virgin = Bell, so avoid those carriers too.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

my phone occasionally even starts roaming.

What do you mean? What does it show? Pretty much the only roaming it should do is when you leave Canada.

I ask because this sounds odd, and I wonder if that may be part of the problem with the tower.

[phaneuf_train]

I live in Tuscany and I have the exact same problem with Bell. I'm just waiting my contract out.

[4X4]

If you do attempt and "succeed" killing your contract with Bell, I recommend getting it in writing, and checking your credit every couple months for the next couple of years. Even if you pay them out, you still need to make sure they don't send it to collections (twice), forcing you to pay the same bill over and over and over. And for future reference, don't use Bell. And don't forget to document everything. Because they're a bunch of lying, incompetent idiots, and they will tell you one thing and then do something else (send a bill you paid to collections and then when you call to get it reversed, tell you that they can't open the file because it's gone to collections).

Have fun!

Bell - the company that blatantly lies to you, and steals your money repeatedly!

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by ken0042

What do you mean? What does it show? Pretty much the only roaming it should do is when you leave Canada.

I ask because this sounds odd, and I wonder if that may be part of the problem with the tower.

Sometimes I lose my connection entirely or it tells me Emergency Calls Only.

Other times it actually warns me about data roaming turning on.

[Wormius]

Edit: nm, just noticed that you said Bell was aware of the known problem. On Virgin at least there is now an option to unlock your phone and cancel the contract. While you could try that, would it make any difference, unless a new carrier would use different infrastructure?

[Azure]

Sounds like a phone problem.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Azure

Sounds like a phone problem.

That's what I'm thinking. I have the same issue with my phones (Samsung Galaxy S and SII) at certain locations with both Bell and Rogers, whereas people with the same carriers have fine reception in the same spot.

I'm getting a new phone soon that's different from the Samsung brand. I hope that solves the problem.

[Azure]

If it were a tower problem, more people would complain, and Bell would have done something about it already.

Considering the problem has been going on for 6 months, it has to be a phone problem.

[WilderPegasus]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

What I want to know is do I have any recourse here? Can I successfully argue that I shouldn't be bound by my contract if they can't provide the service I am paying for? Do you at least think I could get a reduction in my bill if I called to complain to customer service?

What does your contract say? If they are advertising service in your area and you aren't getting any I'd think you'd have grounds for false advertising. But I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on the internet.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Azure

If it were a tower problem, more people would complain, and Bell would have done something about it already.

Considering the problem has been going on for 6 months, it has to be a phone problem.

That's assuming Bell would care to fix a problem that isn't currently hurting it's bottom line. Case in point, people still paying for services even though their phones don't work in the area.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That's assuming Bell would care to fix a problem that isn't currently hurting it's bottom line. Case in point, people still paying for services even though their phones don't work in the area.

That could be and I wouldn't put it past them to screw someone over as long as they're getting paid.

I've had similar problems that the OP had with some phones. In the end it was a hardware problem and the phone needed to be replaced. Could be the SIM card is not making proper connection. Happens a lot.

[Wormius]

The one time I had issues with connecting to the network was when I accidentally messed with "Network Settings".

It just seems weird for the OP's phone to work perfectly fine in any other location though. That's why I am tempted to rule out the hardware. A flakey SIM connection might explain the "emergency call only" situation.

[starseed]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...article552349/

Check and see if there have been any changes to your cellphone agreement since you first signed your contract, advises Cellphones.ca. Changes will be noted in the bills you receive each month. Because of the Material Adverse Clause in your contract, says writer Scot Cerullo, you have a right to terminate without paying an early termination fee, should any terms or conditions change.
Mr. Cerullo also suggests finding legitimate "dead spots" and making lots of calls from those areas, so that you can accumulate a large number of dropped calls. Then, call and ask for a supervisor and use your dropped calls as ammunition to complain about the service.

I imagine people have successfully done this before. It seems unreasonable that they charge you monthly for services that they are admitting that they will not provide. I would politely give them a call, and if they refuse to cancel, tell them that you will submit a complaint to the BBB.

[flamesfan6]

just heard this and read this today, and didn't see it on any other thread. Make sure to opt out by whatever way they hide opting out of it:

Disgusting that they are doing this, the privacy commission is looking at it but who knows what will come from it.

The company has begun sending out notices to its customers advising them that, starting Nov. 16, it is changing the way it uses some of their information, including to deliver “product offers through new business and marketing reports, [and] making some of the ads and marketing partner offers you see more relevant to you,” unless customers choose to opt out.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle14984876/

The finer print reveals that Bell will specifically start to follow your web history on both your home and mobile internet, your TV viewing, app usage, calling patterns (probably time of day) and your location via cellular nodes.

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/10/22/be...-targeted-ads/

[Wormius]

Any news on what Virgin's situation is going to be with respect to that? Will Bell collect whatever data comes in through Virgin's users without permission or way to opt out? Or does Bell care what those people are doing?

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Any news on what Virgin's situation is going to be with respect to that? Will Bell collect whatever data comes in through Virgin's users without permission or way to opt out? Or does Bell care what those people are doing?

Virgin just sent an email that was almost the exact same to Bell.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Virgin just sent an email that was almost the exact same to Bell.

Recently? I checked my email and saw nothing from Virgin as of yet...

[Anduril]

I never got one from Bell and only found out through Mobilesyrup.
Here's the link for the Virgin copy though.