Question about advanced billing.

[NSFL]

Just recently, I switched to a Telus plan that bundles internet, home phone, and long distance. And I just got my bill today. It was completely messed up, so I give Telus a call. What they tell me is that it's so high because they bill you for next month. So I was billed for this month and next month. Then next month's bill will be regularized and I'll be fine. Ok, no biggy.

But I got to thinking, if they're advance billing me, when or if I decide to cancel my account, does that mean that they've just gyped me a month of fees as I've been paying for next month's service? Does that make sense?

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Just recently, I switched to a Telus plan that bundles internet, home phone, and long distance. And I just got my bill today. It was completely messed up, so I give Telus a call. What they tell me is that it's so high because they bill you for next month. So I was billed for this month and next month. Then next month's bill will be regularized and I'll be fine. Ok, no biggy.

But I got to thinking, if they're advance billing me, when or if I decide to cancel my account, does that mean that they've just gyped me a month of fees as I've been paying for next month's service? Does that make sense?

You're probably bang on with that concern. In fact, watch your billing in the meantime too. They tend to"adjust" billing periods from time to time and may even try to bill you another month in advance in the meantime, especially if you make changes to to your plan again. Telus is just about the crookedest company I've ever dealt with, so watch them closely.

[BlackArcher101]

For any company that bills you a month in advance and you terminate services, the company will reimburse you the pro-rated amount you didn't use.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

For any company that bills you a month in advance and you terminate services, the company will reimburse you the pro-rated amount you didn't use.

I don't remember this ever happening for any service I've ever had that was billed in advance.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by NSFL

I don't remember this ever happening for any service I've ever had that was billed in advance.

Chances are it was cancelled at the end of the billing cycle then. That's usually what happens, you call to cancel and we set it up to happen at the end of the billing cycle so you've used what we already billed you for. Then we're square.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Chances are it was cancelled at the end of the billing cycle then. That's usually what happens, you call to cancel and we set it up to happen at the end of the billing cycle so you've used what we already billed you for. Then we're square.

Mmmkay, I'll take your word for it. I'm hoping other companies do that too, not just Telus.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Mmmkay, I'll take your word for it. I'm hoping other companies do that too, not just Telus.

Shaw does advance billing as well, and usually cancel dates are setup so that you use the last month in total

[NSFL]

I'm actually wondering about Rogers Wireless. I believe they also bill in advance. I'm going to switch soon, so I was just wondering what was to happen.

[urban1]

When you cancel they require 30 days or a billing cycles notice and theyll cancel it at the end of the next billing cycle. Only your regular charges are paid in advance and your extra usage isnt so it works out in the end.

The system is clearly designed not in the customers favor.

[BlackArcher101]

I've cancelled a lot of services in my time, and I've usually received reimbursement. Not once did they make the end date coincide with the billing cycle in order to use the rest of the payment. I guess I'm just lucky then.

NSFL, you say rogers... it's no contract right?

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I've cancelled a lot of services in my time, and I've usually received reimbursement. Not once did they make the end date coincide with the billing cycle in order to use the rest of the payment. I guess I'm just lucky then.

NSFL, you say rogers... it's no contract right?

My contract ended on May 31st, so I've had enough of Rogers and now I want to switch over to Telus for a bit.

[Shawnski]

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[Flames09]

When we were advance billed, I actually didn't pay my last bill and told them to use the 'advance' billing money they had charged me when I first signed up, to pay the final month (we didn't cancel just did that at the end of our contract).

[Ford Prefect]

Shawnski ... sorry if I offended. Maybe I've just had bad luck with Telus, but I've had a lot of bad experiences over the years. My problems have ranged from them arbitrarily changing my billing cycle to their advantage (for my internet connection), to failing to honour a service contract on a business system, to holding my toll free number hostage when it wasn't housed with them in the first place. I'll grant your point that it is surely not their intent to rip me off, and my "crookedest" comment was an emotional one. Their "systems" however have caused me a lot of problems. Even on simple stuff. Today for example, I called them to let them know that I was getting somebody else's phone bill, in addition to my own, by mistake ... another person's name but my address. I've returned the other person's bill through Canada Post for the last two months, so I thought today I would try calling them instead. I was told by Telus's service rep that they couldn't call the account holder themselves to straighten things out, even though I was able to give them the account owner's name, address and phone number (I found this info in the phone book!). I was told the person had to call Telus themselves and instruct them to correct the address on the bill. The problem with that as it turns out, is that the account holder has been calling Telus herself for two months trying to get the address corrected. The person in question has lived at her current address for 25 years, but for some reason Telus's "system" arbitrarily changed the address on her account to my address. Telus is threatening to disconnect her phone because her payments are always late because she hasn't been getting her bill. So ya, Telus is not out to deliberately rip anybody off, but their systems wind up doing it anyway. The net result is the same.

PS-I understand what you're saying about the complexity of some of Telus's systems and plans, and the potential for innocent mistakes. The biggest complaint I guess I've had over the years is a lack of common sense that I've encountered when trying to get some of these systems glitches corrected. Today's episode with the third party bill coming to my address brought all those past experiences to mind again.

[NSFL]

Adding to what Ford said. I wasn't too happy with Telus because they placed a random internet connection fee on my bill. This had also been one of the reasons why my bill was so out of whack. The connection fee was so out of place because my internet had been hooked up over 4 years ago, so it was a huge mistake. So I'm not sure if they're just out to gouge the consumer and hope that people would just pay the bill without noticing, or if it was actually a mistake in the system. Either way, it caused grief, and much yelling. Though I have to admit, I kept my temper, I'm pretty proud of that.

[Shawnski]

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