Dealing with Bell

[bossy22]

So, my ex wife got my kids cell phones 3 years ago, with Bell of all places. I was pissed because their bills where huge and of course it was a 3 year contract. Near the end she wanted to renew but I convinced her bell are idiots and teenagers don't need all data and large minutes, just texting, so we moved them to virgin for half the monthly fees.
My ex took them and did this with 20 days left on their contract, but now we are being billed $200 early termination fee, and Bell is demanding I pay it. Telus and Rogers are $20/month remaining, so I expected at the most it would be $40.
I had nothing to do with the original contract, and my name got put on because my ex is stupid and I needed to deal with plan changes half way through the contracts.
Am I SOL?

[Rathji]

Look at the contact. I have never heard cancellation fees that were not based on the amount of time early it was cancelled.

Depends on what yours says though.

Normally though, you have to pay to cancel both voice and data. So if that's 20 each, 3 kids in 120 for a month early cancelling.

Edit: just realized you said 3 years, not 3 kids, but I am sure you can do the math.

[ken0042]

I'm pretty sure my Bell contract says that- there is a per month fee for early termination; but a minimum of $200. So if paying out the remaining balance is cheaper that is what should be done. (Or so they mentioned when I got my phone.)

I would suggest calling back and letting them know that you were simply giving notice of your intent to not extend your contract; not asking for early termination.

[Sliver]

I think Rogers has a $200 minimum as well.

[bossy22]

I should've mentioned that my ex has the contract, so I have no clue what it states about early cancellation. I'm trying to get her to deal with this but I'm not having much luck.

[MarchHare]

Just an FYI, Virgin Mobile is 100% owned by Bell. Try to convince them to waive the early termination charge because you're sticking with them and not going to Rogers/Fido or Telus/Koodo.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Just an FYI, Virgin Mobile is 100% owned by Bell. Try to convince them to waive the early termination charge because you're sticking with them and not going to Rogers/Fido or Telus/Koodo.

And you thought you were getting away from Bell... Bwa haha.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

How is your name on the contract without agreeing to it?

Without all the information it sounds like it should be your ex's sole responsibility.

However, I would guess you verbally put yourself on the contract after the fact, in which case you are responsible (I believe Bell can go after either co-signers).

It was a dumb move by your ex to get new phones before the end on the contract. Why did she do that?

There are a few scenarios you might be able to argue but we'd really need to know a lot more info. That said, the info required probably shouldn't be posted online, so pm one if the resident CP lawyers, probably one that does family.

[Ben_in_Canada]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I had nothing to do with the original contract, and my name got put on because my ex is stupid and I needed to deal with plan changes half way through the contracts.
Am I SOL?

Doesn't making a change on a plan restart the contract date? You might be looking at 18 months early termination not 1.

[Paladium]

I see why she's the ex

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

Doesn't making a change on a plan restart the contract date? You might be looking at 18 months early termination not 1.

You are thinking of Rogers.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by ken0042

You are thinking of Rogers.

It depends on the extent of the change, I've made small changes, raising text or data, then a year later lowering it that did not cause my contract to reset. I also found that if you call in to cancel (I was fully prepared to pay out the contract) they were willing to drastically change my plan just to keep me with them.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Hanni

It depends on the extent of the change, I've made small changes, raising text or data, then a year later lowering it that did not cause my contract to reset. I also found that if you call in to cancel (I was fully prepared to pay out the contract) they were willing to drastically change my plan just to keep me with them.

Yeah that happened to me last week. I was going to cancel and go to Telus and instead they dropped my bill (two iPhones) from $230 to $160. They're pretty deluxe plans, hence the price, but I was surprised at how low they'd go plus they added a bunch of crap like unlimited anytime calling, unlimited texting and unlimited long distance between any phones on the plan. Didn't affect my contract end date (one year to go).

[Sliver]

Also - has anybody just said "eff it" to voicemail? I could lower these plans even more if I dropped voicemail. I don't like retrieving my messages, and I always see if somebody called because of call ID. Plus, I prefer a text anyway.