Cancelled Service

I was a customer of Fido from about 1998 to 2005. In July of 2005, I found a cell phone I liked, advertised by their competition for $49. Fido sold the same phone for $349 and were unwilling to do better than that, so I cancelled my Fido plan and switched to their competitor. A week later I received a call from Fido asking if there was anything they could do to change my mind. I advised I'd already given them that chance when I asked if they could match the price on the phone, and had already switched providers, so no, my decision to cancel was definitive.

Three months later, I began getting calls at my office from Fido, advising I had an outstanding balance. I advised their customer "service" people that I had cancelled my service back in July. I was told I should have known it hadn't been cancelled when I continued to get bills. Since I was on the electronic billing option, I asked if they notify their customers when bills are ready for viewing - they confirmed they did not. I asked why on earth I would go into their website, enter my account info and check for any outstanding bills just on the off-chance that their company had fouled up my cancellation. There was no answer to that! I assumed the matter was settled. I also asked how many calls their records showed subsequent to July - none, of course!

The next month, and every month after that, I would get phone calls at my office, interrupting my work day, and have to go thru the whole thing again. Over the course of all these months, it seems at no point did ANYONE take the time to actually cancel my service!

After many months of this, collection companies began calling me weekly at my office! I began writing emails to the company via their website. Other than automated responses, I never did receive a response from anyone at Fido.

I today (over a year after I cancelled the service!) received another collection notice, threatening my credit record if I do not pay an amount of $267.53 within 10 days. To put that in perspective, my monthly bill was typically $45 or so, which means they continued to charge my account for 6 months after I cancelled the service! Note that I was not under any sort of locked-in term - it was a month-to-month plan - one of the features they advertised as a value proposition.

I've tried again (with an expectation of futility) to email Fido's dubious staff however my frustration at their utter incompetence has reached the point whereby I shall be taking them to small claims court to block any detrimental impacts to my credit record. I'm also filing a complaint with the local BBB. I've spent a lot (!) of time dealing with this issue over the past many months and am fed up!

Note also that there is another complaint on this site which mirrors mine, so it's not an isolated event!

If you are considering Fido, I would advise you reconsider and get with a reputable provider - Fido is an organization of dubious credibility indeed!