Bell Mobility Canada, Toronto, Canada - poor reception quality on cell phone - rude, runaround customer service

# 27 for September 26, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on September 25, 2003:

From:

RE: Bell Mobility Canada, Toronto, Canada - poor reception quality on cell phone - rude, runaround customer service

My phone has no reception, it cuts in and out, and disconnects very frequently. My family and friends hate calling me on my Bell Mobility phone because they cannot hear a word that I am saying and it takes 40 minutes to have a 15 minute conversation. "What did you say? Hello? Hello? Are you still there?" is now the standard. I am by no means the only person with this problem. I have discovered a group of people who have also taken out Bell Mobility phones and who also get no reception. When I called in to remedy my complaint, the Bell Mobility representatives told me to stand next to a window or go outside whenever I want to make a phone call or accept one. Excuse me? I am paying YOU every month to get a proper signal and I am paying YOU for a service that is nonexistent. I just want my phone to get a signal. I don't live in a rural area. I live in TORONTO for crying out loud! Whether I am indoors or outdoors, my phone is constantly searching for a signal. Although Bell Mobility's Call Centre Representatives are rude and unhelpful, they are saints compared to the Bell World in-store representatives. They tell you lies and have no manners whatsoever. I took my cell phone to TWO separate Bell World stores and came back with zero results. At one Bell World store, I paid $28.75 for a loaner phone so that my phone could be sent out and looked at. The rep assured me that it was a fixable problem. Two and half weeks later, I picked up my phone in the EXACT SAME CONDITION in which I gave to them.

They did manage to attach a bill saying that it would cost me $214.00 to fix the problem and it wasn't covered under the warranty. He even had the audacity to tell me that I was LUCKY to pay for a loaner phone since it was the weekend and that I could have gone “phoneless”. The Bell World rep did manage to show me some new phones that they were selling and he recommended that I get one of those. They did not seem to understand that I didn't want to buy a new phone, I wanted the phone that I am under contract with, paying my bill every month for, to be fixed. At the second Bell World store, the rep managed to be cruder and more boorish than the last. She recommended that I look at their new phones and buy one. When I made it clear that I didn't want a new phone, I wanted my problem with the no reception fixed, she gave me a map to Markham and told me to drive there to speak to someone. I am now in the process in cutting off my phone which will cost about $100.00 (the Bell World rep wasn't sure, surprise, surprise) since I took a contract out with Bell Mobility. I am not looking forward to even more shabby Bell Mobility customer service. Signed, Extremely Fed Up and Frustrated, Toronto P.S. My phone is cutting out as I read this letter to a friend.