[FireWire]

Sorry I just needed to vent.. I just found out my cell phone provider had cut my line, without even telling me they had done so! Long story short, I bought my iPhone a few months ago through their retention service, in order to bargain a good deal. The person said it would be billed on my next invoice, which is automatically charged to my credit card. To be on the safe side, I asked them if it was possible to spread the amount on several payments, if ever I needed to, and they said there would be no problem.

I was very busy with my mid terms at my university and didn't check my balance regularly, but as I didn't hear anything, I assumed there was no problem.

Then, last month, I get a call from Rogers telling me that my payment was declined and that they were about to cut my line. I checked, and sure enough, my balance was too close to my limit for the payment to be accepted entirely. What ticked my off was that the person used a voice that sounded like it was the fourth time they were calling me and I wasn't cooperative, when in fact that was the first time I was made aware of the problem. In fact, the month before, they had called me for an unrelated reason and the person didn't tell me anything about my payment. Anyway, I paid 100$ and said I would spread the remaining sum in 3 monthly payments, starting december 1st.

December 1st, I make my payment as promised, then today, as I was expecting a call that didn't come, I tried to call the person, only to find out my line had been cut! They didn't even bother to call me before or at least send me an SMS or something to let me know!

I find that to be very rude and unprofessional, as I'm a loyal customer of 7 years and I always paid my bills on time. Furthermore, the total amount due was pretty low (about 300$), they could just have charged some interests and be done with it, it's not like they were going to go bankrupt if I didn't pay their 300$ by next week They even had the guts to tell me they were going to charge a 25$ "re-activation fee", which after a few expletives they agreed to have it waived.

What kind of company is that? Do you think they were justified? In my book, disconnection is a last resort measure, after all else failed and the customer have to be coaxed into paying its debt. I'm seriously thinking about making a complaint and ask for an apology and some form of credit for my trouble. If I wasn't stuck with a 3 years contract they would have lost a good customer right away.

[kmkkid]

Bottom line. You owed them money, they cut you off, tough.
Just because they are a large corporation doesn't mean you can pay your bills late, or not at all.

[FireWire]

Yeah but isn't it a little drastic, given the circumstances? Especially if that doesn't give them anything.. They said from the start that I could pay in installments if I needed too, and we had an agreement. And in the end, they didn't get more money from me by doing this, they just reconnected me and "renewed" the deal we had. What was the point of doing all this? Every other places just charge interest if you have a balance, that's all. You don't see Visa and Mastercard block your card or impound your car if you don't pay your entire bill in one month! And like I said, it's not like I was an habitual delinquent, one (not really) late payment in 7 years doesn't warrant such a drastic and brutal action! In short, they are still assholes!

[JellyBeen]

Originally Posted by FireWire 

Yeah but isn't it a little drastic, given the circumstances? Especially if that doesn't give them anything.. They said from the start that I could pay in installments if I needed too, and we had an agreement. And in the end, they didn't get more money from me by doing this, they just reconnected me and "renewed" the deal we had. What was the point of doing all this? Every other places just charge interest if you have a balance, that's all. You don't see Visa and Mastercard block your card or impound your car if you don't pay your entire bill in one month! And like I said, it's not like I was an habitual delinquent, one (not really) late payment in 7 years doesn't warrant such a drastic and brutal action! In short, they are still assholes!

Totally agree with you.

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by FireWire 

Yeah but isn't it a little drastic, given the circumstances? Especially if that doesn't give them anything.. They said from the start that I could pay in installments if I needed too, and we had an agreement. And in the end, they didn't get more money from me by doing this, they just reconnected me and "renewed" the deal we had. What was the point of doing all this? Every other places just charge interest if you have a balance, that's all. You don't see Visa and Mastercard block your card or impound your car if you don't pay your entire bill in one month! And like I said, it's not like I was an habitual delinquent, one (not really) late payment in 7 years doesn't warrant such a drastic and brutal action! In short, they are still assholes!

The VISA analogy doesn't work here. There you have a minimum payment to pay.... What happens if you continually don't pay that minimum payment?

"F@$k VISA! they cut off my credit in the middle of a fine dining meal, because I didn't pay my minimum payment for a few months! Now I'm screwed!"

Silly eh?

Rogers isn't a credit company.

You are paying for a service, which costs them money to provide. End of story.




But I will concede that Rogers are assholes, for many other different reasons.

[NYK Ace]

i never realized you could make partial payments on utility bills

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

But I will concede that Rogers are assholes, for many other different reasons.

I am currently looking into ways to get my Rogers bill reduced to the bare minimum. Can't stand the company.

[lpkmckenna]

Rogers are greedy twits.

[gradient]

I've been a Rogers subscriber for years and any time my payment is late I get an text message from them informing me of the overdue amount. As far as I know they do the same for everyone?

[FireWire]

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

Rogers isn't a credit company.

It's not related, but for you information, Rogers in fact appears as a credit company on my credit report, alongside Visa, Amex etc.

Anyway, it's not a way to treat a customer. Period.

[Eug]

I think Rogers was justified. You can get reconnected once you actually pay your bills.

$25 for a reconnection fee seems reasonable too. That's a nominal charge IMO.

P.S. Rogers doesn't appear on either my TransUnion or my Equifax credit reports.

[FireWire]

So you find normal that for a first "offense" you get disconnected? I don't see any other situation where this happens, you always get some sort of warning. Especially in this case, they clearly said it was OK to pay in several payments. Anyway, the funny thing is they reconnected me without receiving any money from me, I don't see what was their problem in the first place. It's very rude from them to act like this, they didn't have to, especially with the good record I had with them. It's not like I was several months late, I had just learned a few weeks ago that my payment was refused and they didn't even send a statement. As for the 25$, it was pretty useless, as they disconnected me, I called and asked to be reconnected and they did.. WTF?? It looks like they're playing a game. What were they trying to do?

I don't remember if they appear on my TU report but they definitively do on Equifax.

And the least they could have done is call me or send me a SMS right before, so I don't find myself out of telephone when I needed it, so I could make other plans... Or at least begin by blocking non-essential services like Internet or voicemail.. I missed a rendez-vous thanks to them. And to make things worse, I know a few persons who really deserved to have their line cut, as they haven't paid anything for many months and had a higher balance than I had, and yet Rogers didn't see fit to punish them before a long time passed... Why target me at my first incident?

[Eug]

$300 overdue and a maxed out credit card? You bet I think it's justified that they cut you off. Basically they're doing you a favour by reconnecting you.

Sometimes it's better to let the bad risks go than to spend time giving them a second change. Maybe you aren't such a bad risk, but judging by your description, you certainly aren't a good one.

The bottom line is you screwed up, but you'd rather blame someone else for your error.

[FireWire]

It's not like I had accumulated 300$ over several months of partial payments. It was due to a one-time purchase (my iPhone) and they assured me there was no problem if I spread the sum over several bills... That's what irritated me so much. And I didn't avoid my responsabilities, I always stayed in touch with them and made arrangements. After all, why such arrangment exists in the first place? Why have they offered it to me? I'm not a bad risk, I was just short in cash one month. I think they should understand that CAN happen ONCE in a lifetime.. And had they told me earlier that my payment was rejected, I could have done something in the meantime...

I think after 7 years of perfect record, I should deserve at least ONE chance, before I get treated like some irresponsible moron...

[Eug]

Basically their actions were that they cut you off and would reconnect you once you paid your bills. That's perfectly reasonable.

Now it sounds like that some in their bill payment dept. weren't in tune with others, but that's a different kettle of fish.

In any case you should feel lucky they reconnected you, cuz like I said, they're doing you a favour. You claim you're not a bad risk, and maybe you aren't, but you haven't demonstrated otherwise thus far.

I agree that Rogers has many problems, but I find it hard to blame a company for terminating service to a client that doesn't pay his bills. Your explanation that it's maxed out credit certainly doesn't help your case either.

[FireWire]

Originally Posted by Eug 

You claim you're not a bad risk, and maybe you aren't, but you haven't demonstrated otherwise thus far.

Well, what does it take? 7 years isn't enough to prove anything?

Originally Posted by Eug

I agree that Rogers has many problems, but I find it hard to blame a company for terminating service to a client that doesn't pay his bills.

Well that's the first time I hear such a thing.. Normally when someone get terminated, they deserved it and had many chance to come forward to make some arrangements. If you're late for your electricity bill, they don't cut you off the next day. Normally companies just charge interests. Anyway, if they didn't want to make a deal, why did they make it... I even asked them before the purchase if it was possible and they said sure...

[Eug]

Electricity is not a cell phone.

You get your electricity cut off, and you freeze to death, or at least can't do any work at home or cook your food or whatever.

You get a cell phone cut off, and you can go get a prepaid unit the very same day, or even a monthly agreement with any of their competitors. Or maybe, you can just go without.

Yeah, Rogers isn't perfect, but until you get your finances in order, you're not standing on high ground here with your rant against Rogers.

Originally Posted by FireWire 

Well, what does it take? 7 years isn't enough to prove anything?

Huh? You owe them $300, and have maxed out on credit. Not a very good sign if you ask me.

[FireWire]

They CAN shut your electricity during the summer, and I'm pretty sure they don't shut people's the first time an incident happens.

And what makes you say my finances are not in order? Don't tell me it never happened to you to have a badluck ONE MONTH!! I'm a student and my semester is ending. I think it's perfectly normal to be a little short. I don't feel bad at all about it, I am in the same situation as anyone else I know. That's life.

My point is that I should deserve ONE chance to make a "mistake" before I'm treated like ****... And like I said many times, we had a deal, they had no business ignoring it and treat me like that.. 7 years of incident-free, loyal "customership" and that's what I get? Thank you very much for your appreciation. Anyway, I have to go to sleep.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by FireWire 

And what makes you say my finances are not in order?

Well, you just told us they're not in order. If you owe hundreds of bux and can't pay it, then they're not in order.

Don't tell me it never happened to you to have a badluck ONE MONTH!!

Sh!t happens. However, when it's your fault, just suck it up and deal. Rogers didn't steal $300 from you. You ordered a luxury item from them, but couldn't pay for it.

I'm a student and my semester is ending. I think it's perfectly normal to be a little short. I don't feel bad at all about it, I am in the same situation as anyone else I know. That's life.

Sounds like an unjustified sense of entitlement to me. Therein lies the problem. You don't feel bad about owing others money. You somehow think Rogers owes you the use of an iPhone, even though you're a poor student that can't pay his bills. You know... maybe you could have saved yourself $300 (and all this headache) by not buying an iPhone?

Chalk it up to a small life lesson. Just be glad it isn't something more serious, cuz... That's life.

[11011001]

Rogers (and Fido, which is owned by Rogers) have ripped me off on three different occasions, for well over $600.00. It has taken many calls to different people to get that down to $300.00.

Customer service/billing has treated me like garbage, and accused me of trying to cheat them. I have been disconnected on multiple occasions. I now record all my calls to them and start with "this conversation is being recorded." For some reason things go more smoothly.

I'd drop them and Fido in an instant if I wasn't bound to 3-year iPhone contracts (Canadians have no choice in this regard, and I deeply regret getting involved with them).

Canada sucks in general for anything internet or cell phone related.

I feel your pain.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by NYK Ace 

i never realized you could make partial payments on utility bills

I don't think cell service is considered a utility.

Edit: Too late. I fail at reading ahead.

[Paco500]

Why is everyone down on FW? He said they agreed to a payment plan and he was meeting it. And then they cut him off. I think he's justified in being put out.

[shabbasuraj]

Rogers sux balls

Can't wait till Bell and Telus get full into GSM technology...

.. (already in the works).

[kmkkid]

I find it very fishy that rogers would agree to a payment plan on an iPhone.
When I bought mine it was tagged onto my next bill, meaning that amount was due, IN FULL the next billing period.

That kind of pissed me off though, cause I wanted to put it on my credit.
Oh well, lives a bitch .

[shabbasuraj]

To the OP you should sue them..

[FireWire]

Originally Posted by shabbasuraj 

To the OP you should sue them..

I don't think I have any ground to sue them, as, technically, I'm the one at fault here. My rant was more about the moral side of things : you just don't cut someone as a first resort...

[lexapro]

It's draconian. I absolutely agree. Find another provider.

[Jawbone54]

I've heard nothing but bad things about Rogers. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever read or seen a news story that portrayed the company in a positive light.