Poor Customer Service – Fido – Breach of Contract
Dear Fido,
This letter is to advise you of my frustrations encontered with your organization within the past 2 months. Up to this point in time, the only other issues that I’ve had “coincidentally” (note the quotations) occurred 2 years prior. Note: both of these times occurred during the renewal process.
We’ll ignore the past problems as I had let that go after much work to “fix my account” at that point in time (when Fido had operated under Microcell).
Let’s go Back to my current standing. It all started when my 2-year agreement was coming to an end last month. I was constantly called during the day from your renewals department. I had no problems with this as I figured they were just doing their job.
However, my concerns come from a customer service perspective: every time they called, I requested to have them call during the evenings and asked them for a call-back number. Time after time, they had apologized for not reading the notes on the account and failed to give me a number where they could be reached.
The sad part of this is that I spoke with 3 CSRs who acknowledged my request but have failed to review the notes on the account before calling. (Pay particular attention to this area as it foreshadows my growing frustrations with Fido).
After 1 week of daily calls, your renewal department decides to call me on a Saturday!
Fast forward a week or so, I decided to call Fido to cancel my contract. I had some problems with the data usage on my account and had decided that I would rather cancel my account rather than dealing with more frustrations from Fido. I spoke with a few individuals and the first of which offered to add a data-plan pro-rata to the beginningo my billing cycle which turned into a nightmare to correct. (Errors from inputs from the CSR + duplicated charges).
The CSR quickly transferred me to your loyalty department (AKA retentions) and I had told the rep that I was planning on switching to Rogers due to my growing pains with Fido. The response that I gave when asked “why?” was simply that my entire family uses Rogers and I’m interested in buying a Blackberry Bold. Also, the amount of work that was required to correct issues
The retention rep then asked me what it would take for me to stay with Rogers and I simply said: if you an offer me a decent plan then I would consider resigning with Fido. (At this point in time, Fido had just released their BIS [Blackberry Internet Services] so I figured that I would simply buy an unlocked Blackberry Bold and make arrangements with Fido. I made it very clear that this was my intent and received acknowledgement from the rep that this was OK.
At the end of the conversation, we had come to the agreement that I would be getting the iPhone for $230 ($299 – $50 credit – $Fido).
Make a note of this amount.
I had also been offered a plan which had met my needs and I had confirmed that there would be no problems adding BIS onto my account at a later time.
A week passed by and I called Fido back to add the BIS account to my account. I had managed to get my hands on a Blackberry Bold within the week. Remember: I mentioned to the retention rep that I was really seeking a Blackberry. The CSR that I spoke to at this point in time walked me through activating the handset and I was on my way. At the time, I was a happy camper: I had renegotiated my contract to the terms that I was looking for, at the price that I was looking for, and I had my new Blackberry to play with.
Who knew that this would eventually stem into a whole new stem of problems. Two days after I had added the BIS service, I checked my online account to find that my contract had been RE-EXTENDED for a WHOPPING 6-YEAR contract. I was obvious furious at this point, since this was a breach of contract and I HAD NEVER agreed to re-extend the contract. My concern was that if I had NOT paid attention to my account standings, this would eventually be missed down the line.
I called in again and spoke with a very understanding individual (they all seem that way, don’t they). As I spoke with this CSR and advised her of the breach in my contract terms, I made it very clear that I would like to confirm all of my terms and ensure that all aspects were met. I made it very clear that the CSR should make VERY detailed notes explaining the terms and costs on all of my existing terms.
At the end of the end of the call, we had confirmed that my plan rate would be: $17.50 + 10 (unlimited Fido2Fido and Fido2Rogers) + 15 (BIS) = $42.50 with the system access fee and 911 charges waived for the entire term.
Fast forward to today, I review my online billing and am charged $310 for the iPhone (if you recall from earlier, I was quoted $230 on my renewal) and additionally $62.50 for my monthly charges. Obviously, I am frustrated. After more than 7 calls (4+ hours), falsified claims, breach of contracts, I am still back at square one: trying to correct my terms back to my AGREED upon price at Renewal. (That’s not asking for much.)
At the end of my call today with ZYIAD, I had been told that my monthly charges will be amended to 41.50 NO SAF&911 but I highly doubt that this will be accomplished. I mean, let’s face it, 8 calls later and I’m still back at square one. On top of that, no changes will be applied to the phone price that I agreed to sign on? Absolutely ridiculous.
As for your CRM system (ticketing system), I specifically asked the 3 individuals that I spoke with today to review my call history. I mentioned that I have made 7 calls in the past month and a half just to correct my terms back to my renewal. For the majority of the calls made, very limited notes were made and some listed without the agent’s names? How is this even possible???
At the end of the day, I have wasted my time, been accused of a liar, have had my hopes shot down time after time (believing that Fido had rectified my problems), and ultimately regret resigning with Fido.
Should I have known that I would encounter these issues, I would have never re-signed with Fido.
Alternatively, I would have:
a) saved myself the hassle of buying an unlocked BB Bold and activating the BIS through Fido
b) bought a discounted phone @ Rogers
c) would not have bothered to negotiate a unlimited network calling plan (my family uses Rogers)
d) automatically have access to Fido’s so-called “Expanded network”
In due time, I will either cancel with Fido or simply WILL NOT re-renew after the 2 consecutive renewal experiences that I have dealt with. To be blunt, I would rather pay a $400 cancellation fee than deal with your CSR department. Who knows, I might even get an 8-year contract next time!
I hope this email serves the purpose of highlighting the poor performance delivered by your CSRs and Retention departments. As you know, customer service is key to retaining a customer but from my experiences, Fido is just too much of a hassle to continue a lasting relationship.
Also, for illustrative purposes, CRM works in a two-fold manner: excellent customer service is rewarded and often shared with 1 or more individuals; poor customer is shared with 7 or more individuals. As a result, I will never refer a peer to Fido ever again due to your poor customer service standards.
Regards,
Alan