I was just paging through the Financial Post and came across this rather disturbing item – Outrage over texting charge:
Cellphone users are about to be hit with new fees as two of Canada’s telecommunications giants plan to bring in a levy on incoming text messages.
Bell Mobility will begin charging customers 15¢ per incoming text message on Aug. 8. Telus Mobility is moving to the same billing practice effective Aug. 24. Until now, their pay-per-use customers who send text messages have been charged a 15¢ fee per message, but it hasn’t cost anything to receive them.
The pending new charge has sparked outrage on blogs, with customers saying they can’t control who sends them messages , especially when spammers obtain their cell number or retailers send them unsolicited messages…
Apparently Rogers has no plan to charge for incoming, or so they say for now.
Has anyone else heard about this? I would like to be able to have an option to not accept incoming text messages at all if this is the case. Time to switch to Rogers I guess.
* * * *
Update: More at Canwest - Get ready to pay for incoming text messages.
Bell and Telus race to the bottom – Torontoist.
Wednesday Update: The Politic – Garth, Different Species and Two different types of communication. (It’s Matthew’s all-inclusive rant.)
And please check out Reid’s post about the NDP petition against Bell and Telus.
Prentice demands Bell, Telus explain text-message pricing – Post. (H/T to Paulsstuff).
And check this out: Ottawa calls Bell, Telus on carpet – Star:
…Spokespeople for the two firms have said that customers can contact them to have charges for spam messages deleted from their bills…
Yah, right! And then you end up in voice-mail jail!!!
Not good for the blood pressure.
And please, do not miss ChuckerCanuk’s post on this topic – A message from Bell and Telus.
If it doesn’t make you too ill you could always go over to the NDP website and sign their online petition against this…. LOL!
http://www.ndp.ca/page/6577
Oh… and I love the checkbox option at the bottom of the petition about receiving text messages from the NDP party.
Reid – Too funny. Thanks.
Don’t have a cell phone so don’t need to worry but I did read that within 3-4 years “we” will be charged to surf the internet in the same manner as we pay for cable, through a subscription service. Hope this isn’t true as I would have difficulty choosing between “Blue Like You”, “Crux” and “Climbing Out of the Dark” unless there is a Conservative Channel that includes you all.
So does that mean that every message will generate .30, .15 for sending and .15 for receiving.
Just a lowly Telus dealer here I don’t make the rules I just have to put up with the aftermath.
It is not that big a deal [yet]
If you are already buy a text bundle to send texts then for $5 you can get 250 texts per month and for $10 you get 2500 per month thats a lot even for a 17 year old girl.If you have a blackberry, for $15 you can get call ID/ Voice mail and unlimited texting.
If you are on a Spark bundle which includes unlimited texting hang on to it.
I guess if you hold Telus shares [I don't] then this is good news.I will bet that Rogers will quietly follow suit before the year end
MaryT … Yes Unless you are a Liberal then the receiving 15 cents will be a political donation and the sending 15 cents will be an Adscam kick back so the Libs will be up 60 cents and the Dippers out of pocket because they were trying to bankrupt the Libs by sending text messages. Either way Trusty Tax Payer picks up the bill.
Sorry Ian, but Telus is a joke. My daughter signed a 3 year contract. at the time of signing she added unlimited texting for $10. Several months went by without a problem. Then she received a bill with over $100 in text charges. She called customer service and was told it was not included in her plan.
I got on the phone and told the rep I had the contract in my hand, as well as the brochure from when she signed, showing unlimited texting for $10. He hung up on me. I called back and asked for a manager. The manager agreed there was an error and the charges would be credited.
The following months bill came in. The text charges were credited, but text charges for the current billing period were on the bill, PLUS $15 for unlimited texting above the $10 she was already paying. So now they are charging for unlimited texting, as well as the text sent/received. Called and asked for a manager again. Said it was an error, would be corrected.
Last month received a bill with the extra $15 for texting, even though the contract she signed had it included for $10 since day 1. Also had three months of late charges for not paying the full amount, even though she had paid less the erroneous charges. Yesterday they cut her service and demanded full payment. I phoned and told the manager she would be paying no more, nor will she pay the cancellation fee. Also suggested they file in small claims court if they think she owes money, and pointed out I had the signed contract in hand. She hung up on me.
Thanks for the info, Ian. Yes, I suppose there will be more ‘bundle’ deals to pour over.
Personally, I’m more concerned about having to pay for incoming spam. Is that being addressed? Thanks.
…She hung up on me.
Wow! That’s not good for customer relations.
Oh yeah, I left out the part where her phone crapped out after 3 months, and they charged me $125 saying it was not an issue covered by the warranty. Then I found out that many customers had the same problems with the same model phone. She’s on her fourth phone. They refused to give her another model, and tried to nail me $125 again. This time I went into the store with printouts off the net of numerous complaints about the phone, including dialing numbers by itself, shutting off randomly, freezing, swicthing to speaker phone itself, etc.
Good grief! I hope Ian comes back to address all that.
From the sounds of this Bell and Telus are now actively encouraging cellphone spam as it is to their financial benefit if more spam occurs.
Here is an interesting and I bet legal angle they could now play. What is really stopping Bell from now spamming the cell phones of people without bundles telling them they should sign up for a text bundle to save the $.15 that THIS text has just cost you?
I know a law exists where you cannot mail someone something they did not ask for and then bill them for it, why does this not apply to unsolicited text messages?
As a former telus employee, all I have to say is thank God I am not a current one. I just get tired of dealing with all the outrage generated by some idiotic decision to make more money[at one time telus landline was trying to charge people a surcharge each month if they didn't have a long distance plan, even if they made 0 LD calls...that got shot down fast] (and this is true for all CDN cell carriers, I know people who use all 4 major carriers and the stories are all the same). I know you can get sms blocked if you choose to do so, but nothing as easy as a phone option to turn off and on at will. As was stated earlier, the sms plans currently offered would cover charges for incoming as well. In the end, we as Canadians get screwed over by our mobile providers, and I welcome more competition, whether it be from a US provider operating in Canada or not; to me I don’t need to use a Canadian service blindly in order to be a patriot.
I don’t text with my phone.
I don’t understand what the advantage of it is. I have a pay-as-you-go plan, where I buy so many minutes per month to use as I wish.
The buyer has the option of blocking text messages (no?); if not, use one of their competitors. If none of them do, throw the phone away.
Didn’t Bell try to charge some teen user for several thousands in monthly internet usage charges for using their phone in Europe?
Caveat emptor.
This is likely a way to generate income from business/goverment users who don’t pay their own bills. Several people in my company have Blackberry’s, which they use to text each other back and forth during meetings.
Jon, thanks for commenting here. I’m still trying to understand what you’re saying though.
Here is my question: Is there a way to block incoming spam text messages? If so, how do you do it? Thanks.
[...] enjoyed leisurely scrolling through some of the ‘rather direct’ opinions and stories at bluelikeyou, like Ardvark’s: From the sounds of this Bell and Telus are now actively encouraging [...]
this stuff is really scary … I hope ‘paulsstuff’ has had enough so he now contacts the CRTC directly and issues a formal complaint against TELUS. What he has outlined about ‘billing screw-ups’ is becoming far too common with these “major” telecommunications giant companies.
Used to be I had issues with BIG BANKS and INSURANCE COMPANIES as far as the ‘we pay ourselves first, so screw you’ mentality. Today, I can officially add TELECOMMUNICATION GIANTS to my list!
I think I shall soon ‘free-cycle’ my existing cell phones, and learn to do without … just like we all used to do, and Lived to tell about it.
[...] ALSO: Joanne indicates she’ll be first blood if the new texting fees come in; looks like you got a winner here guys! Right From Alberta also [...]
In the world of Telecom ….. this is a classic move of the old Telco sort.
The braintrust at Telus and Bell are the same ones who couldn’t figure out that having competitors means you have to compete. Instead they went whining to the CRTC looking for never ending concessions to defend their defacto monopolies …. the people who paid for it are the Canadian public.
Now Rogers is a monopolist of another sort ….. he’ll take all the business he can from those fools and once he’s got the majority of consumers by the nads … then he will squeeze.
The problem is the CRTC ….. who cannot keep their game plan straight and keep caving in to pressure from the technology dinosaurs.
PS … Rogers in spite of the horrible customer service and unending screw ups …… is miles better than the Telcos at the customer interface.
Just to let everyone know, I am a Telus Customer and today, I arranged to have text messages blocked, so I would not receive any or be able to send any at all. We never send text messages, and when I heard on the radio that Telus will block the receiving or sending of text messages from my phone, I called them right away. I used to get spam quite often, but always tried to just delete the messages which you couldn’t do unless you opened them first.
Lou-Lou
It is not just Telus cell phone plans that have very poor customer service. I have 3 landline and one cell phone. I recently cancelled one line as I no longer needed it. I paid the bill, on line, and cancelled. Voice mail from hell to do it. I then proceeded to pay the other bills, and inadvertenly paid one bill on the just cancelled account. Tried to correct it, and get the pymt transferred to proper account. Again vmfh, and lots of misinformation. Sorry, we can’t transfer pymts from one account to another unless the person whose name is on the account does it. I have the id number, bill is mailed to same address, have the id numbers for all accounts. The cancelled account is in my name, other is in g/sons name. He is deaf, does not do well on the phone. That was 10 days ago, and today I was told withing 10 weeks I will get a cheque for the extra pymt. Please pay again. NO, you mark the account paid and waiting for the transfer. One guy was nice and said he would try to speed things up, and will phone me when he has succeeded. At the end of every session they ask, would you complete a survey about the service you received, YES I would and not one of them was positive. The calls are monitored and when they listen to them they will hear words not acceptable.
When it was AGT it was a good company. I worked for them 55 years ago, and did get chewed out one morning because I had not taken the taxi provided to get home. I lived at the end of the block but was told, after bus service stops, you take a taxi home. What happened to service. I know, it was my fault, but how difficult is it to transfer from one account to another. What is it costing Telus to do all the paper work and then issue a cheque.
The other g/son has a cell phone and never changed the number when he moved to Fort McMurray, and didn’t realize that every call was long distance. He got behind in pymts when the job quit till spring. Made pymts but not in full. They have cancelled the account, just when he sent money to pay it in full. (working again) and charged 395. for cancelling. Now we are dealing with a collection agency over it. Sorry guys, will pay at the bank. But, only a small amt as all we have to do is attempt to pay. And, the agent that called from BC does not have a licence to collect in AB. My sister educated me very well in how to deal with collectors as she was manager of an agency for many years. So, if you are threatened with one, make a pymt every month, even a dollar will keep the account from a collector. When asked for a phone number to reach someone, I give them the dept of consumer affairs (or whatever it is called today)
With lots of teenage clients over the years, who move around, I have handled a lot of collectors for them. It is fun.
A better way to deal with collections agencies is send them a letter saying you dispute the amount. Not sure in Alberta but in Ontario as sonn as they recive that letter they can no longer contact you under provincial law. Had to do it with the 407. They sent me erroneous bills, then blocked me from getting my plates renewed. I had to pay $1100 to renew my sticker, Then sued them for the money back. Judge was not amused at their incompetence and awarded me $500 punitive damages.
Despite all the crap from Telus, I still rate Dell as the worst company for customer service I ever dealt with. Can’t understand them, don’t call back, get you to do the same thing 10X over, even though it won’t fix the problem. My Dell computer had problems from the time I took it out of the box. At one point, the customer service rep asked me to take the cover off and move the memory around to another slot, and check all connections, to which I replied, shouldn’t you guys be doing that? It is under warranty.
I have had Rogers hang up on me too. They are impolite and rude and very very self righteous. They caused me to be without any internet for 3 months and I didn’t even have rogers internet. I made the biggest mistake by signing up to Roger’s Home Phone. DO NOT EVER DO THAT. It would be a big mistake.
Joanne,
most spam sms originate from a web source(like the ones that use short codes, etc). I am not sure if it is the same with other cellphone providers but with telus you can have web originated sms blocked, thus blocking the spam. Of course this would prevent you from receiving notifications from facebook, msn, to name a few.
Rogers is the best plan that I’ve found. My daughter has a pay as you go plan. Until recently, texting has been 15 cents. They just introduced a new plan for pay as you go, where for $10/month you get 2500 texts. Until now, there was no texting plans for pay as you go, so this is just what we’re looking for. We put $100 in the account, and they take $10 out each month to cover the texts. My daughter hardly ever uses the actual phone, so this is by far the best plan for us.
If Rogers starts charging for incoming texts, my daughter will no longer have a phone.
Just to let everyone know, I am a Telus Customer and today, I arranged to have text messages blocked, so I would not receive any or be able to send any at all…
Thanks for that, Lou-Lou. I’ll be looking into doing that too. I’m glad it’s an option. Too bad though, because that is my son’s preferred way to keep in touch rather than actually calling.
…most spam sms originate from a web source(like the ones that use short codes, etc). I am not sure if it is the same with other cellphone providers but with telus you can have web originated sms blocked, thus blocking the spam. Of course this would prevent you from receiving notifications from facebook, msn, to name a few.
Thanks Jon. That would not be a problem about Facebook etc. Tried it and dropped it. Took up way too much time.
Hey Mary T – what happened to the I AM WOMAN I LIKE HARPER t-shirts?
Seems we need to get these going or find another willing manufacturer.
You are all a bunch of whiners!!!!! Why don’t you ask for free parking, public transport and the occasonial glass of wine???? Did you not notice, prices are going up for everything. Or if not, what you get for a dollar is less today than it was yesterday. Has anyone gone shopping for groceries lately??? Your ordinary yogurt that, say, cost you a $1 for 175 grams yesterday is still a $1 today except you only get 125 grams. So, stop complaining, it’s not a right to have a cellphone!! Give it up if you don’t like it!
Why don’t you ask for free parking, public transport and the occasonial glass of wine????
Last time I went to a restaurant, nobody was forcing me to drink a glass of wine and then charging me for it.
However, you’re correct that I do have the right not to go to the restaurant.
Jeff Allan will be discussing the Bell-Telus controversy in the next segment.
A sneaky way to raise prices has been used by companies for years, keep the price, change the pkg to a bit smaller and guess what, customer scammed. I first noticed this years ago with a loaf of bread. For ages I had made 2 sandwiches/kid (5) for school lunches, with enough left over for my morning toast.
One day, I needed another loaf. Bakery had gone from a 24 slice loaf to a 20 slice loaf for the same price.
Cans went from 24 oz to 20oz. All this happened when we went metric. Almost every product you use everyday was guilty of this practice.
They got away with it because no one really pays attention to the amount in a can/box/tube.
The answer to this seems simple to me. If poor Telus and Bell are so financially burdened due to the “free service” they have been providing of incoming text messages, then they should increase the cost of sending text messages to cover the charges for receiving them. To foist that fee upon the receivers who didn’t choose to receive the message is ludicrous.
Incidentally, I was a Telus subscriber for several years before switching to Rogers at the beginning of this year. They used to send me text messages frequently which annoyed me even though I wasn’t paying for them. I can’t imagine how outraged I’d be to receive a birthday greeting text message from them knowing it was costing me 15 cents.
…then they should increase the cost of sending text messages to cover the charges for receiving them.
What a great idea, Steph! Probably too logical for them to grasp though. I’ve heard that the real motive behind all this is to increase bundle purchases.
I’m seriously starting to think about life without a cellphone now.
Mary T. – I hear you on that one.
BTW, Sol has a question for you.
I will contact the person re the T-shirts. I did give the e-mail address for how to contact her. She did not get any orders, so will check with her again.
I wear mine all the time.
One could go to any t-shirt place and have one made, or do it yourself with iron-on transfers. The big problem was getting a paypal or credit card account to receive pymts. And, being the trusty people we are, no one wanted to send a cheque for pre-payment.
OT but just watched 100 Huntley St for first time in ages. Had on several women who had abortions. One woman, with her 3rd went to M, and started to cry. Asked why, she said I don’t want to do this, kill my baby. His response, I have done this thousands of times and I have never killed a baby, I have removed a crisis.
Another guest works with women who have had abortions, A. They seldom get over it. B. Many regret it all their lives. C. Will not admit they had one. D. Had babies with developmental problems. E. Would not recommend procedure to friends.
These were real women but you will never see or hear them on the cbc.
OTTAWA — Industry Minister Jim Prentice is taking Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility to task for their plans to charge their wireless customers for each incoming text message to the cellphones unless they subscribe to a product bundle.
Incoming text messages have been free.
Prentice says he believes the decision to begin charging for in-coming text messages is ill-thought out and will harm consumers.
The industry minister has sent letters to the chief executive officers of both companies asking them to meet him in Ottawa before Aug. 8 to explain their decision.
“While I have no desire to interfere with the day-to-day business decisions of two private companies, I do have a duty as Minister of Industry to protect the interests of the consuming public when necessary,” the letter states. “I believe this was a poorly thought-out decision.”
BCE Inc.’s Bell Mobility has announced its customers will start paying the new charge on Aug. 8, while customers of Telus will not see the new charge until Aug. 24.
Prentice issued a statement saying the decision to begin charging for incoming text messages has raised serious concerns with consumers, particularly with regard to unwanted messages received by their cellphones.
Thanks for that, Paul. I’ll add it as an update.
Last time I went to a restaurant, nobody was forcing me to drink a glass of wine and then charging me for it.,/i>
I went to one of my favourite restaurants last week, and they forced me to drink not one, but two glasses of a fine Pinot Noir!
The bastards!
Beware What They Telus
Okay, you’ve probably already heard from some disgruntled people about the service – or rather – the lack of service Telus fails to provide.
They’ve been on a recent campaign to recruit subscribers and you’ve probably already received a few calls by now to be sold on their “great deals”. For your own sake, please be sure to thoroughly investigate what you’re buying into VERY carefully first, before you regret it later.
Sure, they may be able to provide what seems like a decent rate up front; and you may not need those “extra frills” they would nickel and dime you on every month. After all, the only thing that matters is that your telephone works when you need it to. Right?
Of course.
If it’s always working, then there’s nothing to bother worrying about. Landlines have been pretty stable for most of the last century, so there’s not much to be concerned with. Right?
Here’s the real deal though, it’s true; the Devil really does live in the details and it’s in the details where you’ll find yourself in Hell.
Imagine a horror story like this one happening to you.
It begins with octogenarian parents and one with a heart condition, a tight budget and regular calls from a variety of telemarketers offering solutions to save some money on their telephone service. Over time, temptation wears down one’s natural disinclination to switch from the security and stability of a service one has grown accustomed to relying on. People are switching telephone companies all the time, so it shouldn’t be too big a deal to try someone else; particularly if it helps to make ends meet.
My senior citizen in-laws decided it was time to switch away from Telus to an up and coming service they’d heard was pretty decent Heck, even I had enjoyed the long-distance savings I had gotten from Yak. In my case though, I only used their 10-10 number to get my price breaks. I hadn’t actually switched my service over to them. My in-laws went one step further and actually switched to them as a service provider.
Here is where the irony meter kicks into overdrive.
Sure, Yak took over their service by routing their calls through Yak’s switches and sent them Yak-branded bills with Yak pricing; but when the phone stopped working, Yak went to Telus to provide a technician to (supposedly) fix the problem.
Here is where the Devil introduced himself and took us all on his elevator ride to Hell.
Several calls and several hours after the problem had been reported without achieving a resolution; my wife took over dealing with the situation on our end on behalf of her parents. Several calls and several hours later, a “trouble ticket” was issued and a technician was scheduled to be dispatched to initiate repairs within the next couple of days.
The technician never arrived. Several calls and several hours later, a technician was scheduled to arrive the next day. Problem solved? Not hardly. The technician never arrived and it was now the end of the week.
Minor delays like these are usually only annoying inconveniences; not life and death emergencies.
My father in-law unfortunately, suffers from a heart condition. He has already had a couple of hospital stays to monitor his heart after two mild attacks. My wife hadn’t been able to speak with him for several days by this point and was, as one might easily imagine, becoming very concerned.
Several calls and several hours over the weekend to customer service representatives from across the globe speaking with nearly completely incomprehensible English; one of several rather polite and apologetic people managed to discover a problem in their issuances of “trouble tickets”. They were never actually issued because of inconsistent policies due to the establishment of operations centres spanning diverse geographies and a variety of countries, each with their own unique sets of obstacles complicating a streamlined operating policy and procedures.
A rather pleasant fellow named Ragu assuaged my wife’s nerves somewhat by explaining what had happened and by assuring her that a technician had been scheduled for the next day. This was on Sunday. Monday morning came and business hours went. My wife tried calling again. After another hour of listening to what was initially soothing but was now aggravating “hold music”, the connection was lost.
It was at this point where I became more actively involved. I was fortunate. My call connected me with a customer service representative in Toronto who spoke perfect English. I felt bad for her, but I felt by this point that it was necessary for me to light a fire under her to get some results. I was forceful, but not rude. The result was for me to discover that Yak has apparently made service agreements with a variety of carriers across the globe. At first, she believed that Bell would be handling the issuance of a technician. Bell cleared up that misconception for her after she made a few calls while I waited on hold.
The ball had bounced squarely back into Telus’ court.
There was nothing more she could do until the next day because Telus’ office was closed. I confirmed the chronology of events with her. I carefully delineated the complex relationships as clearly as I could with her. The gaps in her understanding made it clear to me that I was asking questions which were above her pay grade and beyond the limits of her training.
Nevertheless, I felt armed with enough information to be able to speak directly with an after-hours representative from Telus to get some additional questions answered. I had hoped to be able to speak with someone at Telus who could provide enough insight to help facilitate a resolution.
I found myself speaking instead with a rude, obnoxious and fast-talking brick wall named Val.
I tried to explain my situation and was quickly stymied by a rote response delivered at a rate which would make an auctioneer jealous. I attempted uttering a couple of more words in an effort to pose another question and was interrupted once again by his “party line”. I tried again and was again stymied before finishing my first sentence. I tried once more and was immediately blocked again.
That was when I popped my cork. “I’m the customer”, I started yelling. He yelled back. I yelled more loudly. He yelled more loudly and I went into overdrive. He hung up. I called back and after getting through the robot driven menu system, was back in the service queue.
Soon, I heard the robot tell me I was being transferred. It was then that I heard the system “hiccup”. “Your call is being transferred.” I then heard a beep, then “Your call is being transferred”, and another beep. This went on like a broken record for at least a half-dozen times and the robot returned. “I’m sorry, there seems to be a problem in connecting you, please try back later.”
The connection died and I was back to hearing my dial tone.
While I fumed, I contemplated my experience. Val had been well trained to avoid providing service to “neo-customers” that Telus wasn’t directly billing. It apparently doesn’t matter if Telus actually makes money off customers whose service is paid for on an indirect basis. To not be registered to receive bills branded by their logo is apparently an incentive to them to treat people like dirt.
Perhaps I’m just too naive, but I always treat the customers of my customers like they are also my customers. Hey, I try to treat everyone I meet like they’re a customer. Perhaps that’s only because I operate a small business and I’m more motivated to grow my customer base.
As Confucius once said, “A man thinks differently in a palace than in a hut”, and perhaps if I was a large business that had been transformed literally overnight from a government run operation with decades of secure operation into a capitalist enterprise, I might think differently about customer service. Perhaps I might choose to nickel and dime my customers with penalties for incremental features to pad my shareholders’ profits while the competition nipping at my heels includes them for free. Perhaps if I had inherited a monopolistically grown customer base instead of having to win each one by one, I might be more inclined to care less about each as individuals.
If that’s the case, then I hope never to grow so big as a business, because to me, the relationships I develop are what make my business worthwhile.
I do remember some customer research I encountered decades ago in my career that a happy customer will recommend a service to about two in ten people whereas an unhappy customer will tell up to eight in ten people about their negative experience. It’s been a long time since I learned that memorable lesson so I am not certain if the statistic still holds true to this day.
What I do know for certain is that my Telus mobile phone is going to be dumped as soon as I find a better provider.
Oh, and for those who have cared enough to get this far down in my diatribe; thank you for your concern, but my father in-law now has a mobile phone and has switched his landline provider to Shaw.
Wow. What a nightmare! Thanks for sharing your story with us, 4unner.
Best wishes for you and your family.