Cencelling cell phone plan because of VERY crappy service, tips?

kathos

So I'm on Fido, a Canadian cell phone company owned by this giant media conglomerate called Rogers.

The service sucks, I'd lose service on a clear day by walking under an archway or a large tree. And my job requires me to have internet access on my phone, however going into Google or even their own "web portal" is extraneously slow, I actually just leave it in my pocket, take it out after five minutes to find it still loading. Hell "mobile editions" of websites (Destructoid, Kotaku, etc) are slow too. This is all on "3G" btw.

So I need to cancel it out, I have to number for their cancellation line (which I had to dig the internet for since they refused to give it to me), but what can I say really? I just want to get around paying the cancellation fee for the godamn phone (I signed a new contract to renew) and the phone sucks anyway (Samsung Jack II, so laggy), any tips on what to tell the rep?

Thanks H/A.

MisterAlex

Since Fido is owned by Rogers, i'll assume the cancellation fee is the same as well (200$). I had to go through that crap with Rogers back in August, when I decided to move overseas. The best thing you can really do is call, explain your problem, and when they get to the 'You have to pay 200$' part, ask to speak to their Supervisor. I managed to get half of the cancellation fee waived.. but who knows; you may get luckier.

Good luck.

Improvolone

If there is a cancellation fee, it will probably be very difficult for you to not pay for it.
Shouldn't your company provide some assistance as they require you to have an internet capable phone?

YourFatAuntSusan

Most cellular agreements have something along the lines of "for use of this service your are expected to" yaddy yadda yadda. For use of this service being they key point. If you do not have a reasonable about of "service" the contract cannot be upheld. What I was working for Bell Canada I had a customer who fought and won using this as an argue point however I'm not sure what the rate of success is. It's worth a try.

Djeet

I haven't tried this on a consumer line, but I've canceled out of business lines and have avoided ETF's (or repayment of concession bonuses) in the following way.

Everytime I encountered a problem I'd call in a trouble ticket, make sure each time to explain what exactly the problem is and request the service issue number or ticket number. After you have a dozen or two of these documented call in and cancel, and explain why (poor service) and direct them to the numerous issues you've encountered (all those service ticket numbers). I've used this to get better service, get large service credits, or to cancel out and avoid ETFs.

Business lines have SLA's (Service Level Agreements) which explicitly spell out what level of service they are to provide. Multiple violations of the SLA are grounds for cancellation due to failure to deliver service. You could start by requesting they send you a copy of your service contract to see what kind of service they are agreeing to deliver.

tsmvengy

Yeah you may be able to cancel out of it without a penalty if you are dissatisfied with the service you are getting. Just hammer on the CSR about that, give them examples, and if they refuse then speak to their manager.