Can I liberate myself from Bell yet?

July 31, 2008 3:23 PM

Is there any chance I can get out of my Bell cell phone contract as a result of their institution of fees for incoming text messages?

I purchased a Bell cell phone about two years ago, with a three year contract. Two years later, and I use this thing exactly once a week. I was never happy with the service to begin with; I get a lot of dropped calls, poor reception where other people get fine reception, and the customer service has been terrible. Some of these things may be phone related but when I went back to the store to ask about them, they said all they could do was offer me a $25 discount on a new phone. No thanks.

Anyway, the new text messaging fee is sort of the last straw. Now that they want to charge me for incoming messages, I really want to be shot of them. What I am wondering specifically is if this new fee might constituted some sort of breach of my original contract, which did not stipulate per-message fees for incoming texts. If so, will this allow me to get out of my contract so I can get rid of this phone, and be free of Bell?

(I am in southern Ontario.)

posted by synecdoche to shopping (4 comments total)

I would think you would need to resign a contract for the fee structure to change. Thats one of the things in the US that has to happen. Government taxes and fees can change, but service fees can not during the contract terms, which works out as a pro and con for both sides. They can't raise them, but more often they lower it 6 months later and you can't get the better rate.

I would think it would be a breach of the contract.
posted by mr.anthony337 at 3:38 PM on July 31, 2008

I've seen a couple stories of people calling in and claiming breach of contract in order to get the fees waived, so its possible that you might be able to talk your way out of it.
posted by jjb at 3:40 PM on July 31, 2008

There's a good discussion of this issue here.

You might have to tough it out for a year if you don't like the cancellation fees, but then a new contract with Rogers or other carrier will offer you several benefits.
posted by Neiltupper at 5:41 PM on July 31, 2008

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, since it's not Bell-specific, but you might want to try 'moving'.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:25 PM on July 31, 2008