Bell stole my money for 2 years

Bell has been stealing my money for the last 2 years. They have taken my money without providing the quality of service I signed up for.

I went for a 3 year contract at Christmas time back in 2004 and picked up two phones (Audivox CDM-8910BM) on a shared plan with my wife. In January of 2006 we started having problems with the phones with reception and battery life of both phones. In the middle of the city I would have to stand outside on my back porch to make phone calls. I could only talk with the phone plugged into the charger as the battery would last a maximum of 10 minutes. It was an unworkable situation that basically made the phone unusable for anything other than short conversations.

I contacted customer support at Bell in February 2006 in my first attempt to deal with the problem. I was told by the Bell customer service representive that the Audivox CDM-8910BM was the wrong phone for my area. When I asked why Bell would allow this to happen I was told this was the sales person's issue at the Bell store. I was perplexed by this response given that the Bell store is located in the same area I live in. Why would they have phones in stock that were not suitable for the area?

I jumped through a couple hoops including a software/firmware update to the phone and even changing the number. According to the Bell customer service not only was I using the wrong phone for my area but I was also using the wrong tower. Changing the number was supposed to make my reception better. It did not. After exhausting all of my options I called Bell back to fix the problem.

In March 2006 I contacted Bell to resolve the fact that I could not use my cell phone due to terrible reception and a faulty phone. I was told my only options were to 1) renew my contract for another three years, get new phones, AND pay a higher monthly rate OR 2) cancel the contract at $400 per phone ($800 in total). While talking to a manager I was rudely asked "What does it matter that you are having issues with your phone? You are not even using your phone." Pardon me? I explained, as politely as I could muster, that I was not using the phone because THE PHONE WAS BROKEN. The conversation finally boiled down to me asking if Bell would fix the problem so I could use the service I was paying for. A repetive circle ensued with me asking the manager for a "Yes" or "No" answer to my question and the manager telling me my two options. It was obvious that Bell was not going to fix the problem without taking more of my money.

I had no desire to be locked in for three more years at a higher monthly rate with Bell. Nor did I want to give Bell a lump sum of $800 to cancel a service that I could not use as I had originally intended. At this point the phones were delegated to "emergency use" in our vehicles each with a lighter power adapter. I decided to wait the contract out.

And now the day has come. My contract expires this month and I have ensured that my desire to NOT renew has been made clear to Bell. Bell has been taking my money for a service I reported broken almost two years ago. In total Bell has stolen $1,000 dollars from me since I reported the issue. When I requested they fix the problem their proposed solutions were to take more of my money. Bell trapped me in a terrible and frustrating contract and did not provide the service I signed up for. I will NEVER use Bell again.