The majority of Canadians rely on Bell Canada and Rogers Communications for their internet, cable and cellphone services, but that doesn't mean their customers are pleased.
Customers of the two competing media giants say they have recently encountered billing issues.
Earlier this week, Global News shared the story of Doris Simon-Shatz who says she's receiving bills from Bell months after cancelling her services. A Saint John, N.B. man is also suing Rogers for billing him $1,333 after he cancelled his account, according to the CBC.
Simon-Shatz and her husband switched to Rogers after encountering problems with Bell’s television service. She says she called and asked for all of her services to be cancelled several times and even sent letters. However, she continued to get bills and constant robocalls from Bell asking her to pay a $534.94 bill for services the Toronto couple didn't use.
The reason for the continued billing, a Bell representative explained to her six months later, is that she didn't cancel “everything.”
“She said to me I did not specify I was cancelling all their services. She said I should have said that I have a bundle and that I want to cancel the whole, entire bundle,” said Simon-Shatz.
Simon-Shatz says because she didn't use the world "bundle" not all her services were cancelled.
The issue is now in the hands of Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, who will issue a binding decision if the parties can’t come to an agreement.
James Burke is in a similar position – but with Rogers.
Burke says he cancelled his services because he was “fed up” with billing and customer service issues, but continued to receive bills. The company says he now owes more than $1,000.
Rogers told Burke he didn’t cancel his services properly and hadn’t returned all the equipment, according to CBC. But Burke is taking Rogers to court, saying he’s fed up with collection calls.
“I’ve talked to so many other people now that told me that they’ve had the same trouble with their bills and trouble with Rogers,” said Burke.
Burke and Simon-Shatz aren't the only ones who've had difficulties cancelling their services.
Customers took to Reddit to complain about Bell’s insistence on retaining customers and not taking no for an answer.
In response to the complaints, one Reddit user who works for Bell wrote, “Your first problem was starting by saying ‘I just want to cancel’ we're actually told by higher ups that if someone says that, that we have nothing to lose and to push hard.”
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