1997-10-23|Bell Canada's Treatment of Customers

CRTC Commissioner

The following is an advertisement by Bell Canada in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper 1997-10-22.

Call your sister in Thunder Bay for only 8 cents a minute.

No matter who you call long distance and no matter what you talk about, at Bell we think it matters what you pay. So now when you call anywhere in Ontario or Québec in Bell territory, you'll pay no more than 8 cents a minute. No more than 8 cents a minute for a minimum 3-minute call with the new Real Plus Extra Weekend Savings Plan when you spend at least $15 per month. To get these new low rates call 1 800 989-6935. Why pay more when you can pay 8 cents a minute or less with Bell.

I wanted to take advantage of the "Real Plus Extra Weekend" promotional offer. When I called the number (1 800 989-6935) as instructed in the advertisement, I received the following recorded message.
- The number dialled cannot be reached from your area.
There is no fine print saying that the plan does not apply to Bell Canada customers in Québec. The Ottawa Citizen, although headquartered in Ottawa (Ontario), is widely circulated in western Québec. The newspaper even publishes TV Times schedules for the Outaouais area thanks in part to my personal request to Keith Spicer (former CRTC commissioner and Ottawa Citizen editor-in-chief) back in 1989.
- Ottawa Citizen for Québec residents <http://WWW.HyperInfo.CA/GS.Sunatori/1989-01-10.html>
I would also like to know any condition in which any Bell Canada customer pays less than 8 cents a minute for long-distance calls, as expressed by the phrase "or less".
I expect the CRTC to order Bell Canada to place a retraction or clarification or apology in the Ottawa Citizen and other newspapers in which this advertisement showed up.
Meanwhile, I was quite disturbed to notice that the pre-authorised payment option that I had exercised since 1996-09, was suddenly removed on the statement dated 1997-10-16 for the account (+1-819-595-9229). Upon reporting this mysterious problem to Bell Canada, I was informed that it is a problem at my bank (Bank of Nova Scotia). I have never had insufficient funds ever since I opened the PowerChequing account in 1983 or so, which contained exactly $10 253.39 CAD as of 1997-10-16. The accounting department of Bell Canada is supposed to further investigate the problem and get back to me.
I am sure that Bell Canada will claim that these 2 new developments are isolated incidents, but they illustrate how "New Bell" treats its customers.
Thank you very much for your attention.

Call your sister in Thunder Bay for only 8 cents a minute.
No matter who you call long distance and no matter what you talk about, at Bell we think it matters what you pay. So now when you call anywhere in Ontario or Québec in Bell territory, you'll pay no more than 8 cents a minute. No more than 8 cents a minute for a minimum 3-minute call with the new Real Plus Extra Weekend Savings Plan when you spend at least $15 per month. To get these new low rates call 1 800 989-6935. Why pay more when you can pay 8 cents a minute or less with Bell.

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"Sunatori, Go Simon" <GS.Sunatori@HyperInfo.CA>

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ISBN 978-0-929105-04-8

2024-12-17T20:36:23.000Z