I don't want to name the company involved but I wanted to see if anyone has any experience with this type of stuff and how to get it resolved.
There is a discount cell phone provider, linked to a major Canadian provider, that called and talked to my father (over 70 years old, has never owned a cell phone in his life, has never used a computer in his life but liked the idea of getting a cell phone in case of troubles) and they sold him a mobile phone over the telephone. The phone they shipped him was basically a Samsung with portrait button keypad that even I have problems reading, let alone him (the kind you would see a kid having no problems with since the buttons are kiddie sized). This thing is for text messaging... not for making calls. Simply put, I assume he agreed to some sort of terms or similar on the phone call (although when asked, the provider could not provide a recording of the original conversation, they did have a recording asking for help by a family member (proficient in using a cell phone) trying to help). He took a week to figure out that he couldn't use it, took another week to ask for help from family on how to use the damned thing. Long story short, after complaining about the phone, they told him to return it... so he did. He returned the thing the same way he received it, by mail... Apparently they have a two week return policy, actually 10 day return policy by the sounds of it, and they didn't get it within that time frame. On the phone, they did say to just ship everything back to them, so he did exactly that, packaged everything that was sent to him and shipped it back. Now, they keep sending him bills (even though he doesn't have a phone, nor could he use the phone) and rather than solving the problem (like, giving him another phone he could use), they're trying to screw him over with bills, contract agreements, etc... It sounds like a 3rd party reseller is involved here, but in the end, it is the service provider sending him the bills and they basically refuse to do anything. And the provider has the phone. And they keep billing him... since he refuses to pay the bill, they are threatening him with collections, etc... amazing stuff. I imagine there was a paper with terms of service, return policy, etc... in the box, but that's all been packed up and shipped back. Thankfully, at 70 he doesn't need a credit rating, although I doubt this would impact it much and he's telling them to go to hell. Either way, it's not going away any time soon... I wanted to see if anyone has any experience fighting this stuff on how to get it resolved, where to complain to exactly (CRTC? Other boards or watchdogs), etc... this has to be pretty wide spread issue with the elderly. Seems like a pretty awesome way stick people with contracts. Regards, Chuck M
