Chuck, You need to contact the Ministry of Government Services, Consumer Protection Branch.
Ministry of Government Services Consumer Protection Branch 5775 Yonge Street, 15th Floor Toronto, ON M7A 2E5 416-326-8821 800-889-9768 Phones 416-326-8810 Fax Basically everyone has a right to cancel any signed contract/agreement under the 10-day cooling off provision of the Consumer Protection Act 2002. It doesn't matter if it's a gym membership or a new car (as long as you don't take delivery of said car). I've used this many times myself including getting out of a car contract. It's especially useful when people tell me "you can't get out of a contract". May stores post a 10-day return policy - and some post no such thing. Basically 10-days is the law. Even if you buy something stamped "Final Sale" - you can return it. "Final Sale" is basically not legal in Ontario. The only thing about canceling contracts is you should (or perhaps need to) cancel your agreement in writing. With your father's situation, he made the contract over the phone so you may be able to justify cancelling the agreement over the phone as well. The fact they do not have a recording on file for agreement only helps your situation. Write to the above address and keep to the facts - when the agreement was made - when the contract was verbally cancelled because you "exercised your right under the 10-day cooling off provision of the Consumer Protection Act" - also include when you sent the phone back (and be sure to indicate the customer service rep was accommodating and provided the return address to send back the phone). Then explain the company keeps sending bills and is threatening collections. The Consumer Protection Branch will then contact the carrier/company and ask them to explain. 99% of the time the company will back down. If they don't, ask the carrier to produce the recording of your father agreeing to the contract "because he's old and cannot recall making the agreement", or something like that. Check out this website for more info on your rights and how to file a complaint. They even have some sample letters posted. http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/default.aspx The Consumer Protection branch is also good for getting collection agencies to stop calling if they have a wrong number. I had this happen to me and the collection agency kept calling no matter how many times I told them they had the wrong number - it must have went on for a year before I contacted the CPB - a few letters later and no more calls! Good luck with your situation, Greg H -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Mariotti [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: December 6, 2010 4:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [on-asterisk] Predatory Mobile Provider Tactics.... 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
