Fido
Malicious and Unethical

Fido’s bogus invoice schemes, after the end of cellphone service contract, had affected countless Canadians who had nowhere to turn to for help. Worse, to bully their ex-customers to pay up, they often destroy the credit rating of good people by submitting false claims of collections on bogus invoices, leaving hapless consumers with no choice but to pay up to protect their valuable credit. Fido, owned by yet another greedy telecommunications company, the juggernaut known as Rogers, is a massively inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its path. We were no exception.

Our point is, if we legitimately owed Fido any money, we would have paid it — we had paid each and every bill in full each and every month in advance (Fido’s policy) for the 3-year duration of our Fido contract, which ended in Oct 2009 because we value our credit very seriously. So, why would we destroy our good credit for a measly $178.71? Our payment history at Fido and at Equifax, showed we never have had any late payment for the length of the contract. What Fido did to us was extremely unethical and a shameful and blatant disregard to proper business practice. They simply didn’t care (regardless of their motto).

No one at Fido could give us a straight answer to any of these simple questions.

— Why did Fido never inform us of a purported amount we allegedly owe by invoice, statement, email, or telephone, when they knew how to contact us? They had no trouble contacting us in the past and sending invoices for the previous 36 months; our adult children still lives at our old address to this day (the address recorded at Fido). Fido had no answer why they failed to send it to us if we legitimately owe them a penny. Worse, when we asked for the statement, they wanted a $5 fee.

— Why did Fido purposely wait three months from Oct 2009 until Feb 2010, before notifying us of an alleged invoice and without details? Fido’s notification came only after we contacted them when CIBC Visa alerted us of Fido’s bogus collection scheme submitted to EQUIFAX.

— Why did Fido send the invoice only after we asked for it? As a courtesy, my CIBC Visa card alerted that Fido had apparently submitted to EQUIFAX a surprise bogus invoice on collection.

— Why did Fido repeatedly ask for $5.00 when we demanded to have a copy of our alleged bogus invoice or statement? Fido claimed we had to pay this $5 in order to receive our final invoice. Apparently, it could be the reason why we never received the invoice. After intense argument, Fido agreed to send their bogus invoice without the $5 cost.

— Why did Fido claim we still owe $240 (final amount they were not sure) but after speaking with them, mysteriously changed to $178.71 without explanation?

— Why did Fido send that invoice for collections sometime in Dec 2009 even before sending it and notifying us? They never gave us any chance to peruse the alleged invoice.

— Why did Fido tell us we needed 30 days notice to cancel our service after termination of our contract, which we did, giving them more than 30 days notice, and still charged us with some kind of bogus penalty?

— Why did Fido refuse to accept payment for the alleged bogus invoice? Finally, after much heated discussion, and after refusal of a Fido manager to speak to us, making us wait for over 20 minutes, had connected us to their Accounts Receivable clerk to accept our credit card payment, which proved the purportedly bogus invoice, was not even on collection?

— Why did Fido inform EQUIFAX that they had sent the alleged bogus invoice for collections only after a supposedly one month in arrears?

— Why did Fido tell us we owe them nothing at the end of our contract in Oct 2009, yet penalizing us with a bogus $178.71 bill in Feb 2010, bullying us to pay it to protect our credit?

Is it a malicious payback for us leaving Fido’s extremely bad cell phone service?

On a sadder note, on Feb 23, 2010, we paid the offending bogus invoice to Fido (and not to a collection agency), only to protect our credit. However, as if it was a never-ending nightmare, Fido still weaseled to submit an *R9* rating (the worst) against my credit information at EQUIFAX. They notified EQUIFAX, which showed on my credit report, that the bogus invoice was paid in full only in April, 2010 when it was obviously paid in Feb, 2010.

The saddest part, apparently, is that Fido had been using EQUIFAX to destroy good people’s credit ratings to promote their dastardly deeds by submitting bogus invoice and collection claims, and getting away with it. (Google the Internet for links of massive complaints against Fido).

Canadians should be aware of Fido's bullying tactics, but the bigger question is, who could they turn to for help?

Alex

Company: Fido
Country: Canada
Province: Ontario

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