Fido / Rogers (Canadian provider) to charge $10 for customer support that can be done by customers on their own

[Andreas Lilja]

https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/03/23/fido-account-handling-fee-self-serve/

Quote

Rogers-owned flanker brand Fido will soon charge users a mandatory account handling fee when they call in, use live chat or social media to complete certain transactions. The $10 account handling fee will go live on May 14th, 2019. Further, it will apply to transactions where Fido also offers self-serve options. It does not apply to customer inquiries — such as asking about your account or bill or how to complete a transaction through self serve. Additionally, there are exceptions to the fee, including for customers with special needs.

Canadian providers are thieves but I kinda agree with this. Should also apply to people who cause lines at banks because they want to withdraw or deposit. It's 2019.

[Fnige]

^{shhhhh... dont tell the scammers about this....}

[kokakolia]

I don’t agree with this policy. An expensive service commands premium customer support. Since Canadian data plans are some of the most expensive in the world, you’d expect customer support to be free. 

 

On the other hand, if these Canadian carriers lower their data plan prices as a result of increased savings from customer support then I would support this 100%. But it is evident that Canadian data plans are slowly becoming more expensive in the past 2 years. Canadian cell companies are scum. 

[Andreas Lilja]

6 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

I don’t agree with this policy. An expensive service commands premium customer support. Since Canadian data plans are some of the most expensive in the world, you’d expect customer support to be free. 

 

On the other hand, if these Canadian carriers lower their data plan prices as a result of increased savings from customer support then I would support this 100%. But it is evident that Canadian data plans are slowly becoming more expensive in the past 2 years. Canadian cell companies are scum. 

We do get - hopefully - shorter wait times.

[Syntaxvgm]

Always been a thing for service calls.

kinda like how comcast literally would fuck something up on the pole, fix the pole, then file it as "customer's fault" and try to charge 75$ me back in the day. 

 

[Trik'Stari]

Seems like inflation is starting to negatively effect companies as well. Which is my theory behind the current state of the video game industry. They don't want to charge $60 a game anymore because $60 now is less than $60 ten years ago.

 

It's almost as if an entirely debt based economy is a bad idea.

[Bcat00]

Monopoly at its finest in Canada. There's no hope for our telecom companies so it was just a matter of time before they pull this crap. 

 

And no, for those that say to use the small telecom companies that's leasing the big three's line, they are just as bad in a different fashion like charging a technician to come fix the line, or something like troubleshooting and etc. BS all around. 

 

 

[TetraSky]

2 hours ago, Bcat00 said:

Monopoly at its finest in Canada.

I think you mean oligopoly here. It'd be a monopoly if there literally was only 1 provider. But there are a handful big carriers who own the infrastructure, hence an oligopole.

[AkatsukiKun]

47 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

I think you mean oligopoly here. It'd be a monopoly if there literally was only 1 provider. But there are a handful big carriers who own the infrastructure, hence an oligopole.

Even then an oligopoly severely limits a new entrant into the market, which is why you don't see another service provider really challenging the big three.

[Curufinwe_wins]

2 hours ago, TetraSky said:

I think you mean oligopoly here. It'd be a monopoly if there literally was only 1 provider. But there are a handful big carriers who own the infrastructure, hence an oligopole.

At least you have a choice. 

 

129 MILLION Americans only have access to one broadband provider. I'd love to have Canadian ISPs compared to the shitstorm here...

 

[Suika]

God, if this applied to US carriers, a third of my time spent at work would have been freed up. It's actually quite surprising how much a carrier lets you do on their mobile apps, it's just that people would rather waste 15 minutes of my time than spend 2 minutes trying to do it themselves.

 

That said, unless the carrier offers something back to customers, at least more than reduced wait times (which will be brought back up when the carrier finds out they can reduce phone support staffing), this is kind of a dick move.

[williamcll]

You can just get your tech support @ http://www.linustechtips.com

[Yoinkerman]

10 hours ago, Suika said:

God, if this applied to US carriers, a third of my time spent at work would have been freed up. It's actually quite surprising how much a carrier lets you do on their mobile apps, it's just that people would rather waste 15 minutes of my time than spend 2 minutes trying to do it themselves.

 

That said, unless the carrier offers something back to customers, at least more than reduced wait times (which will be brought back up when the carrier finds out they can reduce phone support staffing), this is kind of a dick move.

That's not how it would work.  If csm calls reduce by 1/3 they'd cut staff by 1/2

[Ravendarat]

19 hours ago, Raskolnikov said:

https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/03/23/fido-account-handling-fee-self-serve/

Canadian providers are thieves but I kinda agree with this. Should also apply to people who cause lines at banks because they want to withdraw or deposit. It's 2019.

People cant use a bank teller to deposit or withdraw in your mind? Thats just stupid. What if I wanna take out 2500 bucks, what if I have a cheque for 35 grand that I want to deposit and dont wanna leave it in a machine? I dont like lines at the bank but that was a ridiculous statement.

[Brooksie359]

9 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

People cant use a bank teller to deposit or withdraw in your mind? Thats just stupid. What if I wanna take out 2500 bucks, what if I have a cheque for 35 grand that I want to deposit and dont wanna leave it in a machine? I dont like lines at the bank but that was a ridiculous statement.

Now they are going to charge people for not using the self checkout at grocery stores too. I hate dealing with automated systems and would rather talk to someone. I shouldn't have to pay for customer service. 

[schwellmo92]

20 hours ago, kokakolia said:

Canadian data plans are some of the most expensive in the world

I thought you were exaggerating so I looked at Fido’s plans, wow they’re really bad. Phone plans in my country cost that much about 5 years ago, mind you Canadian cable broadband is much better.

[schwellmo92]

53 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

 I shouldn't have to pay for customer service. 

In an increasingly automated and efficiency focused world, why shouldn’t you?

[Derangel]

49 minutes ago, schwellmo92 said:

In an increasingly automated and efficiency focused world, why shouldn’t you?

Because, by and large, customer facing automation is utter garbage.

[kokakolia]

1 hour ago, Derangel said:

Because, by and large, customer facing automation is utter garbage.

I agree. The Koodo (Fido competitor) system is very unhelpful. You basically have a limited number of questions with answers. It’s nothing more than a fancy FAQ. It’s seldom helpful. That is not the future IMHO. 

[Noctus]

3 hours ago, schwellmo92 said:

In an increasingly automated and efficiency focused world, why shouldn’t you?

That sentence makes me think you'd happily charge an entrance fee for  people to enter the bank. Gotta nickle and dime, eh?

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, schwellmo92 said:

In an increasingly automated and efficiency focused world, why shouldn’t you?

Because that's how business is done. Why would I go and do business with people who are gonna be too cheap to even offer customer support if you dont pay for it? 

[kokakolia]

33 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Because that's how business is done. Why would I go and do business with people who are gonna be too cheap to even offer customer support if you dont pay for it? 

Because the parent company Rogers which offers “free” customer support charges more for data plans. And it’s not like the competitors are doing anything different. It’s an absolute price fixing oligopoly. And if one company lowers their standards then every other company will follow suit. 

[Brooksie359]

1 minute ago, kokakolia said:

Because the parent company Rogers which offers “free” customer support charges more for data plans. And it’s not like the competitors are doing anything different. It’s an absolute price fixing oligopoly. And if one company lowers their standards then every other company will follow suit. 

I have options so I refuse to do business with companies that do this type of practice. 

[kokakolia]

11 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I have options so I refuse to do business with companies that do this type of practice. 

Well good for you, wooptie-doo! I am stuck in Canada and I’m stuck with using either Koodo, Fido or Virgin. I use Koodo. I know that Public Mobile exists, but the data only works in the city. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

On 3/24/2019 at 5:27 PM, Raskolnikov said:

Canadian providers are thieves but I kinda agree with this. Should also apply to people who cause lines at banks because they want to withdraw or deposit. It's 2019.

It's 2019, the year in which you have to call customer support, do lines, and deal in cash because of the incompetence and/or malice of service providers. And then they want you to pay them for using a "service" you wouldn't need if they did something as simple as keeping their end of the deal.

 

But hey, I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords. No wonder "software as a service" is sweeping us so easily. I'd call it Stockholm Syndrome, but at this point it's like the whole Scandinavia.