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Smash
06-19-2008, 08:30 AM
Has anyone had any dealings with Bell Mobility since they have taken over Aliant Mobility. My experience so far has been HORRIBLE customer service.... am I the only one, or are there others out there that have found a huge difference?

shadoww
06-19-2008, 08:37 AM
My contract is due to expire this weekend with them, so 2 months ago I started looking around comparing plans(telus, Bell, and Rogers), and I have had a terrible time with them. My first complaint is I was told to cancel my contract early it is a minuimum 100.00 per phone each time I called them, however I was told in their store it is supposed to be 20.00 a month per phone, and I have a friend that worked for Aliant mobility that said the same thing, anyways doesnt matter decided to finish the contract out. But in the meantime I have been comparing plans, I have called Bell 4 times and everytime I am told different prices on the plan I was choosing!! After the 3rd they came up with a plan I liked so I decided to stay with them, but when I called back to ask a cpl more questions I was told the plan only covered 1 phone, that was it for me, I told them they need to train their staff to get the plans straight. Then to top it off they called me last week and asked what they had to do to keep me I told them train the staff better! I am switching to Rogers!

Smash
06-19-2008, 08:49 AM
It is unbelievable how they treat people. Any time I call, I am on hold for AT LEAST 20 mins. And like you said, depending on who you talk to they say a different thing. My plan is now much more expensive than it was when I bought the phone, but thats ok for them I guess, but I sure as heck cant change my agreement with them. I asked someone at the Aliant dealer the other day if they were hearing many complaints and the lady said that it has been unbelievable the amount of complaints they have heard. She said it is really upsetting to them as they are used to being able to help customers with issues and if they are wrong, they make it right. With Bell, its their way or the highway..... they make me soooo mad, and there isnt anything you can do about it. I am in a contract with them now, and they know that and figure that they can treat me however they want. I cant wait til the contract is up and I can tell them where to shove their phones......

:mad:

magoosmomma
06-19-2008, 11:31 AM
I have been having issues as well... Not a fan at all of the switch over..

FutureChief88
06-19-2008, 11:32 AM
I am with rogers... and although i love their services (ie coverage and plans.)their customer service is horrible!

Also if you are excited about the unlimited network calling.. and you are on a family plan.. u dont have network calling. this was one thing that really angered me with them. One of rigers HUGE selling points is that you can call anyone anywhere in canada on the rogers network for free.. well not when u have a family plan.. U willhave to pay extra!
Just be careful.. When i call..iask for customer relations.. i dont even deal with the initial people.. none of them know what they are doing.. its like dealing with the government.

puppyluv
06-19-2008, 04:00 PM
so far we have been quite lucky...good service most of the time..when it came to rogers and their cell service..well...plainly it sucked.

SeanM
06-19-2008, 07:12 PM
I've had horrible experiences with Bell as well. I've even lost some functionality too, such as sending picture messages. They wouldn't do anything to help me.

FutureChief88
06-19-2008, 08:17 PM
My mom has the SAME issue.. with Bell.
Trying to upload pics fromk your phone on to the site. She keeps getting a G4 Message and they wont help her with it.. they try and give up. One guy even did some troubleshooting on her phone with her on the line.. and ended up charging her over $30 in usage charges! She had to fight to get THAT back! Quite sad if you ask me!

andrea
06-20-2008, 08:35 AM
i love bell!!! hehe

MistyMoon
06-20-2008, 10:20 AM
Its been a nightmare in the last few days trying to get the info and change of name on a prepaid acct bought through alient which is now bell. Not that I have a contract with them but how is a contract binding when the company changes hands...isn't the contract strictly between customer and the Alient company?

oh and the customer service has been polite and tried to be helpful , its just the whole change of hands thing and bell not knowing what went on when you were with Alient.

kaj27
06-20-2008, 10:47 AM
Personally I think the problem happened when they went from NBTel to Aliant.

Smash
06-20-2008, 11:34 AM
Yeah, I agree, there was a difference between NB Tel and Aliant, but the difference between Bell and Aliant is even worse I think.

FutureChief88
06-20-2008, 04:51 PM
Personally I think the problem happened when they went from NBTel to Aliant.

Agreed... :thumbsup:

Cal
06-22-2008, 09:28 PM
I have been with Rogers before and here in the Maritimes the coverage is crap and their customer service is just the worst there is out there. I have been with Telus since 2001 and love it. Their customer service is excellent and coverage is the same as Bell and Aliant because of the same CDMA network.

I would seriously look at Telus as an alternative because they care about their customers. I have had the odd issue with them and called their customer service or the store and they did everything they needed to so they could resolve the issue. Take a look.

skittlez511
06-23-2008, 02:10 PM
I worked as a customer service rep. for Fido services when Rogers took over them. Was it ever a mess trying to clean up after them. Changes to plans ( cost, extras ) Network changes ( coverage, txt and pic sending, emailing ). Trying to deal with unhappy ( irrate ) customers made for a long day. Customer don't understand, that we as customer service ( an a customer myself ), is only given so much information and options that we can hand back out. Customer Relations is only there to stop you from cancelling. Sure, use them to get what you want, but they're not going to stop the poor network coverage, they can't change anything for ever, they give you some credits, for only a matter of time, After that they will see that your milking them, and put a stop to it.
I am an Aliant/Bell customer, I have had to call about poor network coverage, I too couldn't send pictures. Some times my BF didn't have any service, living in a camp in Fort Mac. I have no service in a few places that I had service when it was Aliant. I have had to call about charges.
It happened with Fido-Rogers, it's happening with Aliant-Bell.
Now with my Cell Phone bill changing, My Bank Fees are changing ( changing=increasing )
I wonder if he has to do with the price of gas, LOL. :confused:

FutureChief88
06-23-2008, 02:34 PM
I have been with Rogers before and here in the Maritimes the coverage is crap and their customer service is just the worst there is out there. I have been with Telus since 2001 and love it. Their customer service is excellent and coverage is the same as Bell and Aliant because of the same CDMA network.

I would seriously look at Telus as an alternative because they care about their customers. I have had the odd issue with them and called their customer service or the store and they did everything they needed to so they could resolve the issue. Take a look.


No..
Rogers coverage USED to be crap. I was a customer with them like 5-6 years ago..and i am now! I get service where NONE of my aliant or Telus friends do.

kaj27
06-23-2008, 04:46 PM
No..
Rogers coverage USED to be crap. I was a customer with them like 5-6 years ago..and i am now! I get service where NONE of my aliant or Telus friends do.

Bingo!

Coverage maps

Aliant/Bell in Atlantic Canada:
http://killabytes.no-ip.org/images/large2.jpg


Rogers Atlantic Coverage:
http://killabytes.no-ip.org/images/large.gif


You can see Rogers has somewhat more coverage. Yes sometimes in buildings you loose a signal/connection. But this is the nature of GSM networks. Newer phones loose signals/connections in buildings. Mostly large steel structures. Also with Aliant's service you aren't always going to have a 'high-speed' signal. Meaning you usually have to be within a city limit to check email or whatever. With Rogers if you have a signal, it's high speed.

I've been asked 100 times before if I work for Rogers, again, no.

FutureChief88
06-23-2008, 04:58 PM
Exactly..

Their "service" as far as the phone coverage and such is concerned is second to none. Customer service on the other hand leaves something to be desired. But overall.. i think rogers is the best out there.

dan j
06-23-2008, 05:15 PM
You think that the Rogers map shows better coverage than the Bell map?

There are some major gaps in the Rogers map that are on pretty important routes.

Halifax to Cape Breton, highway 7
Highway 8 and 10 in NS
Dalhousie and Campbellton
Highway 17 in NB
Highway 8, Fredericton to Miramichi
Highway 19 and 105 in Cape Breton

Bell is lacking in some areas compared to Rogers too:
Highway 126 in NB, Moncton to Bouctouche (an important area for cottagers)
The inner parts of Fundy National Park
Between Harvey and St. Stephen


If you're judging on the amount of colour you see, sure, it looks like there is more red than oranges on the maps but it's probably more accurate to actually look at areas where people need coverage most.

kaj27
06-23-2008, 05:42 PM
You think that the Rogers map shows better coverage than the Bell map?

There are some major gaps in the Rogers map that are on pretty important routes.

Halifax to Cape Breton, highway 7
Highway 8 and 10 in NS
Dalhousie and Campbellton
Highway 17 in NB
Highway 8, Fredericton to Miramichi
Highway 19 and 105 in Cape Breton

Bell is lacking in some areas compared to Rogers too:
Highway 126 in NB, Moncton to Bouctouche (an important area for cottagers)
The inner parts of Fundy National Park
Between Harvey and St. Stephen


If you're judging on the amount of colour you see, sure, it looks like there is more red than oranges on the maps but it's probably more accurate to actually look at areas where people need coverage most.

I knew someone would mention the holes.

Remeber that Aliant still claims service in remote areas. They have every right to. BUT that service is analog. I know of no one who still uses a analog phone.

So Aliant/Bell can claim all the service they want, but claiming analog as service is like calling a sale at Sears a good price.

dan j
06-23-2008, 07:20 PM
Yeah, but, I was just comparing the maps, nothing else.

kaj27
06-23-2008, 11:31 PM
Yeah, but, I was just comparing the maps, nothing else.

My mistake Dan. I posted the maps for people to get a general idea. I have a bit more technical data that shows the limits of both networks :)

lmh
07-01-2008, 07:46 AM
WARNING!

For those who have Packages with Aliant, when Bell took over the Mobility, the merge of the billing didn't go so well.

My Package includes Home phone, long distance, Internet, and cell. I have the family plan with 2 cell phones and they have overcharged me $40 (plus taxes) on the last two bills. They charged me the $40 for the family plan on the 1st phone, with $20 credit for the Package. Then they charged me again on the 2nd phone - No Credit. I called the first month and they said they would correct it. I called this month, and there is no record of the call or the credit from last month.

It generally takes 3 months for this to get straightened out (at least it did last year when Aliant changed billing). This includes tracking credits for the billing, taxes, late charges, etc.

Watch your bills closely folks. They changed billing 2x last year, this is the first time this year. I expect it again in the Fall.

trinity
07-01-2008, 09:31 AM
I have been with Rogers before and here in the Maritimes the coverage is crap and their customer service is just the worst there is out there. I have been with Telus since 2001 and love it. Their customer service is excellent and coverage is the same as Bell and Aliant because of the same CDMA network.

I would seriously look at Telus as an alternative because they care about their customers. I have had the odd issue with them and called their customer service or the store and they did everything they needed to so they could resolve the issue. Take a look.

Isn't that funny, when I lived in BC I tried daily for 2 weeks to get Telus on the phone to get my own line installed in my apartment - one day I waited on hold for over 2 hours, I put them on speakerphone, made breakfast, washed the dishes, swept the floor etc-I never once got to speak to a live person. I tried every option and number in the book I could find, dialing 0 got me NOWHERE. I gave up and went with a Rogers cell phone, had that within 20 minutes of walking into the store.

dan j
07-01-2008, 10:25 AM
They changed billing 2x last year, this is the first time this year. I expect it again in the Fall.

This isn't entirely true. Aliant used a billing system called Virtuoso for many years. In September, in order to gear up for the billing system change on April 28th to a new billing system called NM1 (and used by Bell nationally), Aliant changed from billing in arrears to billing in advance as the new billing program bills in advance. There were very few glitches in September's change because the billing system, billing/promotions features and parameters all stayed exactly the same. So, in September everyone was billed for their monthly recurring charges for the previous and upcoming month. It wasn't that big of a deal other than customers not reading their bills and letters advising them of the change. September's bill looked like almost every other telco and tv provider's first bill.

The problem with Family Share plans being billed twice, as you mentioned, is a known issue with April's change and people are working on a fix for it. It occurred because a non-rating feature code in the old billing system that was just used for tracking purposes was not on all 2nd phones in the old system. This meant little to the company or customer in the old system because that feature code did not drive any sort of revenue. In the new system they didn't realize that not all Family Share plans had that feature code so it made the new system think there were two separate Family Share plans on the same account. It appears in the new system that rate plans bill individually even if there are more than one phone on the account while the old system billed the rate plan only at an account level.

The change over was not perfect but given the magnitude of the project it did go pretty good from talking to people involved in the project.

I don't have any inside information on Bell's high-level operations but changing billing systems is a multimillion dollar investment so I doubt they're up for converting to a new billing system this fall or any time soon. Their current billing system is pretty adaptable to changes in the cellular world for years to come while the old system Aliant used involved a lot of behind the scenes work by programmers to bill all the new features and changes happening in cellular. An easy example is that now on bell.ca you can see how much data, text messages, and airtime you've used before your billing date.

angeliiiss
07-01-2008, 11:23 AM
Where I live I can't use a cell phone no matter where its from,no signal here at all.I also can't get high-speed from anyone of them.I have dial up and lucky to have that so I am not going to complain.

lmh
07-01-2008, 04:12 PM
dan_j

I will admit that the change in September went smooth - I was watching it carefully, as the one last sping had the same results as this spring ... I was double billed. I only just got it straightened out (including threats of collections because I refused to pay the overbilling) before the change in the Fall. If the double billing was a problem last time, it should have been recorded and tested for future changes.

My concern is for the people who pay their bills without inspecting them. I am very aware of the what my bill should be, and when there is a significant difference, I need to know why.

How many people simply pay their bill, and will never know there was an error?

dan j
07-01-2008, 04:40 PM
There were only two changes. September, 2007 and April, 2008.

September, 2007 meant for customers to get charges for two months at one time on one bill. The charges were legitimate.

April, 2008 didn't mean for some Family Share customers to get double-billed. I know people who worked on the billing conversion project, there were months and months of testing. This error made it through unfortunately for you and some others. I know that the billing team is working on correcting it. In the meantime, I do not know what Bell's frontline agents are doing when confronted with the error. I'm sure when the first round of customers started calling about it that there would have been an uninformed response as the billing problem was probably unrecognized at that point.

jeeper
07-02-2008, 08:09 AM
For anybody that has been unhappy with Bell might want to check this company out. They are a sister company to telus, they require no long term contracts. They give you $150 credit on any of their phones which so much of a % gets paid from your monthly bill till the phone is paid. If you want to leave you only have to pay off the phone. My brother has had one for 3 months now and is really pleased with service and coverage. You can buy the phones at futureshop or walmart.

dan j
07-02-2008, 10:06 AM
In a few years there should be several other new carriers in the Canadian market. Whether that will drive much change is to be seen.

trinity
07-02-2008, 10:21 AM
dan_j


My concern is for the people who pay their bills without inspecting them. I am very aware of the what my bill should be, and when there is a significant difference, I need to know why.

How many people simply pay their bill, and will never know there was an error?
Exactly! When my brother died in 1998 I was helping my mother sort out some of her finances and I noticed her phone bill was in the $50 range, in 1998! I thought maybe she had run up a ton of long distance charges calling people about the accident, but nope, there wasn't a single LD charge on her bill. I investigated and found out that at some point my brother had convinced her to agree to a "free trial" of a bunch of extras- call forwarding, call display, call waiting, voicemail etc, all the bells and whistles, and when the free trial period had ended, she didn't know to call and cancel, sort of that "negative billing" scheme where you don't actually order the services, you have to cancel them to not be billed. She just thought that 50$ was the cost of phone service these days. The woman was paying for caller ID/call display when she didn't even have the phone plugged in to a power outlet-there weren't any near the phone jack. She was paying for call waiting when she had no idea what the beep on the line was for! I called from her phone and pretended to be her, found this out and cancelled the services. It cut her bill in half.

dan j
07-02-2008, 11:09 AM
So, you committed identity fraud, eh? ;) j/k

sharonhinkley
07-02-2008, 08:12 PM
keep an eye out VIRGIN MOBILE is coming to McAllister Place
no 911 fee no activation fee and no system access fees

kaj27
07-02-2008, 09:49 PM
keep an eye out VIRGIN MOBILE is coming to McAllister Place
no 911 fee no activation fee and no system access fees

Virgin Mobile is already here, been here for awhile. They use Aliant's Networks as well.

dan j
07-02-2008, 10:54 PM
having no 911 access or proper 911 access is awesome!

i hate fear tactics but if your service provider (landline or mobility) isn't taking part in 911 service, be prepared.

http://www.thepost.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1061821

911 is a service your provider takes part in on a volunteer basis and does not make money on regardless of who they are. rogers, telus, bell, and aliant all take part in this. if your other carrier does not. don't expect quality emergency services using that carrier's services.

sharonhinkley
07-03-2008, 04:46 PM
VIRGIN MOBILE will have a kiosk @ McAllister Place. They have 911 service you just dont have to pay extra for it!!!! No activation fee or system access fees check it out July 14th also will have blackberry service for approx $45/mth inclusive

dianne_101
07-10-2008, 12:55 PM
Ok so i have been a customer of Bell Mobility for 5 years, the past 2 years with Aliant, and when i lived out west 2 years ago, i was with Bell for 3 years, i had no issues, once again until the Aliant switch over. Now i just quit my job at ICT which is located in Parkway mall, they do all the customer service (billing) for all Atlantic customers, as well as the call center in Cape Breton and the center in Dieppe, while i was working with them, i was unfortunately a part of the Aliant-Bell switchover, we had hundreds of calls in queue, every call was irate, and frankly i don't blame them, because all the billing is messed, both phones on family plans were getting dbl charged, all their features they had for free before april 28th were now being charged, picture/video messaging wasn't working, voicemail passwords were being reset... it was definitely a living nightmare.

Now for the past 3 months i too have to call Bell to get my bill straightened out, they have been charging my boyfriend and i for calling each other (were on a family plan) they have been charging dbl for our plan, they have been giving us different answers on how many minutes we have between the phones, and have been charging for picture messaging when i have the fun 20... yesterday i called and had to have a credit of 180 dollars, because it was once again their mess up.

Now what i would suggest to make your life easier while you stick out your contract with them, is if you have a former Aliant plan, switch to a Bell plan, not only are you not charged for extras, or given different answers on what your plan includes... because bell uses a system called Infozone, and all the Bell plans are in there, except former Aliant plans... its kinda winged i'm not gonna lie... so i did that yesterday and hopefully i won't have any more issues.

Also did everyone hear about Bell and Telus, as of august 28th, they will start charging .15 cents per incoming text message, unless of course you have a plan for texting... whats everyone think of that?