I realize that my last post was a little scattered—there was a lot going through my mind at once. Now I've had some time to calm down and direct my energy a little bit. Here's a recap of what's gone on this week:
Hi, I just had a look at your new July 11 rate plans and I'm very disappointed. I would be saving about $20 a month compared to how much I am paying now for similar service from Rogers, however that still is muchmore than I would be paying to get similar service from another company. I would have been willing to live with it. Despite all the resentment I have towards Rogers for billing problems in the past, I would have been fine with paying a premium for a premium product. However, I just read that there will be an $1100 contract cancellation fee. That is absolutely ridiculous.
July 11 I will be canceling my Rogers account. This is the absolute last straw. Almost everyone I know who says they use Rogers has done it with a disclaimer. "I only use Rogers because they're the only mobile provider who lets me use my grey market phone," or "I only use them because they're the only ones who don't nickel and dime me over ringtones." Whoever has come up with these rate plans and terms and conditions obviously must have no idea how much resentment there is towards Rogers as a company.
Personally, I was almost at the point where I accepted using Rogers' services as a necessary evil. I stopped complaining to anyone who asked. I even minimally complained when I had to deal with an issue where I was inexplicably charged 50% extra for US roaming. I've been paying a minimum of $200 a month for services that I thought were not too much worse than I would be getting from somewhere else. But not anymore.
I understand that this is a business. I understand that this is a unique opportunity for the company to take advantage of a situation where they can make a lot of money. But this is not the right way to do this. I will be canceling all my Rogers services. I will also be doing this at work, where 70% of us are currently with Rogers. I'm also posting this openly on my blog, endlessly tweeting about how disappointed I am, and passing this on to everybody I know on Facebook. There are a lot of people who are buzzing wildly about this—I highly suggest you address this problem immediately.
First Rogers announced iPhone rate plans. Most people say they suck. Compared to voice+data plans from other companies they do. Compared to iPhone plans elsewhere in the world we are paying the most.
Potentially due to all the negative backlash, it has been reported that you will now be able to use a wireless plan you already have, as long as you add a data plan. Similar setup as they have elsewhere in the world.
Then Rogers announces that there will be a $1100 charge for canceling your iPhone plan before the mandatory 3-year contract is up. That's right. For $50 more you can buy a brand new MacBook. Usually they charge something like $20 per month for each month left in your contract to a maximum of $200. Now it's $220 per month! What happens if you break your phone? Will you be forced to pay $1100 for a replacement? I broke my current one within six months... it happens to a lot of people.
That is the last straw. I've emailed a bunch of people at Rogers to tell them what I think.
July 11 I will be canceling my Rogers account. This is the absolute last straw. Almost everyone I know who says they use Rogers has done it with a disclaimer. "I only use Rogers because they're the only mobile provider who lets me use my grey market phone," or "I only use them because they're the only ones who don't nickel and dime me over ringtones." Whoever has come up with these rate plans and terms and conditions obviously must have no idea how much resentment there is towards Rogers as a company.
Personally, I was almost at the point where I accepted using Rogers' services as a necessary evil. I stopped complaining to anyone who asked. I even minimally complained when I had to deal with an issue where I was inexplicably charged 50% extra for US roaming. I've been paying a minimum of $200 a month for services that I thought were not too much worse than I would be getting from somewhere else. But not anymore.
I understand that this is a business. I understand that this is a unique opportunity for the company to take advantage of a situation where they can make a lot of money. But this is not the right way to do this. I will be canceling all my Rogers services. I will also be doing this at work, where 70% of us are currently with Rogers. I'm also posting this openly on my blog, endlessly tweeting about how disappointed I am, and passing this on to everybody I know on Facebook. There are a lot of people who are buzzing wildly about this—I highly suggest you address this problem immediately.
I'm a little too angry to be able to get my point across professionally... whatever, that's my style. I purposely left out any references to iPhone in the email, because I'm sure that by this point they must have email filters to weed out complaints. Hopefully they'll actually get to read this one.
I'm also considering printing out flyers with this information and handing them out outside of the closest Rogers store on July 11. Yes it's that big of a deal.
I realize I might be sounding a bit fanatical. I just really like my (broken) iPhone. If you don't have one now, going without one is like going without a phone. Remember when you had to make plans before you left the house? Setting up meeting times and places and hoping that the other person shows up? It's like that but so much more. You've literally got the world in your pocket. From reading blogs at the gym, to keeping updated on news, to settling arguments on wikipedia, to looking up addresses, phone numbers and directions. It's insane how reliant you become on it. You just leave the house, then figure out what you're going to do.
This is worse than the negative billing episode of '95. Hopefully enough people will band together and force them to back off, the same way we did then.
edit: OMFG, I misread this to read a maximum charge of $1100. It actually says a minimum charge of $1100. This means you can be forced to pay anywhere from $1100 to almost $8000 to get out of an iPhone contract! It was bad before, but this is absolutely criminal.
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