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Massive Canadian Class-Action Cellphone Suit Is Approved
BeanBunny writes "A Saskatchewan, Canada court has ruled that a $12 billion class-action suit can proceed. The suit alleges that 'system access fees' that the cellphone companies have charged ($7-9 per month) are unfair and constitute price gouging. 'It is described as the largest class-action in Canadian history, potentially affecting every cellphone user in the country. Currently, there are 7,500 complainants signed onto the suit.'"
This is classic bait and switch tactics... Advertise one price, and then hit the customers with another. Their only real justification is that 'everyone else is doing it' and that not doing so would put them out of business. Its about time something like this came along.
You know, that would've been a lot more topical back when we weren't so close to parity.
Assuming the lawsuit is successful, they'll just roll the $7 fee into the base price for ALL of their plans. So my $20/mo plan will become a $26.95/mo plan. Big whoop.
Wake me up when they stop charging $0.10 per SMS, or $0.05 per KB. I mean why is it they can afford me calling my friends after 6pm which uses roughly 9.6kbit/sec for FREE (well unlimited), but I can't send a 200 byte SMS without incurring a 10 cent charge no matter the time of day.
Cell phones are basically a license to print money. And since Rogers and Bell are basically monopolies they can charge [and do] whatever they want. If you look at Rogers previous earnings reports, the wireless division has been making tons of profit for a long time. So strictly speaking the high fees are NOT required to stay in business, they're just fucking greedy.
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
I've always wondered about that fee. I remember when I first got a cell phone eons ago, when I signed up for a plan and the first bill did not jive with the plan. I didn't remember paying a large fee for my landline so I phoned them and got quite upset at first. After that I noticed that the sales reps tell you there is an "access charge" which by now shouldn't need to exist.
It is also interesting that Bell raised their fees. Good thing I don't use them as my cell phone carrier.
7 Canadian dollars = 6.825273 U.S. dollars
So thats what... $5, $6 American?
Currently just a few cents under parity. Wait a year and you may be looking at 1.25 greenbacks per loonie. As the trend has gone that way. We went from ~0.69 greenbacks per loonies to 0.98 greenbacks per loonie.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Don't suppose this is a Canada wide lawsuit? And if so how do I get in on it?
I've been with Clearnet/Telus for nearly 10 years and apparently been handing free money to them... Good Times...
I Like Pie...
I Like Pie...
> Yep, and Canadian products will become more "expensive" to Americans (therefore, less goods are sold). Additionally, US products will become cheaper for Canadians (therefore, more of our goods get sold to you)....
You seem to forget, we're your #1 supplier of petroleum products. You really don't have a choice if we raise prices to match domestic prices, since we supply the equivalent of 1 Katrina of oil, and there isn't enough slack in the world, never mind enough oil tankers, to make up the difference.
You *could* stop using up so much of it, which is what will probably happen as people stop over-spending and are unable to borrow against their home's declining values.
Kevin Smith on Prince
I see you voted for Bush.
""Price Gouging" is for life-essentials - like food, water, shelter. A cellphone plan isn't a life essential."
:). Thanks for clearing that up.
I agree. When I was selling Nintendo Wiis during Xmas for $450 people kept saying I was a price gouging sack of $%@*. Now I know it's not true
Since it screws over the customers worse than the companies just to make the lawyers rich.
But in this case, these ripoff fees have been bugging me for 10 years, so I'm all for this on. If they roll in the fees with the normal rates, good, that's how they should do it.
I remember when I got my first cell phone around 1996, Clearnet at the time (now Telus), made it very, very clear that this was a government regulatory fee.
I'm on prepaid, only paying $10/mth+tax and nothing else. That's one of the reasons I picked prepaid to begin with; No system access fee, at least in Canada on Telus.
12bil / 7500 = $1,600,000. minus lawyer fees.
All is prevelant in the world...
If you are Canadian, and have a canadian cell phone, Go to http://www.merchantlaw.com/cellular.html to sign up...
Ian Ameline
Seriously? This country and corporations(as well as you Canadians up 'der") have found fit to nickel and dime the lazy into millions and billions of extra dollars in hidden fees, surcharges, and taxes.
It's interesting to see this in almost EVERY major bill of everyday American usage. Phone, cable, electric, gas. It truly is out of control and it's a pleasant surprise to see the Canadians take charge. Now if us Americans would understand that the phone companies here are doing the same PLUS charging us for for fractions of extra minutes based on getting their own operator telling us "if you would like to leave a message press one, if you would like to page this person, press 2. If not please leave your message after the tone." 15 seconds of extra money for them after every phone call not answered. I bet that adds up to a few extra "crack" millions a year.
1.00 CAD = 0.985699 USD Not even 1 and a half cents difference per dollar. And the way things are going, we'll be the ones making fun of the American dollar soon enough.
Price gouging is not illegal except in certain circumstnaces. I.E. It is price gouging only if there is some kind of emergency going on.
Same for predatory pricing. To be predatory pricing it must be an attempt to remove a smaller competitor and the bigger company must be taking a LOSS on the price.
Price fixing only occures when an actual agreement occures not to compete on price. ---------------- But all of that is crap, because the lawsuit is NOT about the price Yeah, the consumers want the lower price, but that is not what the legal action is about at all. This particular case should really be called false advertising. They advertise one price and then really charge you a higher one. That is wrong ALL the time. No if's, no and's, no buts.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
It's deceptive. If I sign up for a $49/mo plan and incur no extra expenses (MMS, minutes, downloads) then why is my bill $63/mo give or take a few bucks? Why does it vary when I never have extra charges?
If the plan costs $63/mo then advertise it as that. Not $49/mo.
And then all these "free phone" deals. I keep asking them for that free phone, but they won't give it to me without money. The sign says "free phone." and it doesn't have an *. If it says free, then why can't I have it free?
I have a free phone you can have, just sign here. What did you sign? A contract for a variable monthly fee service which I can change the fee structure at any time and an agreement to pay $300 if you cancel. I reserve the right to increase your fee's at any time. And I can add $20 worth of monthly fee's if I feel like it with no recourse on your side.
Sucks. But they all do it.
Not for customers who already have $XX price for a plan. The price of the plan is fixed (unless you switch to a new plan), and would be grandfathered in with the contract, etc.
My captcha is parasite... how nice and fitting for a comment on a cellphone-related article
OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
"Assuming the lawsuit is successful, they'll just roll the $7 fee into the base price for ALL of their plans. So my $20/mo plan will become a $26.95/mo plan. Big whoop."
:(
:/ The other company seems to charge more in sales tax than i can find taxable plus several questionable 'fees'. Repeat for multiple techniques for each company :(
That is the idea yes.
Did you get the plan on price? You would not know your $20 plan costs more than my $25 plan until you sign on for a year or two!
I am trying to compare phone companies for work. It is impossible to know how much it will cost without signing up. Land or cell
Is $25.00 per month and $.07 per minute better or worse than $15.00 per month and $.08 per minute? No matter how much math you throw at it you can't tell because they tack on too many fake fees mixed in the real taxes. XO adds a minimum of 10% on the the bottom of the bill up to 24% if your a little guy
PS: so far XO is the worst on under-the-line fees plus they flat-out lied to me when asked about one.
At that time, it was. The point of the suit is that it isn't anymore, and yet the companies are still saying it is, and using that lie to justify charging it.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
Finally, it took a while to find a post like this, but this is the actual reason for the suit. I am one of the plaintiffs listed in the certification document and a few years ago i was called to a discovery meeting in toronto. i am happy to see this suit finally moving along. the $6.95 was described as a government lic. fee. it is not. the money all goes into the same pot as the other money they collect. they also have a witness from one of the cell phone co.s who was an employee and was told to mislead customers in the description of the so-called service fee. of course, the whole plan was to show a lower entry price.
8 years also happens to coincide with GW Bush presidency. But spending $200 million PER DAY on a war couldn't possibly have any effect on the economy now could it..
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
Now whose fault is that? The phone companies. We're going to all charge each other money for these connections that don't really cost us anything. That way, we can charge our customers to "cover our costs". It's brilliant.
A rip-off is a rip-off whether it is perpetrated by a single company acting alone or by the whole lot of the slimy dirtbags.
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"> You sell us oil? You're joking right?
> We sell *you* you're oil ... and beef ... and lumber ...
Canada does oil swaps with the US. Rather than the US moving oil from the east coast to the west coast, and Canada moving oil from Alberta to the east coase, Canada sends some oil to the US west and central states, and "swaps" it with oil the us imports from the middle east and venezuela that is sent up to estern Canada.
However, the net balance i petroleum products is definitely in our (Canada's) favour, and there is not enough tanker capacity to make up for it if almost any country stops shipping, or unilaterally raises the price. Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela could form NorAmPEC, charge a $100/bbl "environmental tax", and there isn't enough capacity to replace it. Even with the resulting lower demand, NorAmPEC would still come out ahead, money-wise, especially since OPEC would probably jump in.
Kevin Smith on Prince
I'm sure I'll never see a penny, but I signed up anyway just because I hope it will exert some pressure on the companies to be more honest. This isn't something they stopped doing years ago -- it's something they still do today.