ExpressVu increases late fees and clarifies multiple receiver rules Articles / Bell TV (ExpressVu) Posted by Tripster on Sep 17, 2004 - 01:07 PM |
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Subscribers to Bell's ExpressVu satellite service will see a few changes with their "user agreement" on this months bill. The changes outlined are the following: A new section (5(g)) has been introduced to explain in greater detail their existing policies regarding vacation properties and secondary locations. Customers are NOT permitted to maintain multiple IRDs on one account that are active at different locations simultaneously. If an IRD is installed in a mobile unit such as a camper, boat or other recreational vehicle, you are only permitted to have one IRD active on that account. The Administration Fee in Section 6(c) for leaving your account unpaid for 60 days has been increased to $25.00. This increase is to reflect an increase in certain additional processing costs associated with unpaid accounts. Policies regarding PPV purchases and refunds have been clarified in section 8(g). You can view a complete copy at http://www.bell.ca/satelliteagreements Our question for Bell and any other provider is, what exactly is this increase in associated fees for unpaid accounts? The reality is this seems more in line with getting around laws that stop high interest rates on overdue accounts, for example, my account is around $30/month, in essence I'd be dinged an almost 80% interest rate on that if I was late paying. Having been caught once by Bell and their $19 fee, when I forgot to call with my credit card payment, I found the customer service rep and her supervisor to be rather rude when I called to offer my credit card number for automatic payment in return for them waiving the late fee, they refused and in fact were willing to let me cancel my account because of it, with of course the added "cancellation fees" now being imposed by ExpressVu. It is time the government took a look at these outfits and their made up fees, when I first purchased satellite I was sold on being able to have multiple receivers with no additional fees, I was told I could take my receiver to the cottage in the summer and of course they bragged about the advantages over cable. Today all of those advantages have been eroded from our accounts and fancy new fees such as the infamous "system access fee" are now in place. In todays world of computers there is no way that Bell is incuring a $25 cost to manage an account slightly behind, they are praying on those who simply forget to pay or worse, those who encounter financial troubles for short periods, adding $25 to that burden certainly isn't going to help keep that customer loyal. What do you folks think? |
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