Fido "Tails"

A funny thing happened to me when I opened my last bill from Fido. Starting March 1, 2005, the cost of my voicemail/call-display will be raised by 33%. The hilarious thing is this: there is actually not going to be any improvement to the service whatsoever! This extra $2/month will not go toward a new feature that would let me check my voicemail online, nor will I be able to see the name of the caller that gets passed along with call display information. When I read this, tears from my laughter poured from my eyes. "This is hilarious," I thought to myself. Nothing says "funny" to me like arbitrary and significant increases in the cost of services without any improvements.

I tell ya, you guys really know how to make a guy laugh. Keep up the great work!

Dear Mr. Gibson,

We thank you for visiting our Website and allowing us the opportunity to assist you.

The cost of Fido's Call Display and Voice Messaging is increasing from $4 per month to $5 for each service--an increase that reflects current market pricing in both wireless and wire line services.

Fido continues to provide excellent value to customers: Fido's Voice Messaging service, for example, continues to allow users to receive and store up to an industry-leading 50 messages.

Fido also offers a $2 savings if Voice Messaging and Call Display are bundled together.

We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that it is possible to accessing the Voice Messaging by using any push-button telephone. You only need to first call your Fido number. At the greeting, you press * to access your Voice Messaging with Instant Reply and listen your messages without being charged for the Air Time..

With all good regards,

Denis
Your Fido Internet Consultant.

Hi Denis,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me, and in such a timely manner.

I am aware of the voicemail/call-display bundle, as that is what I currently have on my phone. The cost of this service is going up from $6/month to $8/month. Whether or not the current market reflects this price, it is Fido's choice to continue to offer this service at the previous rate of $6/month.

I am of the opinion that if I am to suddenly pay 33% more for a service, that service should somehow be improved. You have told me about features of these services that already existed in the $6/month plan. I am aware that I can check my voicemail from a land-line, and in my opinion, this is not something about which you should be bragging. Big deal. Now, if you had said that your prices were going up, and I would now be able to login to a web interface where I could listen to my voicemails online, I would be satisfied that there was a point to this extra cost.

If you really want to be leading the industry, come out with something innovative. I can store up to 50 messages in my voicemail? Wow -- I can't think of a single person who would ever have this many messages, nor can I think of anyone who would want to. Furthermore, browsing through these messages using your touch-tone interface would be painfully inefficient at best.

Your effort to explain the reason for this price increase has failed. I am only left with the impression that rather than leading the industry by offering this service at under current-market prices, Fido is just playing copycat with the other mobile phone companies, gouging their customers just the same as everyone else. If you really want to stand out, then be different! If Telus and Bell jumped off a bridge, would you?

Patrick

Good morning Mr. Gibson,

Dear Ms. Basile, [sic]

We understand your point of view and would like to inform you on how to forward your comments to the appropriate service.

If you wish to address your complaint to the official concerned department, we strongly recommend you to mail it to the following address:

Fido Solutions Inc.
Office of the President
800 de La Gauchetière St. West
Suite 4000
Montréal, Quebec
H5A 1K3

You may prefer to forward it by fax at 1 514 937-2554.

Sincerely

Denis
Your Fido Internet Consultant.