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View Full Version : Fido Triple Charged My Credit Card And Won't Offer A Refund!

neverdoanything
Jun 29th, 2007, 01:03 AM
I am on Fido prepaid. I have a $10 instant refill and every once in a while I will top off my account with a custom payment if it gets to low.

Last month I was topping off my account with $20. I tried there website, which was extremely slow and I got an error message from fido, saying the transaction could not be completed due to technical difficulties. I tried 611 once, and the same thing happened. I tried it the next day and it worked, and it stated my account balance was then $20!

Well fast forward 1 month. I get my credit card statement and there are three charges on it! I checked my balance and sure enough it was $60. I call Fido and they offer to extend the expiry date on the balance by 60 days. I stated that I had instant refill and I didn't want to be paying into an account with a balance already, and I normally only do $10/month, so $20/month is an increase. They state that I can just cancel my instant refill and then set it up again when I needed it. I tell them that is an inconvience for me and that I would like a refund. Then I am put on hold for 30 minutes and told I can't have a refund because there system wont let them! I argued for quite a while, stating that they can not charge me for transactions that I was told were failed. It would be like me going into Safeway and paying with debit while their machines are down, and then we they go back up again getting charged for all the attempts!

They told me that the only way to get a refund is to do a charge back with Mastercard! I was already on the phone with MBNA, so I placed a request and should be getting a call back tommorow. Isn't charge backs just for fraud, not mistakes? I don't think Mastercard would be too happy with this practice... making customers go to them for refunds.

I've complained, and asked for a phone call back. I don't think I will be receiving one. One of the supervisors told that since I do not fill up my cell phone with that much money each month, they couldn't offer me any more solutions! I've been with them for 3 years! And as soon as I get this settled I will be transfering my cell phone over to another company... and it won't be Rogers!!

So while I wait for my charge back to happen, anyone have any suggestions?
akz
Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:00 AM
ur gonna have ALOT more trouble trying to get the chargeback through lol.. esp with MBNA/CapitalOne... Ive heard better from bank issued cards tho.. ur better off calling fido every day and b!tching it out till you get the refund..
Shaner
Jul 3rd, 2007, 03:54 AM
If I were you I wouldn't be so quick to jump ship.
You might be having a problem with Fido right now, but generally speaking, I don't hear about Fido customers having problems nearly as much as the other carriers.

You might argue that you're teaching them a lesson by switching, but they won't care or even notice. By switching to Bell or Telus, you're only hurting yourself, they are far worse, especially Bell.
Jon Lai
Jul 3rd, 2007, 08:33 AM
No, chargebacks are not just for frauds, they ARE for mistakes as well. In your statement every month, there should be a statement that says something similar to "if you see something wrong, please contact us at xxx..."

There's nothing wrong with filing a chargeback. It's your right.
AzNCrAzYcOoLeR
Jul 3rd, 2007, 09:57 AM
No, chargebacks are not just for frauds, they ARE for mistakes as well. In your statement every month, there should be a statement that says something similar to "if you see something wrong, please contact us at xxx..."

There's nothing wrong with filing a chargeback. It's your right.


That's correct

As long as you document the date and time and who you spoke with, with the merchant about this charge, and they are unwilling to refund it, mastercard should help you no problem.
Toronto
Jul 3rd, 2007, 04:04 PM
I agree with Shaner. Personally I've been with Fido for 10+ years and never had a problem. Telus and Bell are much worse than Fido, from poor customer service to stripping their phones of options to forcing you to buy all your extras through them.
neverdoanything
Jul 3rd, 2007, 07:55 PM
I've filed the charge back. The person on the phone seemed pretty nice and confident that it will go through.

I'm thinking about switching to Virgin mobile. My father had troubles with Rogers (Who owns Fido) as well. They kept on billing him even though he cancelled his account. My boss had the same thing.

The thing is, the amount that was added into the account is different then the amount I normally add to the account. The money is not theres. I did not authorize three charges, so therefore they have no right in keeping the money. Even if it was my normal amount.

These corporations fail to understand how tight some people's budgets are, especially college students.
neverdoanything
Jul 9th, 2007, 07:13 PM
The charge back was successful. And I've found a new phone company. Couldn't be happier.
neverdoanything
Jul 9th, 2007, 07:14 PM
get a contract if u cant deal with the inconvenience.

its not like they stole from u, the money is in your account.
learn from ur mistake next time.
all PAYG carriers will NOT issue refunds.
not that they CANT, just that they WONT.

chargeback should fix it. but then agian your gonna put $ on the phone anyways.

should of asked for 3-4 month expiry date extension.

They did steal it. They took it and put it it towards something I did not authorize. It would be like Zellers take $500 out of my account, and shipping me a TV I did not order... still theft!

And learn from my mistake? I'm sorry, but I didn't make any mistakes.
HBP
Jul 9th, 2007, 08:54 PM
MBNA is GREAT on chargeback's, I assume the person who said otherwise has never done one.

Twice I had problems, mentioned it to MBNA, took 5 minutes, couple weeks later they told me the charges were completely reversed.
catlover
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:05 PM
Quick question: If your on a fido plan and you lose your cellphone, do you get a replacement or do you have to buy a new phone?
Hellfire
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:09 PM
Quick question: If your on a fido plan and you lose your cellphone, do you get a replacement or do you have to buy a new phone?

Buy a new one
catlover
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:32 PM
^^Is there a discount or do you have to pay full price?:confused:
neverdoanything
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:50 PM
MBNA is GREAT on chargeback's, I assume the person who said otherwise has never done one.

Twice I had problems, mentioned it to MBNA, took 5 minutes, couple weeks later they told me the charges were completely reversed.

Mine was MBNA. Sounds exactly the same. Faxed in two forms, a week later got the credit. Talked to MBNA on the phone for 5 minutes, only because I didn't know I just needed to fax in the forms :)
patrob
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:52 PM
^^Is there a discount or do you have to pay full price?:confused:

Try Kijiji, many people are selling Fido compatible new phones or slightly used...;)

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/f-buy-and-sell-phones-PDAs-ipods-W0QQisSearchFormZtrueQQAdTypeZ2QQKeywordZfidoQQCat IdZ132
goojoomoonoo
Jul 10th, 2007, 10:27 AM
^^Is there a discount or do you have to pay full price?:confused:

I think it depends how long you into your contract you were, IINM. If you've been on it for a sufficiently long time, the cost of a new phone might be the same as an upgrade. Probably best to get in touch with Fido about this. If they say you have to pay full price, then you might want to take patrob's suggestion and get a second-hand one.
wifi
Jul 10th, 2007, 10:31 AM
No, chargebacks are not just for frauds, they ARE for mistakes as well. In your statement every month, there should be a statement that says something similar to "if you see something wrong, please contact us at xxx..."

There's nothing wrong with filing a chargeback. It's your right.

I agree... but it is a real pain in the ass to get the chargebacks:evil:
shari2002
Jul 10th, 2007, 01:40 PM
I don't think Mastercard would be too happy with this practice... making customers go to them for refunds.



I think credit card companies are happy to do this, they do not lose any money, since it will be billed directly to merchant's bank, and they may also get some punishment fee from that.
YnD
Jul 12th, 2007, 12:37 AM
If I were you I wouldn't be so quick to jump ship.
You might be having a problem with Fido right now, but generally speaking, I don't hear about Fido customers having problems nearly as much as the other carriers.

You might argue that you're teaching them a lesson by switching, but they won't care or even notice. By switching to Bell or Telus, you're only hurting yourself, they are far worse, especially Bell.

Virgin Mobile Prepaid > The big 3.

All the features... 30 c a minute... $100 for 12 months expiry...

Great customer service (especially the girls)... cheap but featured phones (nokia 6275i)... and easy account management online....