50 ways to leave your lover or port out of FIDO

[AM Radio]

so like a few others, i think it might be time to leave. when i left TELU$ back in the day, porting was a breeze, from what i remember. didn't even have to tell them. i was contract-free at the time, so i went to my FIDO dealer, told them i was porting, got a plan and a phone, and three hours i was good to go.

but now, it seems there's additional steps? what's this 30-day notice?

read these threads, which highlight some potential issues:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...-porting-issue

http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...ling-with-Fido

http://forums.fido.ca/t5/forums/foru...id/2557/page/1

the website is useless, unless you like sad dog pictures:
http://www.fido.ca/web/content/accou...e_cancellation

so, if i want to get that Koodo $60/6GB deal next week, but my contract with FIDO expires one month later, how should i proceed? sign up for Koodo, and then port my number over? or pay the one-month cancellation fee and get it over with? or can i even do that with the 30-day notice?

thanks for any notes on how to proceed, or links to that effect.

[ceredon]

The 30 day dead air charge and your termination fees are totally different things. You should probably call Fido and ask exactly what your ECF and DECF will be if you port before the end of your contract. They had some flaky ways of calculating them, where in the last 6 months they still had some minimum, so you should verify that. Any cancelation/port before the end of your contract will trigger the termination fees.

The 30 day dead air charge is charged whether you are in contract or not. At the date that you leave/port, they will charge you for another month of service that you won't receive. Their excuse is that their terms mention and require you to give them days notice before you leave, but their billing system was designed not to accept a 30 day notice of leaving. CCTS has repeatedly told them (and other carriers) that this is an unacceptable money grab. Regardless of when you plan to leave, you should call 30 days ahead and them them know you plan to port. Explain to them that they are not to make any changes on your account (otherwise they might lock it, preventing your port). Tell them to only put a note into your account that you called to mention you will be leaving in 30 days. Once you have ported and they charge you, contact CCTS and they will have them refund the money to you. The call you made 30 days ahead simply covers you if they want to push the issue.

[AM Radio]

@ceredon

great info! many thanks.

[fruvous]

the website is useless, unless you like sad dog pictures:
http://www.fido.ca/web/content/accou...e_cancellation

He doesn't look sad at all. Looks more smug like he's saying "I know you're going to come crawling back to Robelus!"

[AM Radio]

very quick conversation with a rep, about half an hour ago. paraphrased very slightly:


FIDO: hello, my name is Mark. how can i help you today?

me: hi Mark. i'm not happy with my service and am thinking of porting my number at the end of August, when my contract ends. can you take a look at my contract and tell me how much i would have to pay to cancel right now?

FIDO: just a moment Mr. AM Radio while i look up your account. $100. so i would recommend that you don't cancel now, and just wait until the 26 of August.

me: $100? okay, i understand. can you please make a note on my account not to make any changes?

FIDO: don't worry about that, no changes will be made. can i help you with anything else?

me: no, thank you.

THE END. THAT'S IT.

unbelievable. they really don't give a $#!T about retaining business! no questions asked, no pass-off to retentions, NADA. Koodo, we have a date tmrw.

[WorldIRC]

^You could have had a retention rep answer your call (they do field regular calls from time to time)

[Bad Liar]

^You could have had a retention rep answer your call (they do field regular calls from time to time)

Depending on the account, the call is likely to go directly to retention. If he had a month left on his account, it's very possible that that was the reason. Why the rep didn't make an offer, though? No idea.. dumb...

[AM Radio]

Depending on the account, the call is likely to go directly to retention. If he had a month left on his account, it's very possible that that was the reason. Why the rep didn't make an offer, though? No idea.. dumb...

you know, i was really expecting a pitch of some sort. no attempt to save. dial time to voice menu to real person to looking up my account to hang-up, phone call was just over two minutes.

[rudiboy]

you know, i was really expecting a pitch of some sort. no attempt to save. dial time to voice menu to real person to looking up my account to hang-up, phone call was just over two minutes.

You sounded really disappointed there. The problem is retention doesn't even have the 6GB data plan to offer you. Right now it is only available to people who live in Qbec. I personally would wait till sept when all the new plans come out. Summer deals are never as good as sept deals.

[AM Radio]

You sounded really disappointed there. The problem is retention doesn't even have the 6GB data plan to offer you. Right now it is only available to people who live in Qbec.

no way! whoa, how bad are things? i have 6GB on my plan right now. are you saying that if i were to renew, they couldn't even grandfather that? if so, Fido is bringing a plastic knife to a gunfight.

[WorldIRC]

no way! whoa, how bad are things? i have 6GB on my plan right now. are you saying that if i were to renew, they couldn't even grandfather that? if so, Fido is bringing a plastic knife to a gunfight.

He didn't say that. If you have it you have it.

Sent from my HTC One S

[ceredon]

...and let's not be giving them any ideas. They've already done enough damage.

[facehugger]

leaving the account as is and/or educating the customer about the ecf amount, count as offers in and of themselves.

many retention agents could care less if you end up porting out a while later as long as their transaction with you is documented as a save without agreement for $0 cost to the company (no goodwill or recurring monthly discounts given out in the transaction).

[Bad Liar]

leaving the account as is and/or educating the customer about the ecf amount, count as offers in and of themselves.

many retention agents could care less if you end up porting out a while later as long as their transaction with you is documented as a save without agreement for $0 cost to the company (no goodwill or recurring monthly discounts given out in the transaction).

that's not really true anymore, but that's not important to discuss on here.

[AM Radio]

called FIDO again today to confirm my 30 days notice. this time, i got pitched.

200 canada-wide minutes
EW 5
ul incoming
ul intl msg
*mini* voicemail/CID
6GB data

$62

fails because:
VM only holds 3 crummy msgs
based on a $10 credit
50min less than Koodo
costs more