Bell Canada's last bill

Bell Canada have reacted with poor manners to my cancellation of their over priced land line to my house.  Since the landline is paid in the month in advance, whatever number of days were not used are credited back to the account holder.  So Bell owed me a credit of $15.29.

Then they clawed back:

$5.57 -fee: cancellation of long distance plan

$4.17 -fee: cancellation of network fees.  (eg: a fee to cancel access to a fee).

Bell Canada's ability to get their fingers into my pocket never fails to surprise.

And as Bell lose customers by the hundreds every day to cable-phone operators, they should not be surprised that none will ever come back.  There are now over 2 million Canadians with cable phone systems, a large portion of which were former Bell Canada customers.

The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan should take a sharp look at why Bell are losing customers by the hundreds every day.  I can give them one area to focus on: Bell's abusive pricing.  There is absolutely no justification for charging $2.80 per month for touchtone service, for example, not to mention a $5.95 network access fee.

Videotron charge me a mere $16.95 for the same service that Bell provide at $28.69.  All tolled, I will be saving $160 per year (with tax) by canceling Bell.  So their petty last cash grab is a sad note of their desperation.

In the 2007 annual report, BCE notes that the "churn" level went from 0.9% in 2005 to 1.2% in 2007.  This is customers voting increasingly with their feet and leaving.

Bell Canada is clearly not competitive.  But I don't care.  I'm gone.

I paid my last Bell Canada bill yesterday.