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Posts tagged Soapbox

Fido Mobile – You Lost me as a Client

Mar 9th

Today I got my Fido bill and was shocked to say the least when I opened up the bill. You see, Fido charged me for an incoming call while I was in Whistler. For all those that don’t know, Whistler is about 1 1/2 hour drive from Vancouver. Russ and I travel up to Whistler frequently during the summer as we like to camp near there, and during the Olympics we were blessed enough to get events tickets up in Whistler. I used be worried before about roaming fees, but from the past Fido has never charged for incoming or outgoing calls while I was in Whistler, until now.

When I saw this bill I quickly logged onto their site to see if anything had changed regarding calling area and was shocked to see the following.

You will notice that if you have a Vancouver number and travel up to Whistler or call Whistler it’s considered a long distance call, yet if you have a local Whistler number and call Vancouver it is not. Why the difference in standard I ask? Why gauge Vancouver residence who travel up to Whistler and not the reverse? This makes no sense at all to me.

My call to Fido customer service was treated very professionally and Eco was of great assistance to me. She did let me know that they had changed their calling maps in December of 2009. She did reverse the charges, but I did let her know that since this change makes no sense to me, they will not be getting my business when my contract runs out next year.

I will be looking for a different provider. So Telus, Bell, Wind be ready for me, the one that makes the best deal will get my business! But be warned – I’m tired of companies changing the contracts that we as consumers sign in good faith. Why is it so hard to adhere by your own rules?

Cell Phone Companies, Fido, Soapbox

Living Downtown – The Bad and The Ugly

Jul 2nd

Posted by gusf in My Soap Box

5 comments

I have to admit I love living downtown Vancouver. I have a 20 minute walk to work and I’m close to many restaurants, sushi bars, and close to the water. That being said, there are some draw backs as well.

With the hotter weather hitting us these past few days, I have to have windows open which brings in a lot of the downtown noise into the condo. I have the joys of living next door to an Ambulance station as well as the Atlantis Night Club. Don’t get me wrong I knew what I was getting myself into when I moved here. I did my research, but I guess lately it is starting to bother me a little.

This past weekend there was nothing but constant sirens blazing the Vancouver downtown core and it seemed to be all concentrating near by. If this wasn’t bad enough there is always the lovely after bars traffic. The girls here really can’t hold their liquor and when they are drunk they are the loudest creatures on earth. The profanity alone would make any mother cringed.

Last night at 2am I was awoken by someone yelling outside down the street that he couldn’t see and he needed water. Not only was he begging for help, but he also had the profanity to go with it. It got to a point where people were yelling outside their windows to quiet down. Someone actually went downstairs and gave the man a bottle water, which he threw back at them (nice I know). Eventually the police showed up and at this point I was just wishing they would taser him to quiet him up (yeah I know it is probably mean, but hell I wasn’t in a great mood).

I’m also noticing more and more people camping out at Emery Barnes Park at the corner of Davie and Richards. This is a park I like to take Junior out for his night walk and it is starting to feel more and more scary.

Again don’t get me wrong I love living downtown, but lately with the warmer weather people seem to be a little more cranky and scary. Hopefully some rain will make people calmer and the sirens will slow down a little and let us sleep.