Help reactivating old Fido account

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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Hi all,

So I am/was a Fido customer but went on vacation for a few months and
didn't want to pay them for nothing, so called them and they switched me
to prepaid, the guy said I could just prepay nothing then switch back to
my monthly plan.

So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.

Anyone have any suggestions? Everyone at customer support says
something different. 🙁 I tried activating online with my imei and SIM#
but it didn't work.

Worst of all, they say I'll need a new phone number, even though no one
is using the old one (I just called it). Amazing that they can use
landline numbers but not ones from their own exchanges!

Thanks for any help!
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 12:34:56 -0400, Sean McBride <cwatson@cam.org>
wrote:

>So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
>account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
>sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.

Did you know how many days your account was inactive before they
deactivate the account and you lose your number? If you didn't know
you should have asked. That's on you. If you did know and you still
didn't resume service by the date that they were to deactivate the
service you got what you probably were entitled to. If it's beyond
120 days and you want service back you'll have to get a new SIM and a
new number.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Sean McBride wrote:
> So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
> account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
> sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.

Ask them to lookup your history, get them to find out who you had been talking
to prior to your leaving. Then ask to be put in touch with that person, at
which point you tell them that since they had told you it was poossible to do
what you did, they should re-activate your account without requiring new SIM
etc etc.

Note that it is possible that they may have to deactivate the SIM temporarily
in order to reactivate it (eg: just to fulfill menu options).

Where there is a will, there is way.

If not, then ask them iof they will unlock your phone since they are the ones
who chose not to take you back and that you are now forced to go to Rogers.
(that should send you to customer retention, at which point, they have more
magical powers to fix problems).
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Hey, I did the exact same thing before going on vacation!

I called and told them I wanted to keep my number, but I wouldn't be
around for four months. I was told that I could switch to the
$10/month plan, which does not include vmail and is otherwise
completely useless. So I told them to switch me to prepaid (where I
would have voicemail to check while I'm away). I was told that they
have a new policy where they have to charge you $25 to switch a number
to prepaid. When I told them that I had done this before without a
fee, they told me there was nothing that they could do and that I
could cancel the account if I wished!?

I said 'OK Thanks. Please close the account then." At the blink of
an eye I was switched to the 'cancellation department' (retention). I
was told that they couldn't waive the fee, but they would make it up
to me by giving it to me as prepaid credit for 3 months. I agreed.

The fact that they couldn't do it right the first time and actually
invited me to cancel with them left a bad taste. When I come back,
I'm not sure if I will continue with Fido or not. If I do, it would
most certainly only be based on price and certainly not service. If
Rogers could get their act together with the pricing, there are tens
if not hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Fido customers waiting in
the wings.

Fido really should get their act together. Great prices and promos are
easily negated with lousy service.

As for getting your number back, it is possible as Mezei wrote,
although I think you will have to get another sim (I believe I still
have an extra active one, if you can wait until August 'til I come
back). I had to go through the same routine once to get a number back
as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
threaten to cancel, sadly.



Sean McBride <cwatson@cam.org> wrote in message news:<cwatson-1907D1.12345623062004@aeinews.aei.ca>...
> Hi all,
>
> So I am/was a Fido customer but went on vacation for a few months and
> didn't want to pay them for nothing, so called them and they switched me
> to prepaid, the guy said I could just prepay nothing then switch back to
> my monthly plan.
>
> So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
> account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
> sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? Everyone at customer support says
> something different. 🙁 I tried activating online with my imei and SIM#
> but it didn't work.
>
> Worst of all, they say I'll need a new phone number, even though no one
> is using the old one (I just called it). Amazing that they can use
> landline numbers but not ones from their own exchanges!
>
> Thanks for any help!
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

sbdot wrote:
> as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
> threaten to cancel, sadly.

I agree entirely. Many such companies seemed to be gearing themselves with a
"retention department" instead of fixing the first line customer support
service which causes people to ask to cancel.

It is the frontline people that should be empowered, with the "cancellation
department" not trying to keep customers, but only finding out why they are
leaving. The retention dept shoudln't eb empowered to give special deals to
customers, they should be empowered to go to the customer support mamager and
fix the problems that cause customers to leave.
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

yeah, but the problem here was (perhaps) two-fold:

1) the customer service dude either gave the wrong
info, the customer understood it wrong, or not
enough details were given (length of trip).

2) the customer took the time to find this newsgroup
but did not take the time to look at fido's website
to get the real info about prepaid accounts and how
long you get before they cancel the account.


it's easy to blame the customer service rep when
we don't get to hear his/her side of the story.




> > as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
> > threaten to cancel, sadly.
>
> I agree entirely. Many such companies seemed to be gearing themselves with a
> "retention department" instead of fixing the first line customer support
> service which causes people to ask to cancel.
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

obs wrote:
> 2) the customer took the time to find this newsgroup
> but did not take the time to look at fido's website
> to get the real info about prepaid accounts and how
> long you get before they cancel the account.

I disagree with that point. Fido's web site doesn't give the "real" story
about this. It is a marketing web site, not a reference on how policies are implemented.


Until the year before the bankrupcy, Fido didn't cancel these accounts, nor
accounts whose service had been disconnected due to lack of payment even
though prepaid was supposed to expire x weeks after non-refilling of the
account. One of the reasons Fido's churn increased significantly the year of
the bankrupcy is that Fido began to clean up its customer list by removing all
those inactive accounts, and it appears that they are now more agressive in
terminating inactive accounts.

But that still doesn't tell anyone what the exact procedures are internally at
Fido, and whether it is possible to reactivate an account of not.

The standard entry level 4 legged furry customer support rep will tell you
that as soon as a SIM card has been disabled, it cannot be reenabled (some
will even go as far as stating that they send a signal to the card to disable
it). But if you speak to the right people, they will tell you it is possible
to reactivate a SIM card (you need to know how to access the right computer
menus to get to that, and entry level folks don't have access to those menus).
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Couldn't you just add voice mail to the $10 plan for an additional
$4.00/month?

Also, the $10 plan includes call forwarding so if you were going to be
out of the country for a long time and didn't want to keep a regular
monthly plan, you can always forward your Fido phone to your home
landline phone (and I'm assuming that your regular landline phone has
voice mail or an answering machine). Of course, if you are not the
only person who uses your landline phone, you might not want to
forward your Fido phone to this number.



sbdot@mailandnews.com (sbdot) wrote in message news:<6212bd00.0406240513.c78a8d2@posting.google.com>...
> Hey, I did the exact same thing before going on vacation!
>
> I called and told them I wanted to keep my number, but I wouldn't be
> around for four months. I was told that I could switch to the
> $10/month plan, which does not include vmail and is otherwise
> completely useless. So I told them to switch me to prepaid (where I
> would have voicemail to check while I'm away). I was told that they
> have a new policy where they have to charge you $25 to switch a number
> to prepaid. When I told them that I had done this before without a
> fee, they told me there was nothing that they could do and that I
> could cancel the account if I wished!?
>
> I said 'OK Thanks. Please close the account then." At the blink of
> an eye I was switched to the 'cancellation department' (retention). I
> was told that they couldn't waive the fee, but they would make it up
> to me by giving it to me as prepaid credit for 3 months. I agreed.
>
> The fact that they couldn't do it right the first time and actually
> invited me to cancel with them left a bad taste. When I come back,
> I'm not sure if I will continue with Fido or not. If I do, it would
> most certainly only be based on price and certainly not service. If
> Rogers could get their act together with the pricing, there are tens
> if not hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Fido customers waiting in
> the wings.
>
> Fido really should get their act together. Great prices and promos are
> easily negated with lousy service.
>
> As for getting your number back, it is possible as Mezei wrote,
> although I think you will have to get another sim (I believe I still
> have an extra active one, if you can wait until August 'til I come
> back). I had to go through the same routine once to get a number back
> as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
> threaten to cancel, sadly.
>
>
>
> Sean McBride <cwatson@cam.org> wrote in message news:<cwatson-1907D1.12345623062004@aeinews.aei.ca>...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > So I am/was a Fido customer but went on vacation for a few months and
> > didn't want to pay them for nothing, so called them and they switched me
> > to prepaid, the guy said I could just prepay nothing then switch back to
> > my monthly plan.
> >
> > So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
> > account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
> > sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.
> >
> > Anyone have any suggestions? Everyone at customer support says
> > something different. 🙁 I tried activating online with my imei and SIM#
> > but it didn't work.
> >
> > Worst of all, they say I'll need a new phone number, even though no one
> > is using the old one (I just called it). Amazing that they can use
> > landline numbers but not ones from their own exchanges!
> >
> > Thanks for any help!
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Now who's making assumptions? No, when leaving for 4 months, I put my
stuff in storage and left my apartment; hence, no home phone to
forward to. You can also call forward with prepaid in any case -
you're just charged for the minutes as if you were making a call.

invalid_jimpoon@canada.com (Jim Poon) wrote in message news:<480ea63d.0406260418.3179fd52@posting.google.com>...
> Couldn't you just add voice mail to the $10 plan for an additional
> $4.00/month?
>
> Also, the $10 plan includes call forwarding so if you were going to be
> out of the country for a long time and didn't want to keep a regular
> monthly plan, you can always forward your Fido phone to your home
> landline phone (and I'm assuming that your regular landline phone has
> voice mail or an answering machine). Of course, if you are not the
> only person who uses your landline phone, you might not want to
> forward your Fido phone to this number.
>
>
>
> sbdot@mailandnews.com (sbdot) wrote in message news:<6212bd00.0406240513.c78a8d2@posting.google.com>...
> > Hey, I did the exact same thing before going on vacation!
> >
> > I called and told them I wanted to keep my number, but I wouldn't be
> > around for four months. I was told that I could switch to the
> > $10/month plan, which does not include vmail and is otherwise
> > completely useless. So I told them to switch me to prepaid (where I
> > would have voicemail to check while I'm away). I was told that they
> > have a new policy where they have to charge you $25 to switch a number
> > to prepaid. When I told them that I had done this before without a
> > fee, they told me there was nothing that they could do and that I
> > could cancel the account if I wished!?
> >
> > I said 'OK Thanks. Please close the account then." At the blink of
> > an eye I was switched to the 'cancellation department' (retention). I
> > was told that they couldn't waive the fee, but they would make it up
> > to me by giving it to me as prepaid credit for 3 months. I agreed.
> >
> > The fact that they couldn't do it right the first time and actually
> > invited me to cancel with them left a bad taste. When I come back,
> > I'm not sure if I will continue with Fido or not. If I do, it would
> > most certainly only be based on price and certainly not service. If
> > Rogers could get their act together with the pricing, there are tens
> > if not hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Fido customers waiting in
> > the wings.
> >
> > Fido really should get their act together. Great prices and promos are
> > easily negated with lousy service.
> >
> > As for getting your number back, it is possible as Mezei wrote,
> > although I think you will have to get another sim (I believe I still
> > have an extra active one, if you can wait until August 'til I come
> > back). I had to go through the same routine once to get a number back
> > as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
> > threaten to cancel, sadly.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sean McBride <cwatson@cam.org> wrote in message news:<cwatson-1907D1.12345623062004@aeinews.aei.ca>...
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > So I am/was a Fido customer but went on vacation for a few months and
> > > didn't want to pay them for nothing, so called them and they switched me
> > > to prepaid, the guy said I could just prepay nothing then switch back to
> > > my monthly plan.
> > >
> > > So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
> > > account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
> > > sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.
> > >
> > > Anyone have any suggestions? Everyone at customer support says
> > > something different. 🙁 I tried activating online with my imei and SIM#
> > > but it didn't work.
> > >
> > > Worst of all, they say I'll need a new phone number, even though no one
> > > is using the old one (I just called it). Amazing that they can use
> > > landline numbers but not ones from their own exchanges!
> > >
> > > Thanks for any help!
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

> They only seem interested in customer service
> after you threaten to cancel, sadly.

Maybe it is because so many people threaten to
cancel when they don't get their way so they
want to draw out your trump card right away 🙂.
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Sorry for the assumption. Do you know if it is/was possible to add
voice mail ($4.00) to the $10 retention plan?

Also forgot that Fido prepaid offers call forwarding (but your prepaid
minutes are used for the minutes forwarded). This makes prepaid call
forwarding useless in my opinion.




sbdot@mailandnews.com (sbdot) wrote in message news:<6212bd00.0406261328.30a83086@posting.google.com>...
> Now who's making assumptions? No, when leaving for 4 months, I put my
> stuff in storage and left my apartment; hence, no home phone to
> forward to. You can also call forward with prepaid in any case -
> you're just charged for the minutes as if you were making a call.
>
> invalid_jimpoon@canada.com (Jim Poon) wrote in message news:<480ea63d.0406260418.3179fd52@posting.google.com>...
> > Couldn't you just add voice mail to the $10 plan for an additional
> > $4.00/month?
> >
> > Also, the $10 plan includes call forwarding so if you were going to be
> > out of the country for a long time and didn't want to keep a regular
> > monthly plan, you can always forward your Fido phone to your home
> > landline phone (and I'm assuming that your regular landline phone has
> > voice mail or an answering machine). Of course, if you are not the
> > only person who uses your landline phone, you might not want to
> > forward your Fido phone to this number.
> >
> >
> >
> > sbdot@mailandnews.com (sbdot) wrote in message news:<6212bd00.0406240513.c78a8d2@posting.google.com>...
> > > Hey, I did the exact same thing before going on vacation!
> > >
> > > I called and told them I wanted to keep my number, but I wouldn't be
> > > around for four months. I was told that I could switch to the
> > > $10/month plan, which does not include vmail and is otherwise
> > > completely useless. So I told them to switch me to prepaid (where I
> > > would have voicemail to check while I'm away). I was told that they
> > > have a new policy where they have to charge you $25 to switch a number
> > > to prepaid. When I told them that I had done this before without a
> > > fee, they told me there was nothing that they could do and that I
> > > could cancel the account if I wished!?
> > >
> > > I said 'OK Thanks. Please close the account then." At the blink of
> > > an eye I was switched to the 'cancellation department' (retention). I
> > > was told that they couldn't waive the fee, but they would make it up
> > > to me by giving it to me as prepaid credit for 3 months. I agreed.
> > >
> > > The fact that they couldn't do it right the first time and actually
> > > invited me to cancel with them left a bad taste. When I come back,
> > > I'm not sure if I will continue with Fido or not. If I do, it would
> > > most certainly only be based on price and certainly not service. If
> > > Rogers could get their act together with the pricing, there are tens
> > > if not hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Fido customers waiting in
> > > the wings.
> > >
> > > Fido really should get their act together. Great prices and promos are
> > > easily negated with lousy service.
> > >
> > > As for getting your number back, it is possible as Mezei wrote,
> > > although I think you will have to get another sim (I believe I still
> > > have an extra active one, if you can wait until August 'til I come
> > > back). I had to go through the same routine once to get a number back
> > > as well. They only seem interested in customer service after you
> > > threaten to cancel, sadly.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Sean McBride <cwatson@cam.org> wrote in message news:<cwatson-1907D1.12345623062004@aeinews.aei.ca>...
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > So I am/was a Fido customer but went on vacation for a few months and
> > > > didn't want to pay them for nothing, so called them and they switched me
> > > > to prepaid, the guy said I could just prepay nothing then switch back to
> > > > my monthly plan.
> > > >
> > > > So now I'm back but it seems that I was away for 2 days too long as my
> > > > account was closed 2 days ago. Now they say I have to buy a new SIM and
> > > > sign up anew. I am not pleased obviously.
> > > >
> > > > Anyone have any suggestions? Everyone at customer support says
> > > > something different. 🙁 I tried activating online with my imei and SIM#
> > > > but it didn't work.
> > > >
> > > > Worst of all, they say I'll need a new phone number, even though no one
> > > > is using the old one (I just called it). Amazing that they can use
> > > > landline numbers but not ones from their own exchanges!
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for any help!
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

In article <480ea63d.0406270658.930ccd7@posting.google.com>,
invalid_jimpoon@canada.com (Jim Poon) wrote:

> Sorry for the assumption. Do you know if it is/was possible to add
> voice mail ($4.00) to the $10 retention plan?
>
I added voicemail and call display to my $10 Fido plan for an extra
$5/month. I also use Fido's Nokia 6340i which gives me access to Bell's
analog (AMPS) network outside of the urban centres where Fido has
digital (GSM) coverage.
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 07:58:34 -0700, Jim Poon wrote:

> Sorry for the assumption. Do you know if it is/was possible to add
> voice mail ($4.00) to the $10 retention plan?

You can add anything you want to the $10 plan except for "unlimited" type
calling stuff. TTYL
 
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

If that many people are threatening to cancel when they call in, then
something has gone horribly wrong, wouldn't you agree?

I hadn't called in to cancel. I had called in to switch to prepaid
before going away for a few months (I already knew about the $10 plan
and was not interested in it since I would have to pay extra for
voicemail). When they told me they had a new policy that they had to
charge $25 to switch a customer from postpaid to prepaid, I told them
that I had done this before and wasn't charged. Then THE REP TOLD ME
that if I wasn't satisfied with it, I could cancel. Hey, that was an
offer (to cancel) I couldn't refuse after that attitude. Only then
was I transferred to the 'cancellation department' (retention). How
messed up is that?

obs@geocities.com (obs) wrote in message news:<772c0c2d.0406262118.56a73990@posting.google.com>...
> > They only seem interested in customer service
> > after you threaten to cancel, sadly.
>
> Maybe it is because so many people threaten to
> cancel when they don't get their way so they
> want to draw out your trump card right away 🙂.
 
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