Why Bell Sucks And You Should Never Get A Phone With Them.

So, as you may know I have a Palm Pre.  The thing about the Pre is that it is made out of plastic.  Plastic breaks pretty easily, so, after almost two years with my Pre it’s feeling it’s age and I’m starting to think about it’s replacement.

A couple things you should know about Bell Canada. First, unlike our neighbours to the south, we here in Canada must suffer three year contracts (as opposed to two years or less). Second, despite there being a lot of company names on the market there are really only just two main companies: Bell and Rogers (and a bunch of smaller companies that are fronts for Bell and Rogers). There are a couple other independent companies too but they’re price takers, not price setters so we basically have an oligopoly. As a result we have expensive voice and data plans – some of the most expensive in the world in fact – and ridiculously long contracts with high termination penalties and no incentives for companies to compete and offer consumers better choices.

I’m about two thirds of the way through a contract that if I were an American my contract would be over come August. I went to the Bell store to see about my ‘upgrade’ options fully prepared to plunk down more money and possibly extend my contract another few years.  I tell them that in August it will have been 2 years and that I’d like to get a new phone if I can by then.

They say no.

I actually have to wait until Feb 29th, 2012 to get a new phone at a discount if I want it. That’s the end of Feb next year or two and a half years into a three year contract for those of you keeping track.

Now just to be clear, I’m not looking to get a new phone for free. I’m actually looking to pay for a new phone (albeit at a discount) and extend a contract I don’t even really like just so I can get a new phone and Bell is treating me like some sort of unwanted troll.

I’ll give you a little history to put this into more context (and possible make me look like a fool).

I was one of the few that actually pre-ordered my phone with Bell.  I was really excited about this phone. I bought it on launch day and paid what was then the subsidized full cost of more than $200 (plus at least $70 a month for the next three years…naturally). I’m what some would call an ‘early adopter’.  I even evangelised the phone and managed to convince two of my friends to also buy the Pre, a high-end, expensive smartphone having successfully convinced both friends that it was time for them to ditch their cheap feature-phones for something more capable (and by extension expensive). 

Not only did I pay ‘full price’ for a phone that was being given away for free within six months but I also gave Bell two new high value customers stealing them from other carriers and putting them on - not a cheap plan but - an expensive smartphone plan.

Man was I duped. (Sorry both friends, I feel really bad about that now.)

So here we are today. My phone is starting to crack and fall apart. It was abandoned months ago not only by the carrier that sold it to me but by the very company that built the damn thing to begin with. (Palm hasn’t sent an update in months and has no plans to update the phone ever again. It is officially now ‘abandonware’.)

Naturally I’m looking at getting another smartphone (because once you have one you can’t go back). I’m even willing to pay a premium to upgrade early and extend the already stupidly long contract so Bell can keep me for another few years. Instead of encouraging this type of behaviour that one must think can only be good for a company like Bell, they have instead decided to all but prevent it.  If I want to upgrade I either have to wait and hope that my phone lasts until early 2012 or pay and unsubsidized full price for an ‘off-contract’ phone that Bell is more than happy to try and sell me. But here’s the thing.

If I want an off contract phone I don’t actually need to buy it from Bell. Bell uses sim cards now which means any unlocked phone that uses sim cards will work. I can get one off eBay, or directly from a manufacturer like Apple. A side benefit of not buying an off contract phone from Bell is that it will be unlocked. If I buy such a phone from Bell it will be locked to Bell, if I buy it from Apple I can use it on any network once my Bell contract is up.  As if to put icing on the cake, Bell charges extra for the ‘privilege’ of buying an off-contract phone. (When I talked to Bell’s customer service they mentioned something about an extra $35 fee to buy an off contract phone.)

Like I said, it’s as if they don’t even want me as a customer anymore.

So here’s what I’ve decided to do. Rather than pay Bell for the full cost of a new phone, I’ll buy it directly from Apple for the exact same price - probably even less.  The benefit of buying the phone from Apple instead of Bell is that the iPhone direct from Apple is unlocked so when my contract is up I can go to a competitor, hopefully one of the new start-ups. I’ll blog about this experience in the off-chance someone at Bell reads such things (doubtful but whatever) and come August 2012 I’ll be saying helloooo Fido, or Mobilicity, or Wind, or maybe even Rogers. One thing I’ll definitely be saying though - with my unlocked iPhone – is “Screw you Bell!”

P.S. Oh, and the early adopter thing works both ways, next time someone asks about a phone, I certainly won’t recommend Bell.