Do Rogers customer support give false promises?

[vn]

Last year on Apr/2005 I had a call from Rogers customer support person, he said if I agree to keep my existing internet and Cable TV for a year then I will save 15% of the price but if I terminate Rogers service before one year term finishes then I should pay back the 15% money which I have saved, up to date. I said ‘yes’ I will take the offer. He has not mentioned anything else during this verbal agreement.

On Jan 2006 I have received a price hike notice from Rogers that indicating my Basic Cable TV and Ultra-Lite speed internet rate will be increased by $10 + tax because of their operational cost increase. Then from the $10 I will get 15% discount so the increase will be $8.50 + tax.

So I called the Rogers customer support to ask to terminate the service right after my one year term finished, by Apr/1/2006.

(Note: Two month ago they have stopped the Newsgroup service which I regularly use but NOT reduced the price by a penny)

The customer support person told me if I terminate the service before first year I have to pay $100 and after first year (during the 2nd year) I have to pay $50 as fine and I have to place the termination order before 30 days as well. She also said the terms are printed on the back of the monthly bill and I, the customer, agreed on the term once I paid their bill.

On the back of the Rogers bill the terms and conditions No.9 begin as follow
***** “We may at any time and from time to time change these conditions and/or (unless otherwise expressly agreed with you) any fee, features or other aspects of your service upon notice to you WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT….” ******

Gimmicks on these terms are nonsense. None of the Rogers customer will ever read these fonts size 1.5, fine printed terms before paying each bill.

I fought back with the Rogers customer service but they said their customer service representative who sold the bundle deal to me wrote a note saying I am agreeing first year contract with a fine of $100 and the 2nd year contract with the fine of $50, and if I want to terminate then I have to pay this fine or I have to put up with their rate hike.

Anyone had past experience or solution or suggestion to this?

 

[riser]

In the "Community" section there is a Support / Hot Line forum that this might be better off posted in but it's also a benefit here for anyone using your service.

From my experiences and even at one point working for AT&T @Home many years ago, the salesman will tell you anything close to the truth to keep you around. They let customer service deal with you and fine you. You've signed an agreement without fully reading it to your understanding and it can be binding. Very few times does one actually sit down to read the agreement you're signing into.

The most you can do is talk to a supervisor and see if they'll wave the cancelation fee. But it's two headed. If you're going to cancel, why are they going to make it easy on you? They can take your money either way, keep the service or get rid of it, either way they have your money.

Best thing to do it cut your losses and don't fall for that trap again. I never sign a contract for ISPs. I like DSL but I don't like the binding contract you have to enter.

The only long term agreements I've entered is for a vehicle loan, mortage/rent, cell phone, and a gym membership.