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Didn't Get a Charger for a Cell Phone? Tough Luck, Lady!One of my sons accidentally washed his Blackberry Flip phone and I managed to work out a deal with Rogers Wireless for a replacement. I was not eligible for a hardware upgrade so they agreed to send me a refurbished Blackberry Curve. When I opened the package, all Rogers sent was the phone and a SIM card. There were no chargers (supposed to receive a wall charger and computer charger) holster, head phones and program disk. The chargers for the Flip phone do not fit the Curve so I needed them. I phoned Rogers and the Customer Support suggested I send the phone back to them.
What? Just send me the chargers! Plain and simple. I was bounced to the Packaging & Tracing Dept because these are the people who ship the phones. The employee told me that they don't check for all the equipment inside the boxes. They just add the SIM card and a letter from Rogers. He also added that some people receive all the equipment and others don't. If you don't get everything, too bad. I asked to talk to a higher power which is Customer Relations. Instead they transferred me back to where I started at Customer Support. They told me to go and buy the chargers. Nope, I'm not doing that. Why should I pay for standard equipment that other people receive? I again asked for Customer Relations. Finally I was transferred to the right department. When the employee was going to send me back to Packaging & Tracing, I told him he better not touch his phone and deal with me here and now. Customer Relations finally offered me a solution by crediting my bill for the amount of the 2 chargers and that would compensate for the purchase I'd have to make at a retail store. Thank goodness there is someone at Rogers Wireless who understands fairness! Posted September 21, 2009
Charged Tuition for not Being a StudentAnother son had decided he was going to attend Vancouver Community College. He registered online and paid a $598 non-refundable deposit. He was mailed material on what is due and payable and when. Circumstances beyond his control prevented him for starting school so he didn't pay his tuition by the due date. The material mailed to him did not outline any policy or instructions as to what to do in this situation. There were explicit instructions on how to get a partial refund if withdrawing from class after paying the tuition. Had there been instructions on how to withdraw prior to paying tuition, he would have followed them. The wording in the material also said that a person is not fully registered or guaranteed placement until the tuition is paid and the number of students accepted for the course exceeds the number of spaces available. To me, that sounds like he's not a student yet. A month later, a letter arrived from VCC asking for the tuition for the first semester. This was not a couple of dollars. It was almost $2000! The letter also stated that the file would be sent to a collection agency if payment was not made. Excuse me! Where does Vancouver Community College get off by collecting money from people who never set foot in the door? This is a case of double-dipping. The space would have been filled by another student on the waiting list who paid the tuition. Now they want to get tuition from my son for the same seat in the classroom. Remember, they already have $598 from him. This should be sufficient compensation. The rude staff at the Cashier's Office at VCC kept saying that he should have known to notify them of cancellation. No he didn't know! He asked them to point out where the instructions are listed in the mailed out material. They couldn't answer because it wasn't there. They started to sound like robots by repeating "you should know and now you have to pay!" On behalf of my son, I presented my case along with the pertinent documents to the Office of the Ombudsman for British Columbia. They agreed that the instructions were not clear and asked him to send the same letter to the Dean of the Vancouver Community College. If no remedy was offered by the school, then the Ombudsman would act on my son's behalf. The Ombudsman also said to mention to the school that this was already presented to them. Two weeks later, a letter arrived from VCC advising him that they would cease the collection action for the tuition and remove the derogatory report to the credit bureau. I certainly hope that Vancouver Community College revises their documentation and gives explicit instructions on what to do if registrants are unable to attend school before their tuition is paid. I also hope anybody who has been in the same situation has stood up for what is right. Posted September 15, 2009
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