Statement from Vanessa Dahma, Senior Manager, Media Relations, Bell Canada
August 22, 2018
Mr. Ali has since departed Bell due a series of unexplained absences from work and several
instances of failing to adhere to normal sales and service procedures. He’s given us permission
to speak to you about his situation.
Mr. Ali had not actually left the company when he contacted you, but rather departed 2 days ago
(Aug 20) and only after meetings with company and union representatives in which he was
given the opportunity to deal with his absences and other issues.
When a customer inquires about cancelling their existing services and repurchasing the same
services at a different promotional price, our service representatives are supposed to refer the
customer to our loyalty and retention team.
We do not believe most service providers would simply offer a promotional price to an existing
customer. Promotions are obviously an effort to attract new business, but a switch for an
existing customer may also require cancelling and repurchasing service, the possible need for
new equipment, a shift to a new billing cycle and so on. Our loyalty team will work with any
customer to ensure they are satisfied with the value they receive from our services, but simply
switching to the latest special promotion likely isn’t their best option.
There are no free trials for Alt TV. Our representatives are trained to make clear, in line with our
Alt TV advertising, web site and other marketing materials, that a credit of $14.95 would be
applied to a customer’s next monthly bill if they sign up for Alt TV. Customers cancelling the
service in the first 30 days would not be entitled to the credit, but they would of course only be
charged for the number of days that they used Alt TV.
It was a customer complaint about an Alt TV sale by Mr. Ali that led to another coaching session
with his team leader about following normal procedures, which includes always providing
customers with correct information.
Our representatives do have some flexibility in offering discounts. Any special discounts would
be applied on a case-by-case basis based on a customer’s service package, their history with
us and other factors, and they need a supervisor’s approval.