Enfield retiree frustrated by new, unwanted fee on Bell Aliant bill
A Bell Aliant customer is upset about long-distance fee increases that appear on her most recent phone bill.
For years, Enfield, N.S., resident Joan Jarvis has paid five cents a minute for long-distance calls anywhere in the world.
On Jarvis's July phone bill, her long-distance fee for Canada and the United States has jumped to 20 cents per minute. The bill also includes a new monthly charge of $2.95 for a world long-distance plan.
In her latest billing cycle, for June 10 to July 9 inclusive, Jarvis said she used only 25 cents in long distance calls.
"I always check my bills and when I looked at it there was a new charge on it for $2.95, which would be $3.40 with the tax [for a] world long distance plan," she said.
"And I also noticed that instead of five cents a minute, my fibre op bundle now includes a 20 cents Canada-U.S. long distance plan."
'I was very surprised'
The new world long-distance plan is replacing Bell Aliant's "Simply the World" long-distance plan, which was previously included for free in bundles.
Jarvis did not request these changes.
"I was very surprised and I phoned the company," she said. "The service agent I was speaking to said that the changes were noted on my bill from May or June — they were not on either bill.
"There was no notification that this was suddenly going to be applied."
At Jarvis's request, Bell Aliant removed the $2.95 monthly charge from her bill, but Jarvis said her overall plan is still unclear.
Jarvis, a retired nurse, is on a fixed income. She receives Old Age Security, so every penny counts.
Cellphone not realistic
To make matters worse for her, Bell Aliant will increase two of its service bundles by $6 each on Sept 25. Home phone bundles, single-service TV and single-service internet will increase by $3.
Getting rid of her home phone is not an option for Jarvis, who said using a cellphone is too difficult for her husband.
In a written statement, Bell Aliant spokeswoman Katie Burgess said the utility standardized the pricing of its five-cents- per-minute world long-distance plan across the Atlantic provinces in April.
"We informed customers in Nova Scotia and P.E.I via their bill message … that their plan would now include a monthly fee of $2.95," Burgess wrote.
Customers can opt out of the world long-distance plan and still be able to call across Canada and the U.S. for 20 cents per minute at any time, Burgess said.
