Bell is now struggling in a class-action lawsuit for setting expiry dates for pre-paid phone plan. Pre-paid is very popular among low-income groups and the amount of users takes up a great proportion. However, many clients did not know such a regulation so when the date passed the expiry date, the money left on the account will be automatically turned into Bell’s pocket without any alert. This kind of action made consumers angry and they got together to fight against Bell.
The responses from Bell shows that they are not afraid and they believe they are not illegal.
Jacqueline Michelis as the spokesperson of Bell wrote in his email:
“This is, of course, the case with our pre-paid cards, and we look forward to addressing the issue in court. Keep in mind that the threshold for class-action certification is quite low and doesn’t address whether the claim has any merit.”
But, in the end, the Ontario Superior Court announced that Bell’s action is illegal.
In my point of view, companies should be more careful to their customers, who play the role as a source of getting money. So having a good relationship with its members can help expand their consumer base. For Bell’s illegal action, I think it is true that so far they “earn” a lot from consumers’ careless, but looking forward, many consumers would jump to other companies, because they do not believe Bell any more. So I believe playing with its own consumers would never bring bright future in business. Moreover, business ethics is very important.
