As a Canadian I have to deal with the handful of cellphone cartels which have monopoly over our Canadian telecommunication market.

Yes I'm talking about you Bell, Rogers, Telus & friends.

So far they've all tried to screw me or my girlfriend on way or the other. So I've come to have a couple of tricks to win against them. I hope this post might be useful to other sorry customers.

In fact, it's not really about "tricks", it's about knowing your rights, Canadian laws and the code of conduct that they have an obligation to follow.

Let's start with some hard facts every Canadians should know:

Contracts

This is probably the most important point. For a contract to have any legal weight, it must be signed by both parties and both parties must be given a copy of it. If this requirement is not met, legally there is no contract. Nada.

So if someone tells you that you have a contract with them and you owe them something, ask them for a copy of the said contract you signed with them (even if you do have a copy of it). If they cannot provide it, they have no legal recourse whatsoever. Even if the rep tell you otherwise. I even had a rep who told me that my invoice was my contract! This was the best joke I ever heard.

Code of conduct

Every major telco companies are member of The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). To be a member they have to respect a code of conduct and among other things, this code of conduct states the following:

Protect our customers' rights when we must change contract terms

We do not change the material terms of our contracts with customers, without giving them at least 30 days' notice. In the case of such material changes that are unfavourable to customers, we either give them the right to terminate the contract without any additional fees for early termination, or allow them to remain on the unchanged contract. This does not apply to changes that are required by law or regulation or changes to those services and features that do not have a fixed term commitment.

http://cwta.ca/for-consumers/code-of-conduct/

Note: I've managed to terminate a 3 years contract within the first year over a 0.15 cents increase on the 911 service. Every reps I've talked with (about 6) told me it was impossible, that I didn't know how things worked or that it was a government fee. These were all lies, and in the end, I won.

Whatever the reps will tell you, if your contract is modified in any ways that are unfavorable to you, even if it's a couple of cents, you have the right to terminate it right away. But you must do it within 30 days of the notification. And sometime the "notification" is a small print on your monthly invoice. So read them carefully.

OK now you've been screwed and you want to fight them, where to start ?

First I must warn you that it's time consuming. So choose your battle carefully, because they wont let you win without fighting back.

But don't worry, it's their role do discourage you and keep you from wining. So if you expect it and it's already less irritating.

• The first step is to make sure that you are right. If you are wrong, you wont win, however hard you try. Back your claim with facts and laws. If you can't, just give up already.

• When you are 100% sure that you are within your rights, just call them. State your demand and why. Then prepare to argue because they will. It's annoying but you must do it before escalating your complaint or else it wont be considered seriously.

  Whatever you do or say, STAY POLITE. I cannot stress this enough. The person you will be talking to is simply an employee, a person just like you counting the minutes until his shift ends and they probably already hate the company they are working for. So always stay polite and calm.

  You have far better chances to win your case if the employees sympathize with you than if they hates you because you ruined their day.

• Talk to at least 2~3 reps, then ask them to talk to their superiors. When you've talking to more than 5 employees and you know they're all bullshiting you, then you are ready to escalate your demand.

You will need to write a quite lengthy letter detailing your situation. How many time you called, what you said, why you think you are within your rights and don't hesitate to back it with facts, links or citations. The more details, the better.

Most of the telecom's website will have a complaint section (most likely under contact). Find where you can send your complaint. You want to send it to a higher level than the customer care. If they have complaint escalation procedures, follow them patiently.

At this point, if you have made a solid and detailed case there's a good change you've already won.

In my case, the account director called me the next day to apologize and told me I was right all along and that he was sorry I had to argue for this long with the reps. He terminated my contract on the spot without any charges.

In the case of my girlfriend, they wanted her to pay an extra month after her 3 years contract expired. Their only point was that she didn't notify them that she was terminating her contract 30 days prior it's expiration.. as stipulated in the contract.

And her points was that 1) she did notify them 5 month in advance that she wasn't renewing her contract with them and 2) that she wasn't terminating her contract, she was only not renewing it. The contract she signed was over. She signed for 3 years and the 3 years were expired.

They told her it didn't matter. She should have called 30 days prior the expiration date. So I guess 31 days or 29 days and you're screwed. It's 30 days and they told her that they couldn't do anything about it. It was basically "shut up and pay".

So I told her to ask to talk to the superior and then ask for a copy of the contract she signed, which I knew they can't provide most of the time. Even more three years later. Ten minutes of arguing later, they told her that they were crediting it. Case closed.

A total of 45 minutes of arguing to not get screwed for 65$ is a deal, unless you make a freaking lot of money.

To summarize, 1) be sure you are right 2) make an initial complaint by phone 3) escalate your complaint to the superiors and then 4) by writing and finally 5) always stay polite.

Good luck with your tyrant :)