Alec Saunders has proposed an interesting form of civil disobedience to fight against system access fees – which he calls the ‘drip feed for Canadian wireless carriers.’
He suggests that people should call the customer service lines for their service providers and just inquire about the system access fee.
It costs the carrier $25 to $30 per call to receive my call. Three or four calls per year asking about what that “system access fee” is on my statement will wipe out any profits they make from nickeling and diming me. It’s a little subversive, but it’s just the sort of thing that appeals to the Canadian in me. And perhaps if enough people did the same, the bean counting MBAs who work in product management at Canadian carriers would see the logic of discontinuing this practice.
Will Alec’s suggestion start a national grassroots campaign? We saw the potential rallying power of influential bloggers when Michael Geist triggered his Copyright Canada campaign.
Wireless service providers should start watching their call centre numbers.
Otherwise, consumers should be aware that not all wireless service providers charge the system access fees. Check out the pay as you go plans at some of the independent retailers like 7-11 or Virgin Mobile. You have a choice, and more choice is likely on the way this spring.
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system access fees, Alec Saunders