I came across a very interesting post on Facebook by Al McGale that explains how you can get out of your Rogers TV, Internet and Home Phone contracts without paying termination fees. It depends on declining changes to your terms, one of the oldest tricks in the book. But it’s always good to post it every now and then to remind people of how it can be done and I also really like how Al explained it.

Here is a direct link to the article on Facebook and just in case Rogers manage to get it removed from Facebook I’ve pasted it below:

By Al McGale:

If you use Rogers services then you, like me, are likely hooked into a contract of some sort that ties you to their service for a couple of years for the promises of deep discounts and extrodinary customer service. It’s quite likely that you, like me, have been disappointed by their customer service and are still waiting for these deep discounts (15% off of an over priced service is not a deal).

Well, today is your lucky day (and it was mine, too).

I received the following letter in the mail outlining changes to the fees that I pay for the services that Rogers provides;

The important part of this letter is that all of the fees associated with Rogers TV Packages, Rogers Hi-Speed Internet, and Rogers Home Phone and Long Distance have been increased. Also worth noting is that in the fine print at the bottom of the page under 1 ..”The CRTC has established the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) to subsidize TV stations in markets of less than 1 million people. Rogers is required to pay 1.5% of our TV service revenues to this fund. We pass this charge through to you.”..

Lately I’ve been unimpressed with the large Canadian Telco’s anyway for trying to screw us with their Usage Based Billing (UBB) Internet scheme, so this was just what I needed to put me over the edge and call Rogers to see if they’ve broken our contract, thus allowing me to cancel the affected services. As I expected I encountered some pretty heafty resistance, but armed with the knowledge I gained hopefully you can do the same much easier if you need or want to.

First – the person that answers your phone call will not likely be able to help you. Explain that you’d like to cancel all of your services due to changes in the services, but you need to understand that they’re not trained on how to deal with Rogers breaking their own contracts so take it easy on them. Tell them that you’d like to speak with a Supervisor, not because they’ve done something wrong, but because this is an issue that they’re likely not trained to deal with (worked for me – I got a manager).

When I got the manager on the phone she started talking very quickly and got upset with me when I tried to interrupt her when I had questions. I explained to her that if I’m not allowed to ask questions while she goes on with her explaination, then I need her to talk slower so I can take notes and ask my questions when she’s done. She wasn’t very happy with my smartalec-ness, but I wasn’t happy with her trying to whitewash me with fast talking and not allowing questions.

She explained that there are fee increases coming, and as per my contract with them, fee increases are acceptable based on the terms of service. I told her that’s ludicrous because if Rogers started charging $1,000,000.99 / month for my home phone service that is not acceptable and not what I agreed to when I entered the contract. She told me they wouldn’t do that, to which I replied it doesn’t matter if you WOULD, the fact of the matter is the contract does not allow you to without me having an option to opt out. She then asked me to get out one of my bills (as I expected her to) and turn to page 2, point 15.

She read this to me very “As a matter of fact”ly.

I told her to slow down and read that again.

“If you do not accept a change to these terms, your sole remedy is to retain the existing terms unchanged for the duration of your commitment period.”

Really?! I’ll take that option. Don’t screw with my stuff.

That option isn’t available sir. The rate increases are coming.

So our contract is void.

Hold please.

hold music

Thank you for holding. Yes, sir. You are able to cancel your services without paying any penalties.

Tada! And once you shop around you’ll be amazed and how much you were getting scammed – I sure was! And you’ve got 30 days to get something else installed, so don’t delay! Ditch’em. They’re begging for it.

If they give you a hard time, feel free to reference ticket # I 364 368 858. That’s the ticket where Joann (Manager) gave approval for me to cancel my services with no penalties.

— Update on Feb 22, 2011

I’ve heard from many people that they’ve great success cancelling their services, but I’ve heard from others that they’re not being allowed to cancel. Talk to a supervisor and don’t take no for an answer. According to their contract (point 15), they either allow you to continue with your service under the existing terms (fees and services) or they’ve broken their contract, in which case you can cancel with no penalty. Make sure you get one or the other, and expect resistance!

— Update on Feb 23, 2011

I got a note today from someone that is familiar with Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act. In addition to s15 in the Rogers contract our rights are further supported and clearly defined by CPA 42.(2).2 within the Amendment, renewal or extension in accordance with consumer agreement;

2. The agreement gives the consumer at least one of the following alternatives to accepting the supplier’s proposal to amend, renew or extend:

i. terminating the agreement, or

ii. retaining the existing agreement unchanged.

The above is only valid in Ontario, but there is likely something similar in other provinces too since it

makes good sense. (If not, get on it)

Thanks for the tip, A.G.

— Update Feb 25, 2011

Wireless customers! Your lucky day has potentially arrived!

People have been asking me if it’s possible to cancel your wireless plan with the changes I’ve highlighted above. I wasn’t sure with the above information since it doens’t really affect your cell plans, but you could have argued that the only reason you had your cell with them was because of the bundle pricing, but I wasn’t sure if it would work so I didn’t want to get into it.

But on my most recent (and one of the last!) bill I received from Rogers there is a blurb about the cost of text messages increasing as of March 16, 2011. You can now use this information to give them the choice of letting you out of your contract or having them not screw with the pricing of your services. This change, since it’s directly affecting your wireless plan (assuming you have text messaging included in your plan (but who doesn’t?)), gives you an opportunity to get out. They might offer you something different to make up for this change, and if it pleases you then take it – but if you’re goal is quitting, don’t accept their “new” proposal – either it’s what you have today, or you quit.

Thanks again, Rogers.