Jason Pearson bought a cell phone from Wind Mobile, a newcomer that offered a month’s free service and a $30 credit paid over the next five months.

But when he wrote to me recently, he was still waiting for his May and June credits.

“The frustrating part is that everyone you deal with has a different answer. Oh, it goes through on the 30th. No, it goes through on the 15th. In fact, it never goes through,” he said.

“Now I’m told I have to pay and get the credit sometime in the future. This is not what was advertised when I switched.”

Anthony Lacavera, chief executive of Wind Mobile, made sure the credits were issued right away when I sent him the complaint.

Pearson wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t gone to the media.

“As a business owner, I fully understand how difficult a start-up is, but I’ve always had a policy of trying to listen to our customers,” he said. “I hope that all the others who had the same issue will be taken care of.”

Wind Mobile launched in Toronto and Calgary late last year, followed by three more cities – Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa.

It uses credits to subsidize termination fees for people locked into long-term contracts with other wireless carriers.

Its current offer is a $25 monthly credit, paid over six months, for those who bring their phone number from another carrier by Aug. 15.

Lacavera doesn’t believe in using long-term contracts. So he has a built-in incentive to beef up customer service.

“We were very proud that the Better Business Bureau recently gave us a B+ ranking,” he tells me.

Rogers Communications has a B- rating with the BBB. Bell Canada and Telus Mobility both have an F rating. (An F rating is for companies with less than 60 per cent of the perfect score, while a B- to B+ rating is for those in the 80 to 90 per cent range.)

Unlike the incumbents, Wind doesn’t subsidize wireless devices for customers who sign long-term contracts with hefty termination fees.

For example, it sells the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at $450 – compared to a $100 price for customers who sign a three-year deal with an incumbent.

However, customers who don’t have a contract pay $499.99 at Telus, $549.99 at Rogers and $599.95 at Bell for the same BlackBerry model.

Wind started with four handsets, none priced at under $100. Now it has two Huawei phones at $70 and $90.

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But its major attraction is a $45 monthly rate plan for unlimited calling and texting in any Wind zone. This package includes voicemail.

Two new entrants, Mobilicity and Public Mobile, have joined Canada’s wireless market with unlimited calling and texting plans. The competition is having an effect.

Earlier this month, Rogers said it will launch a new brand, Chatr Wireless Inc., aimed at budget-minded cellphone users.

“I feel very good to see the incumbents react,” Lacavera says. “The number one issue for Canadians is the extra charges on their cellphone bills.

“We have thousands of posts at our community website saying, ‘Why can’t I get the price I thought I signed up for? I feel nickeled and dimed by extra fees. I can’t plan for them. I can’t budget for them. I don’t understand them.’”

For Wind, Mobilicity and Public, the challenge is to improve their reception by installing more antennas.

“Patchy coverage is normal in any start-up operation,” says a report by SeaBoard Group, a telecom consultant, about Wind’s early problems.

“The incumbents have been building and tweaking their networks for three decades and are therefore bound to have better and more complete coverage.”

Wireless newcomers should consider an “early adopter bonus” to keep customers happy, Seaboard suggests.

And when they offer inducements, they should pay promptly – or risk defections by those who don’t have long-term contracts to ensure their loyalty.

Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca, 416-945-8687 or ellenroseman.com