Ten years later, Fido, Rogers, Bell, Telus and Videotron must defend themselves for overcharging their customers by more than $110 million. A class action lawsuit challenging $50 unlock fees was just approved in Quebec.
• Also read: How to save 60% at the supermarket
• Also read: Surprising price increase at SAQ
The five wireless carriers are accused of charging “abusive and disproportionate” fees to those who owned a used phone or simply wanted to switch carriers. In Quebec alone we are talking $30 million too much.
“It was intentional. The activation cost them zero dollars and they earned more than 100 million from it,” argues lawyer Joey Zukran, who is leading the case at the Renno Vathilakis law firm.
The class action lawsuit, filed in August 2017, was approved by a Superior Court judge on Monday. The targeted practice has been banned by the CRTC since December 2017, even though the federal agency said in 2013 that it should have banned it.
The then-president called the fees a “farewell tax taken from the customer who wants to leave” when he banned them. He also apologized on behalf of the CRTC for not doing so beforehand.
In the previous investigation, he found that Fido, Rogers, Bell, Telus and Videotron themselves had asked the manufacturers – Apple and Samsung – to block the devices. For them it was the same price.
More than $100 million
According to the Financial Post, cited in the lawsuit, WSPs earned $21.6 million from these fees in 2014, $28.5 million in 2015 and $37.7 million in 2016. We can easily estimate the 2017 figure at $40 million.
“It is not reckless to think that costs have not followed the same increase [que les frais]», writes the judge about the databases, the only tool the FSSF needs to put the project into practice.
The total amount of the class action lawsuit – which runs from August 14, 2014 to December 1, 2017 – is approximately $110 million. We can calculate that 25% of the money was taken from Quebecers, which comes to $27.5 million.
The next step will be to determine how WSPs notify their customers who are victims of this practice. They will appear before the judge again shortly to discuss this.
Quebecers who paid $50 to use their phone must register for the appeal on the LPC lawyers' website.
Can you share information about this story?
Write to us or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.