Telus Does Away With Activation Fees….. YAHOO!
One of the things that bugged me about my wife going to an iPhone 5 is that Rogers charged her a $35 fee for upgrading her hardware. Plus I know that if I wanted to activate another line, I’d be charged another $35 for that. So when this press release from Telus hit my inbox this AM, it really got my attention:
As part of the company’s commitment to putting customers first and being fair and transparent, TELUS today announced it will no longer charge a $35 activation fee for new customers or a $25 equipment exchange fee for renewing customers who purchase a new device. TELUS is the first of the established brands to eliminate activation fees as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to make the customer experience clear, simple and easy.
As part of its clear and simple pricing initiatives, TELUS is continuing its journey to be fair and transparent and help customers understand when they are paying for tangible products or value-added services. Effective November 1, TELUS will begin charging $10 for SIM cards to cover the product cost that was previously included in their renewal and activation fees. With the new SIM card charge factored in, new and renewing customers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they will see a net upfront saving. A new SIM card is only required when customers don’t already have a compatible TELUS SIM card for their device.
Now this is something that I could really get behind. I’ve always seen these sorts of things as cash grabs. Thus anyone who says that they will minimize or eliminate these fees gets a gold star in my book. The question is, will Bell and Rogers follow suit?
October 18, 2012 at 1:25 am
I’m a little indifferent on the announcement although it makes a good press release. I’ve been with Telus since about 2004. I didn’t pay the activation fee as I signed up with an offer that waived the fee. Prior to that I was with Rogers and I signed up on an offer that waived the activation fee.
I also have never paid the $25 swap fee. I wouldn’t pay $25 to re-sign with the same carrier. Each time I went to renew my contract, I called retentions to negotiate a new contract to determine whether I would stay with Telus. Each time they agreed to either mail me my new phone with no swap fee OR if I wanted to go into the store and pick a phone, they would credit me $25 on my next bill.