Rogers
Complaint 168625 Details

My service provider is also Wireless, and I have been in contact with them several times today with regards to a fraudulent charge by MoTime. I have also spoken with a representative of Motime.

The explanation I have just received from two different Rogers representatives was that Rogers is "forced" to charge me this about because a third party has charged them a corresponding amount. Now, this is simply not a legal fact. I have never agreed, neither explicitly nor through implicit consent through use, to be charged this amount by the third party through Rogers. One representative from Rogers asserted that Rogers is not acting as Motime's agent, but rather that it is simply 'forced'. I presume the 'force' relates to Rogers' need to run a profitable business; however, that is not my responsibility as an individual service-user. Under the most basic laws of contract, there needs to be offer and acceptance for there to be a valid contract. I was never tendered an offer from Motime or from Rogers, and I most definitely did not accept any terms purportedly offered. Getting further into contract law, I was never offered any consideration to make this a valid contract. Motime supposedly runs a 'ringtone subscription' service. I have not been receiving ringtones in any form, nor would I even want them.

The representative of Motime explained that someone had signed my number up for the service in December 2011; I have only had this number since September 2012. On the strength of that argument, the representative said that I could get a $13 cheque sent to be in the mail if I: (a) gave him my name and address; (b) gave him my email address; and (c) faxed over a copy of my contract with Rogers. One need only take a quick moment to realize that this requires a large amount of trust on my end - it seems illogical to give further personal information to a company which has just mysteriously charged me $13.

I find Rogers' practice with regards to these third party charges completely deplorable. While I understand that there is the potential for abuse if people were to opportunistically sign up for third party services and then disclaim the costs, the answer is not for Rogers to simply pass on charges to its customers without consent. Rather, it should be Rogers' responsibility to ensure that all charges that third parties make to Rogers are duly authorized by the relevant account-holder. For example, detailed information could be required to authorize third party payments. Unless Motime is engaging in highly illegal practices with regard accessing my private and personal information, it should not be able to actually confirm my identity and be able to confirm my billing information with Rogers. Alternatively or additionally, Rogers could inform its customers through text message, as it does with roaming charges or the like, when a new third party attempts to charge the account. It should not accept the charge unless and until the account holder affirms the charge. What Rogers is doing at this moment is taking advantage of its customers - as individuals, it is difficult to seek redress for legal wrong as perpetrated by large corporations.

This incident has left a very poor taste in my mouth, and, after many years of exclusively using Rogers as my wireless phone service provider, I am seriously considering taking my business elsewhere.

I will be making my position known as I can, and I hope that this brings some kind of change to Rogers' business practices.