Satellite : Bell Expressvu nailed for overcharging

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Bell Expressvu nailed for overcharging
p2pnet news view | Products:- What does Bell have in common with the corporate music and movie industries?

None of them give a monkey’s sexual intercourse about the people who keep them in business.

Bell has already lost countless thousands of customers because of its traffic throttling and anti-Net neutrality activities.

Now it’s been found guilty under the Criminal Code of illegally charging ExpressVu TV users a monthly late fee, says the CBC.

Ontario Superior Court justice Paul Perell found the company’s $25 late fee, “tacked on top of interest charges,” was illegal , says the story, going on:

“The company has been charging the fee to about 33,000 of its 1.7 million ExpressVu satellite customers each month, according to court documents. The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2005 by Peter De Wolf, a resident of Braeside, Ont., near Ottawa.

“De Wolf said he paid the fee 10 times between January 2001 and May 2006 and, coupled with interest charges, it totalled more than 60 per cent of his bill, an amount that is illegal under federal law.”

The class action was launched on behalf of current and former ExpressVu customers who’ve paid the late charge, says the Toronto Star, continuing:

“The satellite TV service has about 1.7 million subscribers in total, roughly 33,000 of whom are charged the administration fee every month, according to court documents.”

The fee is on top of a monthly interest rate of 2 per cent charged by Bell on overdue amounts, it says.

A Rogers Communications spokesperson said it, too, charges a similar $25 fee, but is “reviewing” the Bell decision, the story says, adding a Telus spokesperson said the company doesn’t have a similar charge.