Bell says its ‘Flex Option’ complies with code
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Bell a series of questions to see if a new plan that gives customers an additional 12 months to pay off the remaining balance owed on their devices is onside of Wireless Code rules.
Bell’s new “Flex Option” provides customers an additional option to pay off their device after the initial two-year service plan period. The appeal is that the customer pays a lower monthly amount for the phone during the service plan period. The customer then has three options for dealing with the remaining balance at service termination: pay it off in a lump sum, return the phone “in good working condition,” or, with this new option, pay it back over 12 additional months interest-free.
The CRTC said in two separate letters to Bell on Wednesday that it believes the new offer “could be in non-compliance” with the Wireless Code, which notably requires that device financing be tied to the service plan.
The commission is now asking Bell to clarify whether a customer could cancel their service and go to another provider while paying off the device at the agreed-upon amount during the additional 12-month period; and whether a customer who decides to stay with Bell during that same period could modify or downgrade their service plan while paying off the device at the agreed-upon amount until the device is paid off.
In a statement to Cartt, a Bell spokesperson said: “Bell’s Flex Option program complies with the CRTC’s Wireless Code.”
The telco tells us the flex option simply provides a third option for customers who don’t want to return their phone or pay the deferred balance at the end of the two-year term. At any point within the third option’s 12 additional months, customers can decide to return the phone or pay it all off, Bell says.
The CRTC also wants to know what happens with the service plan when, after the two-year commitment period, customers move to month-to-month service, as well as how the Flex Option complies with code rules on early cancellation fees.
The letter references the Flex Option FAQ which notes that cancelling a service after three months will grant the customer 30 days from that date to return the device in “good working condition” or keep the device and pay the deferred amount, which “will be reduced when required by the Wireless Code.”
The commission is asking Bell to provide an example of how that amount will be reduced and how that practice complies with the code.
If the customer cancels the service before three months, the Flex Option FAQ says the customer must pay the deferred amount and keep the device. The CRTC wants to know whether that includes customers on the required minimum 15-day trial period.
In 2019, the CRTC banned three-year device financing options.
