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Rogers Refused to Unlock my phone. Illegial!

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

So I had an old phone that was locked to rogers. I used to use it when I was with them but I got a new galaxy s10 but thought it would be a great idea to keep my old phone as a backup phone. First I knew I had to unlock it so I contacted a rogers live chat agent. The agent refused to unlock it because I was not a customer. Here is the transcript.

 

07:47:56 PM [BearFBI] ...Transferred from Virtual Assistant chat...

07:50:25 PM [BearFBI] Hello I have an android phone that i need to unlock. Its currently locked to the Rogers network. My IMEI is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
07:52:22 PM [Joseph] Hi, I'm Joseph from Rogers in Moncton and I'll be helping you today.
07:52:29 PM [Joseph] I can definitely assist you with unlocking your device. Are you a Rogers cell phone customer? 
07:53:05 PM [BearFBI] No
07:53:55 PM [Joseph] I do apologize but I cannot assist with unlocking a device if you are not a Rogers customer.
07:53:57 PM [Joseph] Was there any other questions? 
07:54:54 PM [BearFBI] I was previously a rogers customer and i had a paygo account. I ported out and switched phones now im trying to use this phone as a backup but it needs an unlock code from rogers.
07:55:30 PM [BearFBI] The phone was bought locked with rogers
07:56:25 PM [Joseph] You need an active account with Rogers. If not I cannot help .Sorry again
07:56:26 PM [Joseph] Was there any other questions? 
07:56:28 PM [BearFBI] I still remember my login info
07:57:47 PM [BearFBI] if you cannot unlock my phone then this is illegial. I will file a complaint with the CCTS. Thats why i left rogers. You guys do things like this. I unlocked many rogers phones in the past and no one has given me this issue.
07:58:15 PM [Joseph] We recently changed our Policy to better assist our customers.
07:58:17 PM [BearFBI] Why do i have to have a rogers account all the sudden ?
07:58:35 PM [BearFBI] This does not better assist anyone
07:58:48 PM [BearFBI] Even Bell dosent do this
07:59:11 PM [BearFBI] Could it be possible to login with my old paygo account
07:59:12 PM [Joseph] Feel free to share your concerns online : https://www.rogers.com/consumer/contactus/share-a-concern
07:59:29 PM [BearFBI] I still have my login info but no plan associated with it
07:59:31 PM [Joseph] Is the account active?
07:59:35 PM [BearFBI] is that enough to unlock it
07:59:50 PM [Joseph] You need an active Rogers account.
07:59:51 PM [BearFBI] I ported out from the account.
08:00:39 PM [BearFBI] So how would I unlock this ?
08:00:56 PM [BearFBI] I payed for the phone you cant do this
08:02:07 PM [BearFBI] Hello?
08:02:12 PM [Joseph]

 

The guy disconnected and I thought I would try again to chat with another agent. I ended up getting the same agent and I threw a huge fight. In the end he had no choice but to give my the unlock code. Unbelievable Thats why I left rogers. They treat customers terribly. I cant even unlock a phone that I bought. If anyone is seeing this and is with rogers or even bell PORT out immediately. 

49 REPLIES 49

@TheGx 

Don't forget the day......

TheGx
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@darlicious :Ahahaha, didn't know there was a six year limit, don't worry they'll never get penny out of me - whether 6 years or 60 years.

@TheGx 

BTW...if you have never paid a penny the debt can only be collected for 6 years and one day after that it is absolved and stricken from your credit report. If it has only come up recently than its likely nearing that date and a collection agency is hoping to get any kind of payment to start that 6 year and a day clock again. Try and reference that date you last paid any amount on the bill from fido. Seeing as its an iPhone 4 its probably very close to expiry.

TheGx
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@darlicious :I don't have any records anymore it so long ago, I only found out I owed them after they sent it to collection agency. Don't worry haha I won't settle with them, will take them to final arbitration, thank you for telling me!

@TheGx 

Grrrr....fido don't let go me on about fido. Did you have paper billing or download your bills and calling records? Or have the call log still on your phone? This will help booster your case but the fact they cancelled one account and not the other will be in their evidence. Resist the urge if you can on settling early with them and take them to final arbritration to force official penalties under the legislation and compensatory damages for their defiance of the WCC regulations.

TheGx
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Thank you all for this thread and letting everyone about the CCTS to resolve complaints.

 

IMG_20210404_161631.jpg

This is what an iPhone 4s locked to rogers displayed when I put in Public SIM card. Called rogers twice and called Apple 4 times and Apple can't help. Was going to file complaint with CRTC, buy now read this thread and will file complaint to both CCTS and CRTC.

 

Years ago collections agencies called me about outstanding bill over $700, when I called fido after finding out what the bill was for they told me years ago when I cancelled my two phones there was only one got cancelled and they kept billing me for about two years until they finally cancelled my account for non payment - I going to file complaint to CCTS about this too since they should have cancelled my account after 2 months not two years not paying, especially since they knew I left because of being fed up with their crap customer service agents and told them to cancel all my services.

@d33rg 

You have evidence of this in your call logs or in @BearFBI 's case the chat logs but rogers eventually relented to his demands. Rogers also has this evidence which they would have to turn over to the CCTS if they don't settle with you ahead of time. Which they will because it will be waaaay cheaper for them to do so....and they don't want a black mark on their record and a fine + arbritation costs. Ask for your ebay seller costs+$100 (cash or cheque lol!) tell them no thanks on the credit you will never be their customer again.

Korth
Mayor / Maire

@d33rg 

 

Yes, the CCTS works.

 

If the complain is legitimate. In this instance it would be. Although quite often people will complain about all sorts of frustrating issues with their phones, their plans, and their providers which are beyond CCTS mandates, lol.

 

And if the customer followed CCTS procedure. An important part of this is that the customer has attempted to communicate with the provider, has attempted to allow the provider to resolve the issue, and is able (if necessary) to produce some sort of documentation or proof of these attempts. Many angry/frustrated people impatiently rush straight into making demands and registering complaints - they completely ignore this step and move forward - so their complaints get dismissed.

d33rg
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

Wow, great to hear that the CCTS works!

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@d33rg wrote:

I didn't know about the CCTS since it is my first time dealing with a problem unlocking a phone and when I did a Google search I was directed to CRTC were I click on a link to make my formal complaint and I see it did go to the CCTS.  They have not reply to my email sent last week but on their website it says they are working at a reduced capacity.  Unknown when I will hear back on this but I will wait. Thanks for your interest.


CCTS complaint process

https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/for-consumers/complaints/complaints-process-explained/

CCTS wants to kown that you had tried your best to resolve your issue with your provider before submitting a complaint.  Therefore, every time you talk to Rogers.  Make sure to note the date and time and get the name of Rogers CSR you discuss your problem with.

 

Did you use the CCTS complaint form?

https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CCTS_Complaint_v4-7E.pdf

 

IIRC, I got a call from the Rogers Office of the President to resolve my issue a week after I filed my CCTS complaint.

@d33rg 

Public mobile will send you a quarterly text reminding you about your rights under the code and how to access the CCTS. There is also any easy to understand simplified version of the WCC to click on if you scroll to the very bottom left of your page.

d33rg
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

I didn't know about the CCTS since it is my first time dealing with a problem unlocking a phone and when I did a Google search I was directed to CRTC were I click on a link to make my formal complaint and I see it did go to the CCTS.  They have not reply to my email sent last week but on their website it says they are working at a reduced capacity.  Unknown when I will hear back on this but I will wait. Thanks for your interest.

@d33rg 

 Well I am happy you have gotten it unlocked are you going to send the bill to rogers via the CCTS? Its up to consumers like you to follow thru with the complaint process to get rogers to change their unsavoury practice of flaunting the law at the expense of the little guy.


@Anonymous wrote:

 @d33rg : CRTC or CCTS? I think it's CCTS.


CRTC is a regulatory organization. Disputes between consumers and carriers are handled by CCTS.

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @d33rg : CRTC or CCTS? I think it's CCTS.

d33rg
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

Thanks and I now have it unlocked!  Had to pay an unlock service on Ebay because Rogers stood firm that I was no longer a customer with them in the past 12 months, despite having purchased the phone from them and the CRTC has not responded to my email for help with this.  Luckily I was able to pay money to solve my problem and I am now with Public Mobile.

d33rg
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

Hi Everyone,

I never got Rogers to unlock my phone because they stood fast to their policy that I no longer had an account with them in the past 12 months so they will not unlock my phone I purchased from them.  My email to CRTC about this fell on deaf ears.  So thanks to the suggestion by a member here to get my phone unlocked via Ebay, I did it.  My phone is unlocked and I am now able to use my phone on Public Mobile!  Yahoo!  After too many days spent on this and all I had to do was pay an unlocker service on Ebay.  Incredible but true.  So beware of leaving Rogers before you get your phone unlocked.  And yes we do have the CRTC ruling that phones have to be unlocked but sadly it just doesn't hold water.  So I have learned a lesson, hope you have as well.  Take everyone and have a great day!

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

I mean. Good point @darlicious.

@BearFBI 

Of course its your choice to put it where it best suits in your opinion (which initially your instinct was phones and hardware which I think was bang on).  I just don't like to see the lounge get cluttered up with phone related stuff as it confuses new members into posting legitimate help needed questions that languish in the lounge until they are moved by an oracle. Put the onus the other way....if an oracle truly feels it belongs in the lounge make them have to move it there not the other way around. Very few posted threads move out of the lounge but I could find you 20 in less than 5 minutes that could  easily fit into any of the other boards. A new member should be able to come to the lounge and skim over the page and say this us not where I post my phone issue.....but I'll come back later because that HNIC discussion looks interesting.

 

BTW....had you lost your phone and needed that old rogers phone to have service and you didn't convince the agent to give up the unlock code would you not have a phone issue that's pm related? Do you not think by opening the discussion you have not helped many other members in a similar position? As will @d33rg having made a CCTS complaint and posted in your thread? How many more people will have seen it (of the 742 views) had it been in a board that updates regularily on the landing page?


@computergeek541 wrote:

Mobile Syrrup has it completely wrong. Being an attempt to prevent the reselling of stolen unlocked phones doesn't explain why they're refusing to unlock phones that haven't been stolen. Further,  if a phone has been stolen, the phone would most likely be banned from conecting to networks anyway. This is nothing but an anti-competitive move by Rogers.


I don't see carrier-locks offering any kind of advantage to the consumer. No additional security. No additional convenience (in fact the opposite, they install additional inconvenience).

 

A carrier-lock won't stop thieves from stealing phones. It can't stop thieves from unlocking phones. It offers not protection against SIM frauds (the thief already knows the SIM ID number and enough account/personal information). It offers no real protection against port frauds (the thief still has at least two operators available to choose from).

 

It's only a layer of control for the carrier which sold the phone to the consumer. You don't really "own" it if it only works on their network and you've gotta go through them to get that changed on their terms.

 

Except that whatever "policies" and "procedures" and "protocols" Rogers decides to put in writing are meaningless. Because they don't get to make these rules - the CRTC does - and refusing to comply with laws is kinda illegal.

The only real power the carrier has is to waste some of your time in a game of hot potato between some retention and sales folks - unless you make it clear that you (or the CCTS) won't let them waste your time.

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@darlicious Nope I started it here. It wasn't related to PM in any way and I figured it would get moved if I put it in phones and hardware.

@Anonymous 

 

Was this originally in the lounge? Seems to me it should be in "Phones and Hardware" or even "Using your Service." Instead of languishing in the Lounge which is for....

 

The Lounge

Want to talk about your interests, hobbies, or anything that’s not related to phone-stuff? It’s all here.
@Anonymous wrote:
Iirc it started here. And rightfully so. It's Rogers. Not PM.
 
@Anonymous 
Since you put your two cents💱💲 in....I'll see that and raise it to a nickel💰......as highlighted. And it does concern any possible and/or new customer(or one needing to use an old phone as a back up) who can't get pm service on their phone because they can't get their phone unlocked because of rogers ridiculous policy. Having this in the right board would serve the community better and maybe launch that grassroots🌱 campaign......
 
In fact there's a fair amount of phone related stuff that would be better served out of the lounge🍷🍸🍾🍹🥂🍻🥃🍺 and I don't know maybe in the community board graveyard ⚰⚱⚰but that's pointless now as we know that's next on the chopping block.🔪
 
Edit: Oops....I forgot!😉

Anonymous
Not applicable

Iirc it started here. And rightfully so. It's Rogers. Not PM.

@BearFBI 

Was this originally in the lounge? Seems to me it should be in "Phones and Hardware" or even "Using your Service." Instead of languishing in the Lounge which is for....

 

The Lounge

Want to talk about your interests, hobbies, or anything that’s not related to phone-stuff? It’s all here

@d33rg 

Great post! Maybe @computergeek541 or another oracle can move this into its own thread. I am no fan of Rogers/fido for theur shady underhanded tactics that openly defy the WCC regulations. But it takes someone like yourself and some grassroots organization to not only file complaints with CCTS but follow thru with them to the bitter end.

 

The vast majority of complaints (87%) to the CCTS never make it to a determination thus the real statistics on the foul play by canadian mobile providers never see the light of day because the industry buys off (settles) with the consumer. Those which go thru the arbritation process and the consumer wins result in proper compensation for the complaintant, fines and reprimands (or worse) for the provider and a permanent black mark and statisical recording of the wrongdoing by the provider that result in larger fines and higher fees being borne by said provider in the future on subsequent successful complaints by that provider's customers.

 

Its also important to remember that it is the provider named in the complaint that bears the full cost of the complaint process. This is why the mere threat of a complaint to the CCTS often bears the fruit of success.


@JK8 wrote:

 

From mobilesyrup:

 

41A57FF1-FC08-4010-8CF6-5848CBA6AA48.jpeg


From the Rogers website:

62D1D3C8-906D-4550-BB98-E612445D5823.jpeg


Mobile Syrrup has it completely wrong. Being an attempt to prevent the reselling of stolen unlocked phones doesn't explain why they're refusing to unlock phones that haven't been stolen. Further,  if a phone has been stolen, the phone would most likely be banned from conecting to networks anyway. This is nothing but an anti-competitive move by Rogers.

JK8
Mayor / Maire

 

From mobilesyrup:

 

41A57FF1-FC08-4010-8CF6-5848CBA6AA48.jpeg


From the Rogers website:

62D1D3C8-906D-4550-BB98-E612445D5823.jpeg

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@Korth I could just buy an unlock code from ebay for $10. Or I could buy a new device for $100-$200.

 

No. Bad idea. Some of those are scams and that's just a waste of money. Rogers will do it its just a matter of getting the right rep. 

 

 

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@d33rg rogers is just bs. I would keep calling them or chatting with them untill they finnaly give you the unlock code. Threaten to file a complaint, tell them off, yell at the person on the other line, get angry at them. They'll give you the unlock code. 

 

That's what I did. Only way to get it. 


@Anonymous wrote:
... they can get away with it. No one's going to go to all that trouble with CCTS or legal action for something they could pay a nominal sum to get done.

I wouldn't go through the trouble of dragging them through courts. Paperwork. Time. Appearance. Legal representation.

 

I could just buy an unlock code from ebay for $10. Or I could buy a new device for $100-$200.

 

But it turns out that filing a complaint on the CCTS webforms costs nothing and takes about 2 minutes. It turns out that - if you follow CCTS procedures - they have to register the complaint and contact the operator to achieve a resolution. You can even inform the voice at the other end that you are recording the call to file a copy in your own personal documents (and true or false this claim always puts gov/corp phone hierarchies on their most attentive posture and their most carefully politic behaviour).

 

I expect that when people are savvy enough to make the "threat" then Rogers is savvy enough to back down from it. It costs them less to simply comply than it costs us to simply work around their lack of compliance.

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