David gets his day in court with cellphone Goliath
If you’ve ever felt you were being ripped off by those big cell phone companies with their hidden and not-so-hidden charges, this is gonna put a smile on your face.
A couple of years ago, Yellowknifer James Anderson filed a $6 million class-action lawsuit against the cell phone company Bell Mobility.
Why?
Well, Bell Mobility charges him, and everyone else with a cell phone in the Northwest Territories, 75 cents a month for 911 services on top of their other regular fees.
So what, some of you are asking.
The thing of it is, there are no 911 services in the NWT.
None.
If you need fire, police or ambulance services up here, you’ve got to dial their numbers directly.
No doubt a lot of people wondered about the 911 fee over the years, muttering under their breathe about another fee, but Anderson didn’t just wonder about it. He figured there was something down right wrong about a company charging for a service they weren’t providing.
So he sued Bell Mobility.
When I first heard about this, I couldn’t help but smile. Big corporations like Bell Mobility have been sticking it to the little guy for years and years. It’s nice to see someone finally standing up to them.
But at the same time, I knew nothing would come of it.
I mean, how many times have you heard about the little guy taking on the Big Corporations and actually winning? Hell, forget winning, how often does the little guy actually get to have their say in a courtroom when dealing with them?
Not too often, that’s for sure.
So, just like everyone predicted, Bell Mobility tried to quash the lawsuit.
But a NWT Supreme Court judge ruled that the suit could move forward last October.
That surprised people a little bit, but it didn’t last long.
Bell Mobility has deep, deep pockets and an army of lawyers.
Everybody knew what would happen next.
“They decided to appeal the … judge’s decision,” said Keith Landy, the Toronto lawyer who is representing Anderson.
When they appeared last week before the NWT Court of Appeal, Bell Mobility’s lawyers argued that while the company might charge for the non-existent 911 service, it had never agreed to provide the service and anyone who had ever read the fine print of the contract knew that.
To say people were amazed by that logic would be an understatement.
And some people were more than a little bit irritated by the corporation’s boldness, including Justice Jean Côté, one of the three Court of Appeal justices.
"You jolly well billed for it," Côté told Bell Mobility's lawyers when they said the company shouldn’t be on the hook for not providing the service.
When it was all said and done, the three justices came to the same conclusion about the suit Anderson filed.
“There was no defect in the statement of claim,” Landy said.
The lawsuit was solid. So solid, the justices didn’t even ask Landy any questions.
So now, Bell Mobility will have to answer the two question everyone with a cell phone up here has been asking for years: Why is Bell charging for a non-existent 911 service? And where do they get the nerve to charge for a non-existent 911 service?
"I was very satisfied with the outcome," Anderson told reporters aftert the hearing.
His lawyer agreed.
"I can only hope that for those who are continuing to pay this monthly fee, that someone at Bell Mobility will recognize that maybe this is something they should be addressing sooner rather than later," Landy said.
Well, David might not have beat Goliath just yet, but at least he’ll get a chance to go toe-to-toe with him. And nowadays that’s a victory in itself.
A couple of years ago, Yellowknifer James Anderson filed a $6 million class-action lawsuit against the cell phone company Bell Mobility.
Why?
Well, Bell Mobility charges him, and everyone else with a cell phone in the Northwest Territories, 75 cents a month for 911 services on top of their other regular fees.
So what, some of you are asking.
The thing of it is, there are no 911 services in the NWT.
None.
If you need fire, police or ambulance services up here, you’ve got to dial their numbers directly.
No doubt a lot of people wondered about the 911 fee over the years, muttering under their breathe about another fee, but Anderson didn’t just wonder about it. He figured there was something down right wrong about a company charging for a service they weren’t providing.
So he sued Bell Mobility.
When I first heard about this, I couldn’t help but smile. Big corporations like Bell Mobility have been sticking it to the little guy for years and years. It’s nice to see someone finally standing up to them.
But at the same time, I knew nothing would come of it.
I mean, how many times have you heard about the little guy taking on the Big Corporations and actually winning? Hell, forget winning, how often does the little guy actually get to have their say in a courtroom when dealing with them?
Not too often, that’s for sure.
So, just like everyone predicted, Bell Mobility tried to quash the lawsuit.
But a NWT Supreme Court judge ruled that the suit could move forward last October.
That surprised people a little bit, but it didn’t last long.
Bell Mobility has deep, deep pockets and an army of lawyers.
Everybody knew what would happen next.
“They decided to appeal the … judge’s decision,” said Keith Landy, the Toronto lawyer who is representing Anderson.
When they appeared last week before the NWT Court of Appeal, Bell Mobility’s lawyers argued that while the company might charge for the non-existent 911 service, it had never agreed to provide the service and anyone who had ever read the fine print of the contract knew that.
To say people were amazed by that logic would be an understatement.
And some people were more than a little bit irritated by the corporation’s boldness, including Justice Jean Côté, one of the three Court of Appeal justices.
"You jolly well billed for it," Côté told Bell Mobility's lawyers when they said the company shouldn’t be on the hook for not providing the service.
When it was all said and done, the three justices came to the same conclusion about the suit Anderson filed.
“There was no defect in the statement of claim,” Landy said.
The lawsuit was solid. So solid, the justices didn’t even ask Landy any questions.
So now, Bell Mobility will have to answer the two question everyone with a cell phone up here has been asking for years: Why is Bell charging for a non-existent 911 service? And where do they get the nerve to charge for a non-existent 911 service?
"I was very satisfied with the outcome," Anderson told reporters aftert the hearing.
His lawyer agreed.
"I can only hope that for those who are continuing to pay this monthly fee, that someone at Bell Mobility will recognize that maybe this is something they should be addressing sooner rather than later," Landy said.
Well, David might not have beat Goliath just yet, but at least he’ll get a chance to go toe-to-toe with him. And nowadays that’s a victory in itself.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 2:07 PM
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