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#1 (**permalink**) 16th September 2008, 06:03 PM

Court finds Bell ExpressVu fee illegal

Globe and Mail Update

September 16, 2008 at 10:47 AM EDT

An Ontario judge has ruled that a $25 administration fee Bell ExpressVu charges customers who are late with monthly payments is illegal.

The ruling applies to Bell ExpressVu's roughly 1.7 million customers. According to court documents, about 33,000 customers pay the fee every month.

The case was brought by Peter De Wolf, a long-time Bell ExpressVu customer who lives in Braeside, Ont., near Ottawa. Mr. De Wolf said he was elated by the ruling.

“I'm just tired of these large corporations charging outrageous fees for nothing,” he said. “And this is one that we could do something about... This is a huge decision.”

Bell is expected to appeal the decision.

Mr. De Wolf paid the administration fee 10 times between January 2001 and May 2006 because he was late paying his monthly bill. He has been battling the company for months in court over the legality of the fee and launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all Bell ExpressVu customers earlier this year.

Mr. De Wolf argued that the fee, coupled with interest charges, meant that Bell ExpressVu was charging more than 60 per cent in annual interest, which violated the Criminal Code.

Bell ExpressVu argued the fee was not an interest charge but was based on the cost the company incurred collecting overdue bills.

But in a ruling released late yesterday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell sided with Mr. De Wolf and ruled the fee was illegal under the criminal code. The judge called some of Bell ExpressVu's arguments “unsound” and “absurd.” "

wahidul · #2 (**permalink**) 20th September 2008, 10:50 PM

bell is a crap

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