This is... a neutral/positive story about phone service in Canada, oddly enough. In September and October, I took two trips to the US. I used some of my "Fido Dollars" - which have been accumulating for years - $40 was going to be enough for 200MB of US data-plan and more than enough voice/text than I would need on those two trips.

The September bill arrived when we were in Asia, and the October bill just arrived, so I took a look at both of them. They were both MUCH larger than expected, and my Fido Dollars balance didn't go down.

Oh oh.

I took a deep breath and called Fido, expecting an argument or "there's nothing we can do." It was a surreal and positive experience- from when a human picked up within ONE MINUTE of me calling, to the fact that this human (Morgan) was cheerful and socially aware- starting with "how can I help you today?" "I need to talk to someone in billing, please." "That's me! What can I do for you?" And concluding with her giving me a credit which translated in the end to me paying $40 in real dollars for the extra charges, instead of $40 of Fido Dollars. The entire call was 21 minutes, including her talking with her supervisor for about 10 of those minutes.

So something got messed up, either I didn't manage to complete the online order or their systems lost it. They have no record, I have a text saying I have to confirm the online order using a code. I had a personal note that I'd turned it on. Whatever. I'd be happier if I could've used the Fido Dollars, which continue to accumulate. But I'm happy enough, and especially grateful that I don't need to stress about it longer than the hour just past since I first discovered the bills.

So, perhaps the morale of this story is not procrastinating on the likely-frustrating phone-call, which is what I do often enough. And reiterating that people (and soulless systems, including telecom companies) can sometimes favourably surprise one.