To the Executive at Bell, I am writing this letter as a last attempt to resolve a situation that your comp any has

thus far been able to help me with. Back in November of 2011, while on a business trip, my cell phone broke. I have been a Bell Mobility customer for several years, so I went into the nearest Bell store located at Victoria Bay Cen ter to see if I could get a new phone. I liked the iPhone 4, which my husband a lso has, and decided to get a new iPhone. I talked to the sales representitive, whom I can name if necessary, as I still have the paperwork for the cell phone contract about my particular needs and situation. My husband, was at the time, negotiating with the University of Malta, and we were considering the possibilit y of an overseas move to Malta, so I asked several questions about what was invo lved with breaking my cell phone contract should we relocate, and was given some very good advice as to how to do this. I also asked about the phone itself, i f it could be unlocked by Bell in case we were moving overseas. I was told by t he Bell sales representitive that this would be no problem. She told me that Be ll charges a $50 fee to unlock the phone, then contacts Apple and has the phone unlocked so that it can be used with another cell service provider. She assured me that after 90 days of being in my phone contract, that the phone could be un locked by Bell at any time. My husband, who was with me at the time asked sever al questions about this service and compared this information with what he had b een told by his cell phone service provider, Rodgers. After comparing what the Bell sales representive told us with what he had been told by Rodgers, we decide d to go ahead and get the phone on a 3 year contract, having been reassured by B ell that should we need to break the contract (for a fee) and unlock the phone. My husband has since relocated to his new job with the University of Malta overs eas. When he left the country, he arranged to break his cell phone contract wit h Rodgers, who charged him $250 to get out of the contract, and another $50 to u nlock his iPhone 4, which they later waived. He had very little problems with this process, and has now replaced his Rodgers sim card with his new Vodaphone s im card, and his phone works perfectly. Our house has now been sold and it is t ime to join my husband in Malta. Last week I phoned Bell and negotiated how to end my Bell contract, haggled a bit over the charges, and finally settled on a f inal pay out of $460. I was advised that I needed to give 30 days notice before service is discontinued, so I did not end the contract at that time, as I need my phone longer than 30 days, and was advised that the settlement for ending the contract would be placed in my file with Bell, and to just phone up when 30 day s before I wished to terminate the service. They were very helpful. I then ask ed about unlocking my phone, and was told that Bell is not able to unlock iPhone s. I was tired, as I had been on the phone with Bell for a very long time, so I decided to end the call at that time and talk to my husband for some advice, an d also to do more research online. I was confident at the time that I could res olve the situation, and that it would simply take a little persistance. Today I called back, and went through several levels of customer service until I was able to speak with Rose, a senior customer service supervisor. Rose inform ed me that Bell absolutely can not unlock an iPhone. This is totally contrary t o what I was told upon signing my cell phone contract. My husband was able to g et his phone unlocked by Rodgers without any problems, and I was told that it wo uld be no problem for Bell to unlock my phone at the time that I signed my contr act. Now that I need my phone unlocked, I am being told something entirely diff erent by Bell. I have researched this problem online, and found several fourms discussing the issues that people have had getting their Bell phones unlocked. Most people have been told the same thing as me....that it can't be done. I wis h I had researched this before signing my Bell contract, as I never would have d one so if I had seen these post from unhappy and frustrated Bell customers. I d id, however, find several online postings from people who stated that although i t was a fight, they eventually got Bell to unlock their phones.

My phone currently is my lifeline, and the only means I have to communicate with my husband. The amount of information that I have stored in it is essential. All my Canadian and Maltese contacts are in my phone, my schedule, notes regardi ng this overseas move....everything is stored in this little peice of equipment. The thought of losing all this information at this stage of my overseas reloca tion is devistating. I simply do not have time to transpose all of this informa tion to another device. Please, I am begging you, unlock my phone! I know that it can be done, as I have resarched how apple devices work and what is involved in unlocking them. There is no reason that this can't be done. "So, how does one unlock the iPhone? Well, you pay the provider, they have a way to update Apple's IMEI database to note the phone is unlocked, and that's it. T here is no unlock code for the CSRs to give to the end user. It's all updated on Apple's servers." This is a quote from an article I found in an online technical magazine on how t o unlock an iPhone. It CAN be done with any other cell phone provider, so why is Bell different? No one seems to be able to answer this question. Rose, the senior supervisor at Bell customer support was trying to be helpful, a nd was very sympathetic to my case. She says the only thing that she can do is allow me to send back my iPhone, and let me out of my contract at no further cos t. While this is a generous offer, it still means that I will lose all the data in my phone, and I would rather not take that offer. I would rather that Bell keep it's word, and unlock my phone, as they said that I could when I bought it. I will be putting a link to this letter on my facebook and twitter accounts, and will be updating those accounts with whatever response I get from you. This is BAD customer service. Telling the customer whatever they want to hear so they sign a contract, and then going back on that word should not be a policy of any company. That is no way to do business. There is no reason that this phone can 't be unlocked, as it is just a matter of making the arrangements with Apple. T here is no ethical reason to tell customers that a phone can be unlocked, and th en when they want to unlock it, say that it can't be done. I would never have s igned up with Bell if I knew that this was the case. I would have bought an unl ocked phone outright from Apple. I didn't do that because I was in another city , that didn't have an apple store, and I needed a phone right away, and was told that unlocking the phone at a later date would be no problem. Now I am being t old otherwise, and I am both angry and dissappointed in a company that I have de alt with and supported for years. I have recommended Bell to my friends for the ir excellent coverage, and good customer service. You can be sure that if this problem is not resolved to my satisfaction I will use every social media means a t my disposal to let everyone know what customer service means to Bell, and how they outright lie to their customers. I expect to hear from someone at a very senior level in the Bell company very so on regarding this matter. I can be contacted by cell phone at 780-660-9764. Th is issue needs to be resolved by your company quickly. From a very frustrated customer, Michelle Jeffery