Bell hounded new mom for debt she didn't owe, until she put them on blast
A new mom in Vancouver is frustrated with Bell ā and not because her phone bill is too high.
Erica Phillips is a mural painter and graphic designer who claims that Bell and the collections agencies it uses hounded her for debt that she doesn’t owe.
Phillips filed a police report after she learned from both Bell and Rogers that a driver’s licence was used to open accounts at both communications companies ā but she’s not a customer of either.
“My wallet was stolen years prior, so it was a big surprise to hear this happened,” she told Daily Hive. On the advice of the RCMP, she shared the police report number with Bell, reported the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and reported to Equifax and Transunion.
Rogers quickly cleared up the issue. But according to Phillips, Bell doubled down and was harassing her for debt.
Phillips shared her story in a now-viral TikTok:
@ericaphil Shot on iPhone (8!! On Telus!!) @Bell Mobility #advice #bellmobility #bell #fraud #help #canadianoligarch
Since sharing her story publicly on TikTok and with local media, Phillips said that the issue with Bell has been resolved and that they’ve opened a new investigation into the issue, but the experience has been surreal for her.
“The invasion of privacy that comes with identity theft feels awful, and then not being believed when I tried to fix the situation only adds to it,” Phillips told Daily Hive.
She felt like she had no other choice than to share her story.
“I went through the correct channels that were advised to me and it didn’t fix the situation. It felt like a waste to spend my money trying to prove that I didn’t owe anything to them,” she said.
“My life is busy, I’m a new mom, and I knew I had to take a step further when the new collections agency contacted me in October of 2021.”
Since she started sharing her story, the response has been “wild.”
@ericaphil An update. See ya never @Bell Canada. āš¼ Thank you @Elana Shepert from @Vancouver Is Awesome for first reporting my story.
“I’m grateful for the support by people engaging with my video,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking to read the comments from people who are in similar situations.”
Daily Hive has reached out to Bell for a response and will update this story.
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