Bell Mobility taking money from dead dad's bank account, daughter frustrated

Her father died four months ago, but a Mount Pearl woman says she's been unable to get Bell Mobility to cancel his cell phone account.

Bell Mobility has charged Edward Lupien several times in the last few months, despite his death on Nov. 25, 2016, according to his daughter.

Jill Druken said she's spent hours trying to cancel her father's account, but it keeps getting billed.

"The little bit of money that's been put aside to put a tombstone on [the] grave … Bell is helping themselves to that money and it's not theirs to take," Druken told CBC Radio's On the Go on Wednesday. "I'm just not willing to let this go."

Druken said she's the executor of her father's estate and has power of attorney, but said that has not been enough for Bell Mobility.

She asked for the account to be cancelled on Nov. 28, just days after her 74-year-old father died. She got a confirmation number but the invoices kept coming — the latest arrived on Monday.

"I've been receiving bills from Bell, and they've been continuing to help themselves to his bank account," she said on Wednesday. 

There's no sympathy and there's no humanity in these corporations.- Jill Druken

She said she has received two extra bills since her father died. In February, she received an invoice with a credit for overbilling, but in March — after she called and asked for a cheque instead of a Bell Mobility credit — it was taken away.

Druken has twice provided death certificates to the company and is frustrated with what she called the run-around from the customer service department.

"It's just ridiculous, the going around in circles with the customer service is deplorable to be honest with you," she said.

She recently received another assurance the problem would be fixed, but said she's not going to trust the company until everything is finally made right.

Who else?

Since writing Facebook posts complaining about the issues, Druken said she's heard from plenty of others with similar problems.

"It's not just me that goes through this, people deal with this on a daily basis, having to fight with these big companies," she said.

"How much money do they take, and what's the profit line that they have by people ignoring it and letting things go away, or people getting exhausted and not having the energy to fight back?" 

Druken's mother also died in 2016, shortly before her father passed away. She said it was a lot for her family to go through, and they did not need this added stress.

"I'm tired of fighting with people when you're going through the grieving process. There's no sympathy and there's no humanity in these corporations, in these services."

Bell Mobility has been asked for comment.