Hi Everyone, I am new to this blogging thing but thought I would give it a try and see if anyone else out there has had their life affected by the negligence of a big corporation (like Rogers Communications). I am going to share my story with you. Please understand that I am extremely ashamed of some choices I have made in my life. I am open to hearing all comments (even negative ones). I understand that some of you will feel that some of my choices were wrong but I feel these big corporation MUST be held accountable for their lax privacy policies.
MY STORY…….
In 2006 I went to a rogers wireless store and purchased a cell phone and a 3 year contract with them. I signed this contract under my maiden name (Ms. X). Approximately a year later, I made one of the worst decisions of my life. I started a short lived affair while married. A few weeks later I realized what a HUGE mistake this was and that I wanted to make my marriage work.
Around the same time (June, 2007), my husband contacted Rogers Communication to add high speed internet to his existing cable bill. The cable was account was solely in his name (Mr. Y). Here is where ROGERS RUINED MY LIFE…….
Even though my cell phone contract was in my maiden name (Ms. X) and a completely separate account from my husband’s cable account. They decided to take it upon themselves to “bundle” and consolidate my wireless account with my husbands cable and internet accounts. I did not ask for this nor did my husband. Not only did they bundle the accounts but they also made my husband the account holder of my wireless account (WITHOUT MY CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE) Keep in mind that my wireless account was under my maiden name so rogers would have no way of knowing we were married. Needless to say the next month my husband received the new invoice and was surprised to see a wireless bill (now in his name). Seeing as he did not open a rogers wireless account and did not ask to have mine transferred to his name he was curious about the bill.
He noticed a particular number that had been called numerous times and held lengthy conversations (an hour or longer) This number belonged to the man I was having the affair with. As I mentioned above, I had already ended the affair. This man was not happy with my decision so when my husband called him he disclosed all the details of our affair.
My husband was understandably upset and left me and my 2 children. At this point in time I had no idea he had any knowledge of the affair. He just left.I was devastated. I could not preform at work. I would just ball my eyes out at work and it got to the point where my employer became aware of my marital situation and had to let me go. My job required a lot of interaction with clients and I was too emotionally distraught to preform my duties effectively. I was making 100K a year at this job. It was a huge blow. First I lost my husband, now I was a single mom with no source of income.
I finally found out what happened with my accounts when in August 2007, my cell phone was disconnected. I had no idea at the time why it was disconnected until I called rogers. They advised me that it had been disconnected for non-payment. I had not received a bill from them in months (it was now going to my husband). Not only had they now been sending it to my husband but they had completely removed me from my own account. I could not get information regarding the balance owed and they said it was my husbands account and they would have to speak to my husband.
That day the ADMITTED they had consolidated our accounts in error and opened a separate new account number for me. This is when it all made sense to me. My husband then admitted that this billing error was the reason he knew of the affair.
To all of you out there that don’t agree with the decisions I made in my life I say…I agree. I admit to the fact that I made the biggest mistake of my life. I hurt my husband and children and they did not deserve that from me. I have learned from this experience and now appreciate my family and what they bring to my life.
The point of this blog is to see if there is anyone else out there who has had their privacy breached by a huge corporation. My point is that THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU. Maybe you wont be having an affair but maybe rogers will decide to consolidate your account with your neighbor’s and you will be held liable for their charges or maybe they will become account holders of your account and not pay the bill. You could end up in collections and have your credit rating ruined. Think about it. Your giving you personal information to these big corporation and then just ASSUME that they will protect it. They need to be held accountable!!!!! Please leave your comments (negative or positive).
I have filed a lawsuit against Rogers. (see links below)
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/810236–toronto-woman-sues-rogers-after-her-affair-is-exposed
Please contact me at gabrielanagy15@yahoo.ca
