I had a fatal encounter with my phone company recently.

It involved a $140 “long distance” bill for some calls I’d made to France, to sort out an overpriced hotel fee.

But my phone calls cost way more than my hotel savings.

I was miffed because I’d spent four years paying for a monthly “international calling plan” I’d almost never used before.

But when I called my phone company, the agent explained my “international” plan was only good in a select six countries: Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, the U.K., Mexico and India.

Why not Kyrgyzstan, Somalia and the Kingdom of Bhutan?

Annoyed, I asked the agent to reduce the charge as I felt misled by the word “international.” I said I’d been with their company for almost 25 years but would quit if they didn’t offer at least some rebate.

I spent the next 90 minutes on hold while the agent spoke to various “supervisors,” occasionally returning to say he was “working on it.”

I told him I had now used my waiting time to study other phone plans online and would switch to Vidéotron if my request was refused.

I added that once I quit, their new or “retained” customer service department would probably call me back in days with some great bargain offer.

But once I........

© Montreal Gazette