Bad, bad Bell: Canadian telco hammered with $10 million fine for lying to consumers

The Competition Bureau has officially kicked Bell's ass.

Forcing Canadian telecom titan Bell to dish out $10 million for "tricking" consumers, the Competition Bureau has made a bold statement with this aggressive move.

Bell misrepresented the prices of various services, such as wireless and internet, by adding hidden fees—rendering the advertised prices literally impossible to actually obtain.

Naturally, Bell says it disagrees with the Competition Bureau, although it has agreed to pay the sum in full, plus change its advertising, which is essentially admitting guilt. Nice try though. (But not really).

The Competition Bureau has been considering adopting Thor as their mascot.

Canada's telecom industry is notorious for this type of behaviour, so it's nice to see someone bring the hammer down. Last year, the Bureau took Rogers to court for the same $10-million sum—again over misleading advertising—but Rogers decided to battle the accusation. Nothing has been settled on that one and probably won't be for a while.

So thank you Bell for, unlike Rogers, at least accepting your douchebaggotry and coughing up the dough. But you're still an asshole. And so is Rogers.

Can't we all just play fair?