Bell Dinged $10 Million For Misleading Ads

There's just a hint of sweet, sweet irony that Bell ends up paying millions for tricking its customers over hidden fees.

Bell Canada was fined $10 million for airing ads with misleading prices for wireless, internet, and television plans. The Competition Bureau found that the prices advertised in commercials that aired in December 2007 were impossible for consumers to get once fees hidden in the fine print were added in. While Bell disagrees with the ruling, the telecom giant said it would pay the sizeable fee, plus the cost of the investigation into Bell's advertising practices. Competition Commissioner Melanie Aitken said that Bell is far from being alone in the practice of hiding costs in barely readable fine print at the end of television or print ads. Indeed, the bureau is investigating Rogers over ads the company aired that could have misrepresented its rivals.