Life has been pretty peaceful over the last seven years or so since I cut off my Sympatico account. The only service we have with Bell is basic telephone and that's my Mom's account so I have had little to do with it. To be honest, if all the other telephone companies weren't digital we'd probably not have that either. It's been a long road of issues with this company. Yesterday was no exception!
If I had to sum up my experience with this company in one word it would be, "FRUSTRATING". To help you understand how very frustrating my time spent with them yesterday was I need to let you in on some of my past experiences. Fun times!
It all started back when I was 16 and I got my very own phone line for my birthday. I was so excited! Ah, how young and naïve I was. I got the line installed because I wanted to run my own BBS. At the time there were a lot of new "features" you could get with phones like voice mail & call waiting (yes, today it's the norm but back then it was all brand new and exciting). I was a teenager so I figured call waiting was a must (who wants to miss a call at that age?) and so added the call waiting to my line and I also rented a phone through Bell. This may seem silly now but at the time they had really nice phones that were too expensive to buy, hence a rental. It wasn't long before I realized that the call waiting feature didn't work too well with a modem. If you forgot to add the special code to cut it off into your terminal program before dialling and a call came through it would disconnect you from your online experience. It was quite annoying, and obviously running my own BBS I didn't want people to be randomly cut off because I had a call coming in (albeit I'm sure it would be for an important party invitation or the like). So a few months later I went back to the Bell store and asked them to disconnect the call waiting from my line. I also returned the phone rental at the same time. I filled out all the paperwork and was on my way. However, days later I realized that the call waiting had not been taken off. I got my next bill and sure enough I was charged for both the call waiting and the phone rental. I then decided to make a call to Bell to rectify the situation. After about half an hour they finally found the return paperwork in their system and said they would credit me for the error and take the charges off the bill. Days later I noticed the call waiting was still connected to the line. I called again and after another half hour was assured that all was disconnected from my line and no new charges would appear. But, but, but ... THE CALL WAITING WAS STILL THERE! I received my next bill and sure enough they weren't charging me for it any longer, but they obviously forgot to physically disconnect it from my line. Sigh!
When it was time to get my very first cell phone I chose Bell (silly me)! To be honest I had very few problems with my cell service until the end. The only complaint was the 8:00 AM phone calls on my cell on a Saturday morning from a Bell representative trying to sell me more services. Like really? I want to sleep in on a Saturday not buy some stupid phone add-on. I'd say exactly that too in my grumpy morning voice but they still seemed to call back. Anyway, after my contract was over with Bell I took over another contract with a different carrier for a family member. It was going to cost $600.00 to break their current contract and that didn't seem right to me. I called Bell to cancel the cell service and OMG .... WORST EXIT INTERVIEW EVER! It started off calmly. I explained to them my situation and how I needed to help out a family member. I told them it had nothing to do with their service and I wasn't leaving as a dissatisfied customer. They just didn't get it. It's like no actual humans work for this company! They just push and push and push and try to keep your business by offering you useless things that you don't need or want and no matter how many times you explain that you just can't stay, it doesn't get through to their robot, freak minds. It took an hour and a half on the phone to finally make them realize that I wasn't going to budge which only happened after I started to become irate. They explained to me that I needed to give them 30 days notice to disconnect the line (something I wasn't aware of because like most people I don't read the fine print) and I accepted that with no issues! One more phone bill to pay and I'd be free! I turned off the cell and put it away, and started using the new cell service I took over. A month passed, and I got what I thought was the last Bell bill. I paid it. Another month passed, and I got another bill. Hmmm? That's strange! I turned on the Bell phone. Funny, it's still working! Another call to Bell. Another hour explaining it to them while they looked for whatever notes in their system confirmed I had called two months prior (what the hell is wrong with their system anyway?). Oops! Their bad!! They were sorry! They will disconnect the phone and credit me for the charges. GREAT!! Another month goes by and I get what should be my final bill from them showing $0.00, but nope!! It showed -$12.00 credit. Somehow their messed up system figured out that they owed me. Sigh!
Now onto my Sympatico DSL service and the interaction with Bell that still makes me see red to this very day. I was one of the first people to sign up for DSL service when it came to our area. Super sonic internet speed was an exciting thing back then! I happily used their DSL service for 12 years before the unthinkable happened (damn, I should have known better -- so naive I am)! Ring, ring went my phone and on the other end was a seemingly helpful Bell representative that wanted to save me money for being such a loyal and long-time customer! This time the call came through in the evening so I wasn't already put off by the fact that they woke me from my sleep. Apparently if I bundled my DSL service with my phone service onto one bill I could save $10.00 a month. Yes, it sounded too good to be true, and trust me I am not stupid. I specifically asked, "So are you telling me that my services will remain EXACTLY the same and there will be absolutely NO changes made except the fact that I will receive one bill and a reduction of $10.00?" "Yes, of course!" said the lying shithole from Bell (see -- told you! still seeing red). Needless to say when the next bill arrived there was surely a reduction of $10.00 for the "bundle savings" but also an additional $20.00 for overusage of bandwith. My previous service was unlimited and of course, their new service wasn't. Calling them to get my old service back was fruitless. There was nothing they could do! Needless to say it didn't take an hour and a half this time to disconnect my DSL service as it had my cell service. The conversation did not start off calmly. I believe it started with several "FU's" if I'm not mistaken.
And then commenced my seven years of peaceful bliss and no dealings with Bell whatsoever.
Well, until last month when my Mom brought me her bill and told me to call because she was upset they were charging her $13.95 for a long distance plan. Now, I know she added that long distance plan many years ago. She forgot! But I was happy to assist her by calling and asking them to remove it (was being the operative word). The first call - not so bad. Yes, it took a lot longer than normal and OF COURSE time was spent trying to sell me their new FIBE services, but the lady was nice and at the end of the call gave me a confirmation number (gee, this is new!) and assured me it was now taken off the bill. In true Bell fashion the next bill came in and the service was still on there with the charge of $13.95. So I called back! I must admit the first guy seemed brilliant in keeping me from uttering my "FU's", but not so bright when it came to helping me. He couldn't find the confirmation in their system that I had called the month before (OK apparently new but not working). He basically admitted to me that Bell has some issues, but said he couldn't do anything about it. Apparently it takes 1-2 business cycles for something to be taken off a person's bill. Umm, ok? WTF? When I explained to him that this wasn't acceptable and that I wasn't going to pay the $13.95 charged he said, "OK then don't pay it?" Again, WTF? So I said, "Are you going to assure me that when I don't pay the $13.95 that my account isn't going to go into your collections department? I want to make sure I have the credit put on my account". "Hold please," he said. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. He came back on the line about five minutes later and told me he was going to transfer me to someone who could help me with the credit. Unfortunately, he transferred me to some lady in their "new additions" department who couldn't help me after I had to explain my issues all over again, and I was transferred a second time to explain my issue for the third time to the next lady I got. She then put me on hold to look in her system and shock of all shocks, couldn't really find any information. After the five minutes on hold she came back and told me she was going to put through the credit on my account and take the long distance plan off the account, but it unfortunately didn't stop there. Honestly, I wish it would have. I could have been proud of myself getting through another Bell call without an "FU". No, the poor lady had to do the typical Bell crap. Let's try and sell new services to an already pissed off customer (really, what corporate brainiac thought of this strategy?). After ranting and explaining exactly why I would never give my business back to Bell she continued, "Oh, well you'll be asked to do a survey regarding this phone call!" Same corporate brainiac I'm sure. Sigh!
On the bright side I think Bell has finally convinced me that I need to start taking yoga ... I heard it's good at relieving anxiety.
:)
If I had to sum up my experience with this company in one word it would be, "FRUSTRATING". To help you understand how very frustrating my time spent with them yesterday was I need to let you in on some of my past experiences. Fun times!
It all started back when I was 16 and I got my very own phone line for my birthday. I was so excited! Ah, how young and naïve I was. I got the line installed because I wanted to run my own BBS. At the time there were a lot of new "features" you could get with phones like voice mail & call waiting (yes, today it's the norm but back then it was all brand new and exciting). I was a teenager so I figured call waiting was a must (who wants to miss a call at that age?) and so added the call waiting to my line and I also rented a phone through Bell. This may seem silly now but at the time they had really nice phones that were too expensive to buy, hence a rental. It wasn't long before I realized that the call waiting feature didn't work too well with a modem. If you forgot to add the special code to cut it off into your terminal program before dialling and a call came through it would disconnect you from your online experience. It was quite annoying, and obviously running my own BBS I didn't want people to be randomly cut off because I had a call coming in (albeit I'm sure it would be for an important party invitation or the like). So a few months later I went back to the Bell store and asked them to disconnect the call waiting from my line. I also returned the phone rental at the same time. I filled out all the paperwork and was on my way. However, days later I realized that the call waiting had not been taken off. I got my next bill and sure enough I was charged for both the call waiting and the phone rental. I then decided to make a call to Bell to rectify the situation. After about half an hour they finally found the return paperwork in their system and said they would credit me for the error and take the charges off the bill. Days later I noticed the call waiting was still connected to the line. I called again and after another half hour was assured that all was disconnected from my line and no new charges would appear. But, but, but ... THE CALL WAITING WAS STILL THERE! I received my next bill and sure enough they weren't charging me for it any longer, but they obviously forgot to physically disconnect it from my line. Sigh!
When it was time to get my very first cell phone I chose Bell (silly me)! To be honest I had very few problems with my cell service until the end. The only complaint was the 8:00 AM phone calls on my cell on a Saturday morning from a Bell representative trying to sell me more services. Like really? I want to sleep in on a Saturday not buy some stupid phone add-on. I'd say exactly that too in my grumpy morning voice but they still seemed to call back. Anyway, after my contract was over with Bell I took over another contract with a different carrier for a family member. It was going to cost $600.00 to break their current contract and that didn't seem right to me. I called Bell to cancel the cell service and OMG .... WORST EXIT INTERVIEW EVER! It started off calmly. I explained to them my situation and how I needed to help out a family member. I told them it had nothing to do with their service and I wasn't leaving as a dissatisfied customer. They just didn't get it. It's like no actual humans work for this company! They just push and push and push and try to keep your business by offering you useless things that you don't need or want and no matter how many times you explain that you just can't stay, it doesn't get through to their robot, freak minds. It took an hour and a half on the phone to finally make them realize that I wasn't going to budge which only happened after I started to become irate. They explained to me that I needed to give them 30 days notice to disconnect the line (something I wasn't aware of because like most people I don't read the fine print) and I accepted that with no issues! One more phone bill to pay and I'd be free! I turned off the cell and put it away, and started using the new cell service I took over. A month passed, and I got what I thought was the last Bell bill. I paid it. Another month passed, and I got another bill. Hmmm? That's strange! I turned on the Bell phone. Funny, it's still working! Another call to Bell. Another hour explaining it to them while they looked for whatever notes in their system confirmed I had called two months prior (what the hell is wrong with their system anyway?). Oops! Their bad!! They were sorry! They will disconnect the phone and credit me for the charges. GREAT!! Another month goes by and I get what should be my final bill from them showing $0.00, but nope!! It showed -$12.00 credit. Somehow their messed up system figured out that they owed me. Sigh!
Now onto my Sympatico DSL service and the interaction with Bell that still makes me see red to this very day. I was one of the first people to sign up for DSL service when it came to our area. Super sonic internet speed was an exciting thing back then! I happily used their DSL service for 12 years before the unthinkable happened (damn, I should have known better -- so naive I am)! Ring, ring went my phone and on the other end was a seemingly helpful Bell representative that wanted to save me money for being such a loyal and long-time customer! This time the call came through in the evening so I wasn't already put off by the fact that they woke me from my sleep. Apparently if I bundled my DSL service with my phone service onto one bill I could save $10.00 a month. Yes, it sounded too good to be true, and trust me I am not stupid. I specifically asked, "So are you telling me that my services will remain EXACTLY the same and there will be absolutely NO changes made except the fact that I will receive one bill and a reduction of $10.00?" "Yes, of course!" said the lying shithole from Bell (see -- told you! still seeing red). Needless to say when the next bill arrived there was surely a reduction of $10.00 for the "bundle savings" but also an additional $20.00 for overusage of bandwith. My previous service was unlimited and of course, their new service wasn't. Calling them to get my old service back was fruitless. There was nothing they could do! Needless to say it didn't take an hour and a half this time to disconnect my DSL service as it had my cell service. The conversation did not start off calmly. I believe it started with several "FU's" if I'm not mistaken.
And then commenced my seven years of peaceful bliss and no dealings with Bell whatsoever.
Well, until last month when my Mom brought me her bill and told me to call because she was upset they were charging her $13.95 for a long distance plan. Now, I know she added that long distance plan many years ago. She forgot! But I was happy to assist her by calling and asking them to remove it (was being the operative word). The first call - not so bad. Yes, it took a lot longer than normal and OF COURSE time was spent trying to sell me their new FIBE services, but the lady was nice and at the end of the call gave me a confirmation number (gee, this is new!) and assured me it was now taken off the bill. In true Bell fashion the next bill came in and the service was still on there with the charge of $13.95. So I called back! I must admit the first guy seemed brilliant in keeping me from uttering my "FU's", but not so bright when it came to helping me. He couldn't find the confirmation in their system that I had called the month before (OK apparently new but not working). He basically admitted to me that Bell has some issues, but said he couldn't do anything about it. Apparently it takes 1-2 business cycles for something to be taken off a person's bill. Umm, ok? WTF? When I explained to him that this wasn't acceptable and that I wasn't going to pay the $13.95 charged he said, "OK then don't pay it?" Again, WTF? So I said, "Are you going to assure me that when I don't pay the $13.95 that my account isn't going to go into your collections department? I want to make sure I have the credit put on my account". "Hold please," he said. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. He came back on the line about five minutes later and told me he was going to transfer me to someone who could help me with the credit. Unfortunately, he transferred me to some lady in their "new additions" department who couldn't help me after I had to explain my issues all over again, and I was transferred a second time to explain my issue for the third time to the next lady I got. She then put me on hold to look in her system and shock of all shocks, couldn't really find any information. After the five minutes on hold she came back and told me she was going to put through the credit on my account and take the long distance plan off the account, but it unfortunately didn't stop there. Honestly, I wish it would have. I could have been proud of myself getting through another Bell call without an "FU". No, the poor lady had to do the typical Bell crap. Let's try and sell new services to an already pissed off customer (really, what corporate brainiac thought of this strategy?). After ranting and explaining exactly why I would never give my business back to Bell she continued, "Oh, well you'll be asked to do a survey regarding this phone call!" Same corporate brainiac I'm sure. Sigh!
On the bright side I think Bell has finally convinced me that I need to start taking yoga ... I heard it's good at relieving anxiety.
:)