I have two phone company reviewing biases – I worked at MTS in Customer Care (who are excellent!) for four years, and I worked at Sympatico waaaay way back in college, so when I say that Bell sucks, I really need to stress that I gave them way more than their share of chances and really tried to co-operate, and they really went the extra mile to screw up. I’ll cut the litany of complaints since that’s not really what I -do- on my blog, but if you’re hardcore interested in my frustrations (or work at a phone company) you might pick up a few tidbits “after the jump”.
In the first two minutes at the Bell World Store, the deal was already going south. They couldn’t find my address (despite trying about 20 times) because Winnipeg, Ontario doesn’t seem to exist. They misspelled my name two different ways (Corbil on my internet, Cobille on my phone, neither of which are fixed despite a call to the support line) and Natasha can make changes to my internet if she claims she’s “Hatasha Corbil”, but can’t make changes to our phone settings since they forgot to add her and haven’t added her since I called the help desk.
The phone service took 8 days to activate, despite a promise of two, and when it was finally set up, it took 3 more days to have a service tech come into the building to actually plug in the wire that gives me a dial tone. When I went to the store to ask the sales folks if they could check up on my account, they refused and told me to wait five more days – because my phone should magically start working. When I finally pressed the customer support agent on the phone to do a repair call, he tried to sell me insurance to hedge my bets – because if it was -my- fault that I had no ringtone, they threatened, I’d have to pay the full cost of the visit. That’s among the worst customer service upsell policies I’ve ever run across.
My DSL (promised 4 days after my initial visit to the store) took 18 days, thanks to a problem with the order system, and a mishap in the central office which still hasn’t been corrected. Now that I’m finally connected, I’m running at half speed, but paying for full. The online system for reporting an issue (which it was suggested I use) only works if you have an active account – a catch 22 if your account hasn’t been set up yet.
The customer service people I talked to were rude and impatient, rarely explaining to me what it was they were doing while they put me on hold and transferred me around the building. The lady in billing I talked to wanted desperately to get me off the line, suggesting I call back if I had any other tasks I’d like done.
At no point was anyone at Bell proactive enough to tell me that they’d discovered a problem with my wiring. There were no test calls, nobody had the foresight to call when they discovered that paperwork in the central office had been filled out incorrectly. Once my line -was- connected, nobody called to tell me it was up, I just happened to be trying to log in every 6 hours. Nobody called to tell me that they couldn’t get into my building wiring box. Nobody (for all I know) even tried.
Once I get the speed and identity issues resolved, keeping me connected shouldn’t be rocket science – I hope I have 20 years of smooth sailing ahead of me. But I’m so completely unimpressed by Bell’s service that I will DEFINITELY not be getting cell service from them and I’d chase them out with a baseball bat before letting them near my TV.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Charles Gaulke // Oct 10, 2008 at 10:43 am
They aren’t much better at keeping you connected, in my experience – I just wanted to change the name on the bill. I spent a good half hour on the phone with them explaining that I didn’t want a new phone number, and then they changed my phone number, disconnected my ADSL (but didn’t stop charging), screwed up their records so that they couldn’t figure out what my new number was and I had to do it myself, and had the temerity to charge me fees when they fixed their mistake. Of course, prior to that we’d had plenty of dropped calls and phantom rings, and terrible static on the line.
Is there any other company offering phone service in Ottawa? I switched to Videotron here in Montreal and it’s been much better; I think Bell might cost less now, but I wouldn’t go back to them for anything.
2 dan // Oct 30, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Bell tv has the worst customer service ive ever had to deal with, payments dont get credited, and in b.c. there is no one to take calls in the evening. going back to shaw .
3 NORM // Dec 26, 2008 at 9:09 am
Yes …… BELL SUCKS BiGGieS !
They are eager to grab your Money, then screw with you in so many ways. They want you to have you Long Distance charges with them, yet as soon as you make ONE call, they charge you like 10 times more than most other places, then to thief more, they tap on a Network fee for another $4, then on occasion, they slap on another hidden “Adjustment Fee”…. they for for totally no reason, except to see if you really look at your phone bills, if you don`t or you don`t notice it = More $$$$ for them !
Their Internet fees are all the same.
They Advertise that you will connect at a certain speed, but in the fine print, you will see a little line that says.. “Up To”.
So once you are connected with them, you just got screwed again.
Now they have another rip off, where they change you by usage. This is also another of their BS con games because when I signed up, I did so for UnLimited Service, but somewhere in their fine print, they had a line there that allowed them to change that at any time ! Now if you email often, or often play games online, they will charge you DOUBLE your monthly charge !
My internet was $26 per month, but my last bill, they charged that, plus another $28 in usage Fees.. Like W.T.F. ???
My account used to have the same charges each month, It`s now been the 4th month where my Bill Never has the same amount on it
They constantly give you the con game with every service, and to be Crooked like they are is Legal because they had that magic line
in fine print somewhere on page 32 or so, that said …..”Screw Balls Are US”
Calling for Service ?…. Forget it !
All calls are re-routed OUT of the country, to either Malaysia or India, where they don`t even have an idea of where Vancouver is & where you often can`t even understand what they are saying, much less resolve any problems because BELL taught them how to give you the Brush Job !
I recently called to settle an over charge,
I spent like 1 hour trying to get this done.
I was put on hold, then they cut me of twice so I had to start all over again. They then play the Pass The Buck job, transferring you from 1 agent to another. Once I thought that I finally had it all settled, with the over charge taken off, the next bill has the same Rip Off Charges and Nothing changed.
I called again, This time the agent sent me an email to agree to this new price. That was where I noticed another Con Job !
I had to Click & Agree to this, then return that email to Bell, But, Below in that email was where I noticed a clause that said…
“By Clicking here, you agree to all terms, so should you disconnect your Services with Bell in the next 2 years, you will have to pay a Penalty fee = $120 ”
I Don`t Think so Screw Balls !
BELL is constantly tried to screw Customers,
it`s no wonder why that they are losing so many of them. Until they change their scams, they will continue to do so, Me included !
If they try to Charge you for B.S. charges,
Do Not Pay !…… I certainly won`t !
4 midnorthguy // Apr 8, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Cry me a river….all you cry babies complaining about how you got screwed by Bell. These forums do nothing except let people exaggerate about there problems. Tell me something that we don’t already know. Yes Bell has its problems…just like all the other big companies including Rogers. Come on people….if it’s that bad at Bell then switch!!! There are so many other companies out there now, it is your choice. Instead of spending all your time complaining do so research and make the switch.
5 Noah // Sep 17, 2009 at 4:46 pm
If you are called by Bell`s sales Department trying to sell you a better internet deal,
Never agree to it unless they can send it to you in writing….. It`s a Scam !!!!!!!!!
I`ve been fighting with these Bastards for over a year now, Calls are always re-routed to countries where people have no fucken clue where Canada even is, much less about anything else you are asking them. Bell`s game is that most people will get tired of waiting & being given the run around and passed from 1 agent to another, so they end up paying the Inflated bills.
Every time you take a service from Bell, they will tell you ………this is a Contract.
But along the way they will scam you by Adding hidden or inflated fees to your bill, that is Ok to them when the higher fees are in their favour. I was sold a service at a set price, but never had 2 bills come in with the same amounts on them. U can spend Hours trying to rectify the problems, but the idiots pretend they have no clue about what you are saying, even if you called them the month before, they lost all records of it.
Bell are among the worse fucken crooks there is out there, BEWARE !
Keep all your pass statements, cuz if you don`t they will rip you off even more.
6 HMBC // Nov 22, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Bell TV Sucks. Bell a fake company.
I was lured to join bell TV ( I had Shaw earlier). Looks like it was the most stupid thing I have done.
1. Nobody in Bell knows what is actually in their package. Many hidden things are there, when you join they pop up. E.g. The bell shop in Burnaby Metrotown said with HD essential package for $59, you will get 6 Digital theme packs plus 4 HD theme packs. When I joined they start charging $26 for 6 Digital theme packs and $10 for 4 HD theme packs. When I called their customer service they agreed to it and promise to correct it but was never done. Next time when I called it was still the same charges. Same story goes on and on every time you call.
2. When I joined the bell I choose to buy the HD receiver from “Source at circuit city” and I told Bell this. They asked me to give credit card no. (I thought bell was a reputable co. so I gave them the no.) They immediately deducted $112 as price of receiver. Also they start deducting rental fee of $10. I phone them to rectify this as I bought the receiver they asked me to send the purchase receipt by fax which I did. After one month when I called them they said we received your fax ‘today’. After two months has passed still they cannot understand or decide if to refund $112 and stop the rental fee. What a malicious company.
3. This is the summary of several conversations with them, its mental torture. Customer service at Bell is not for helping customers but to grab your money. Customer service never connect or let you talk to their supervisor.
4. Don’t believe on Bell’s promotions it’s all fake and something hidden inside. Don’t waste your time and money.
7 Honey S // Nov 27, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Wow….i feel bad for all of u…
but as with marketing tacts, u shouldnt be blind to red signs…:)
and best advise, dont fight with reps over the phone…they make the deal or break it…:D
8 Richard Z // Feb 2, 2010 at 11:25 pm
i have had many years of ongoing problems with bell on my business line as well a residential. i have had no or very little help but more than1000 promises that my line will be repaired but it never happens or it seems only for a day or so. now along with noise on the both lines im getting charged for and internet service i have never singed up for. lately every time i have call to get repair or to find out about additional charges to my account i get the reply they are unable to access my account. this is an ongoing issue for more than 12 years. i receive calls from customer satisfaction asking how or if i am satisfied with the service. i explain that the problem is ongoing but nothing ever gets done.
9 HMBC // Feb 23, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Noah 100% agree with you. More to add I was given $10 monthly credit for 1 year and received for few months. Today I received the new bill and $10 credit is gone. When I called the service people I could not solve the problem bec. rep don’t know what is my billing cycle. In the end he hang up. Very poor service. I think I have to go to TELUS TV.
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