We moved to another apartment on August 1, 2011. Before moving I ordered a transfer of our telephone line (with Bell whose telephone service we use) and of our Internet connection with Teksavvy (whose Internet service we used).
On August 2, our phone line was connected. Teksavvy had promised to connect us to Internet on August 2, 2011. So, on August 2, I plugged in a modem to see no DSL signal. I called Teksavvy, and they told that the re-connection (transfer) would be completed by midnight and we would see the signal. On August 3, there was still no signal. Teksavvy told that probably, we had some problem in the wiring or in the modem, so we needed a technician from Bell to check the lines. And it would cost 87 dollars plus tax. I checked the modem and the wiring in the apartment, they functioned properly. And I used the first jack in the apartment, just near the entrance. I repeated a number of times that we had just moved in as tenants and had had no signal since our moving in, and requested them to check the lines on their end in order to complete the transfer. They told me that without my consent to pay they were not able to send a technician. I could not agree to pay extra charges just for having the work performed properly. I told Teksavvy that I would rather change the provider than pay for services that had not been necessitated by my fault. They had promised to transfer my line for a specific amount of money and I had agreed, so why should I pay for additional services I had not been warned of? It was their responsibility to check the lines and to ensure their functioning to be able to transfer their service to my new location.
On August 4, 2011, I called them again with a request to refund what I had overpaid them. The representative could not tell me anything that made sense. I requested a talk with a manager, and he called about 6 P.M. He refused to refund me my money as he considered that he had provided a proper service and it was me who had canceled the contract upon a whim. When I told him that I still had no signal, he said: “You won’t be able to prove this”. In other words, he admitted indirectly that he was aware that I had no signal.
On August 5, 2011, I sent a fax to Teksavvy whereby I canceled my contract with them and requested them to refund me a sum of about 16 dollars for two weeks of unused service. They did not respond, however, they closed my webmail account, i.e. canceled the contract.
On several occasions during these days I called Bell to ask if my line had been transferred properly with all the features necessary for DSL internet access and if it qualified to receive DSL signals. Bell answered that the line qualified and was fine and everything had been transferred properly. And every time they heard that we have Internet from a provider different than Bell they just referred us to the provider claiming they were not responsible for the line.
Searching the Web for other providers (from another location) I came across a page on Bell’s site announcing that Bell gave a 30 day warranty on all labor and materials. It was hidden somewhere deep behind an umpteenth level link while it should flash red on the home page. I called Bell and requested a warranty line checkup. On August 26, 2011 the line was checked and repaired for free, and my modem at last detected a DSL signal. The technician even didn’t come inside. When he called me after this I asked what he had done. He told that he had replaced some broken part.
Then I called Teksavvy to ask them to refund what I had paid for these 15 days. They (a simple representative, then a manager) repeated during 3 hours that it had been my fault that the contract failed as it had been me who did not let a technician check the line, that they had done everything they could to provide the service and I had undermined it. I was telling them they should have known about the Bell warranty and at least informed me of it or better request this warranty on my behalf, and instead they were selling me unnecessary services.
They were telling they were not able to negotiate with Bell concerning the condition of the lines and they did not know (how is it possible when they are leasing Bell’s lines and depend on Bell for everything) Bell had any warranty.
They were also telling that they had made it clear that if there were no problem inside my apartment I would not have to pay. But what does it matter, outside or inside; the phone company gives warranty for every labor, and we have a right for this warranty as we have just moved and ordered a new service.
The conversation ended when I told them I would complain to the relevant authorities and tell on every internet forum about their scam. The manager did not reply to this leaving me to listen to call center noises for a couple of minutes, then to music, and then he disconnected.
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