I have been a customer of Primus for several years now. In mid-December of 2007 I contacted customer support to find out if they would still be able to provide me long distance service if I switched from Bell to Persona Cable telephone. They instructed me to contact Persona and find out what carrier they were using. After doing so and finding out that Persona uses Allstream, I called back Primus customer service and gave them the requested information. At this time I was informed that they would be able to continue providing me with the same service with no problem. I have received my monthly bills from Primus and continued to pay them in good faith since that time.
Last month I noticed some irregularities in my bank account and after looking into it, found that Persona Cable had been charging me long distance through my preauthorized payment plan. They had charged over $346.00 above the agreed monthly price. When I contacted them and explained that I pay for all of my long distance through Primus, I was informed that Primus had never taken over as my long distance carrier. I then contacted Primus customer support and was put on hold for over 1 hour as thy tried to sort it out. I was told that since I had continued to pay my bill to them each month that I had no recourse except to cancel my non-service now and get a refund of $23.12 which represents 1 month of the service that they had not been providing. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was then passed on to Primus support in India where I spoke to their managers several times with the same response. I was told that I should have contacted them as soon as they stopped providing service. I tried to explain that I had no idea that they had stopped providing service and that I wanted a complete refund from Dec 2007 to now.
They have told me that I was negligent for not keeping a closer eye on how my services were being provided and again have told me that Primus policy only allows them to refund a maximum of $23.12 and if I want any more than that, I will have to take them to small claims court. They provided me with 3 Fax numbers to their legal department in Canada which I have used to send a request for information so that I am able to fill out the small claims court form 7A. I later however, received a call on my cellphone from a very rude, and incredibly hard to understand manager from India who I asked to call me on my land line because I do not have a long distance plan on my cell and this was going to cost me a large amount. He refused and continued arguing with me until I had no choice but to hang up on him.
I have gone online and placed a complaint with the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). They have responded by email asking me for the same information that was in the original complaint. I have sent all of the information to them and am still waiting for a responce.
To add insult to injury, Primus has just sent me a bill for this months service. These guys are unbeleivable!!! They totally understand that they have not been my long distance carrier for over a year and they still demand that I continue to pay them $23.12 a month. They refuse to refund the money that they have received from me becase I gave it willingly to them... It's all my fault... I deserve to be ripped off.
I can't believe that Primus is allowed by law to conduct themselves in this manner.
Neil
Capreol, Ontario
Canada
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