Bell Sympatico, ExpressVu & Landline
Lousy Customer Service

I don't know where to begin with this mess. I contacted Bell back in July 2009 to see about lowering the amount of my "One Bill" (internet, TV and landline). Of course, I had to talk to 3 different departments. It's much easier for me to list the issues in point form because if I had to write everything out, I would end up with a novel.

- was given a lower price for the internet and was told twice that Bell didn't offer contracts for their internet service anymore (I was told this by two different people on two different occassions) however, I received a contract in my email the following day which I did not return

- was told by the TV rep that he would get back to me "on Thursday at 1pm" to go over my TV options - it's now January 2010 and I'm still waiting for Thursday at 1pm

- called when I noticed the lower amount for my internet and was told that it was fine, no contract needed, and asked if I wanted to bundle my cell phone with everything else - I said that I wanted it left separate but on my next "one bill" there was my cell phone added to the bill

- called end of November to cancel my Bell services - I was going with Rogers - was told my disconnect date was Dec 30 so when I received my December bill in mid-December I called to see if this amount was correct or not (thought my bill covered from mid-Dec to mid-Jan and didn't want to wait for Bell to send me a credit if I overpaid) - I was advised by Bell not to pay the December bill and to wait for my final bill in January

- was told that a box would be sent to me so I could return the TV receiver and the modem to Bell - I received a mailing sticker for the modem but no box so I thought the box was being sent separately - when it didn't arrive I called Bell again - was told a box would be sent for the receiver but not for the modem (had to deal with two departments again to get this information) and if the modem was not returned to them within 16 days I would be charged a $75 service fee

- sent a complaint email to the "executive office" and to James Myers - received an auto reply stating that they would do their utmost to have someone contact me within 3 days - it took over a week for someone to get back to me

- received my "final" bill in January for 1-1/2 times my usual monthly amount - called Bell to ask a simple question "what time period does my bill cover? " - I was told by the person on the other end that she would be able to help me with this at least half a dozen times but first it took 3 times for her to get my phone number right and then she called me "Gary" (I'm a woman and I definitely do not sound like a man) - I told her that she obviously couldn't help me so I will hang up and call back and hopefully get someone who will be able to help me

- called back and was told to pay the full amount and if there was a credit Bell would send it to me once everything was figured out (in a month or so) - told him this was unacceptable and I wanted to know the exact amount that was owing now in order to get it paid - he said he would put me through to the accounting dept - it was collections - since I didn't pay my December bill, as the Bell employee told me, I was now in collections

- called back AGAIN asked for a supervisor but person I talked to was a senior and if she couldn't help me then she would transfer me to her supervisor - she helped by explaining what the billing dates were (which, by the way, was incorrect) and then transferred me from her dept (phone) to another (internet) - this person explained what the $100 was for, even though it was noted on my account that the internet contract was not accepted I was still being charged for breaking it - said she could credit me $40 but would still have to charge the $60 to cover the 6 months of $10 discounts I received - was then transferred to the TV area - questioned why my bill showed the billing period of "Dec 30 - Jan 21" when I was disconnected Dec 30 - Seems I'm to wait for the "final, final bill" (their words, not mine) in Feb but if I wanted I could make a partial payment now - I did that

- sent another complaint email to the executive office and James Myers - received phone call from James Myers office 8 days after my initial email - was assured the $100 charge would be waived and that being in their collections department would not affect my credit rating in any way (I'm checking my credit report because I don't believe them) - someone was investigating my complaints to look for "any training opportunities"... I told him there are plenty of them

- received a collection call from Bell's internet dept 6 days after above phone call saying I owed $176 - obviously $100 hadn't been removed from my account nor was my account flagged - called Myers' office and told them to get my account flagged - the guy I talked to apologized, he didn't think the collection dept would call that quickly so he would flag my account right away (why wasn't this done when I talked to him almost a week earlier?)

- just received another collection call for another one of their services - told them to talk to the guy I was talking to in James Myers' office because he was dealing with it

- 90% of the time that I'd call about a problem with our internet, I'd have to call back because either a) I couldn't understand the person on the other end or b) they were more concerned with selling me a Bell router than with fixing my problem

I did manage to find a box to send the modem back to Bell in - it fit perfectly in the Rogers box that my Rogers modem came in. Rogers will have to mess up in a HUGE way for me to ever consider going back to Bell. I am disgusted with that company and their lack of GOOD customer service.

Company: Bell Sympatico, ExpressVu & Landline
Country: Canada
Province: Ontario
City: Ajax

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