Bell Canada - bizarre customer service

Bell Canada customer service?

Two cottages on a lake, deep in the forests of the Province of Quebec.

They are owned by brothers, who live half a continent away in Manitoba, Canada. Both brothers and their families travel all that way each year for vacation. The biggest disadvantage of the distance is of course that repairs and other services cannot be managed unless we are there.

In the late fall, I return to the lake alone, and, while in my brother's cabin, doing an errand for him, I discover that his phone line is dead. Because Hydro Quebec workers have been clearing brush around their powerlines in the forest behind our cottages - where the Bell Canada phone wires also come in - there is every likelihood that a worker accidentally cut my brother's line.

There are only two days remaining in my visit to the lake, and as a Bell Canada technician would have to be met by boat (or else walk in, carrying equipment, along the path of the hydro poles), I call Bell Canada residential repair from my own working phone next door, and explain the situation.

The events which followed surpass belief. Over eight different calls to them; hundreds of minutes sitting on hold, being passed from representative to representative.

I was promised "today before 5:00 PM," and waited all day. Upon inquiry I was told "your appointment has been rescheduled to tomorrow." When "tomorrow" came and they didn't come, I was told "they will contact you within the hour," and nothing happened. In the next call, I was told "the problem is being repaired at the central exchange; no technician will come," and when I reminded them that a line cut by a hydro worker is difficult to repair from the central exchange, they said "oh, the possibility of a broken wire is not noted on this ticket."

I was put on hold for a "supervisor," and was kept there for a long time, until suddenly my call was switched to a call centre of a completely irrelevant Bell department in Madras, India! In two later attempts the same switch happened. The folks in India had no way of putting me back in queue for the "supervisor."

I finally got an [almost] guarantee that "someone would be there before 10 AM tomorrow."

"10 AM tomorrow" was the time I had to leave the lake for good. 10 AM came and went, however, without a word from Bell.

Note that in every one of these contacts I verified that they had the number of my own working telephone. They needed this number for the technician to contact me when he arrived, so I could come across the lake and collect him by boat.

The time came to leave. As I drove away in my rental car, on the way to the airport, I found a hand-written note from Bell Canada taped to a post by the road "WE NEED A CONTACT NUMBER TO GET A HOLD OF YOU FOR WATER ACCESS. NO NUMBER ON CURRENT TICKET. Please call 611."

There were many more indignities, but the entire story of this amazing series of events is too long to tell on the Complaints.com website, and I refer you to my narrative at

<< http://www.mts.net/~tonyhj/Chronicles/Oxbow060926.html >>

I am grateful to "Laura" for posting her very similar complaint on Complaints.com, and I note that a year following her post there appears to be no retraction or rebuttal from Bell Canada.

Tony

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Well, well. The stories about Bell Canada's service keep getting better and better.

I guess I'll just share mine also. :)

My experience is with their Collections Department.

A few days ago I called Bell Canada, thinking that there was some sort of trouble with my home phone. I could not dial long distance.

I was informed that there was a block placed on my phone due to my bill being $236.55 for the month.

Today I called their Collections department to find out WHY Bell felt it necessary to place a block on my phone and their employee had quite an attitude with me. He would not answer my questions and he was on some sort of a power trip!

I requested to speak with his supervisor and he informed me that he would not do that! I asked him to talk to someone above him and he threatened to disconnect my service..."because he can!!!!" When I asked him for his name he gave the name Troy Smith but he sounded very foreign with a heavy accent. ( Indian)

I could not get anywhere with Mr. Smith so I hung up.

This person should not be allowed to represent this company because his attitude is very detrimental to Bell and disrespectful to clients.

I feel I deserve an apology from this employee who thinks that he owns Bell Canada.

I still haven't heard back from Bell and I'm sure I won't.

I will be taking my business elsewhere very soon.