Review by abobo3 
UPDATED: 28 days ago
member for 1.6 years, 10 visits, last login: 26 days ago
 Montreal,QC
 $65 per month (12 month contract)
 "Reliable telephone service, reasonably priced bundle"
 "Unstable Internet connection, frequent disconnects and slow speeds"
 "Not an option for DSL!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have been with Primus for nearly two years. Installation was a pretty painless process, although I had to call in because no one ever told me what my username and password was (for Internet connection). I had ordered via Internet, so that may be issue here, but still, it's silly.
In November 2007, their Triple Value Bundle was priced at $59,95 not including taxes. I have telephone service, unlimited long distance calls in Canada and the US, 9 optional services (caller ID, call answer, second incoming call notification, etc.). At the time, the Internet service was 5Mbps, no cap. In May 2009, this was changed to 7Mbps, still no download cap. A Speedtouch 516 was supplied and must be returned when I cancel the service.
In the first few months, I frequently had problems with the phone. Sometimes no tone. Unable to dial a number in a certain area code. And so on. This has been resolved fairly quickly and has not reoccured. Unless you need your phone to work perfectly 100% of the time, and not merely 99.999% of the time, I can recommend their phone service.
DSL Internet is another matter. During the first year, I never really had 5Mbps, even though I am close to the central. There were slowdowns, but nothing major. There were also downtimes, which is a little more frustrating. But it was OK enough for me to renew my contract the next year, November 2008.
This past winter/spring, I was away for three months. No option to disconnect the service, of course, so I paid. While I was away, in April, I received an e-mail informing me that my CONTRACT WAS OVER, but that it was going to be renewed automatically, although at a new price: $64,95, five dollars more than I was paying before; and my speed would increase to 7Mbps. Problem was, my contract was not due for renewal: I had already renewed for one year in NOVEMBER 2008, and this was APRIL 2009.
I called them when I was back in the country. After I explained the situation thoroughly A COUPLE TIMES OR THREE, the girl finally said there had been a "mistake", that my contract would end in November as it was supposed to, and that they would reajust my bill at $54.95 and give me credit for two months I had paid $64.95. I said thank you and hung up.
Of course, the adjustment never happened. I didn't call back because I didn't want to bother with it any more. I let them have their way, but I knew I would not sign with them again. Then it got worse.
To try and reach 7Mbps, I decided to try their modem (the Speedtouch) again. I had been using a D-Link modem router because the disconnects happened less frequently. But when I tried their Speedtouch, I found that my speeds were up to 7Mbps or more, so I stayed with the Speedtouch, and everything was great for... oh, two weeks.
Then I began to get disconnected every day. Sometimes, I could not reconnect for a few hours, or an entire night. It seemed to happen mostly in the evenings. I tried to reconfigure my material in every possible way but it did not help. So I opened a ticket with technical support. After proving to them in every possible way that the problem was NOT ON MY END (you will have to do that every time you call them), they decided to try to help by trying a few things on their end.
So what they did (as I learned afterwards) is they basically moved me down a few "tiers", slowing my connection speed. That stopped the frequent disconnects for a while. But coincidentally, soon afterwards, I began to get extremely slow and unstable speeds. This has been going on since July. My max speed is about 2500kbps. Usually I hover around 500-1500 kbps. It's hell. Connection speed, according to speed tests, can vary from 300kbps to 1500 kbps in thirty seconds.
Two days ago they examined my situation (this is when I learned I had been downgraded to "DMT" in July to stop being disconnected -- I also learned that they had NOT recorded the fact that my contract ended in NOVEMBER and not in APRIL, hence, I supposed, the non-refund of the money they owed me). I got a call back today. They said they had identified the problem: NETWORK SATURATION OR BOTTLENECKING. They also said my line was crap because of "upgrades" that they had been doing to alleviate this situation. I said it had been going on for three months. They said "yeah, that's right".
So judge for yourself!!!!!
I do not recommend Primus for DSL, it is (mostly) crap. Unreliable. Stay away if you do not want constant problems. Not worth what you're paying.
My contract ends this November. I will have to return their modem... and they will charge me the 10 bucks to return it, I was told. They are ripping me off.
Location: Downtown Montreal
UPDATE :
The "move" to another network (in order to improve speed)... did not go smoothly
Oct 19: Technical trouble on Bell's side. Primus opened ticket with Bell. Bell closed ticket without doing anything. Reason: Received ticket before activation of line. Primus did not notice this.
Oct 21: DSL down. Alerted the guy at Primus who noticed said ticket was closed. Opened another ticket. Two days lost. And counting....
Oct 28: Still no DSL. Called Primus today (for the fourth time).The News: New ticket closed. Line should be up and running.Well, it isn't. They make me disconnect the phones and filters for the 99th time. No good. Since I've talked to this tech, the DSL led doesn't even flash anymore on my modem. 7 days without DSL and counting.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. |
|
Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.
