 Review by fiestaware 
member for 4 years, 819 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 3.7 years ago
 Montreal,QC
 Contract price not specified.  Bell Canada "I opted for the free trial before buying = found out before it was too late" "Bad connection, poor service, offensive tech support = miserable in general" "If you have an enemy, recommend Acanac!"
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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UPDATE: Word gets around. Catchy headline! And more succinct than I could ever be:
»www.frikafrax.com/mnuke/blog2/20···service/
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Sorry in advance for my English. You can read a real-time account of my dealings with Acanac here: ( »My experience with Acanac so far: Not so good. ) or I can crystalize it for you below. Emphasis is not meant to be on the technical issues but, rather, on the miserable way Acanac handles them.
* Short review: Acanac treated me like total crap when problems arose (on their end). I was frightened to imagine how I'd be treated if I paid them $200+ and obliged myself to an annual contract. Eff that!
* Long review:
I wanted to go with a small, indie ISP. I obtain a free trial login with Acanac via this site. When I try it out, I get speeds like these:
I log out; I need to cross-check. Via Bell (my provider at the time) I tried the same test against two servers:
Note the times - all very close together, all settings constant. Acanac seems slow, but I want to conduct further tests - except Acanac's server doesn't seem to recognize my login name anymore (after 10 minutes away?). Test@test works fine, I have no problem logging in to Bell or my school's network - yet Acanac's authentication server manages to somehow ignore the plaintive cries of my modem. A small problem with the account, or a service drop out? No big deal.
Since I got the trial account via this site, I send an IM via this site. *No response*.
I call, but they're closed on the weekends. Their voicemail promises that they are "available to assist [me] 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via email". Fair enough. I email, and it starts a ticket (6:51PM, Saturday).
At 12:32AM, Sunday, I am responded to:
"Dear customer,
Is it possible to give us a call.
We can properly trouble-shoot your problem over the phone
Our DSL Support department is open from Monday to Friday 9AM to Midnight you can call Toll Free: 1-866-281-3538
TICKET CLOSED."
WTF? Acanac may be available by email 24/7 - but to defer, not 'assist'.
I start a thread in the Acanac forum - only then do I get a response to my PM, wherein I'm referred to the jankiest, most unhelpful, poorly-worded FAQ in history: ( faq.acanac.com )
Since the online support I received amounted to "Don't forget that your password is case-sensitive!" I thought I'd better finally call. What you read below is *exactly what was said to me* - I wrote it down as I heard it:
1st call -
Tech: "Acanac support."
Me: "Hi, I'm having difficulty with one of your trial accounts; I wonder if you could look at it?"
Tech: *distinctive hang-up click*
Acanac does that a lot, I guess. ( viz: »Questionable company )
Five minutes later, 2nd call -
Same tech: "Acanac support."
Me: (pause) "You gonna hang right up...?"
Tech: (snarkily) "Sometime today I'll hang up; at the end of the day."
Me: "May I get a question out first?"
Tech: "If you can ask it in 3 seconds."
Please remember, I'm quoting. He doesn't even know what I want yet!
- At this point I quickly explain my problem. Maybe he has some basic advice, or maybe he can take that 3 seconds to ask his boss. He says neither of them knows anything about it, so he can't help me. He won't even look into my individual account to see if Acanac servers are being hammered by my very persistent modem. He advises me to send them an email; see above for how productive my online discussions with this company have been. Anyway - why should I send them an email? Here I am ON THE PHONE.
I ask again, very politely, if he could take a look at the account.
Tech: "No. And I don't want to deal with this issue anymore." *loud click*
That's a quote too.
Acanac didn't properly enable my account, I guess. It worked for a short time, was very slow, then stopped. Fine. Kind of a non-issue until I report it to request a fix and they treat me - a prospective customer - like TOTAL CRAP. Nooooo thanks.
I tried to resolve my issues with Acanac by PM, phone, email, and their useless ticketing system. I went out of my way again and again, but their customer service progressed from nil to bad to horrible. Acanac has never apologized for their belligerent tech's astoundingly poor demeanor, nor for their negligent customer service.
You can see what a good job they did wooing me into becoming a client; I signed up with a different small ISP the next day. Slightly higher cost - but worth every penny to be treated like a human being.
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