Review by voyager6868 
Posted: 1.5 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 950 visits, last login: 134 days ago
 Waterloo,ON
 $35 per month
 about 30 days
 Bell Canada
 "Once connection was set-up, was reliable, but slower than alternatives"
 "False charges; took 5 months to cancel my account and get refund"
 "Avoid them, unless you have lots of patience and hours of time to waste on the phone"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Signed up for Bell Sympatico with some student plan. It involved NO contract and was just under $35/month.
Also, SPC was offering a $50 bill credit if you signed up with Sympatico.
Given this, I thought I'd give them a try. In the end, I severely regretted this.
I got the service in September 2006. At first, I was only set up for a 3Mbps connection. I was told initially that my line could do 5Mbps. [At this point in time, the only difference between the standard service that I had ordered and the top tier was free security software and such. The maximum speeds were listed as the same (and this site's forum confirmed this).]
I called Bell to ask why my line was only set for 3Mbps. I reached someone in India who told me that I needed to sign up for the next level of service to get 5Mbps. Despite my telling them to check Bell's website and that their claim was false, they could do nothing for me.
I called again the next day and got a person in Canada. I was told that probably my line card was not set up for the proper speed. About a week later it was fixed and I was finally at the proper speed.
Around December, I decided to cancel the service. My bill credit had come through in November, so I had about a $30 credit on my account. When I called to cancel I was told I would be sent a cheque for the amount.
I get a final bill indicating the final credit amount. However, in mid-January, I get another bill showing that my service is active again! I call back and am told this will be corrected. Again, February rolls around, and I receive yet another bill. I call again and am assured again it will be corrected.
My service is finally officially cancelled, but no refund cheque. I call 3 more times before the cheque finally arrives. In the meantime, a $100 charge shows up on my credit card. I call Bell and am told it's because I was under contract and cancelled early. I tell them that I never signed up for a contract and never agreed to a contract.
A few days later, I receive a $100 credit on my card. About 1 month later I get the cheque for about $30.
In total, I made over 10 phone calls solely to:
* get my service set up to the advertised maximum speed
* cancel my service
* get the proper refund and correct Bell's billing errors
Unless you have hours to spend on the phone and are the most patient person in the world, avoid Bell. I can only imagine how many other customers they've "scammed" in a similar fashion.
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