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All reviews of Acanac


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Reviews:
read 144 reviews (107 positive) (16 negative)
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Six Month Rating

Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:


$27 per month avg ($18 to $37)

3 year trend

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Review by Amadaeus See Profile
UPDATED: 191 days ago
member for 191 days, 4 visits, last login: 179 days ago


Thornhill,ON
$19 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
Bell Canada
"- 30-day money-back guarantee"
"- Unknowledgable tech support, NO phone billing support - Unable to diagnose speed problem after 3 weeks of usage"
"Would NOT recommend."
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    My Other Reviews·TekSavvy Solutions..
    - Terrible service and impression overall

    - Terrible support: Phone tech support is NOT 24/7. NO billing support through the phone. Tech support is NOT knowledgeable. Acanac support is either technically unable or not motivated to help their own customers.Tech support emails are flagged as spam by GMail.

    - Customer Service: There is NO billing support over the phone.

    - Tech support failed to diagnose speed issues over a 3-week period, while competitor was able to find the problem within 2 minutes and fix the problem that same night

    - Encountered repeated stalling from billings department when requested to cancel (I was entirely within my rights to cancel within user agreement under the 30-day money-back guarantee)

    I started with Acanac early April 2009 when I decided to switch to DSL from Rogers Cable. Acanac had a very attractive pricepoint so I decided to chance it and ignore the consistently poor reviews regarding technical support and client service. I called before ordering to inquire about the expected connection speed from where I live and was ensured that I could get a 5Mb connection with no problems. Knowing they had a 30-day money-back guarantee, I decided to try out Acanac.

    It was a mistake.

    I've documented the debacle chronologically:

    April 4 -- Ordered Service

    April 14 -- Bell technician arrives, declares nothing is wrong, but the DSL service magically activated after his visit. That's 1.5 calendar weeks from start to activation. I can understand the lengthy wait due to the Easter holidays, and do appreciate the readjustment of the contract start date. This, however, would be the only silver lining to my 3 weeks the "Acanac Experience"

    April 15 -- Speedtest conducted using Acanac's own speedcheck service. Discovered that the performance was substandard:

    Download Speed: 3876 kbps (484.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

    Upload Speed: 642 kbps (80.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

    I contacted an Acanac support analyst through the RedFlagDeals forum to help me out, and she asked me to wait a few days for full speed to ramp up.

    April 20 -- After a rainstorm, the ADSL connection becomes intermittent. I call into tech support and request a technician to come to my house to look at the line the next day. The speed on the line DID NOT IMPROVE as expected by Acanac support. In fact, connection speed has degraded to half of the advertised speed:

    Download Speed: 2515 kbps (314.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

    Upload Speed: 638 kbps (79.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

    April 21 -- Scheduled Bell technician does not arrive. My father wastes a full day at my house waiting for the tech to arrive. I receive a call at the end of the day from the Bell dispatch asking for a time to arrive tomorrow. I tell them they should have arrived today, but Bell dispatch tells me that the appointment was originally scheduled for the next day. I am unsure who to believe at this point as neither Bell or Acanac holds much of my confidence.

    April 22 -- Bell technician arrives, and declares nothing is wrong. Goes ahead and blames the hardware setup. Apparently, according to the technician, modems are not supposed to be plugged into routers (This was shocking as routers are designated for that exact purpose)

    April 28 -- Line speed has not improved. I contact support again, and quotes the notes from the Bell technician that my modem is the problem. Support them immediately attempts to upsell me the Acanac modem at 49.99 as it "may improve speeds"

    Sensing the same troubles other had experienced, I signed up for Teksavvy and they were able to diagnose, within 2 minutes of being on the phone that Bell had put me on a 3Mb profile. It took them another 2 minutes to request my profile be raised to 6Mb. My connection speed drastically improved later that night through my line with Teksavvy. It took Teksavvy under 2 hours over the phone to resolve a problem that Acanac failed to even diagnose in 3 weeks using 2 Bell techs and 3 separate tickets. For the record, Acanac's official response was to upsell me their own DSL modem which "may improve speeds". I get completely fed up and decided to cancel immediately.

    April 28 -- Cancellation request sent through the webform.

    April 29 -- Reponse from Acanac was less than optimal: "I have asked our manager to investigate this issue, Please wait, we will contact you as soon as we receive his response". I consider this nothing but a stalling tactic to have my contract lapse past the 30 day guarantee. At this point I make it clear that I do not want in investigation to take place and to have my refund processed immediately. I also threaten a credit card chargeback

    April 30 -- More stalling from Acanac: "Please note in your case we need to have a permission from our supervisor and we have informed him already. We are looking forward to hear from him. We will reply/update you upon receiving an answer." Now getting close to the 30-day mark, I provide them with a deadline to process a refund or I will pursue a credit card chargeback

    May 1 -- More stalling from Acanac: "Hi, I asked my manager to expedite the investigation. Please wait". Note that they are still "investigating" even though I had explicitly told them that no investigation is to take place and that I'm fully within my rights for a refund under their user agreement.

    May 1 -- Refund finally approved, 4 days after initial cancellation request and two separate threats of a credit card chargeback.

    After the nightmare of an experience, I would NOT recommend Acanac to:

    - Casual users, as they might be quietly bumped to a lower profile without them even knowing about it, or knowing how to pursue an improvement of service quality

    - Experienced users who experience a line issue that cannot be resolved under the 30-day money-back guarantee

    - Any user who is less than comfortable with being aggressive with tech support to get what you're entitled to (let that be a refund or line quality improvements)

    Followup comments:

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON

    Nice.......

    Sounds like Bell was the source of your problems.
    Fancy that eh...

    Good luck with Teksavvy. Happy surfin'

    OhRLY

    @teksavvy.com

    Re: Nice.......

    lol, enjoy the same issues with Teksavvy if it was a Bell issue.

    Though , I doubt you fix your review here and still give Teksavvy a 5.0!

    Why? Cause thats just how it works!
    Madwand

    join:2002-12-03
    Toronto, ON
    ·Acanac
    ·Bell Sympatico

    Re: Nice.......

    Hopefully you have calmed down by now.

    You would have had the same problem if it were Bell or anyone else. You were not on a 3mbit profile when you got download speeds of 3800k... just not possible. Perhaps a trouble ticket was submitted and your line was fixed without entering your house. I'm not sure you will find out the real answer, but it wasn't fixed by just bumping you to 6mbit. By 6mb you must be on business or the max should be 5mbit.

    At least you are running with good speeds now. Cheers.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by mech9t5 See Profile
UPDATED: 216 days ago
member for 327 days, 1 visits, last login: 201 days ago


undisclosed location
$27 per month (12 month contract)
"Price"
"everything else"
"Don't order here unless all you care about is price"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    Price: $19 + $8 (dry loop) = $27 /month all paid upfront.

    Ordering: Was done on the online form. Indicated on the order that I did not require a modem but it was sent and billed anyway ($50 deposit). Had to get the modem sent back to them and get a refund on the deposit. Luckily that was not too painful requiring only a few emails with accounting/billing.

    Installation: I was coming off Sympatico so I was using the Acanac username/pw within a few days. Initially, I had both Sympatico and Acanac overlapping for a week. After the first week, Sympatico was cancelled and Bell cut my phone line (dry loop). Specified in the order that I had existing dry loop with Sympatico. Better communication with Bell required? In any case, it took another 3 days to get back up and running.

    Speed: When I had both Sympatico and Acanac, I could compare the 2. Sympatico was definitely faster. I was going through the same modem and the same phone lines. The only difference was logging on with a different password.

    Performing a speed test on both Sympatico and Acanac resulted in the following:

    Sympatico: 2500kbps down/650kbps up (consistent) with consistent 50ms ping

    Acanac: erratic speeds. on a good day the same as Sympatico, on a bad day less than 1000kbps down and as low as 5kbps up (sometimes the speed test would timeout on the upstream test). ping was always >120ms

    On average, I was getting about 1500kbps down and 300kbps up with >120ms ping.

    Uptime: There were many outages and a lot of them lasted more than a few hours. On average there was probably around 1 outage a month that was greater than 30mins. When I was on Sympatico (5 years+), I only experienced a handful of outages that was greater than 30mins.

    Support: When I complained about the speed (I called about 4 or 5 times), nothing was fixed. I got various excuses such as my modem was bad, i was using wireless, my router was bad, etc. It was never their problem but always someone else. It was not my equipment and it was not Bell because I was getting consistent speeds and compared everything directly when I had overlapping service. In the end, they said all they can do is send a Bell tech to my house to check my equipment and if nothing was wrong with my equipment, I would be charged $75. I knew it wasn't me but they wouldn't do anything else.

    I mentioned numerous times that their ping times were way out of normal. They say their servers are in Mississauga but pinging a Toronto server takes over 120ms??? The routing is really messed up!! It should be no more than 50-60ms. They ignored that issue.

    Cancellation: I sent a ticket into billing to stop auto renew 1 month prior to the 12 months being over. Got a response asking why I wanted to cancel. I responded with my reasons and asked them not to renew. 3-4 days go by and I never heard back from them. Followed up with another ticket and the ticket was ignored for another week before I followed up again. Finally got a response asking me again why I wanted to cancel and I had to respond again. Finally got them to disable auto renew after over 2 weeks. Good thing I followed up and also started the process 1 month in advance, otherwise they probably would just ignore my cancellation request and charge me another year.

    Summary: Poor speeds, poor tech support, poor customer support (billing). For $19 a month I would live with all of that. But considering I had to pay $8 for dryloop fee as well, it is not worth it. I got a new customer deal at Rogers for $30 a month for 1 year. I would rather pay the extra money. Now my internet is fast. I click a link and the page loads up instantly rather than having to sit and wait for the server to respond. And, youtube videos actually load without having to buffer all the time.

    Followup comments:
    darknestgirl

    join:2008-08-11
    Montreal, QC
    ·Acanac

    Don't have any problem

    Sorry that you had a bad experience but i'm with them for the last 7 month and don't have any problem with my connection or my speed, had to call support twice and didn't have any problem with them. Sometimes it work sometimes it don't so it's not because you had a problem that everyone will.

    Anyway good luck with your new company.

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON

    Re: Don't have any problem

    Have to agree with Darknestgirl.
    It's been a good ride for me.
    Taylor Brown

    join:2008-04-29
    Russell, ON

    Activation.

    Within the first week after receiving the modem, you're on a slower profile. After a bit they'll bump you up to the profile you can handle.
    mech9t5

    join:2008-12-30

    Re: Activation.

    My issues had nothing to do with speed profile. tech support kept saying the same thing you did. "we will upgrade your speed profile.. blah blah"... they ignore the fact that ping is too high and my up speed was terrible.

    Acanac Inc
    Premium
    join:2007-03-05
    Mississauga, ON

    Re: Activation.

    Hello,

    Ping times and slowness could be because you are on interleave instead of fast path. Contact support and they will check that and have it changed.
    mech9t5

    join:2008-12-30
    ·Acanac

    Re: Activation.

    Too late. Already quit.

    I called tech support about slow speeds and they just told me they have to send a Bell tech to my house and would cost me $75 if Bell tech found nothing wrong at my house. I know 100% nothing is wrong at my house so I said No. Tech support said they can't help me then.

    Happy on Rogers for the last 4 months @ only $3 more a month on a promo for $30 taxes in for a year.

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON

    Rogers

    Good Luck with your new provider.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by benson.jin
Posted: 262 days ago
(review was emailed from domain mapleworks.com)


Ottawa,ON
$18 per month (12 month contract)
Bell Canada
"cheaper price means something only when the service is actually delivered"
"unreliable, slow internet along with rude tech support"
"Acanac tech support is rude"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    My dsl service from Acanac is not usable right from the first day I got the service. The ADSL lights on my modem flashes for hours before it stabilized. Once connected, I have got a 1.4Mb/s download and 232Kb/s upload in a lucky day. The internet is neither stable. I could not stay online for more than 10 minutes. So it is basically unable. I emailed them about the problem. They told me they were under network attack, and told me to try again! I rebooted my modem and router many times, and still got nothing. I called in, had following conversion with the support rep:
    Rep: what lights are on on your modem?
    Me: the ADSL and PC.
    Rep: PC?! What is that?
    Me: My modem is GVC BB0040. It has a PC light to indicate WAN....
    Rep: it is not our modem. We don't support it.
    Me: but the DSL service is yours.
    Rep: do you have a router?
    Me: it doesn't matter weather I have connected it or not...
    Rep: (yelling at me) I didn't ask you if it matters or not! Do you have a router??
    Me: ...
    Before I answered his question, he hung up! For a moment, I couldn't believe I actually contribute to his salary to bully me!

    Also, you may find this interesting: Acanac doesn't have 24x7 telephone support. It does provide email support during weekend and nights. Of course, you have to find a way to email them, if you have internet problem.

    It is the worst internet service and customer support I have ever experienced. To me, Acanac just beats both Rogers and Sympatico for the worst customer service title. I am cancelling it.

    Followup comments:
    darknestgirl

    join:2008-08-11
    Montreal, QC

    re

    If you don't use the Acanac modem they won't help you with the one you have but you can come here: »community.acanac.com/Acanac/ or you can also send an IM to Acanac PN

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON
    ·Acanac

    RUDE

    And you gave them no reason to loose it. LOL
    Support are people as well.

    Wait 'till you have a major problem in lifes rocky road.
    It will happen, just a matter of time.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by Mr_Fix_It See Profile
UPDATED: 264 days ago
member for 266 days, 349 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Barrie,ON
$18 per month (month by month)
"None"
"Everything"
"DON'T USE THIS COMPANY"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    My Other Reviews·TekSavvy Solutions..
    I was cut off without any warning by this company last Monday.

    Read the entire account of what happened here on my site.

    »www.keyboardninjas.com/smf/index···ic=177.0

    Once you read all the proof it will be obvious why to you should not use their service.
    Cheapest price....most likely....also worst connection I have ever had.
    With my new company Tek Savvy my connection is better than it has been in 2 years.
    Same computer, same modem, the only thing that changed was the username and password for my modem.

    Followup comments:

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON
    ·Acanac

    MrAmericanada

    Well I see you made it here to slam Acanac once again.
    You bashed them on their forum and on your website so I'm not surprised to see you here.
    If you look at your own post here.
    »community.acanac.com/acanac/view···7#p48637
    Your Words:
    Like I said I have lost way too much time for only having the account 11 months.
    CLOSE THE ACCOUNT !!!


    They followed your direction,and now you're a happy Teksavvy customer.
    Have a great day.
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: MrAmericanada

    Fergless, I have never had a bad thing to say about you, nor will I ever. You have been and are a helpful person on their forum as was I.

    Read my e-mails for exactly what I said and what they did.

    I told them I was not renewing because of downtime.
    They send back an e-mail telling me they are comp'ing my account for a month and closed the ticket ??????
    What am i to think ?
    Did it look as though they are closing the account or just the ticket?
    It wasn't open for discussion.
    The quote CLOSE THE ACCOUNT referred to reopening the closed ticket and the last line is very explicit.

    I would have made my arrangements and left quietly.
    That all changed at 11:47am on Monday.
    I take that as an attempt to discredit me in front of a lawyer not to mention intentionally try to ruin my week.

    What gives them the right to close the ticket when a customer send's a cancellation request ?

    They did not confirm anything and deleted all my files and account without the courtesy of telling me and cut me off without warning right in the middle of working on a lawyers computer via remote desktop.

    Does that sound professional ?

    I still had a month left on my year and fully intended on using it. That's why I asked for a confirm date.

    It was closed out of spite, there isn't a chance it was by mistake nor has anyone apologized. I gave them a week and ironically enough I am reciprocating on a Monday.
    It's called breech of contract anyway you slice it.
    Not to mention the CRTC rules on such matters.

    If I typed up every incident that happened while I was there it would read like a novel.

    Remember the post I made regarding them sending me out a defective used modem and support refusing to replace it or even so much as help. That was just before Christmas.

    Check out my speed results, pings and line stats for Tek Savvy Fergless, I have no reason to lie or fabricate excuses its all right there in black and white.

    Good luck and happy surfing Fergless

    Regards
    Ken

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON
    ·Acanac


    1 edit

    Re: MrAmericanada

    I hear what you're saying, I think the whole thing was due to poor communications, that's why I firmly believe in using the phone for support. Others will argue that point as they may have a language barrier.

    Anyway I hope it goes well with your new ISP, I believe they have a great service and forum as well. Technically one of the best. Just wish so many people didn't think Acanac was a scam, but the mood seems to have changed in the last year and a half.

    We don't need any bashing between ISP's or trolls and xyz haters but they will thrive no matter what. I'm not referring to you in any way, just in general

    We're all in this together.

    Take Care.
    Fergie
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: MrAmericanada

    I am sure our paths will cross again Fergless.

    Any time you want feel like shooting the breeze, stop by my Teamspeak server or the forum.
    You will always be welcomed.
    As a matter of fact the Teamspeak server is open to the public.

    keyboardninjas.com

    no port required
    no password required
    Taylor Brown

    join:2008-04-29
    Russell, ON
    ·Rogers Hi-Speed
    ·Acanac

    C;mon

    C'mon now! I know you have had trouble with Acanac, but at least give us a fair rating! Did you honestly think tech support was that bad? Also, we both know that you can't do anything really about Bell, I mean, the profile changing sucks, but it won't change with TekSavvy. 18$ a month for internet is pretty good. I do however understand your concern for connection reliability, which may of had been deserved, as I know an hour here, 10 minutes there can be devastating for some people. I just wish you hadn't taken it out on the rest of the options. Kinda sucks, but at this point, Acanac is getting a second 10 Gig connection with a non-Cogent provider. They;ll definatively make things more reliable.

    Good Luck,
    Taylor
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: C;mon

    The short answer Taylor is yes, the support was that bad with exception to a few times I called.
    Every time I waited 2 or 3 days to get my profile changed back usually on a weekend too.
    They change the contract from the time I signed up regarding modems and tried to say I had to buy it when it was only a deposit.
    They sent me a used defective modem and refuse to take it back or replace it. Check my posts in Dec.

    The DNS servers went down how many times ?
    3 times that I recall at least but they got restarted how many times ?
    The connection has been on and off for months and it was always blamed on my equipment or Bell or Cogentco or ...
    Ya, it was Bell that jacked up my profile all those times every month for no apparent reason.
    Did they fix it ?
    No, I demanded a conference call with Acanac's so called liaison officer to Bell, an Acanac tech, a Bell Rep and the Co in Barrie and I proved to them all there was an issue with interleave. As soon as my profile was changed to fast path my ping dropped, my connection stablized and line capacity was within tolerances yet not one of them could answer as to why. It proved right then there was nothing wrong with my equipment or lines.
    Even then my ping was still high, look at it now.

    Who's responsibility is it to get those kind of things fixed
    mine ?

    What about the packet loss on the trace routes and ping paths ?
    Is that still happening.
    As for the down times like I said in the e-mail I am not interested in free time for my troubles, I honestly couldn't care less if they offered me a free year, it still would interest me at all then or now.

    I personally feel as though an entire year was wasted.
    How many corrupted downloads have you had ?

    For the amount I downloaded I'll bet you I didn't even use 200GB in the 11 months I was there. Hell there were times I couldn't even get to my teamspeak server or web site.

    The review stands and will not be changed or taken down.
    Its going to cost them more then a simple e-mail could have saved them.

    Good Luck Taylor

    Regards
    Ken
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: C;mon

    One more comparison EVERYONE should consider.
    You do the math.

    Acanac's Review count.

    Reviews:
    read 122 reviews (93 positive) (13 negative)

    Tek Savvy's Review count.

    Reviews:
    read 535 reviews (499 positive) (8 negative)

    Acanac Inc
    Premium
    join:2007-03-05
    Mississauga, ON


    4 edits

    Re: C;mon

    Hello,

    Regarding that comparison please let me state that Teksavvy is a great company and there is no disputting that however, we should keep in mind that teksavvy uses dslreports for their tech support forums and have full time staff just dealing with issues. We do have our own forums. 99% of our traffic flows through our own site ( happy or unhappy customers). Ratings in our own forums show us similar results to what Teksavvy has on dslreports therefore to say that the results would be the same is unfair. We do not monitor these forums on a full time basis thus we are not always aware of issues and able to fix problems as quickly.

    Sandro H.
    »www.acanac.ca
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: C;mon

    I find it remarkable that you only speak of the comparison values and nothing of the very crux to these issues.

    Makes one wonder why you even posted.
    I see you paid for premium membership.
    Why would you pay for a membership if you don't monitor this forum ?

    I paid & joined to support the site, why did you buy a premium account ?

    Taylor Brown

    join:2008-04-29
    Russell, ON
    ·Rogers Hi-Speed
    ·Acanac

    Re: C;mon

    I understand. Luckily and unfortunately I had totally different experience. I have good pings, and my profile has not changed once. I'm not going to blame it on Bell or your lines, as I no nothing about your situation compared to you.

    The only thing I have a bit of trouble understanding is the modem thing, as I had a great experience exchanging modems, but that's an old issue which I don't really want to bring up now, LOL.

    Well, I do hope that you have a better experience with TekSavvy, and understand your frustration.

    Anyways, one thing I don't agree with is you pretending to know how much I download. ROFL. I've been with Acanac for over 9 months, and done well over 700 gigs of torrents. *Evil Pirate Laugh* (Funny, not one was corrupted.) Oh, and don't get me started on how much I upload.

    I also ran an internet radio station off Acanac and all went well. (320kbps)

    Well, maybe I'm just lucky, maybe you're just unlucky. Who knows. Either way, there's not much we can do now. All I can do is hope yo uhave better luck with TekSavvy.

    Just a thought,
    Taylor Brown, Full Pirate
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON
    ·TekSavvy Solutions..
    ·Acanac

    Re: C;mon

    Your Quote:
    Anyways, one thing I don't agree with is you pretending to know how much I download.

    Not sure how you come to that statement as there is no possible way I could ever know how much you downloaded...

    My quote:
    Is this what you are referring to ?
    For the amount I downloaded I'll bet you I didn't even use 200GB in the 11 months I was there.
    Taylor Brown

    join:2008-04-29
    Russell, ON

    Re: C;mon

    Yeah LOL, I was just joking around.
    Mr_Fix_It
    Premium
    join:2009-03-01
    Barrie, ON

    Re: C;mon

    If I had to guess at the amount you have downloaded Taylor I would need to use Big Blue for the calculations.

    Taylor 1
    Me 0
    Game on !!! LOL
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 266 days ago
(review was emailed from domain hotmail.com)


Penetanguishene,ON
$33 per month (12 month contract)
about 4 days
"cheap first year"
"poor service and support"
"not worth the $18.95/mo. special offer"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    Was initially impressed when I signed up at $18.95/mo(pre-paid) special offer. Started having service issues within two months. Support only via email on weekends(when issues happen most and was left with no internet). Connection was intermittent at best, speed was up and down like a yo-yo. Very cheap Aztec modem, always Bell's fault in the lines, not them or their equipment, according to Acanac support.They don't like to respond to complaints. Then they automatically billed for the next year at $33.95/mo(pre-paid) without notice. Very unprofessional company, recommend everyone avoid them.

    Followup comments:
    darknestgirl

    join:2008-08-11
    Montreal, QC

    re

    Since Acanc is uising Bell phone line it is BELL responsability to take care of any problem you had i have the aztech modem for 6 month now and don't have any issue with it.

    Fergilicious

    join:2008-04-19
    Toronto, ON
    ·Acanac


    1 edit

    Bell did it again!

    Once again Acanac takes the rap for Bell.

    The Automatic Billing is posted on their website.
    Mentioned many times on their Forum.

    I have DSL on Dry Loop and Voip with them and it's Stellar.
    Recommend everyone try them out, a lot of perks as well.
    Free Online PC, free 100gb online storage. 100 email addresses. HELLO.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by meldon See Profile
UPDATED: 352 days ago
member for 352 days, 0 visits, last login: 352 days ago


Ottawa,ON
$18 per month (12 month contract)
about 32 days
Bell Canada
"Cheap"
"Everything else. Speed, service, tech support and overall client care"
"Dont get Acanac."
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    I have found that the service with Acanac is not very good.

    The price is excellent for the 1st year, but it is the only reason someone should sign up, and then should expect very poor customer service.

    They failed to inform me that I would need dry-loop service, and although i should have known, when I asked they told me it was ok, that my telephone provider was such that I wouldnt need dry-loop.

    Then, after 2 weeks, my service was activated, and the speed in non throttle time was slow compared to what I was expecting. Although the service claims to be 5mbps download, I rarely went above 3000kbps service at any time, wether at 2 am, 2 pm or 8pm. When i did go over, my maximum speed was 3212 kbps.

    I expected a certain difference, but not such a big one.

    My serious problems started after I changed telephone companies and no longer required dry-loop.

    At that time, I was told my service would be activated on a certain date, but after calling and being told the order was rejected, and no one called me to inform me of this, it was finally done 2 weeks after the original date.

    Then they made a mistake on the order, and i was limited to 512kbps Download and same for upload. All while paying for 10X the speed on download. I am now on week 2 of this mess, and the first representative did not even put an order through, and told be it would be done after 4 business days, then I called back after this time, which is when i was told that there was no order created, and was told it would take a further 5 business days. i called again after 4 business days to confirm everything was ok, and was again told the order was rejected because the representative made a mistake. Once again, no one called me to tell me this, and I would not have known had I not called. Finally today they have put in another order, and i am supposed to have it working in 5 business days.

    I have not received any credit for the months i have paid with no or poor service.

    I do not recommend that anyone ever deal with this company unless you are financially incapable of affording service from another provider.

    Followup comments:
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by ivangoghr See Profile
UPDATED: 364 days ago
member for 364 days, 10 visits, last login: 352 days ago


Mississauga,ON
Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
"3"
"10"
"2"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)

    Very polite customer support people. And that's where the good experience stops for me.

    Beware of the UP TO 5Mb/s claim. I'm paying for a barely 1Mb/s with Acanac (last few weeks it's been 300kbps). I guess it fits in the up to 5Mb/s range. I'm not sure what the reason for that is, and Acanac will not explain it to me. I guess it's a very good ISP if everything goes smoothly, but heavens help you if things go wrong.
    No issue will get resolved, they just play for time with their online support, so that you can't cancel the service once 30 days go by. After the initial 30 days, they've got you for a year, no refunds, no help, you're stuck with what they give you.

    Bottom line is that if you sign up, and things are not as advertised from the start, get the hell out of the contract before the 30 day mark. It's a hit or miss.


    Followup comments:
    darknestgirl

    join:2008-08-11
    Montreal, QC

    refund after 30 days

    You can have a refund after the 30 days. They gonna refund the rest of the year. If you had it for 2month they gonna refund 10 month out of it
    Taylor Brown

    join:2008-04-29
    Russell, ON

    You can't help it.

    Unfortunately, it's just a limitation of the technology itself. I'm sure they'll be happy to refund you.
    ivangoghr

    join:2008-11-23
    ·Acanac

    Re: You can't help it.

    Just an update.

    Acanac will not refund the money for the unused months if I cancel. They just created another useless support ticket, which will just waste everyone's time. I've been through four of those already. Last time I was told I live too far away from the CO, and that the nearest remote is full.
    So yes, the problem is the technology, and neither me or Acanac can't help it.
    Too bad Acanac won't do the right thing and forces me to stay with them at a 288/512kbps profile for another 9 months.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by tamimh See Profile
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 1.1 years, 11 visits, last login: 319 days ago


Montreal,QC
$30 per month (12 month contract)
about 21 days
Bell Canada
"cheap, free FTP storage"
"frequent service interruptions, slower than advertised speed, useless customer support"
"don't bother unless you can't afford anything better"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    5M down, 800K up.
    unlimited download
    they claim no throttling but it doesn't seem to be true
    In reality you will get 2M down, 200K up when you're actually connected.
    many service interruptions throughout the day.
    completely useless customer support. only during business hours and ridiculous wait times over the phone.

    I would rather pay twice the amount for a reliable service. Will definitely not be renewing my subscription with Acanac.

    p.s. this is my 9th month with Acanac. my first 3 were very pleasant; I was getting the advertised speeds and no service interruptions. After that I don't know what happened. They sent a technician from bell but it didn't help.

    Followup comments:

    Quake110

    join:2003-12-20
    Ottawa, ON
    ·Velcom


    1 edit

    Some stuff acanac can't control

    Bell is the one throttling all the ISPs out there (Acanac, Velcom, Teksavvy have a NO throttling policy)... Even though they are not resellers, they use Bell's DSL Network to distribute the internet. You can bypass the throttling by using Acanac's SSH since they haven't setup MLPPP yet »acanac.ca/SSH-Tunnel-U.htm

    And about your speed: What's your modem? It may be possible to get your line stats and see if you have the correct profile and if not, to upgrade it.
    Post here to get more help: »Canadian Broadband
    tamimh

    join:2008-09-28
    Montreal, QC
    ·Acanac

    Re: Some stuff acanac can't control

    Thanks for the quick reply, I wish I posted here a long time ago. It beats Acanac's customer support!

    I have an Aztech DSL605EU. I will be trying out SSH but downloading torrents is not really my main issue... The problem is that I lose my connection too many times its almost impossible to voip.

    I'm going to check if anyone has had the same issue with this modem. if not i'll post on canadian broadband as you suggested.

    Thanks again,
    Tamim

    Quake110

    join:2003-12-20
    Ottawa, ON

    Re: Some stuff acanac can't control

    Sorry, I don't know that modem. When you enter the modem's web interface, can you check for a section where it gives you the line's profile (speed) and stats (Such as SNR, attenuation). If yes, post them.

    mari

    @acanac.net

    I have exactly the same problem. I have to call acanac almost everyday to do something about it because my internet is down at least 2 a day (a very lucky day). I'm tired of this sh......... When you call costumer service each of them give you a different explanation but NEVER do anything about it i'm so tired of this.
    I'm looking forward to have another company with dsl i really don't care about the price, to have a DESCENT kind of service I'd rather pay more.
    tamimh

    join:2008-09-28
    Montreal, QC
    ·Acanac

    They're finally doing something about it, but...

    They sent a technician from bell, and then I got a call from him stating that the lines are fixed and everything is fine. When I went back home I still didn't have internet and when it was back up the speeds were ridiculous: 900K down, 300K up. I told them about the problem and they said they're going to talk to bell to have them check my line AGAIN and raise my speed profile. This would be the third time this year that they're sending bell to check my lines. I really don't think it's bell's problem at this point. Everyone that's subscribed to bell around me have not had any outages. They should have sent a technician to my place to check the connection and check if the modem needs replacement. I also stated multiple times that if they just can't fix the problem then they should let me know so I can switch providers. This is very amateur.

    Nataly

    @3web.net

    Acanac or 3Web

    Acanac or 3Web, They are not responsible for decreasing the speed or other problems, because all dsl providers you think are unfortunately under Bell's control and Bell does not like any competitor in Canada (like a Mafia).
    If do not believe me, one day you will get it.

    Nataly from Montreal
    tamimh

    join:2008-09-28
    Montreal, QC
    ·Acanac

    Re: Acanac or 3Web

    Ok we have some fundamental differences here. Acanac is not responsible for decreasing the speed but they are responsible for ALL OTHER PROBLEMS. They can't just push the blame on Bell for all their problems, that's just bad customer service. Also, Acanac like many others is involved in false advertising when they don't tell their customers that they will be throttled by Bell.

    Anyways, throttling should not cause your internet to go down completely, it only slows you down. What I am experiencing is not just slow internet, it is frequent service interruptions which cannot be linked to Bell. If you do not believe me, maybe one day you will get it.

    p.s. in case you're not up to date...there is a complaint lodged with the CRTC about the issue of Bell's throttling. We should look forward to the ruling in a few weeks at which point maybe bell (the mafia) will be forced to stop throttling.
    »www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008···ell.html
    darknestgirl

    join:2008-08-11
    Montreal, QC
    ·Acanac

    Re: Acanac or 3Web

    i'm in montreal and don't have any problem or disconnection so it probably your wiring the problem before i move from where i was living my connection was disconnecting a lot i was with teksavyy and it was my outside wiring expose to bad weathe that was causing this but Bell said it was my modem and teck said it was my wiring in the end it was the wiring you canpost in here: »community.acanac.com/acanac/index.php you'll see there is a lot of people with the same issue and they got it solved in no time
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by moseph See Profile
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 1.2 years, 2 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago


undisclosed location
Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
"Cheap"
"unreliable, unreachable and useless technical support"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    I put up with this service's patchiness for the past 11 months - up down but was managable on the basis that I knew how to trouble shoot and hook the internet up myself.

    11 months later, the dsl light on the modem died. Can't call the non existent tech support on the weekend, so emailed them form my BB, 1 day later I receive an answer from them asking me to retrieve "circuit ID" from my phone provider. given that I am with Vonage and now such thing exists, I informed tech support about this and they came back with "you need a dry loop and that will cost 8 extra dollars a month please give us your credit card info". and that my service is not compatible with an IP phone ---- just like that, all of a sudden my service became "incompatible"

    on the contrary, their billing department replied with lightning speed to my request to cancel the account, and offered to help resolved my tech issues --- too little to late

    Never again,

    Followup comments:
    En Enfer
    This account has been compromised

    join:2003-07-25
    Montreal, QC
    ·VIF Internet

    DRY-LOOP !

    This is the way it works for *ANY* DSL provider: If you don't have a landline phone service (Bell, Rogers), you need DRY-LOOP to keep your DSL service !!!

    At the time you disconnected your phone line, it was YOUR responsability to contact your ISP. Bell should have even take out your DSL sync from day one, but you were lucky all this time.

    You should now go on and pay for the dry-loop you were supposed to pay x months ago. Only person to blame in your situation is yourself. Stop blaming your ignorance to your ISP.

    As for Acanac's business hours...

    DSL Phone Support :
    Mon-Fri 9am-12am
    1-866-281-3538

    * If your service is down after hours please e-mail our emergency department.
    --
    "I unofficially declare Beaver Hunting Season is on!" (© DR_JAYMAHDI)

    moseph_again

    @bell.ca

    Re: DRY-LOOP !

    A quality response from a quality company (sarcastic of course)
    this goes to show the level of Immatureness you operate at.

    A simple informative email would have resolved this and saved your degrading reputation.

    and as to your respectable "emergency department" at least set the expectations right with your customers and tell them that they are expected to wait a day or 2 for an emergency response

    dslShopper

    @q9.net
    very unprofessional

    Acanac Inc
    Premium
    join:2007-03-05
    Mississauga, ON


    2 edits

    Re: DRY-LOOP !

    Our emergency department can only be contacted by email. Yes for DSL clients it might not be that useful, but we do offer more than just DSL service. We offer Voip and our Online PC service. In time we will offer 24 hour support. The plan is to do it once we reach 50K clients. We are currently a bit over 38K. Weekends will be first. At least from 9AM to 9PM.

    Everthing takes time, but things have come together over the past two years.

    srik

    @acanac.net

    Acanac

    As was said their tech support is non-existence. It goes down like once or max twice a month and comes back up in a day's time worst case. yep if u r running a biz then i wouldn't not suggest them

    Acanac Inc
    Premium
    join:2007-03-05
    Mississauga, ON

    Re: Acanac

    If your modem is disconnection its not our fault. This means your to far from the CO or your have a bad connection. Our support is not able to help in either case. I would recommend Cable in these casese. This is one of the main reason why we offer a 30 day money back guarantee.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac

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Review by neurowired See Profile
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago


undisclosed location
$20 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"hmm"
"interrupting service, unfair treatment of customers"
"stay away from Acanac"
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

    After subscribing to Acanac DSL internet in Ottawa for a year, I can say that it's better to pay to Rogers than to have any deal with Acanac. Not only the service was patchy, but when I decided not to renew the service for another year they automatically charged me $400 and then refused to return $100.

    According to their billing department I have no choice even though they have a 30-day full refund guarantee and my first-year contract is to expire in a week. My conclusion is NEVER-EVER use ACANAC if you have a choice. After you subscribe to their sub-standard service trying to save a few bucks they will scam you for all the supposed savings you get with them.

    Followup comments:

    Acanac Inc
    Premium
    join:2007-03-05
    Mississauga, ON

    Please provide ticket ID's.

    Please provide ticket ID's. Accounts automatically renew unless you tell us not to renew. This is clearly stated on our terms of service. If you failed to cancel on time you would only be charged from the time you used. What was the $100 for? Is it for the DSL modem Deposit and the months you used on your second year term?

    If I am incorrect with any of these assumptions please provide me with your contact information. I will look into right away.

    Best Regards,
    Paul

    Bellundo

    @teksavvy.com

    Sign of the times

    This always happens when Canada falls into recession. I wonder why the Canadian government is withholding the second quarter negative growth figures? Canada has been in recession since the start of July.
    Forums » comments on review of Acanac


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