BEWARE_ACANAC
@bell.ca
1 edit | ACANAC --> WARNING!! About one year ago (February 2008) we signed up for a year prepaid with ACANAC, taking them up on their 18.95/month offer (year total=$227.40 + $50-refundable- for the modem). Because we did not have an existing tel. land-line, we paid an addition $96 for a year of the "dry-loop" service.
To note, we signed NO CONTRACT with ACANAC. All of our dealings were by email. We borrowed a friend's credit card in order to place the order by phone. We received the original invoices from ACANAC by email. Nowhere on the invoice does it refer to a contract, or the "user agreement" as posted on their website.
There were problems from the start. It took over one month before we had obtained satisfactory connection and service. This after dealing with impolite and unreasonable phone staff. But eventually things were settled, and we were REASONABLY happy with the service...enough to even recommend them to friends who were looking to escape Rogers and Telus. Most recently the access/download speed dropped considerably, but this seems to be an all-around issue...
HOWEVER, HERE's THE WORST OF IT :
RECENTLY we received two new invoices from ACANAC, in which they claimed to be RENEWING our contract. One invoice was for an additional year of dry-loop at the same price of $96 for a year.
The other invoice was for one complete year of DSL for $479.00 !!!
That's a rate increase of over 100% (++ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT!!) from $18.95 to $39.95 per month!
To make matters even WORSE, they gave NO NOTICE of the "renewal", and they charged these two amounts to our friend's credit card, WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION!!
In response to our grievances (and NOTE HERE that ACANAC DOES NOT RESPOND TO BILLING ENQUIRIES BY PHONE!!) they sent us a form letter stating that we should consult the "user agreement" online, and they were within their right to renew our service if they had not been notified otherwise before the year-end of our original agreement.
No matter what the "user agreement" says, here's the legal scoop:
No contract was signed between us and ACANAC giving them the right to renew any contract without our consent.
No contract provisions give them the AUTHORIZATION to submit charges to a credit card account without our (user) consent.
Our invoices do not refer in any way to a contract or user agreement with ACANAC.
And further, even if there was some sort of built-in stipulation to renew a contract after a year, without prior notice, this stipulation and the relevant contract would be deemed null-and-void given that the TERMS OF THE CONTRACT have CHANGED CONSIDERABLY.
We insisted to ACANAC that they had no right to charge any fees to a credit card without authorization, and that the credit card holder is in now way attached to the service for which they were charged. We insisted on CANCELLATION of SERVICES and a REVERSAL of the CHARGES as applied to our friend's credit card.
ONLY AFTER REPEATED and INSISTENT calls (to the SALES DEPARTMENT, as you can not access anyone in BILLING, and they will not even give you the name of the so-called "billing manager"...) did they agree IN PART to our terms.
Here is the result thus far:
___________________________________
Refund for DSL service.
Dear valued client,
I have issued a refund to the account for the amount of 367.45 and 88.00.
These amounts are the total less one month of service as per the user agreement.
Best Regards
Louis DiBiase
Retention Department Manager
___________________________________
So they expect to go ahead and bilk us out of $112 for one month's service (plus some cancellation fee no doubt) as well as another $8 for one month of dry-loop service, for a total of $120 UNAUTHORIZED charges to the credit card.
We will contest this further, in hopes that our friend's credit card company will agree to consider this to be a FRAUDULENT CHARGE to her account.
And of course, we hope that this unfortunate tale will steer any and all of you considering ACANAC to think twice before agreeing to ANY TERMS OF SERVICE by this DISREPUTABLE COMPANY.
THERE ARE MANY MANY MANY COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS COMPANY throughout CONSUMER REPORT SITES AND OTHER LISTSERVES that monitor DSL Providers.
THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU RATES ACANAC WITH AN "F" due to many unresolved issues, including many regarding unauthorized charges and billing/accounting procedures, as well as RUDE customer "service". See this link for the full report:
»mwco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx···=1133979
See the following link for more: [mod edit -- link to obscene image removed -- fatness]
This has been a tremendously frustrating experience for us, we only hope that we can save you the same trouble.
Thanks for reading.
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BEWARE_ACANAC
@bell.ca
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! A quick CORRECTION to the information above:
The NEW RATE charged by ACANAC is in fact $407.00 for the year, rather that $479.00 as I originally posted.
Still, that amounts to a monthly rate of $33.95 and is STILL a considerable increase from the original plan.
To note: Had we been given reasonable notice of our original plan's pending termination, and had we been informed of the reasoning for a significant rate increase, and had we been ASKED for AUTHORIZATION to purchase a new year of service up front, we just might have continued patronizing this ISP.
But it is clear to us that ACANAC practices an aggressive and unreasonable approach to "customer retention"...perhaps they should try practicing some "customer relations" instead... | |
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zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| from Acanac's User Agreement (»www.acanac.ca/User-Agreement.html ):
********
Billing. All terms are due up front. If you sign up for the lowest rate then you are likely on the 1 year term. You will be billed the entire term up front and then billed on a yearly basis.
All credit cards are billed automatically on there renewal dates. If you do not want to renew your account please cancel the account on or before the renewal date. Cancellations must be done by e-mail and sent to accounting@acanac.com or billing@acanac.com. Please make sure you obtain the cancellation ID or ticket number for your request to confirm cancellation of service.
**********
And you you fill the form to get an Acanac account, you can read this on the webpage :
********
Important
By filling out this form and submitting it you are agreeing to our terms of service ( User Agreement ) so please make sure you review it before processing your request. User agreement is localed at the bottom of every page on our website
********
So if you took the 1 year deal, your renewal date is 1 year later...
It's not Acanac's fault if you can not or did not read the user agreement... | |
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zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| and a small note... you can read on Acanac website for the 18.95$/Month term :
***************
This offer is only available on a 1 year term and the first year of service
***************
After reading this you have to check what you will have to pay... and in this case, it's the regular price of 33,95$/month | |
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moo cow
| Actually, I had the SAME EXPERIENCE. And pardon me, but some so-called user-agreement tucked away at the bottom of a web page, with a brief mention of this automatic billing after a year of service tucked in two third's of the way into the agreement, which is full of all kinds of useless information, isn't exactly very upfront. What it is, is sneaky.
Also, is it really unreasonable to expect some kind of notice or reminder that my "contract" is coming up for renewal, after a year? Or, is it really unreasonable to be provided a bill with the sum total that will be deducted from my credit card, in my case it was a lump sum total of $407 + $96. Again, sneaky.
I would NEVER recommend Acanac Inc. to anyone. They're no better than Bell and Rogers. In fact, they're worse for getting our hopes up, and screwing us when we thought we could trust the little guy.
As for the comment about them taking a loss. So they say. I don't buy it. But even if it were the case, smarter to bill upfront, rather than piss off your "valued customers" by not being up front before billing rather than attaching some sniveling explanation to your invoice after-the-fact.
Good luck to their employees.. | |
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zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
1 edit | It's your responsibility to read the user agreement...
If you don't read it and think Acanac is bad after that, it's your problem... Acanac did his job to give you all info you need...
that being said, yes Acanac should made it clear at least 30 days before the renewal date that they will charge the full price for 1 year for those people who don't want to read the user agreement...
But even with that, some people will still complain with the fact that Acanac is not clear enough for whatsoever reason...
oh and by the way, my soul is not sold to Acanac... after my first year with Acanac, I'm not sure if I will stay with them... If I go elsewhere, it's not for the price... I wan't MLPPP support and French language sales/technical support... something that Acanac can not or does not want to offer... | |
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Fergless
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Hi Zadigre, I know Teksavvy supports MLPPP in Toronto, do they also in Montreal? | |
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| | zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! yes... I'm connected with them right now and my router is currently using MLPPP | |
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Fergless
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Way to go man, hope everything works out for you. | |
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Hate_Acanac
@acanac.net
| I had the same problem; got full refund after they (or I should say after he/she as it seems the whole thing is run by one person- guess who? Louis DiBiase) learnt of "charge back" process by my credit card issuer.
When you sign up, they should give you the option if you want auto renewal of the service at an increased (or so-called regular rate); or at lease they should give you a notice that your account is about to be renewed.
Even if you e-mail them for cancellation (as all my friend did who got notified by me in time for their renewal) prior to renewal or your service they will still go ahead with it.
Then you have to try your luck through e-mails which are 99% of the time answered by software-generated replies.
BE WARE!!!!
The name of the software is as follows:
Louis DiBiase
Retention Department Manager | |
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Louis DiBiase
| Hi there,
Just for the record....I am a human being and I actually find it funny that people think I am a machine. I am the manager of the billing and Retentions department.
What I cant understand is how people will eagerly give there credit card information without reading the terms and user agreements. They are very plain and simple, we ask you to read and understand them 3 times before you sign up.
Further more our second year rate is still one of the best on the market.
I find it very hard to understand with over 50,00 clients only a handfull find it hard to understand that this company does everything by the book and that we are not forcing anyone to stay.
I am always available to talk to anyone that is in need. Please e-mail the billing department and make the attention to myself.
Once again I am sorry for those who did not take the time to read the user agreement and understand that we have an auto renewal function.
Take care and remember that we are owned and operated not by a corporation but by a private owners. | |
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whiteman
@acanac.net | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! I have read everything including the testimonials were a person is so happy to have their credit card charged for $19.99 for VOIP.
Please explain this. | |
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| | zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! said by whiteman :
I have read everything including the testimonials were a person is so happy to have their credit card charged for $19.99 for VOIP.
Please explain this.
can you explain your statement? sarcastic or not? | |
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darknestgirl
join:2008-08-11
Montreal, QC | Thanks louis i had to contact billing more than once and always had great support so keep out the good work.  | |
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tkachuk
join:2008-11-13
Newmarket, ON | $33.95/month after the first year which I am about 1/2 way through. No problem, I was paying bell $55.00 a month for throttled internet. Now I will be paying $33.95 for real speeds no problem! | |
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Tim85
| the credit card holder is in now way attached to the service for which they were charged. How is that relevant? Your friend agreed to let you use his credit card so how is that Acanac's fault?
The fact that 18.95 is an introductory price for 1 year is made very clear when you sign up.
Then it goes up to $35 or whatever. Even so, why would you want to cancel it, that's still one of the cheapest rates available especially when you consider the speed and unlimited downloads. You sound very cheap. | |
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Taylor Brown
join:2008-04-29
Russell, ON
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
·Acanac
| Please, it's ok to have an opinion, but personally attacking hard working members of a small organization is just wrong. I have had the best experience with Acanac billing, which surpasses any other company I've been with. At first I kinda flip flopped around, wasn't sure if I wanted the contract or not, so I went from contract, to no contract, back to contract, and they didn't complain once! Honestly, I don't know how someone can attack a computer for doing what it told you it was supposed to do. And, Mr. DiBiase, I know you have to deal with people like me everyday, and would like to say, you and your Billing team have done a great job making the service work.
Thank you,
Taylor | |
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carlo77
join:2009-03-09
H
1 edit | Have been with Acanac for more than 1 year for the Voip service 10 $ by month is the best price on the market.
I work for a voip provider we charge 29.95 / month for the same service.
I installed it on Linksys SPA2102, Had some busy/drop calls in the beginning, i sent email to the tech support they quickly fixed my problem and all is good now.
I recommand Acanac | |
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Fergless
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON
·Acanac
4 edits | You Sir and I use the term loosely, are a PIG.
Anyone that would post a link like you did should be banned from this forum.
How can anyone take you seriously.
Are you really fiestaware in disguise, is she really your sister?
The Moderator has been notified.
Did anybody else see that link in the Original Post?
What's going on with this so called forum?
I demand it be taken down Immediately, enough is enough.
UPDATE: Thanks Fatness. for removing the link.
Now if we could just do the same with the poster. | |
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darknestgirl
join:2008-08-11
Montreal, QC
·Acanac
| I did see the link but didn't clik on it, I don't know who's responsable for moderating every forum in here but they doing a poor job at it (not every of them of course but it happen too many times) and the only time the post was edited was because i did send a note to the moderator about it(not just offensive material but post where the member was rude to the person who answerd him without any reason).
They should at least look at each link that members provide to make sure there's no offensive material before the post is being seen by other members | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC
1 edit |  Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!!
So, I try to do support, but no control rights at all, even some of my messages were erased as Ad.
No idea how the Forum popularity stats are counted and what could happen in order to be moved.
... but indeed ...
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We Rock | |
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Fergless
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | PM/IM | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC | Re: PM/IM Yes Fergie, I did.
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We Rock | |
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nicewei
join:2006-05-22
L'Ile-Bizard, QC | After over a year with Acanac DSL and now paying $3x a month, I'm quite happy with it still. Much much better than bell I had before. I always knew the price was going up after the first year. I think Acanac explained this well and honestly. | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Thank You, nicewei! | |
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Cidco
join:2002-09-27
Mississauga, ON
| I didnt get the best speeds but I didnt mind because the month rate was only $18.95. The second year bill was something I couldnt swallow. So I asked about the month rate and found that to be abit much..
Now here is where this gets interesting. The new ISP provider was switch my line over and called me to tell me that my phone service was going to be down for a few minutes. We started talking and I indicated that I was going to miss the 5Meg service from Acanac. They then indicated that my service was 3Meg from Acanac and I was never at 5Meg when I was with Acanac.
It make sense that my speeds always topped out at 3 megs.. I just figured that they over subscribed there services.
I now dont feel for leaving them, I figured either way 18.95/mnt was an ok deal for 3megs. Just dont like the fact that it was a false advertising. | |
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Fergless
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Thats really to bad, if you had came to the forum we could have seen about getting your speed raised.
Anyway good luck with your new ISP.
Cheers | |
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| zadigre
join:2006-10-02
Montreal, QC
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| said by Cidco  :Just dont like the fact that it was a false advertising. did you ever contacted support to see if there was a problem on your line? If not, it's not really false advertising...
The first thing to do is to contact the company selling you a service if you think you have a problem with the service you got. If you don't do it, no one will know that the need to fix something... | |
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Trying to Cancel
| I am having the same experience wih Acanac.
My credit card billed for $407 on Feb 17th which was my renewal date. I don't have a problem with them doing the automatic renewal ... shame on me for not reading the agreement.
Where I do have a problem is the stonewalling when attempting to cancel the agreement with a one month penalty. I have internet service provided thru my employer and do not require Acanac servces any longer. Almost one month since I emailed for cancellationa and I have not received a response.
After reading this thread I called the sales dept to complain and request a refund of the all charges less one month penalty. As I informed them if I don;t hear back this week, this item will be given to a 3rd party to deal with. | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Please send me your ID.
I will check if (why) your response was delayed.
As far as I know, regardless of all similar negative posts, there is no Acanac user who didn't receive reasonably calculated amount of money back when they cancel the service at any time. | |
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Trying To Cancel
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! I have my invoice and the associated ticket number pertaining to my account and cancellation:
Ticket - HPK-66200
Invoice - 218315
I had email contact on Feb 24 thru Feb 25 with one Louis DiBiase regarding this cancellation.
Thanks for the assistance in this matter
Charles Moore | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Thanks for submitting the info.
The last update found on our system is from March 18.
Please check your Hotmail e-mail - i will send a copy. | |
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Trying to Cancel
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! I reviewed your email sent to my hotmail account. Thanks for the quick response. Please see my reponse.
It appeared you intended to include an attachement showing the status of my account\ticket but it was not included with your email.
Could you please resend with the specific amounts of the refund and monthly cancellation charges being applied to my credit card.
Thanks for your assistance with this matter. | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC
1 edit | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! I send another e-mail. The money are back to your card.
Could you explain what is this E-mail Spam story I see on your file?
Were you suspended because of spamming?
Sorry about last question, but here is a public forum; Ppl like to know the things like this.
Regards.
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We Rock | |
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Trying to Cancel
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! My PC got infected by a trojan virus that started spewing out email at random over a period of several days. I did not realize it was happening. Virus software did not detect it so had to restore my computer back to its delivered state using recovery discs to get rid of it. | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! said by Trying to Cancel :
My PC got infected by a trojan virus that started spewing out email at random over a period of several days. I did not realize it was happening. Virus software did not detect it so had to restore my computer back to its delivered state using recovery discs to get rid of it.
Thank you for this explanation.
It seems to be not your "direct" fault, I understand.
However, similar things caused suspending of all Acanac' user's e-mail activity to MSN/Hotmail servers. | |
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shabdizi
join:2009-03-22
Beaconsfield, QC
·Videotron
1 edit | Thank you for writing your experience with acanac.com.
I was thinking to switch to them but thanks to your post I am going to read CAREFULLY the user agreement on their website before joining.I do think that it is not their fault if I do not read the agreement and then am surprised after a year when my contract is renewed at a higher rate automatically. | |
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| shabdizi
join:2009-03-22
Beaconsfield, QC | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! I am now more than a month customer of acanac and am satisfied with their service.Reliable internet connection and speed;fast responding customer service and a great rate and no caps.
I recommend it over videotron. | |
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BeeWare
@teksavvy.com
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Beware, pebkac is prelevant on the internet!
Take no notice of this post, since its a PEBKAC issue.
Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
On a serious note, Acanac is amazing for offering such a great first year deal and these term rates.
With all they offer you, its easily worth the $39.99 a month, with a price of $33.99 a month for a 1 year term purchase its a steal.
At $18.95 a month for the first year and all thats offered, its robbery!
Can't wait to sign up, days , days away !
»acanac.ca/DSL-Terms.htm | |
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Thank you for your opinion. | |
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aliz10
@rogers.com
| Hi,
I have signed up yesterday & still waiting to be connected. though i did not read the service agreement but thru research i am aware of auto renewal by the end of the year with a different rate plan.
As a Canadian whenever i see a rate below market, I try & look for the Catch( I recommend every one do that.). though i don't believe this is dishonest on the part of Acanac. this is simply a marketing strategy which helps Acanac & us as consumers & is fairly advertised.
As a goodwill gesture i recommend Acanac sending out an E-mail before renewal.
I hope & expect a good experience with Acanac.
Z Naqui | |
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vista123
@videotron.ca
| Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Do not recommend acanac.
If you move during your contract and the high-speed service is not available at your new address.
you lose all your $$$$.there is no credit.
Y think before you subscribe. I lost 6 months of subscription.
The customer does not move for pleasure.
It remains only to return my modem.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Unfortunatly,internet service is not available at the address you mentioned.
Best Regards,
Acanac Inc.
Hi,
Unfortunately we are not able to refund any money for unused months,we can cancel your account now without any reimbursement.
Please let us know your decision.
Best Regards,
Acanac Inc.
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Acanac PN
Acanac Support
Premium
join:2008-10-27
Montreal, QC
2 edits | Re: ACANAC --> WARNING!! Do you think any other company would return money if you order & pay 1 complete year and use 6 months?
BTW, what amount of "lost" money you are talking about?
If you were on first 1-Year discount service, your "lost" is equal to about 1-2 months of competitor's Internet service.
Could you send me, please your Acanac ID, i will check if there is any other possibility.
Best Regards | |
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