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[Internet] I hate Bell - shipped modem back to them and they cha

Re: [Internet] I hate Bell - shipped modem back to them and they

They should have in their systems the tracking number as well ... why is this on the consumer's charge? And yes, posting here helps other see how shitty company Bell is!

reply to I hate Bell
The tracking number is written on the letter they sent you plus on the receipt from canada post.

reply to I hate Bell
The amount of calls I had to make with them just to get the damn label and then confirm they received the modem was staggering and took a window of about 2 months.

That said, if you do not pay they will send you to collections, there have been other posts on people in the same situation

reply to I hate Bell
You want a funny story about modem rentals, I'll tell you one...

About 4 years ago I set up a Bell Business internet line at my mom's office, basic 6meg line nothing fancy. I knew that the modem rental was optional on business services, so I opted to go with my own modem to save cost. Internet was installed, everything was set up and it worked fine until about 3 months ago, when the line started disconnecting randomly etc... I went in there and checked it out, the stats appeared ok but the modem had a hard time reconnecting PPPoE after the sync was restored, so I put in another modem, and the problem continued so at that time I knew it wasn't the modem, but something on Bell's end. I called Bell and the technician asked what brand modem I am using, I said a TP Link, and he said why are you using that modem when you are paying for a monthly charge... I said wtf i've had my own modem from the beginning... Anyway, Bell fixed their problem in a couple days (something at the DSLAM) and it worked fine since...

But here is where the fun starts. I asked to look at the invoices, and indeed there was a monthly $6 rental fee, and it's been there since the beginning. The lady that does the accounting at my moms office has no idea wtf a modem is, so a bill comes, she pays it. Its the same every month so they never questioned it..

So I called Bell to inquire about the modem I've never ordered, and the $6 charge. The lady said you've had a modem since the beginning. I said, I never ordered one, I've used my own since the beginning. I said investigate, I've never ordered a modem precisely to save the $6 fee.... So they start to investigate, and first off, the agent who took down the order messed it up, but it was in the notes that the customer doesnt require a rental modem. Then they say, ok we still sent you a modem, our system shows this. I said, where did you send it... They investigate some more and find out that the modem was sent to some farm house 100KM north of Toronto. I laughed, and said thats not where the service is, so why would you send it there...

Anyway after about a month of back & forth, I got them to clear the modem rental status off the account, and got back the $6 they've been charging for the past 4 years.
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GO LEAFS GO!

reply to I hate Bell
The process is reasonable. You take the package to the post office. They give you a tracking number. Voila. You have proof you sent it in. What's so hard about that?

Actually I like Bell. Great service and technology.

reply to I hate Bell
When i canceled i got a set of two stickers in the mail to return a modem i never even received in the first place. Yes i never ever received a dsl modem from Bell ever yet got the letter to return the non-existent dsl modem. Figured a adsl modem is worth at most around 5 dollars so i sent back one of those from a large supply i own.

It happened with me and Primus too.
I signed up with my own modem, and when I canceled they charged me for not returning a modem I never had.
A few phone calls cleared it up.

reply to I hate Bell

reply to HiVolt
It's pretty impressive you were able to get the $6 monthly fee back for the last 4 years. I don't know what you had to do to achieve this but I'm sure it wasn't easy. It also probably has to do with the fact that you're on a business line.

When I cancelled Bell they owed me over $200 since they had been over charging my account and charged me for the supposedly unreturned modem which had been shipped back. Took close to 5 months to get my money back and only by check sent through the mail. I guess putting the money back on the credit card is too difficult of a task for Bell.

reply to I hate Bell
That's RICH! When I first signed up with Bell last September, they sent me not one, but THREE modems(two of which had to be shipped back of course)and yes, I got billed for non-receipt too. The matter was corrected but I still can't believe the incompetence! I'm locked in on a two-year term(unless I fork over $200 for an "early termination" fee). Once my contract is up, they can come and take out everything as far as I'm concerned-even the cables running through the walls/floors. I continue to have billing disputes and have to call them every month for adjustments--no two bills are the same amount, and my DSL service has been less than satisfactory. No more. I'm through with this company. How they even stay in business is a great mystery to me...

reply to I hate Bell
The return label and letter should have had a CP tracking number.

Type it into Canada Posts tracking site.

Should have info as to who signed for it on their end.

reply to I hate Bell
Bell will now only ship a shipping sticker and you have to use your own box.

That's fine.

Find the biggest box you can, stuff it with newspaper and toss the modem in there. Instead of Bell paying $5 for a modem return they will pay over $100 if you use at least a 2 cubic foot box. Nothing Bell can do about it; they don't specify the size of the return box. If they complain tell them you didn't want to modem to get damaged or that it was the only box you had.

Screw Bell.

reply to I hate Bell
They tried to bill me for not returning a modem I had *bought* -- eventually they undid the charges, but it was annoying have to deal with them for months until the billing got fixed.

I've been able to demonstrate that this is standard operating procedure for Bell. Of the 3 clients whom I canceled Bell Business Internet, Bell claimed they did not receive the modems that were returned using their shipping labels.

In other words, it's a carefully crafted scam.

Here are some facts
•They have the tracking information as they sent a prepaid label.
•The modems (5Mbit) themselves are worth about $10 market value now.
•They do it for every client; it's SOP

My suggestion is to keep the receipt from the post office and get the paper that Bell sends you "stamped" by the postal worker. Otherwise, buy a Speedstream DSL modem from Salvation Army or whatever and send that to them. If they can't keep tracking numbers, they don't track serials.

And stop using Bell if you haven't already. Such an abusive relationship ethic with their clients.

This is class action material in my opinion.

reply to I hate Bell
When i ditched bell i got the same letter to send back a dsl modem. Problem was i never received any dsl modem when i signed up with them way back when in the first place. I sent them back a used obsolete speedstream 5260 but haven't gotten any bill yet for $86.

reply to I hate Bell
did things change in the past few years? I was with bhell, and when I ditched them, they sent me an actual package to send them back the modem/filters/power supply along with a letter to have stamped.

when I sent the package off to bell, the woman at canada post asked me for said document and she stamped it, figured that was the end of it.

2 years later, I get an extra peice of mail with my phone bill, I will be charged $75 if I don't return the modem. What the crap!!!

I have no idea where that stamped proof of return is, it's been a long time, but after contacting the people in the bell direct forum, they made it right.

bell sucks, but the people that take care of DSLR bell direct forum are good people, give them a shot.