Canadian Broadband → VMedia has TERRIBLE customer service

This is a lengthy post outlining not only the inability for VMedia to provide a service that is being paid for, but also their terrible customer service and their lack of effort to keep customers.

At the end of December and beginning of January, we were without internet for about two weeks. Over that period of time, we made almost a dozen calls to VMedia's customer service and tech services to figure out what was wrong and to schedule a tech visit. Every call was met with a response along the lines of "we have put a ticket in for you, you will receive a call by the end of the day with a date and time for a tech visit, and I will personally follow up with you tomorrow." Not only did we not receive a call back about a tech visit, we also never received a follow up call. Finally, after our persistence, we finally got an appointment scheduled.

The tech finally came, fixed our internet, and also informed us that our router was giving us slower speeds. After six hours, the internet went down again. We called VMedia again, and were promised a tech the next day at 9am. The next day, at 10:30, when no tech had arrived, we called VMedia, and spoke to a tech who did something remotely and fixed whatever problem we were having. We were happy with this but wondered why the person we spoke to the previous evening could not have done this.

We were happy that the tech told us about the speed issue with the router, and we fixed it that day.

As another note, there are two people who live in the dwelling and use the internet. One of whom is a student, and the other is a young professional, who requires the internet for her jobs. As a result, we had to go to the library/coffee shops to use the internet (not a big deal), but late at night or when time was an issue, our phone has to be used as a hotspot, which incurred an additional $50 of costs on two phones over two billing periods. VMedia told us they were not liable for these overages that resulted because they cannot provide what they are being paid to do.

Several days after we got or internet back, we were issues a refund for fourteen dollars and change. An amount that did not even compensate us for the days we were without internet. I e-mailed to complain about our laughable compensation and to give a detailed description of the calls we had placed and the content of the calls. I had also explained that our problem was not so much with the outages (while they are annoying, I understand that they are beyond VMedia's control, and that I try to support small companies wherever possible), but with the customer service. As a response, I was told that we would be given 50% off our next bill. And was also told that we have a problem with our router (as per the tech) and this is why we were having slow speeds. At no point in my e-mail did I complain about speeds, and I also made it clear that my main issue was with the terrible customer service. And as I said earlier, we had rectified this problem, AND IT IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM.

I responded to the email, reiterating my issues with customer service and again stating that the outages were not my main issue. I also posted a series of questions that I wanted an answer to regarding their customer service policies. Mainly why our messages go unanswered, and why, every customer service rep promises a follow up, and never does, and why we had to call repeatedly to get a response about a tech visit. we also requested additional compensation (refund our installation fee and modem cost or three months free service). We though the first was only fair since we are NOT receiving a consistent service.

At the end of the email I requested that a manager call me so that we could discuss it and not draw it out over a series of e-mails. We received an email, five days later telling no additional compensation would be made. She also made no attempt to answer any of the questions I had posed, nor said she would forward them to someone who could help me.

Our internet went out last night after having it back for 12 days, we called and left a message. We received a call back (he left a message) and AGAIN brought up the router issue, telling us that the reason we had no internet was because of our router. This is laughable because the modem was clearly not receiving and data, and when I connected the modem directly to the computer, there was no internet.
I called an additional two times today, and asked to speak to a manager twice, and at both times, there was none available. I was promised a call back from a manager, but we will see

This company is exhausting, and they make no effort to provide consistent internet, or decent customer service. If you are thinking about receiving any service from his company, don't. run in the opposite direction.

Sadly it's the way companies, and particularly Telecoms, do business these days. It's all about the CASH. Plain and simple. Nobody gives a rat's ass if they actually deliver what the customer is paying for. As long as that CASH keeps rolling in they could care less if the consumer is happy.

Customer Service and Corporate Responsibility are just meaningless words in the dictionary.

So, did you replace your router?

Yes, we did rectify the situation, which involved replacing the router. The speeds are fine, (well, as good as you can get from VMedia, which is never as fast as you pay for), but speed was never our complaint. VMedia made it their issue to pass the blame on to us, rather than actually dealing with their inability to provide a service and their terrible customer service.

Great to hear. Sounds like it was nice of them to compensate you for lost time due to your router.

I understand your frustration, but please do not generalize..

No, as I explained, the lost time was due to there being NO INTERNET CONNECTION. But let me explain it again. At the end of December and the beginning of January, we were two weeks without internet connection. No connection at all. Connecting the modem directly to the computer still produced no connection. In January 6th, a tech came, repaired the line, and we got connection back again. At that point he told us that we were losing SPEED not connection between the modem and router, and suggested that we fix it. We did, as soon as he left. Six hours later, our connection was out again. A problem with the line, not the speed.

The compensation we received was due to the PROBLEM WITH THE LINE, not the problem with the router. Which, I will repeat again, affected only speed, and not our complete loss of internet connection.

At no point did we complain about speed. We complained about a loss of connection. The router had nothing to do with the problem on their end, that left us without internet connection for two weeks. Does that clarify my point?

You're right. I shouldn't generalize. I've just read and heard stories similar to mine. I am happy that you are (I assume) getting good service from them. I hope it continues!

Believe me, I had to spend a few hours on the phone with them to get there

If it was a problem with the line and not the router, I'm impressed the phone agent was able to solve it for you when it went down the second time.

Me too actually. I was impressed. This was one of the few examples of good service I have received from them. And at the point it went down the second time, we had replaced the router. And we have had another outage since. So, most likely a problem on their end.

Frankly in view of the comments and qualifications, would you mind changing the title of this thread? All things considered, it is not entirely accurate.

No, sorry. My main issue has been with the continuing sub-par customer service I have been receiving.

Actually it is not about cash, it is about reputation and brandbuilding. You know nothing about what it is about. If we fail it is simply because we tried our best and were unable to help. Anyone who is in this just to screw a customer for a couple of bucks is an idiot. And anyone who thinks that is the case is one as well.

Thank you Samgee.One could definitely interpret his won words that way.

Well then please let me have your ID so I can look into it and get a better understanding about your complaint, because based on what you have written, your thread title is way out of line.

How so? I have stated that I understand the issue with the outages, and I understand that tech wait times are not your fault. My issue is the lack of follow up when promised, the terrible tech support I have encountered via telephone, the inability to be directed to customer support, or a manger when asked, and the dismissive tone I have received in many of my interactions with customer service.

My offer stands.So, apparently, does your desire to hurl invectives from the comfort of your anonymity.

Oh George, please. Your attitude on this forum is just an example of the dismissive customer service I have received. You have trained them in your image.

I had a call from a manager, a call I was impressed with. And was leaning towards staying, and was trying to convince my partner to stay as well, but after reading your responses, here, and in other forums, I find your attitude disrespectful. For this reason, I do not want to deal with you in this matter. Had you approached this in a respectful manner, I would absolutely have passed on my information, but your attitude indicates that you will be no more helpful than the "customer service" I have already dealt with.

I understand the need to defend your company, and I find it refreshing that you spend the time to reach out to customers on forums, but the way you deal with it is inappropriate and makes me want to leave.

"Had you approached this in a respectful manner, I would absolutely have passed on my information,"

Actually, if you read the thread, I did, and you didn't. I am not defending my company, at this point I am simply calling you out. Your thread title was not only inconsistent with your own words, but with the comments and experience of others on this thread. Your reluctance to change it, and acknowledge your unnecessary denigration of our efforts, says far more about you than about VMedia.

George, he's posting from a Vianet IP. He's disparging Vmedia as a competitor. Thus the anominity.

Thanks Elwood, but I think that is the IP of a company related to VMedia. There is in fact another Vianet in Sudbury, but I don't think this is the one. But I appreciate your support.

As a rather new-ish company, I suspect that they are experiencing growing pains. We do see them responding here to the various issues they face. Also, we often see George stating they they want & strive to be a top tier service, and we surely hope that they get there.

That said, we do see this type of complaint quite often in here, suggesting some work remains between where they are, and where they hope to be.

If you notice, they're always anon posters, come in, slag some company , then we never hear from them again.

I'm no fanboi, but I can say I've never (with the exception of a provisioning issue which is not Vmedia's fault) had a problem.

Lucky? Maybe, but then I don't come running in here and complaining when my speed has dropped by .00001% (Cough Doctor Cough)

 
George, I don't think that the OP could change the thread title even if he/she wished to do so.

Anon posters on DSLR are not allowed to do this, and registered DSLR users have 5 days from when any post is made to change content and/or title.

Still, I have read where the OP eventually says some things in VMedia's favour, which are not evident by the thread's title.

A moderator could do something about the title, but not sure that they like to do so very often.

 
Yes, I have seen this happen a lot over the years here.

Oh I've no doubt that's often true. I was just offering my impression from a neutral point of view.

Actually, I've never had issues with the customer service. I've had to deal with some weird stuff with the tech. support that was outside of their control, but there's never been a billing issue with my account.

For the speeds, I'm in Rogers territory and can't get DSL in my building. Right in the heart of where vmedia has been having the most problems with speeds, with me seeing sometimes as low as 2-3mbit on speed tests over the xmas holidays. Even then, during daytime/off peak hours the speed was fine. The last couple of weeks, however, I've been consistently getting 23-25mit during peak hours (I'm paying for 25/2). That's on wireless. In a high rise with 30+ networks visible. (3 5GHz wireless) I've been monitoring the speeds pretty closely, because the slow speed during peak hours is the reason I haven't gotten TV service yet: I don't want it to be unwatchable precisely when I want to watch TV.

They seem to be working pretty hard to get their stuff together. Credit where it's due, yeah? It's been a rocky product launch, for reasons they haven't attempted to hide (largely due to integration/reselling CIK at the start), and they've made enormous progress towards eliminating those problems for most of their users. Within a few months, they'll finally be rid of CIK in all markets/products, and things will be better.

I really appreciate the support.

I don't want to seem to be belabouring this thread, but I am still waiting for Fedup15 to give me his/her ID so i can look into the matter. I have circulated the post internally and think we have identified the person, but I will not discuss the circumstances unless Fedup15 confirms identity and authorizes us to provide details.

The fact is that as many of our customers know we have had our share of issues over the last two months, and we are past them all except the lingering lag in maintaining one of our cable internet service's speed levels. We are big boys and girls, and have never had an issue accepting and addressing legitimate complaints. However with the hit that our brand has taken, it becomes important to respond aggressively to unfair and illegitimate complaints, especially those which trumpet an insupportable thread title that magnifies the injustice.

I am still willing to address Fedup15 openly, but there is little doubt in my mind that if Fedup15 is the person we think,that person was handled professionally and with the empathy and responses that a fair customer would expect.

cancel his service for complaining in public?