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Review by morbidasperg 
Posted: 210 days ago
member for 210 days, 3 visits, last login: 142 days ago
 Quebec,QC
 $46 per month
 about 2 days
 "Almost always on, Fast connection most of the times."
 "Custommer service is next to non-existant."
 "Avoid if you are not in a hurry to get connected."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Ordering and having Sympatico service up and running is perhaps the best experience the provider provides (!). It is fast and easy. The current plan I have is 5M/800k and the connection is exactly that. It costs 46.00 CAD$ a month incluging taxes.
A lot of people are complaining about throttling but unless I`m wrong, it only occurs over Bit Torrent protocols that are unencrypted and I never felt a slow down.
I currently have my 3rd Bell Modem, a Speedstream 6250 modem/router/wifi access point combo.It works but the router capabilities are underwhelming. You can bypas it`s router functions and use it only as a modem - something I have yet to try.
Calling customer service is like a nightmare in which you scream and nobody hears. You want to wake up but can't.
When I enlisted with Bell there were a single other broadband option in Quebec City: Videotron and they had just made a mistake with my account I was not willing to excuse.
So I went with Sympatico. Now, some 6 or 7 years later and many frustrating calls to CSRs I am about to move, and I may leave Sympatico behind. As there is now several dsl/cable providers around.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by maelharris
Posted: 224 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 224 days ago
Guelph,ON
$44 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
 Bell Canada
"Rarely fast."
"Always slow"
"7mbps... no, this feels like a 1.5mbps line."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Unfortunately I was suckered into a two year contract plan. At the time I thought I'd try it out since I also needed a home phone and TV. The bundle sounded like a great deal. Pfffft. WRONG!
I have been with Bell Sympatico internet (7mbps) for about a year and a half. Recently my roomates got a laptop and now my internet connection is shared with them. They mostly download stuff through P2P while most of my internet usage is done through web browsing and primarily gaming. Surfing the net is fine. Pages always load quick enough though download speeds are less than satisfactory. When it comes to gaming my latency is always very high and I'm usually the laggiest player in a server. If my roomates are simultaneously online it is impossible for me to play any of my games online. When I lived at home, my Rogers 1.5mpbs cable internet was capable of letting me game with some minor lag even while I had a P2P running in the background. The 7mbps DSL line which I am on now is completely incapable of handling loads.
I originally chose the 7mbps service because I knew how inadequate a 1.5mbps line is especially when it comes to gaming. I also knew that at one point that I would have to share my internet connection with my roomates. I really thought that a 7mbps line would blow me into cyberspace faster than a UFO hurling out of our atmosphere. In the end, I have been ripped off by a lousy ISP that does not provide its advertised speeds.
I am ready to bend over and pay the cancellations fees so that I can terminate this terrible internet service. Bell Sympatico is an absolute rip off and I feel embarrassed that I had to discover this the hard way.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Bell_Abused
UPDATED: 235 days ago
member for 3.1 years, 160 visits, last login: a few hours ago
undisclosed location
Contract price not specified.
Bell Canada
"They almost always thank you for calling and chosing Bell. Nice and polite."
"everything related to Bell as a whole"
"Not worth spending your hard-earned money on. Avoid."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
4th Update (April 3, 2009)
I got my 2nd yearly phone call telling me how much Bell has changed and its better.
Like last year I asked: What are the quality improvements to the service.
I got an "ummm".. "hmmm"... "oooh" and finally they said we can give you a better rate.
I said, "ok match the price i currently have and give me 10-meg with actual support that won't give me BS and lies".
She said she can't. I said, "you just told me I would get a better rate. How is it better if you want to give me 1-meg and phone for the same cost"?
I said tell me and show me how Bell has been improved quality wise across all services and support mechanisms.
Bell said "we can lower your cost".
I told the girl you're wasting my time and said good bye (I didn't hang -up). She said "hello". I responded by saying you didn't answer my questions.
She said, "we can reduce 5$ if you bundle..." I told her to fuck off with her bullshit and long term contracts and hung up.
Maybe on day Bell will call me and tell me how quality improved. Till then they know what they can blow.
==
3rd update (Aug 10, 2008)
Been over a year now without a single Bell product or Bell service in my home. With all the nickel and diming they are doing with Cell & Inet I am 100% glad I got rid of Bell completely.
Had a sales call on my 1-year anniversary of leaving them telling me how much their quality improved since I left. I asked them to tell me what changed and how, they couldn't.
Figured if they can call me and tell me how good their quality is without being able to justifying it, then I can review them once again.
-Throttling
-Lower B/W usage
-Inherent problems with phone lines causing DSL to be totally unreliable compared to cable.
-Price gouging people who use text messaging on their cells by charging per incoming txt.
-Phone reps still unable to answer the most basic questions (like the sales call I had).
-All they are doing and trying to do to the little bit of wholesale competition to get your money.
-the list goes on...
They would have to pay me to use their services ever again.
A note for the Brainiac Residential Executive at Bell:
If you are going to get your sales force to call people on their 1-year anniversary on leaving Bell, you might want to consider calling 1-month prior to the 1-year date so you can maybe try and lure them away PRIOR to them signing another contract with the competition. Duh.
2nd update (May 30th):
Upon cancellation, I did not get the 100$ early termination fee I was told to expect.
The Associate to the president of residential services must have taken care of it (thanks).
On a Bell parting note (I cancelled all Bell services), the only positive I can give on Bell is that their Executive Office/Associates do the job. But there is no rating on Executive's. But if there were, I'd rate them a 4 out of 5.
I was also given a contact for line issues direct with the Bell cable dept and told never to contact 611 again due to their lack of knowledge and support (too late for that now). A TY goes to the guy/gal/boss in the cable dept (again not a DSLR ratable item, but a 5 out of 5), and it took many a bitching to get through to the cable division trust me.
Trying videotron for a year to see what the other side is like... and so far so good, aside from an echo on the phone line though, but 100% cleared up with Bell DSL filters... go figure :/ [sigh]
The presidents associate came to the conclusion that the experience I had was "rare" (I don't see it as rare as others here and elsewhere have the same experiences). So I took offence to that cop-out excuse. More should write to kevin.crull-AT-bell.ca with their real issues (not my speed is slow whaaa).
Maybe I will be back with Bell in a year (or not), Or if I see they improve upon real customer issues and non-compliance issues, within this forum and their own forum.
Ah yeah upon cancellation a month ago, I was told a modem return kit would be shipped, was given a confirmation number... needless to say it never came. I called they said they never sent it (guy on the line giggled) and I was given yet again another confirmation #. I told the Business office rep i was tired of all their BS and lies told him to send it or don't, Your last chance. Got it 2 days later.
The end, finally.
Update 1:
Figured I would update this since the "fan-boys" tend to update 100% across the board on a regular basis:
-New 30-gig Bandwidth policies
-When you call to cancel, EVEN WHEN YOUR CONTRACT IS UP, they try telling you that you will get a 100$ termination fee anyhow.
-When you call to give the 30-day notice of contract termination, they say you will get the 100$ termination fee.
-They have errors in customer contract start dates which will lead to a 100$ early cancellation fee. I am one of these unfortunates. Now since the exec office knows and Billing knows, why can't they fix it before i get my bill?? I was warned to expect it :/
-same run-arounds, nothing changed, even when following policy to cancel.
-MSN Email is getting worse with MSN telling new domains (who get blocked) to pay 1400$-US to be put on a safe list... Anyone remember the AOL pay for Email scandel?? Sympatico is now the new AOL of Canada with Email (Due to MSN policy, not sympatico's, but why does sympatico put up with this?).
-Intermitant MSN problems still to this day. Some days an email from the same domain will get through, other days it won't. MSN says its their overly-agressive spam filter. Live with it (even if you pay 1400$ to be on their "safe list").
-Bell Corporate BCE web site says 2007 is the year of customer service and share-holder pay-back. I was called a "valued customer". Gee, thanks!
-Trouble tickets still closed off as fixed when they are not and added to their BCE site to improve good stats (those who are treated like this i was told are "rare"). How many "Rare" people out there who had to call for weeks or months on the same trouble-ticket issue?
-New sales tactic when calling in to get your profile or line fixed, they now tell you to pay to upgrade.
-High-speed Ultra, which basically is the same as regular High-speed increased again, this year an additional 5$.
-Hushmail completely blocked by Sympatico. Guess They don't like what they can't read??
Value for your money before was a big zero. Now its getting sub-zero and kind of dumb
Going to try a different telco and ISP for a year and compare. Will post another update if I get an early termination fee to complain some more.
=======
1. Pre-sales info:
-Pre-sales Bell lies are very much viewable in the sympatico forum and Sympatico own user forum.
-Bell tells everyone they are eligible for full 5-meg service even if you call from china.
2. Connection reliability:
-Connections drops are normal.
-Ping rates are in the 100-200 range.
-Email servers down regularly.
-Email spam filters go down and you get flooded with spam.
-Sympatico hardware regularly goes down (their routers) leading to bad game play or web pages not loading.
-RBC Banking issues due to them
-Some SSL site issues due to them
-They block their own hosts (*.bell.ca) in users personal web-space effectively blocking access for users.
-Hidden list of issues related to bells services and only viewable by their techs.
-When you call and one of those issues are on their list as a sympatico/Bell problem, they tell you its your computer the problem.
-They are not honest about connection issues and problem items.
3. Tech Support:
-If you call in for a problem, you get a very big run-around.
-Almost impossible to have good service. techs admit this themselves.
-If you call in for a line issue, they will auto-degrade your speed and tell you its fixed while the underlying issue(s) continues.
-If they actually fix the issue, its a fight to get your speed profile back up.
-If you call with static on your phone and connectivity issues they will ask you to speak louder over the static so they can properly hear you and say, there is no problem.
-They close off trouble-tickets at their discretion when problems arise effectively forcing the customer to make another 100-calls or forcing the customer to give up.
4. Services:
-Bell lies to you saying wire-care will give you trouble-free service should line problems arise.
When my line problems arose Bell Canada (611) told me to play with the wires at the demarc and try and fix it myself.
-DO NOT TAKE AND PAY FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES. Word of the wise.
-Their Value Added Security service is a beta.
-Visually impaired people cannot see it due to the 96dpi font size only.
-It works sometimes, and sometimes not.
-The security package has parts that don't work
-If you call for support on their product that you pay for, Bell will tell you, sorry we don't support that (as seen in their own forum).
5. Value for your hard-earned money:
-a big zero. Better service/reliability/value can be obtained through resellers or cable.
Followup comments:  
pez66
@bell.ca
| Thieves About Sums It I called for tech support, was offered a laptop computer and refused it. No help from tech support 2 weeks later I still get disconnected every 1/2 hour and after 4 calls to confirm my laptop oder and telling them I dont want it. Its sitting here beside me. Bell needs to be brought to justice........ they have become the largest thieving corporation in N. America! @#*%-youBELL CANADA! | |
| |
know the feeling
@videotron.ca
| Re: Thieves About Sums It bring your complaint to the president of residential services as I did. Email kevin.crull-AT-bell.ca and explain the issues you have, support not being helpfull, the number of calls, a laptop you didn't want and so forth. They should try and fix you up.
I gave up... couldn't take the run-arounds any more.. but its only been 2 weeks for you, not 3 months of the same run-around or 6 weeks of the same run-around and trouble tickets closed off as fixed, no show techs and so forth.
but i know the frustration factor.... use that Email above and get it sorted out. Also demand a credit for the amount of time your DSL service has been off and on (or non-functional) and getting no support. | |
|
Vrmeer_1
@bell.ca
| Bell Sympatico Crooks I have been with SYMPATICO for nine years. I don't have plastic so I can't leave and they will not let me cancel my account.
1, I changed my phone number and reported it to Sympatico as instructed.
2 8 months later (2 weeks ago, I all of a sudden lost my phone line and my highspeed access - (and they have been withdrawing thier fee regularly btw.)
3. I call Bell Telephone to report the loss of my phone line. They send a technician in two days.
4. The technician has to go to the sub station to figure out what is wrong
5. The technician comes back and tells me Sympatico cut my phone line
(the technician is very very pissed off)
6. The technician calls SYMPATICO, he give SYMPATICO SHIT, he passes the phone over to me and tells me not to talk to him.
7 Sympatico tells me I need a new modem and to take my old one back to Teleboutique.
8. Sympatico sends me a new 2Wire modem, but with no cables or filters, The packing slip says there are 3 filters, spliter, 4 conducter tel cable, ethernet wire in the box which there are not. I call and complain
9. They mail me two cd pouches by mail each with 1 filter, 1 splitter, 1 ethernet cable, not 4 conducter tel cable. So I scrounge up my own
9 Sympatico tells me that my service will be restored after midnight on the 17th of Oct after midnight.
10 Nothing happens on the 18th of October.
11. SYMPATICO tells me it is going to working by Sunday, 21st
12 I still don't have any service on the 22nd, Monday
13. Yesterday I call and complain, they tell me that my service will be working after midnight Monday, 22.
14 It is now Tuesday morning the 23 and my DSL light is still blinking. My phones are all filtered now.
15 there is no answer at Sympatico tech support 310 surf.
I am still paying for service I don't have, plus for 8 months they were charging me for service on a telephone line that didn't exist.  | |
| | Bell_Abused
join:2006-10-07
 ·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks If I were you, I would make the issues known in either of these two places so as to get it all sorted out once and for all:
1. Sympatico's forum:
»www.supportcommunity.sympatico.c···list.jsp
2. DSLR's Sympatico Direct forum (you need to reg on DSLR):
»/forum/sympatdirect
They should fix you up once and for all via any of these two escalation routes.
Also, make sure to get a ticket number and also make sure to state that you do not want to pay for their frig up's. Insist on a month credit or more till they fix it. You should get it. But you have to be vocal about it.
But yup... been through this as well.... | |
| | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC
| Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks thanks,
well, on the 24th my phone went dead again!! I had to call Bell Telephone that night to send over a repair technician again on the 25th again they had to go to the substation.
The second Bell technician, (after asking me how my DSL service was working LOL) not Sympatico, got my dsl working and then I got a call from Kevin Crull's office, Sympatico telling me they were working on it.
thanks for the references! | |
| | | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC
1 edit |  Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks
Sympatico sent me two new modems, not just one, then they quadrupled my billing and the billing office told me that I had upgraded my service. They withdrew 4 times my original bill from my checking accunt and now have they not just screwed up my high speed service they have totally ukedfaed my checking account as well.
I DID NOT want an UPGRADE to MY SERVICE, I DID NOT ORDER AN UPGRADE MY SERVICE, Sympatico did not tell me they were upgrading my service, SYMPATICO ARBITRARILY UPGRADED MY SERVICE WITHOUT TELLING ME OR ASKING ME or informing me there was going to be a quadroupled service fee.
I wanted only that they restored the ruptured service they already caused. (see above)  Off to Quebec Consumer protection again.
You are looking for ISP provider? STAY AWAY FROM BELL SYMPATICO MSN you will save yourself a ton of service cuts, phone line cuts, headaches, passive aggression to keep you in service and unauthorized withdrawls | |
| | | | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC
| Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks My phone service and my Sympatico service was cut off again on November the 14th and again I had to call Bell Canada to come in to restore my phone. If I hadn't called myself they would have done nothing about it.
I have forwarded a CC of my latest letter to Mr. Crull to CBC's Market Place and Quebec Consumer Protection as well as to a Quebec MNA. I am living on a disability and I believe that Bell Canada is using this scenerio to force me to have my service upgrades as now the Bell Business office have deceptivly forced me to upgrade to wireless at 3 times the price that I was originally paying. | |
| | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC
| Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks | 3rd Service Rupture Bell and Sympatico cut off my telephone service and Sympatico service a 3rd time on November the 14th. I had to call in Bell Repair service again. If I hadn't Bell would again just ignored my service rupture.
I sent Mr. Crull's office another email to this end. I got called back by three different people in his office and then another a Mr. Ouimet or a Mr. Ouimar who told me that he was sorry and that the money would be put back in my chequing account. But he never did. I have his phone number.
What the business office has done has forced me into a higher charged internet service with this scenario that I can neither afford or use. I am pre-retired living on a rudimentary restricted disability.
I have forwarded an email to Mr. Crull's office to this effect, I have also sent a cabon copy to CBC's Market Place and Government of Quebec MNA. If there is anyone that is filing a Civil Class Action suit against Bell Sympatico MSN count me in. | |
| | | | Bell_Abused
join:2006-10-07
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks | 3rd Service Rupture Wow!
You are really getting jerked around here.
Yes, do contact Crulls Office again on Monday.
In the mean time, make a post in the forum:
»/forum/sympatdirect
Maybe someone there can help you sort all this out.
...and good for you for Emailing and calling them and sticking to your guns on the issues. Many would have given up.
 | |
| | | | | | | | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC | Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks | 3rd Service Rupture thanks 'Bell Abused'. I filed a complaint with the CRTC and posted same as suggested. Vrmeer_1  | |
| | | | | | Bell_Abused
join:2006-10-07 | Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks | 3rd Service Rupture you got a reply in the direct forum in case you are not aware... | |
| | | | | | | Vrmeer_1
join:2007-10-31
Longueuil, QC | Re: Bell Sympatico Crooks | 3rd Service Rupture thanks! Yes, I saw it. I received another phone call from Bell yesterday and this woman said she was going to take care of it. So, I just made sure I was polite. Thanks. Vrmeer_1 | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by DKS
UPDATED: 245 days ago
member for 8.6 years, 4944 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Owen Sound,ON
$55 per month
about 10 days
Bell Canada
"As reliable as an old Timex... takes a licking and keeps on ticking..."
"Tech support is scripted. Not always accurate."
"Reliable and stable connection. No surprises. Excellent value for money."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well above consensus)
|
Bell Canada HSE is a rock solid performer. It's always there and rarely (if ever) fails. Speed is as advertised ( 5056 down/ 800 up profile; 4400 up / 600 down in real life). I do not use the supplied modem but use a Speedtouch 536v6 with 7.4.1.7 firmware.
Update. Still ticking along.
Update 24/03/09: Still ticking.
Grandfathered HSLD Bundle. Unlimited Download
Attachments:
Followup comments:
LuckyLuke
@bell.ca | Not everyones experiance, so lucky you! "It's always there and rarely (if ever) fails."
Thats lucky, For you. | |
| |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs: | Re: Not everyones experiance, so lucky you! That's been the norm since I signed on Sympatico in 1994. High Speed since 2000. And Bellnet since 2001. Your mileage may vary.
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
| | bohn
join:2006-05-30
Scarborough, ON | Probably only works for him because he never downloads anything. 12 gigabytes is deemed not anything. | |
| | |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs:
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Not everyones experiance, so lucky you! said by bohn :Probably only works for him because he never downloads anything. 12 gigabytes is deemed not anything. Just like the majority of HSE clients...
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
|
Bell sucks
@bell.ca
| People please,no blanket statements(my connection vs urs) Too many people just hyping their connections here...Bell sucks suck it up...Been with them 6 years and lately been even worse,disconnections,incomptent tech support that doesnt know 1/1000th ofyour average joe computer neophyte.Most of their techies are actually taking calls from 3rd world countries before relaying you to another degree of tech support.
They're a bad,big mean machine...Their capital is all that matters until we start throwing them rocks,then suddenly,you get a call from a rep on the job telling you they are sorry,offering u a free month of their shitty internet and trying to push for u to buy a new service....
horrible horrible experience for someone that actively uses his connection(online games,downloads or just trying to stay looged on omg!!) | |
| |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs:
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: People please,no blanket statements(my connection vs urs) said by Bell sucks :
Too many people just hyping their connections here...Bell sucks suck it up...Been with them 6 years and lately been even worse,disconnections,incomptent tech support that doesnt know 1/1000th ofyour average joe computer neophyte.Most of their techies are actually taking calls from 3rd world countries before relaying you to another degree of tech support.
They're a bad,big mean machine...Their capital is all that matters until we start throwing them rocks,then suddenly,you get a call from a rep on the job telling you they are sorry,offering u a free month of their shitty internet and trying to push for u to buy a new service....
horrible horrible experience for someone that actively uses his connection(online games,downloads or just trying to stay looged on omg!!)
As I said, "Your mileage may vary." But I am a satisfied customer.
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
| | | newf7
join:2007-09-11
Brampton, ON
| Re: People please,no blanket statements(my connection vs urs) said by DKS :
As I said, "Your mileage may vary."
Mine certainly did. "Your mileage may vary" is a phrase seen often on escort review boards which considering the way I've been screwed by Bell Sympatico for the past month is appropriate.
said by DKS :
But I am a satisfied customer.
IMNSHO when used in the context of Bell Sympatico "satisfied customer" is a euphemism for "shill" but to be fair DKS has stated he doesn't work for them. | |
| | | |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs:
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: People please,no blanket statements(my connection vs urs) said by newf7 : said by DKS :
But I am a satisfied customer.
IMNSHO when used in the context of Bell Sympatico "satisfied customer" is a euphemism for "shill" but to be fair DKS has stated he doesn't work for them. Not only do I not work for Bell, I have never worked for Bell. And I don't work in the telecom or IT industry, either. To be fair, I do work as a volunteer with Rogers Television.
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
| | | 
travisc
join:2001-11-09
Port Perry, ON | Well, it does happen. When I was on Rogers, my connection was always fast, and rarely went down. I had no problems, despite many others having far worse situations. Occasionally, Bell does get it right! | |
| | | | newf7
join:2007-09-11
Brampton, ON | Re: People please,no blanket statements(my connection vs urs) As they say: "Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in awhile." | |
| | | | |
surprise not
@videotron.ca
| the review title "Reliable and stable connection. No surprises. Excellent value for money."
I seem to recall you being surprised a few time.... the MSN surprise you and your wife encountered, the phone problem, then the lower speed, and a couple of more surprises.
Is "No Surprises" still appropriate in your case?
Guess it is. But this is "no surprise"  | |
| |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs:
·Bell Sympatico
1 edit | Re: the review title said by surprise not :"Reliable and stable connection. No surprises. Excellent value for money." I seem to recall you being surprised a few time.... the MSN surprise you and your wife encountered, the phone problem, then the lower speed, and a couple of more surprises. Is "No Surprises" still appropriate in your case? Guess it is. But this is "no surprise" We had two "surprises" in eight years. The false 911 issue (which was not a DSL issue) and the e-mail not working issue. That's not bad, so yes, "so surprises" still applies.
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
| | | | | | 
WaitForGodot
join:2009-01-07
·Bell Sympatico
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Re: the review title DKS, don't you want to update you review especially after your recent rant about connectivity of some of your relatives ?
»[Internet] 2 Wire Modem & the Mac Wireless
By now I am sure, even you, being a patient man, would like to reconsider your glowing tribute to Bell. They have a very long history of forcing off long-term customers of years, to leave it in disgust. Just check out the forums. | |
| | | |
DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs: | Re: the review title It was just updated. I made my point in the thread. Mot much more to say.
--
Need-based health care not greed-based health care. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by a1_Andy
Posted: 246 days ago
member for 3.9 years, 1743 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Campbellford,ON
$48 per month (12 month contract)
about 3 days
Bell Canada
"none"
"Tech support, Poor Reliability, Slow Browsing, Random Disconnects, Blocked Ports,,,,,,,,"
"Bell Internet sucks"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Tech support is useless, The only way they know of a problem on bells end is by call volume. Everyone in this area is getting random packet loss at the second hop affecting both bell and DSL wholesalers. The best way to get bell to look at a pice of failing hardware on their end is to call a wholesaler and have them put in a ticket after showing them where the packet loss is, Bell tech support doesn't even know what packet loss is. They will say "don't swear at me sir" when you tell them packet loss at second hop. I was told by tech support that I can't use a none bell modem with their service. (It doesn't mater what modem I use packet loss is at the second hop) I do have a bell supplied 2wire pos and pluged that it to humor myself. Then the tech support will try and upsell a higher speed (I'm calling because its not working properly).
Almost everything that can be outsourced out of Canada has been, sales rep's will outright lie to keep you as a customer "bell is moving 1 million jobs back to Canada" bell customer retention. (1 mill eh?) the jobs are not coming to Canada they are going to Texas and its no where near 1 mill.
DPI, since DPI was introduced we can't play games that use encrypted links such as EvE online because the bell will sometimes throttle it to 30Kb/s (I don't file share). Your bell sympatico email will be read by some American security agency because its hosted in the USA and therefore falls under the patriot act.
I know bell will pull my line card from this phone line when I am finally able to cancel this poor excuse for a ISP but I have Teksavvy DSL as well on this phone line.
Called to switch my phone services as well and was told that any other phone provider will give second rate service as other providers are given the bad side of bells phone network, (Really?) So this is why bell is trying to make it mandatory for customers to call them before switching providers, so the customer retention can lie to the customers."If you are not on bell and there is a line problem it will take 4 days for us to fix it, but if your on bell we will have it fixed in 24 hours".
A note to DSLR review mode's, Any Review that gives bell a 5 for Tech support is fake, even 3web/CIA had better tech support than bell and they didn't answer the phone 9 out of 10 times.
UBB, bell wants to double dip. Great idea by bell. Charge for a service, then charge again for using it. My deal with bell is for a 6 Mbps service but not only do they slow my connection randomly for using encrypted links bell wants to charge us again for the amount of data I transfer, even if bell is not the provider I am currently using.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Bell Sympatico |
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Review by PygmySurfer
Posted: 246 days ago
member for 265 days, 22 visits, last login: 106 days ago
Windsor,ON
$47 per month (36 month contract)
Bell Canada
"reliable, no usage caps (grandfathered plan - not the case for new customers!)"
"throttling not only their customers, but the customers of those who purchase their services wholesale and re-sell them"
"Auditioning Cogeco for a month - if it's better, I'm cancelling ALL of my Bell services (Home Phone, Internet, Satellite TV)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
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Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I used to be a Cogeco customer, from 2001-2004. It was OK, though my service would often go down for an hour or so, and they couldn't explain why. So when I built my new house, I decided to try out Bell. I forget the exact details and pricing of the plan, since I signed up in December of 2004. Installation was relatively painless, though I think they failed to show the first day they were scheduled to. I was supplied a SpeedStream 5242 modem, which I've since replaced with a Netopia 3347NWG-ENT. I forget if the contract term was 24 months or 36 months - it's since expired.
Bell was great for several years - the service was incredibly reliable (went down twice in 4 years, I think), the price was decent, but not great, and it was pretty fast. I even got a free speed upgrade (it was initially 3 or 4mbps, it's now 5). When I signed up, Bell had not yet implemented usage caps. When caps were finally instituted, my plan remained unaffected - this was a nice touch.
Then, the throttling started. It wasn't too bad at first, but lately it's been getting worse. Recently, I've even begun to experience issues with my Vonage VOIP service, and I believe it's related to the throttling. There's also a mandatory modem rental fee, even though I replaced my Bell modem with a Netopia router.
Customer Support has long been a weakness - any time that I've called I've gotten somebody who can do nothing more than read from a script, who has a poor ability to communicate in English. I don't mean to be hard on the people who work in these call centres, it's the companies' fault for moving the work there, not the Support Agents', however, it's very difficult to get assistance from these people when they have a poor grasp of the English language.
I've also tried emailing support on the website a few times - I've never received a reply. The last time I did was for the Vonage problem mentioned above. They sent a tech out to check my line for some reason - even the tech was confused when I explained my problem to him (there was obviously nothing he could do).
Many companies like TekSavvy, Acanac and MNSi rely on Bell's network to reach their customers. Bell has decided to not only throttle their own customers' connections, but also connections of customers of these other small internet providers who's traffic happens to cross Bell's network (which is most people, since Bell is typically the only option to the customers' homes, for DSL). How our government let's them get away with this is beyond me.
Today I phoned Cogeco, I'm going to audition their business internet service for a month (the 60gb cap on the residential service is way too low which is why I'm going with business). If I'm satisfied, I'll be pulling ALL of my Bell services ($157.57/month worth).
I wish there was more competition in Windsor - we really only have two options. If anyone in Windsor is reading this review trying to decide on their own service, I feel your pain. Hopefully my Cogeco experience will be better, so that I can recommend it to anyone shopping for service.
Followup comments:
hmm
@videotron.ca | other competition To my understanding MNSi has their own equipment in Windsor.
You might want to call and ask about it. | |
| | PygmySurfer
join:2009-03-04
Windsor, ON
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: other competition I emailed MNSi, and they do have their own equipment, but unfortunately, I'm on a remote, so they can't help me out.
MNSi support was really helpful (The owner, Clayton Zekelman was the person who responded to all of my emails), they looked into it for me, and assured me I would still be subject to Bell's throttling. | |
| | |
ewuqroewqdsfa
@cgocable.net | Re: other competition cogeco is pretty good if you can live with the caps ...
you won't be throttled, voip works well, its very stable. | |
|
Nogeco
@sil.at
| Cogeco worst then Bell Cogeco is far worst then Bell. Listen to hmm..it would be your best bet.
Cogeco has ridiculously low caps, and cogeco DOES throttle and if your on a share site, you can't keep a ratio with cogeco.
Grass is always greener on the other side, but in this case, it's not 
Cogeco is a rip and costs way to much for what they offer, and they will treat you like a alien if you use over 60gigs, that is crazy to them. I guarantee you will be paying more with cogeco, for a lot less. | |
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Review by nickvd
UPDATED: 251 days ago
member for 1.7 years, 171 visits, last login: 137 days ago
Hamilton,ON
$90 per month (24 month contract)
about 5 days
Bell Canada
"It works... that's all I can honestly say"
"Over priced, Capped, Throttled, Soon to be Usage Based Billing, terrible customer service"
"In Canada, you have little choice, so there's not much I can really say..."
| Pre Sales information:
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I can't and won't say anything that hasn't already been said a thousand times...
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Review by mikeypas5
UPDATED: 254 days ago
member for 4.5 years, 164 visits, last login: 29 days ago
Westmount,QC
$50 per month
Bell Canada
"None"
"Customer service in India, poor english, liars, deliberate sabotage of account"
"By far the worst company out there. Avoid at all costs"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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(ratings below consensus)
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Bell Sympatico is by far the worst company you could possibly sign with.
First of all, the equipment you get is second rate. If you have any problems with your lines, even if its outside your home, you DO NOT get service.
Calling tech support is a joke, they are based out of India, have no idea whats going on.
For 5 years, I 've never been able to obtain anything close to the 5mb profile. Nothing done to fix it.
This is a joke of a company. Overbilling, lying customer service, poor performance..
Followup comments:
pre sale info
@videotron.ca
| were you informed by sales? 80% is high to give and indicative of a bit of quality information.
Did you get quality information?
Were you told you would have no support, lies, run-arounds, and shitty service?
If you answered no, then your rating is off on the "pre-sales information".
However, if Bell was honest and told you that your service would be over-priced garbage, then I guess you got the pre-sales info right. | |
| | mikeypas5
join:2005-05-07
Westmount, QC
 ·Videotron
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: were you informed by sales? pre sales info: thank you! obviously that was a mistake on my part.
some evidence: pre-sales information did not say I would be getting shitty service, they did however say that I would be getting 5mb service. Yet for 3 years I got only 1mb service. They DID tell me that if the problem is outside my home, they will fix it. However, they DID NOT. They DID tell me that if I upgraded to 7mb I would get faster speed (which is false, because if i'm not getting 5mb speed i certainly wont be getting faster). | |
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rickmario
@bell.ca
| Re: were you informed by sales? i would agree with you they said the same thing to me. i upgraded too 7mgs from 5mgs after my contract was done im getting the same speed i got when i was on 5mgs i called them and they said my speeds are set for the neighbour and they couldnt do anything about it. i told them im not paying for neighbourhood i want the speed they said i would get.they are sending me another modem too try if this doesnt work im cancelling my service to go some where else. | |
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Review by Quiane
UPDATED: 256 days ago
member for 1.8 years, 321 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Guelph,ON
$44 per month
Bell Canada
"Misinformation of all levels of employees, throttling"
"If you are doing any more than surfing, this service is not worth it!"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings below consensus)
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***EDIT****
If i could give them 0 on everything i would.
I'm editing this because bell is trying to impose caps on 3rd party DSL services (which i now subscribe to). This is crazy that it's even being considered (i think they submitted today) but this effectively says to third party ISPs that they cannot offer services that are better than bells.
This move by bell is motivating me to remove my cell phone service as well as my sattelite. I would much rather give my money to a half reputable company (rogers) than these theiving, lying bastards.
Get your house in order before you start telling other companies how they can run.
There were employees that told me that "you must have a virus" or that "your OS is impacting your speeds." I'm running ubuntu linux, and neither of these things was the case.
No one would be straight up with me that they were "managing" their internet traffic(throttling) and until i hit 3rd level tech (took many phone calls, each one telling me that it must be my line, my OS, my router, or any number of other things that all turned out to be wrong) no one would confirm or deny the throttling, and i had one tech tell me that he didn't know what bit torrent was.
Overall the staff who were talking to me were either horribly misinformed, and only a few of them cared about the customer experience.
Also...when i pay nearly 50 dollars a month for high speed internet, and i end up getting not even 10% of the 7mg's i'm paying for (i would average 30k down after 4pm), that is just really poor business ethics.
Followup comments:
Dion Rodrigues
@bell.ca
| This ISP totally sucks - please don't fall for them! Alright. The next time Bell tells me my Linksys WRT54G or Airport Extreme 802.11n Router is causing my connection to drop or disconnect at random, I will tell these guys to cancel my locked in contract immediately.
The number of drops in connection speed, the random disconnects, timeouts, torrent speed drops, etc errors are impossible to be caused by my router, and Bell's tech support is HORRIBLE - some of them know less about this than I do, and dealing with them is always the same long, annoying, pointless process, just to be transferred to a higher up that tells you its either your router or your landline.
I refuse to accept this as service, I will soon hopefully be switching to Rogers.
Please don't make the mistake I did. | |
| | | | | Quiane
join:2008-01-08 | yep dont change to rogers my friend..they do the same....i have just changed to teksavvy.....advertised caps (200gig) no throttling and no plans to start..and you get to keep dsl.
Good luck! | |
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Review by slishnevsky
UPDATED: 258 days ago
member for 3.6 years, 38 visits, last login: 258 days ago
undisclosed location
$50 per month
Bell Canada
"None"
"slow speed, bad customer service"
"bad"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings below consensus)
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Not a good service!
Followup comments:
Mirtrex
@bell.ca
| Re: Somebody piss in your cornflakes? Just to let you know all Bell Sympatico Call Centers are located in Canada, primarily in the Toronto and Montreal Area, and are staffed by Bell Canada employees. The reason why your tech help may sound like they are from India is because East Indians are now the four largest ethnic group in the GTA. As for your statement about out-sourcing to India, it is very similar to what I currently hear from Europeans about the outsourcing of their tech centers to Eastern Europe and Russia, with the same the racist overtones that I see on this forum.
To me the accent is irrelevant but whether they know what they are talking about, can clearly communicate to you, and can solve your problems. So far the people I have dealt have been very polite, helpful and very knowledgeable. I cant say that with other tech vendors.
As for speed I only get 240kbs due to my location which is slightly slower than Rogers, but it is more consistent speed than rogers. | |
| | erikkukun
join:2007-03-03
| Re: Somebody piss in your cornflakes? "Just to let you know all Bell Sympatico Call Centers are located in Canada, primarily in the Toronto and Montreal Area, and are staffed by Bell Canada employees. "
I nearly laughed out loud when I read this. Everyone who's called knows that Sympatico's customer service is outsourced. Nice try with the racist card regarding outsourcing - everyone knows why it's done. To save money. Period.
I've asked and been answered that the weather in India is beautiful; a balmy 37 degrees. Last time I checked Toronto was under a metre of snow. | |
| |
Danny16
@bell.ca
| I guess you have no clue where are those reps talking from. Everytime I called bell, they were somewhere in India. Bell sympatico really sucks. They promised me 5Mbps service but I never get even 1Mbps. when they were selling me on the phone, I asked them repeatedly "is it 5Mbps with no download limit?". Every time these shitty liers say yes. And you know with rogers I always got more than 3Mbps. I am thinking to get rid of sympatico after a month.
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AnonName8
@bell.ca
| Stop whining I know it relieves your gut the same way you gotta let it rip when you pull your pants down in the bathroom but please stop the complaining.
Cut B*ll off at the knees and bring your biz to another provider. It's as simple as that.
If you still persist letting B*ll clusterf*ck you, then you deserve it and I fully support B*ll in doing so. | |
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