scruffy
join:2007-07-24
Canada
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
1 edit | 3Web / CyberSurf / CIA Officially Worst ISP in Canada
Working for an IT service company, I often deal with many service providers our various clients use, such as Bell, Telus, Rogers, IBM/AT&T, and even in the cheapo range of ISP's equivalent to 3web such ColbaNet, SecureNet, etc, and really, I have never ever seen such a horrible ISP as 3web. I never noticed that much since I have been alot on the road lately, but I used to be an iStop Corporate customer, until they got bought by CyberSurf / 3web, and then all hell broke loose. Daily outages, slow-downs/slow-latency, changes to terms of service/account services without notice (I have/had a corporate account with a /29 subnet routed over our connection, multiple times without warning 3web switched us back a single dynamic IP (without switching our invoice down to regular residential service......).
And when you have problems.... ho ho ho, prepare to spend all day redialing their number... As soon as you press the option for Technical support, all you get is "I am sorry, all our agents are currently busy assisting other customers, try calling again later" and plonk, they hang up on you.
They also have an option for email support, I got a reply offering help to resolve the issue..........3 weeks after we were back up and running (if you can actually ever describe their service as running properly).
I tried cancelling my account with them, but was unable, I opened a dispute with my credit card company to stop the automated payments since I have been unable to contact them since last thursday to cancel my account.
Let this be a warning to all, STAY AWAY FROM 3WEB / CyberSurf/ CIA and their affiliates! |
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mral
@cia.com
| I agree.
On July 25, 2007, their system went down for more than 24hours in Vancouver, BC. I got some help/diagnostics at 530 in the morning [calling them on my cell phone 22 hours after the outage.] I sent a ping report and request for credit and explanation and got this reply two days later:
"My apologies but I am not sure what you are referring to in your email. The reason being is that you provided questions and results but you did not provide what the other emails were or what the problem is that you are experiencing. If you could please explain what you are referring to so that I can look into this for you."
My response:
Your system broke down. You were not informed about this? Was I the only person who called?
Your system was offline for more than 24 hours for me in Vancouver, BC. The ping report shows that.
I had no phone, no email and no internet. I had voicemail, but no way to access it except from a remote location or my cell phone.
I spoke with an HD Agent nnnn/nnnn - Mark/Mike. He asked me to connect the cable modem directly into the computer instead of the Voip [Linksys] router and run IPConfig. He said he would pass it on to the technical department. I gave my cell# to the HDagent.
My old IP address was 72.53.33.xxx
After the network came back up, it is now 72.53.33.xx.
My questions remain:
Why did this happen?
When did CIA first become aware of it?
How many customers were affected? 30? 60? 200? 1,000?
When I saw that the 'net was back up, I reconnected my cables.
I received a call on my Local phone number from Shaw cable asking if my service was back. If it was not back up, the Shaw rep would have reached only my VoiceMail.
The 3web HD Agent never called my cell phone.
I want a credit for this service disruption. Please advise within 24 hours.
I also want to know if I can set up call forwarding options from a remote location when I am unable to dial *72.
-30-
Two days later: no reply. |
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Charles
@cia.com
| reply to scruffy
I switched to 3Web phone/internet service 2 months ago and my service goes thru Videotron's Cable network.
I now truly believe they are the worst ISP I have ever subscribed to since I got on the internet in 1994.
First, SMTP service has never worked properly.
I keep getting '550 administrative prohibition' messages when trying to send email. When I try telnetting directly to port 25 as I did below (also tried with smtp.3web.com) the SMTP server closes the port immediately:
G4:~ Charles$ telnet mail.3web.com 25
Trying 209.197.145.55...
Connected to mail.cia.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
550 Administrative prohibition
Connection closed by foreign host.
Second, Tech Support is godawful, way below what I was getting from Sympatico. I don't think very highly of Bell, but at least they answered the phone!
Third: I still have to use a temporary phone number until next week it seems, even though I asked that my Bell landline number be transfered the day I subscribed to 3web. That was on 13th of June, that's almost 3 months ago!
Fourth: Even though my first language is French (I'm from Montreal) I always select the english option when contacting them. I once tried the French-speaking option out of curiosity. Oh Boy! If you're going to offer bilingual service, at least have someone who understands French correctly and isn't annoyed because their client is speaking in french !!!!
DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO 3WEB OR CIA.COM !!!
Regards,
Charles |
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yochinaman
join:2002-10-15
ca
| reply to scruffy
I'm seriously considering changing ISP to something DSL. I don't like that 3web/CIA cable just jumped in price and also my service level degraded. I originally bought into this since it was the same stats as Rogers Extreme. Now it's down to Rogers Express levels. I can do better on DSL.
Have you guys had luck with cancelling your service yet? How did the talk with the credit card companies go?
-y |
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j_a_t_h
join:2002-04-29
canada
·TELUS
| reply to scruffy
I use to work at CIA.com/3web/Cybersurf and as an employee I was offered free HS internet. I never take it. I stayed with my Telus paying $45/month. Even free CIA.com was not worth it. In the Calgary office even the people working there refer to it as cybersuck. |
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manitou
join:2007-08-10
Montreal, QC
| I'm leaving Cybersurf at the end of this month.
I gave up on them. They are just not worth my time and patience. So many times I have been promised that they would make things right, but they never delivered.
Maybe in other parts of the country their internet service is better, but in Quebec it's the worst ISP I have ever subscribed to, it's pathetic!
I just wished I had read the horror stories about them before subscribing. My loss.
Regards, |
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juls
join:2007-09-04
Canada | reply to scruffy
3Web is run by 2 guys in their mom's basement.
Give them a break. The connection speeds are amazing
for me and it rarely goes down for Ottawa. |
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waystland8
join:2007-02-17
Calgary, AB
| reply to scruffy
i have been with cybersurf for about 1.5 years, they were great at first , i got 6.5mb down...
they informed me when they were switching from Shaw to their own IP's and said i would be down for a day or two...
about a few months ago i was only getting 2mb down after 5:00PM...
i emailed then and called them, it took about 2 months of 2mb speeds after 5:00 the speeds were great in the day,
but now i get 8-10mb down and 1mb up all the time, they admitted that there was a problem and called back 4 days after i noticed the speed increases.
to be honest i think they are good, i work for Telus and would NEVER use their over priced bundles,
there have only been a few problems but nothing that was not fixed or that bothered me.
im in Calgary, i will be moving to a new area in the new year and i hope i get my 9-10mb there if not i will call and call, (i have the 7mb plan) |
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pimji
join:2007-11-06
Kemptville, ON
| reply to scruffy
I was with a small ISP in Ottawa since 1995. It got bought out along with many other small ISPs in Ottawa by Cybersurf.Inc
That is when my problems began. My spam setting was to high so I phoned tech support at 11:00 am. On hold 1 hr 15 min. Gads! The offered me the lower rate of $9.95 from my previous ISP which they also own (IGS out of Cornwall) That was $19.95/mo unlimited dial up. We are rural.
3Web sent me the software which didn't work. There was no way I was going on hold again. Who has that kind of time? So i continued to use my old dial up number after all it was the same company. Logging onto the IGS site just kicks over to 3web cybersurf so I figured it was th same account as I was told that I had been switched over.
Last week they billed my credit card a $147.85 bill saying I owed IGS money for the past 7 mo. I have been billed by both companies which is really one company Cybersurf. Welcome to corporate law.
Naturally tried the billing dispute line during business hours. No answer, phone rang 15 min. I did this twice.
Sent email to Paul Mercia CEO Paul.Mercia@cybersurf.com and called his office long distance 1 403 777 2000 ext 262 and left a message.
He did get the email because he emailed me back asking who I spoke to and when. Like I was going to remember back to last March.
Anyhow someone from the accounting dept called and said I was actually an IGS customer and Cybersurf was going to put $52.42 back on my card.
If I dispute the $147.87 credit card charge cybersurf will send me to collection. I asked, and then I lost it, Meaning I reamed the person out.I asked for the manager and he was to call me back. He didn't.
If you want help you have to use the sales option and dicker with the sales guys. They told me they do have a record that I was a 3web customer.
Not anymore. However IGS/Cybersurf is another story. I sent a letter by mail but I don't think its a real office jsu a box. I asked Paul Mercia to make sure he deletes my IGS account. I also canceled my card so they don't bill me unknowingly.
Draw your own conclusions. I've never had this kind of problem with any company and all this resulting from a phone call trying to reset my spam filter, which btw, they failed to give me the password so I could set it myself.
Still no refund. |
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pimji
join:2007-11-06
Kemptville, ON
| reply to scruffy
FSC / Press Release
CYBERSURF CORP. ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2007
Calgary, Alberta CANADA, October 30, 2007 /FSC/ - Cybersurf Corp. (CY - TSX Venture), ("Cybersurf"),one of Canada's leading Internet technology and service companies, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and its fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.
The Company's 2007 financial results indicate a slight decrease (5%) in gross revenues to $15,202,850 for fiscal year 2007 compared to $16,044,904 for fiscal 2006. The consolidated net loss for the year ended June 30, 2007 was $1,600,785 (or $0.05 per share), compared to $1,386,917 (or $0.04 per share) in fiscal year 2006. The Company experienced a significant decline in its high margin dial up customer base and continued to incur expenses as a result of supply problems caused by one of the Company's suppliers in the last year. However, the Company has completed, for the most part, the amalgamation of the IGS acquisition and has capitalized on the majority of synergies by eliminating any unprofitable products, significantly reducing costs under general and administration, eliminating redundant telecom services and improving collections processes in an effort to reduce accounts receivable and bad debt expenses. In addition, the Company has experienced significant growth in its local phone "VoIP" services and long distance customer base which are high margin services.
Fiscal 2007 Highlights
* Revenue growth of 372% increase in the Company's Local Phone services;
* Company continues to add to its High Speed and Local Phone footprint;
* Considerable reduction of debt
In other words Cybersurf fired everyone. |
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pimji
join:2007-11-06
Kemptville, ON | I noticed 3web cia put up a notice on their web page due to the dispute I'm having with them. I wasn't there before last week. They post their stay on hold an hour phone line. |
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