The Consumer Complaints Blog

I read about your successes with brutal customer service in the Globe and Mail today. I’ve had trouble getting this resolved and can’t seem to stop Bell from taking money from my account, even though I’m no longer a customer, haven’t been since June, 2009.

Here is a copy of my original report to the Better Business Bureau in October, 2009.

I moved from one house to another on June 21. Prior to this date, I contacted Bell to terminate my phone service effective June 21 and arranged to forward my calls to another number for 3 months at a specific cost.

Despite my repeated calls to Bell (I dealt with at least 6 or 7 customer service representatives in an effort to get this rectified), calls to my old number were never forwarded to my new number and I don’t believe I was charged for this.

At the time I canceled my phone service, I did not cancel my internet, figuring since my internet CAME THROUGH my phone line AND the fact I’d moved from that address, it would seem obvious that the internet was no longer needed.

Incredulously, I learned I needed to make a separate call to cancel my internet service, as I have been billed for internet service to this day. I did, again, make several calls over the past several weeks/months to cancel my internet, to no avail.

In one of my last conversations (Aug. 13) with a Bell rep, I was assured it would be cancelled on Sept. 13, in accordance with their 30-day notification policy.

Recently, however, I received an e-bill and one through the mail, charging me for internet services to up to and including Sept. 19 ?!?

In response, I fired off an email, stating my service was to be cancelled Sept. 13, and that the bill I received should reflect this.

In an email response I was told my account is STILL ACTIVE and they couldn’t find any record of my cancellation request (!?!) and that I need to call a number to get my internet cancelled. So now, it’ll be ANOTHER 30 days from when I call them to cancel my service.

Now, if this isn’t farcical enough, and given the fact I had called Bell repeatedly to forward my calls from my old number, and told them to cancel my internet services ad nauseum, how in the world will ANOTHER call ensure my internet service is cancelled ?

I’m turning to the BBB to rectify this, as I’m unaware of any forms of recourse for my situation. I would like you to intervene on my behalf and get my internet service cancelled and the billing to stop EFFECTIVE the date you are in contact with them, thank you. Calling Bell myself has proven fruitless (see above), although I will call or email them once I’ve finished sending this email to you and get the wheels in motion (I hope) to finally terminate my internet service.

If you cannot help me, I am prepared to take legal action against Bell. This is no idle threat.


Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I would have been sending this this email to you via my normal email address but it is DOWN! WHY because Tucows didn’t renew it automatically, didn’t tell me my domain was about expire or care enough to help me beyond bankers hours.

I have a secondary problem with hostgator.com who hosts my web sites as I gave them plenty of time to switch over the domain web hosting and they said all was in order when in fact it wasn’t. So if you look today my website and email are down. In this day and age when communication is all so easy are large companies not keeping up?

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

Consumers need as many forums to share their customer service complaints as
possible and the addition to others such as Ellen Roseman’s at the Star can
only help get the word out about Companies that appear more concerned about
the bottom dollar than ensuring their products last a reasonable time, or
address known defects and issues with consumers interests at heart.

I offer the example of Samsung Canada‘s refusal to support owners
experiencing a KNOWN issue (on/off clicking at power up, created by faulty
capacitors including #CM852 & CM853, and possibly others on the power supply
board) by repairing the defective units.

Initially Samsung denied the existence of the problem or indicated “We have
confirmed with our Quality Control department that the model you own does
not exhibit any widespread issues that may cause concerns.” Denying it
became more difficult when faced with the evidence of numerous internet
reports by owners and when I noted one of their own Samsung repair techs
started a forum discussion on CNET and initiated a 50 customer investigation
in September 2009 to determine why the capacitors are failing in a variety
of Samsung LCD Tv models, often shortly after warranty expiry.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_102-0.html?threadID=357687
Some owners have been successful in getting Samsung to repair the problem
but in Canada, the Office of the President’s rep Ahmed Yahiouche states “Our
decision will stand,” in response to a request that his superior review the
claim since based on how he handled the claim, it appears he didn’t bother
reading the claim to learn we were out of warranty when we initiated it, yet
he proceeded to request information to consider the claim, and then denied
it ‘due to the expiry of your limited warranty’.

His office has been provided the links to the CNET Samsung Tech’s thread,
where it is acknowledged a widespread problem with Samsung TV’s exists.
Ripoffreports where another owner received a similar cut and paste
response from him months earlier, and other forums discussing the on/off
issue.

Samsung has failed to acknowledge there is an implied product warranty and a
reasonable expectation that their products last more than a few months
beyond the 1 year warranty…or perhaps Samsung does only expect their
product to last just beyond the one year manufacturer warranty and owners
are unreasonable in their expectation?

All imo (in my opinion).

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I am currently experiencing a situation that seems to be unheard of to anyone that I have talked with. HHgregg had a Toshiba laptop on sale the week of March 15, 2009 at a great price. When I called the store on Sunday March 15, I was told that they did not have any of the computers in stock but they have some in the warehouse that would be delivered to the store on Tuesday and I could come in a pay for the computer and then pick it up on Tuesday. After paying for the computer I was told by the salesperson that it would be in the store on Tuesday and to call after 2 to make sure that it had arrived. On Tuesday I contacted the store and was told that the computers were still in the warehouse in Ellenwood and would be delivered to the store on Saturday. Since the computers were in a warehouse in GA I decided to call back on Friday to see if they had been delivered prior to Saturday and was once again told that the computers would be there Saturday after 2.

On Saturday I arrived at the store after 5 pm and after giving the salesperson my receipt I was told that my computer had already been picked up on Tuesday 3/17. Of course I did not pick it up nor authorize anyone to pick it up and I questioned how someone picked it up when I was told that the computer would not be delivered to the store until Saturday. After waiting for about 20 minutes for several people to attempt to research the invoice the manager walked by and he was informed of the situation. He looked at the info in the computer and also told me that the invoice shows that the computer had been picked up. I told him that I did not pick it up and he offered to go in the back and check the surveillance video. After waiting about 30 minutes the manager comes back and tells me that there is a problem and he is unable to download any video feed and offers to call me on Monday. I questioned how someone was able to come into the store and pick up my computer without my receipt and without showing id and he stated he did not know and he would need to verify with the video that it was not me that picked it up on Tuesday. I was forced to go home without my computer on Saturday.

The next Monday I went back to the store to see if any progress had been made since I did not receive a phone call as I was told that I would. I was told by the manager that there were people in the store working on the camera system. I also inquired about how long the surveillance had been out and the manager stated he did not know. I then asked what happens if he gets the video feed but the date and time that the computer was picked up is not on there and he states that he doesn’t know. I then ask to speak to his boss and I am told that he is not there but he will get him to call me. At this point and I beyond infuriated, he can’t answer my questions and is now getting an attitude with me because I keep questioning him and he then walks away from me. Once again I walked out of the store without a computer and no knowledge of when I can expect to have my problem resolved. At this point I have been without my money for 8 days and without a computer that I was told that I would have 6 days ago. My major issue is the fact that someone walked out of the store with my computer without showing a receipt because I had it in my car the entire time and obviously without showing any id to verify who they were. Second the store manager can not answer any of my questions and I am just told to wait. I have never experienced anything like this before and I wanted to share this with others.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I ordered a replacement AC adapter for my Acer laptop. I went to the
site, purposely choosing it because it claimed to be out of California. I
placed the order February 8th, 2009.

I used the sites search engine and using my laptops series number found
what looked like the right AC adapter.

I ordered it, using my credit card and awaited its arrival.

When it came…days and days and days later I was disappointed to learn that it was the wrong one and incompatible for my laptop.

I instantly called Papatek.com and was told that returns/exchanges could only be dealt with via their website. Disappointed I emailed their
customer service and awaited a response. I did get a quick automated
reply from “Sophy” but could tell from the use of the English language
that it was being written by folks who do not reside in CA let alone
America. I have written “Sophy” 5 times requesting a return address and a exchange for the correct charger. And besides being apologetic, I cannot seem to get a return address. I then called Papatek directly again and they confirmed that they have outsourced their customer service abroad. I felt like Papatek concealed the truth about their outsourcing and are not the all American company they appear to be.
According to “sophy” I am responsible for the return postage and then the postage again on the correct charger…even though it was their site that recommended the incorrect one. I think this is wrong. I no longer want a replacement, just my money returned.

I emailed “sophy” again today and again asked for the correct delivery
address. If I do not hear from them again I will just return it and
dispute the charges with my Credit card company. What a waste of time and
energy.

DO NOT USE PAPATEK.COM or you will be ripped off!

Thanks for reading!!

Audaces fortuna iuvat

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.