Getting Shafted in the Great White North by Ontera
Maybe I am just wasting your time, but even up here in Northern Ontario we have complaint issues, and no place to post them. I thought I would give your site a try. I apologize if this is not the type of complaint that you wish to post on your site, and please do not post if you feel it doesn’t fit your criteria.
Up here in the great white north, we only have 2 choices for long distance providers – Northern Telephone and Ontera, and other than the 200 phone numbers in our small town, everything is long distance. We had been with Ontera for the last several years.
In July of this year, our long distance service was interrupted. I called to find out what the problem was, and were told that it had been cut off due to an unpaid bill which belonged to a different phone number. I complained that the second number was not even in our name, and we had no control of the account, nor did we receive billing for it. The extremely efficient (!) operator to whom I was speaking informed me that because we shared a post office box (the only way to get our mail here in a small town, other than general delivery, and there is a waiting list to get a box number) with the person responsible for the bill (we are related, though we live over 17 km. apart) that we were therefore responsible to pay for the outstanding bill of $12.54.
I asked how I could be sure if this amount was even legitimate when:
1. We have never had access, information or communication regarding this bill, and
2. The phone number had been reassigned about one year ago to another customer.
She informed me that all of their information comes from Northern Telephone (for addressing) and that was why our service was cut off to enforce payment on this outstanding amount. Obviously if you share a mailing address, you must live in the same location, right? Well, not up here! They could get the mailing information from the other company, but not the physical locations of the actual telephones! Amazing efficiency. Even though it was not our phone number, our service was cut off, and no arguments could change the decisions of the company.
I hung up, extremely upset, and called my husband and told him what the issue was. Because we run a farm, it was imperative that our service be reconnected as soon as possible, regardless of the costs. So, because I had no choice and no other options, I called Ontera back and offered (under duress, you understand) to pay the outstanding bill in order to reconnect our service. Once that transaction was done, I was then informed that we would have to pay another $75.00 reconnection fee! I was livid and almost yelling into the phone that IT WAS NOT OUR PROBLEM, OUR BILL OR OUR PHONE! I was quickly put on hold, which was probably the smart thing to do, before I exploded! When she returned, I was informed that the reconnection fee would be waived in this case – how totally generous of them.
My daughter worked for a collection agency at one time, and they will not take collections under $20.00, and I know that all businesses have bad debt write-offs, so I wonder why Ontera would hold innocent parties liable for accounts that do not belong to them, based solely on a post office box number which is shared. By this logic, and Rural Route or General Delivery address holders could be held liable to pay for outstanding bills of another Rural Route or Gen. Del. customer. That is a little scary for all rural customers.
I emailed to Ontera with a complaint letter, which I followed up with a regular mail copy. I have heard nothing from the company, either by letter or by phone call. I am still upset by this whole issue, and have been telling everyone that I know exactly how we were treated by Ontera. I know that they pride themselves on being a Northern company, serving the needs of the North, but that is not how I see it. They are a company who don’t care about their northern customers, and are willing to “steal” from other customers to feed their bottom line.
Sorry to have been long-winded, but I hope that your site can help to address unfair billing issues like this one. Thank you for your time.
Marilyn Wilkinson
Box 159
Elk Lake, Ontario P0J 1G0
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.
November 5th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I know exactly how you feel. The combination of arrogance and ignorance shown by the so-called customer service would make anyone’s blood boil
I recently trid ontera as an alternative to the ever-inflating mother bell and the phone service, piggybacked on bell lines was ok. After a month, I signed on to their high-speed dsl internet seervice, upgrading from the slow dsl for a very reasonable update cost including a free modem
“Great!” I said to myself, ” A way to use local business, and save money at the same time.” Winning all the way we were.
Then came the great awakening. My internet bill included over $200 for “roaming”. “What the heck,” I said. “They’ve made a mistake. I haven’t roamed anywhere. In fact, the laptop in question never even left my bedside.”
A call to Tech support indicated that in some wierd programmig glitch my old dial-up icon had morphed into a roaming terminal when I upgraded to high-speed dsl. When this information was conveyed to so-called customer service, I was met with a most irritating combonation of incomprehension and intrangisence. The bill must be paid.
I immediately removed all traces of onteras internet connection and went to a highly-rated US outfit. I would hae preferred to give my business to a local company but I was afraid of further money-making pitfalls that could be waiting in this companies programs now that they have “lawyered up.”
Let this serve as a cautionary tale. The story is not yet over. Collection agency threats, the CRTC reports still lie ahead. Maybe a new website to collect similar accounts.
Take heed and be watchful in dealing with this company.