# Stick it to the man!!! Bell Sympatico



## Fusaki (11 Aug 2006)

I think this thread deserves a spot in this forum because getting your life in Canada squared away is important to minimizing stress while on tour. Getting your phone and internet cancelled or placed on hold is a part of life in the army, as is making sure your mail and bills are taken care of while you are on deployment.

So this morning I called up sympatico to cancel my internet before I ship out. I'm a single guy living in the shacks, so there's no reason for me to be paying for an internet I'm not going to use. I considred just putting my account on hold ($50 charge), but I recently moved and need to get my phone sorted out too so I figured it would just be less of a headache to cancel the internet.

As I talk to the customer service rep he asked why I was cancelling and I told him that I just wasn't happy with the customer service. I told him that Sympatico (and Bell) has been a huge pain in the ass with billing problems and I was just fed up with the whole thing. The sevice rep offered me 2 months free and the rest of the year at almost half price, but I persisted in saying that I didn't want to have anything to do with Sympatico anymore. I knew all along that I'd be back again with Sympatico once I returned to Canada, considering that they have a monopoly on ISPs in the Petawawa area. But it felt good to tell him that Sympatico sucks.

So then he offers me another option:

Sympatico will put my account on hold for 6 months - free of charge - to "give me time to look for and try out other ISPs." If I don't call them back by the end of the 6 months, then they will automatically reconnect my account. As an incentive to stay they will give me 2 months free, and I will be eligable for other promotions including a reduced price for the rest of the year.

So I think to myself: "hmmm... 6 month tour with no internet bills and a low internet price for next year... I like it." And I get to keep all my account information and I don't need to go through the trouble of returning the high speed modem. All I need to do is have my account switched to my new address when I get back home.

So there you have it folks! Don't pay to place a hold on your internet account! Tell them you're leaving and they'll waive all charges, and offer other discounts too!

One note though: Whenever you deal with Bell, Rogers, or Sympatico ALWAYS ask for the Employee ID Number of the individual you're talking to AND make sure you get a Confirmation Number for any changes made to your account. I keep a record of all my calls in my Sympatico Reference Guide, along with my b1 number.

Good luck!!


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## Rice0031 (11 Aug 2006)

Another word to the wise:
for the love of all things holy, never ever lose that B1 number...


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## LeonTheNeon (11 Aug 2006)

Wonderbread,

I was the manager of the command centre for a company that did cust supp and tech supp for Bell Sympatico (and other companies).  Sorry to hear you had bad experiences with them.  I hope it was never anybody at the centre I worked for who gave you grief.


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## patt (11 Aug 2006)

just make sure you don't end up like this dude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaaAYVUWP0I


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## Krisz (11 Aug 2006)

... I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Cheers,
Craig


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## Fishbone Jones (11 Aug 2006)

Well I've never been hooked up to anyone else, and don't see a need to. My service has always been prompt, courteous and helpful. I can  count on one hand the amount of times the service has gone down due to technical problems, in all  the years I've had it. I pay competative rates and there is no degradation in service to any of the stations on my 7 station home network, off one residential line, which also supplies my phone. Personally, I've had no complaints and recommend them to anyone that asks.


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