Bell Canada is a big company. I am not sure what kind of response you will get from Toronto Star. I wonder if they will be ready to raise their voice. Even if you write to the minister of communication you will get a reply after two months saying 'thanks for bringing it to our notice as this way they can improve our service'. you will hear from them after two months, but will nothing to help you.
Anyway Good Luck. It is a worth a try.

I have had very bitter experiences with Bell Canada not once but thrice.

1) I came to Canada and asked for installing a new line. They told me that it would cost me about $20 a month for a basic line, no extra stuff. When I got my bill, they charged me about $4.5 in the name of 'WIRE CARE'. I called them and wanted an explaination on that. The customer service rep told me that this is for the repair contract of your wiring. I advised her that I did not need that. She said" Sir, 90% of the people go with that". My reply was:"I am among those 10% who do not want that. So please remove my name from the list as I do not want to pay extra $4.5 plus tax every month". She said that it could not be done. "YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE THAT" AND WHEN I ASKED FOR A MANAGER/SUPERVISOR, SHE ASKED ME THAT IF I WANTED TO DISCONNECT THE LINE, SHE WILL DO THAT RIGHT AWAY. I did not have any choice because no other company was giving local phone services in that area. It happened three years ago and till now I am paying them extra $4.5 a month for no reason.

2) I received a CD in mail for Sympatico Dial up internet as a free trial for three months. I wanted to give it a try. The day I installed that on my PC, it started behaving strangly. A message would appear on the screen saying that the system would shut down in next 20 seconds automatically and it would not allow me to do any thing on computer. Everything disabled!!! When I called Bell Canada, even before talking to a Rep, there was a message that there is some virus affecting all the systems and you will have to purchase Bell antivirus for an extra $5 a month. I talked to the Tech support Rep and he also gave me the same story. So there it is!! I was running the free trial sympatico with $5 per month for anti virus........can u believe that?

3) The same dial up connection stopped working after a week. I had two lines in house and two computers. On one computer, dial up was working fine with a speed of minimum 24000 kbps and on the other, it was like 1200 kbps. I called the complaint centre. After 6 days when I called them again, they said that one technician visited my house, he checked for the line and everything was fine. There is some problem with the computer. WHATTTT! A TECHNICIAN VISITED ME AND I NEVER SAW HIM, EVEN HE CHECKED THE LINE AND THE COMPUTER AND EVERYTHING IS FINE???? THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD THE REPORT. I told them that no body came in. They sent some technician again. Without checking anything, he changed the internal wiring and the telephone jack and went away, saying that that was the best he could do. But problem was still there!!! The whole DRAMA went on for about 24 days, I had about 5 different technicians visiting my place and the problem was resolved by the last one! It was not the computer but the line wire which was giving problem and there was some signal leakage because it was very very old. The so called manager from Bell Customer service called me and told me that I will be given one month's tel. bill credit because it was a harassment for us (even though we never asked for credit).......guess what.....there was no credit at all!!!! I called them back and aksed for the credit and I was told that they did not have any record of any type of conversation with the manager. In fact, managers do not call the customers directly for any credit issues.

I had worked in the telecom industry (mobile and fixed line) for about 6 years in India but I had never even heard of such horrible stories by the customers. Here, Bell Canada, being the MONOPLY IN FIXED LINE (virtually) can do whatever they want to and no body is there to keep an eye on them. I believe the major problem is with their outsourcing because they have hired different contractors and sub-contractors for doing everything , let it be installation or repair or customer service or technical support etc.. and these guys do not care what is happening with the customers because they know that customer does not have any choice!!! JHAKH MAAR KE BELL CANADA KE PAAS ANA HI PADEGA (exceptions are there wherever Sprint has their services).

CONCLUSION: BELL CANADA IS PATHETIC, CHOR HAIN CHOR!!

Thanks for your time friends!
I have some other stories to share but that is not with Bell Canada, that is mobile service provider: ROGERS AT&T, but later.

Rgds,

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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)

Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto

Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

Dear All,

I read with detail the horrifying experience our Mr Sanjeevm had to undergo with Bell Canada.

How long can we allow Bell Canada to play around ? Howsoever big it is, can we simply take such humiliation for granted.

If this is so, then what is the fun of wasting our time here inCanada ? Weren't we much satisfied with BSNL/VSNL way back home inIndia ?

All of us can expose the misdeeds of Bell Canada by all possible means.

I do not completely agree with Mr Sahib 98 for the response expected from Toronto Star.

If all of us bombard Toronto Star with our horrifying experiences, can it afford to ignore such genuine complaints ? Atleast I do not think so.

Each and every newspaper has some social responsibility and we must keep on trying to prick their conscience.

And we do have our own strong presence in print and electronic media. Can't we uitilise that ?

The day is not far when Bell Canada will be forced to respond such an situation.

We should not simply reduce ourselves to mute spectator in such situations.

I am glad that the Canadian Desi is the best forum available to vent our feelings.

However I am sure some thing will come out for good through this effort.

Amen !

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Manan

Manan you are looking for support in the wrong place. If you want a shoulder to cry on then you have one in canadiandesi site. Let me know how many canadiandesi members will stand by you in this case. Not that they do not know about the service of Bell Canada and i am sure some of them must have encountered problem along the way with their service. But you are trying to make a mountain out of a mole hole and drag some of us desis with you. Sometime you have to learn to fight alone.
If you have incurred all that loss and know for sure that you and another Bell subscriber had the same number and have solid proof then get a lawyer and sue them. I am sure you will be successful. Calls to any paralegal office is free for an inquiry. They will take your case from there or advice you it is not strong enough.
Other option is to call the Toronto Star office and speak to someone and see if they can interview you and publish your experience.
I am not sure if any members of canadiandesi work in a legal office.
If they do then by now you would have got the right advice.
I always have my hats off to canadiandesi. As soon as you have a posting you will get an answer.

Thanks Sahib 98

I am not dragging anybody nor seeking any affidavits from the fellow Canadiandesi to stand by this 'mountain out of a mole hole story' in your words.

I know that there are enough ways to get my damages back and the solid proof about the blunder done by Bell canada.

My only intent about raising this issue on Canadian Desi was to aware public about the on goings of Bell Canada. But it seems there are enough mute sufferers available on this site itself who have given an free hand to Bell Canada to screw customers like us.

Well I will continue with my offensive against Bell Canada and thank you once again for the mute support.

Shall keep updated as and when matter is sorted out. It might take a long time, but I will not sit idle. This is an acid test for me in Canada.

Best wishes.

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Manan

Thanks Manan. If i was mute i would not have give my opinion on Bell.
My closest friend had a bad experience with the Health care here. He rang every door bell. All he got was courteous phone calls and nice letters from the Mayors office and the present premier of Ontario, but now apology or compensation. He fought tooth and nail but in the end he spent fruitful hours for nothing. He approached a lawyer but they said 'no case now, just make notes of every incident' The reason 95% of the doctors are insured under the malpractice act and you just cannot fight with them. Just the same you cannot put up a fight with a giant like Bell.
That was why i said get in touch with a lawyer and tell them your financial situation or else call Toronto star and see if they will be willing to publish your experience. Then you can get other canadiandesi to relate their experience with Bell (if they are willing). This you need a vote from our forum members first. Good Luck and i will be happy if you get some settlement. Well we immigrants work hard and pay taxes and feed the local Canadians here. We definitely deserve better if not the same.

Ever heard of Small Claims Court?

DT

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