Bell Canada Customer Service Sucks!

By slsb

MESSAGE:
  • System Welcome (Name).
  • System Connecting to server. Please wait…
  • System Connection with server established. Please wait…
  • System Muthu (SCI-12047) has joined this session!
  • System Connected with Muthu (SCI-12047)
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) Hi (Name), welcome to Bell Internet Services, my name is Muthu (SCI-12047). By looking at the option you have selected, I see that you have questions regarding your account, how may I assist you with this?
  • You I would like to cancel my account as of Monday January 17, 2011.
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) I don’t have access to cancel your account.Please call 310-SURF (retention queue) for assistance.
  • You I have tried to contact Bell using that number, I have been told that it is not available in my area. that is why I am using the chat system as it is on my invoice stating that I need to use this system.
  • You I live in Calgary
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) Let me know the province name?
  • You Calgary, Alberta Canada!
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) Thank you
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) I would love to help you out with this, however I don’t have access to cancel your account.This chat support is exclusively for Bell Internet (Ontario & Quebec regions).Please call 1-877-222-7077 for asssitance.
  • You That number is for Telus. I have an account with Bell!
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) It is phone number available from my end or you can call 1-800-310-2355 for assistance
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) There has not been any activity in this session for some time. Please note that I may have to end the session if the inactivity continues for more than 3 minutes.
  • You This number is number is for Telus. I do Not have an account with Telus for internet and they have told me that they are not able to assist me as they do not have any record of any internet account. Please provide me with a correct phone number that I may contact a representative from Bell. I live in Calgary Alberta Canada. If you are unable to help me, please direct me to your supervisor.
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) Give me a moment
  • Muthu (SCI-12047) I will transfer to my supervisor.
  • System You are being transferred to another Agent. Please stand by…
  • System Muthu (SCI-12047) has left this session!
  • System Prem (SCI) has joined this session!
  • System Connected with Prem (SCI)
  • Prem (SCI) Hi (Name),
  • My name is Prem (SCI), and I will be continuing with you from here.
  • You Hi
  • You I want to cancel my account with Bell as of Monday January 17, 2011.
  • You So far the numbers that have been provided to me are not available in Calgary and are for Telus which is a completely different company.
  • Prem (SCI) Please give me a moment
  • You Telus told me that they are not able to access my account as I do not have one with them, I have one with bell
  • You I am not sure why Bell is having such difficulty providing me with a phone number, I thought Bell was a telecommuncations company.
  • Prem (SCI) (Name), do you have Internet service at Alberat region?
  • You NO! I am living in Calgary, Alberta Canada!!!!
  • Prem (SCI) Yes (Name), Bell is not providing the direct Internet service other than Ontario and Quebec regions
  • Prem (SCI) in Alberta, the Telus is providing the Internet service
  • You That is not true. I have an invoice from Bell. I called the 1-877 number provided by your staff. Telus told me that there was nothing they could do for me since my account is with Bell.
  • You If you can’t help me, please direct me to your supervisor.
  • Prem (SCI) Okay, do you have any B1 number for your Internet service?
  • You When I signed up for the service it was through Bell Not Telus. I have never had internet service from Telus.
  • Prem (SCI) Okay (Name), if you have the Bell Internet service, there will be a B1 number for your Internet service, so please give me that, I will check
  • You I have an account number and a customer ID number on my Bell invoice.
  • You the account number is (Account Number)
  • You The customer id number is (account Number)
  • Prem (SCI) Thank yo
  • Prem (SCI) but in that billing address is (Address)
  • Prem (SCI) So, you had internet service in the Alberat region
  • You Yes that is my address, but I have never heard of the Alberat region. I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada just like the address says. Clearly I have an acount with Bell, so now I would like to cancell the account as of Monday January 17, 2011.
  • You Hello?
  • Prem (SCI) (name), may I know your province please?
  • You Alberta…
  • Prem (SCI) Yes (name), in that Region, we don’t offer direct internet service
  • Prem (SCI) and if we have the access to cancel your account, I would have done that for you instead of asking you to contact the other department
  • Prem (SCI) But we don’t have that option
  • You I have internet service from Bell, I am using right now to talk to you.
  • You I want to talk to your supervisor!
  • Prem (SCI) I am sorry, I am the only floor supervisor available right now

24 Responses to “Bell Canada Customer Service Sucks!”


  1. 0

    EEE says...

    AAAARRRRGGGGGGGGGGG !!!!

    I feel your frustration!

  2. 0

    A says...

    Wow that is ridiculous!! I hate Bell…the problem is they outsource their call centres and customer service overseas, so half the time no one understands what you’re talking about.

    Not that Rogers is much better, but I know they actually have customer service reps in Ontario, so most of the time the rep understands what you’re talking about.

  3. 0

    Tynk says...

    If this doesn’t get resolved for you soon, I think you should contact your local newspaper / tv news chanel. If you have media behind you Im sure they will cancel your account right away.

    I feel your frustration as well. I once had an LG employee tell me I sounded like I was at a @$%$% McDonalds Drive thru when I called to complain about a problem with my phone.

    Good luck and let us know what happens.

  4. 0

    jona says...

    Wow thats unbelievable. I’m very glad I no longer have any services with Bell.

    On your Bill is there a mailing address? If there is, I would send them a registered letter stating that you are cancelling your service effective your next billing date.

  5. 0

    Lorraine says...

    When you call and get the english or french option choose french. You will always get a canadian operator. Bell is terrible. With so many discontent customers why are they still in business? Once they have your business they make it very hard for you to talk to anybody.

  6. 0

    Katie says...

    call this number - 1 800 773-2121, that’s bell customer billing support for Canada. Give them the a/c # and ask for cancellation. They should not need to direct you to any online chat. They should have the system to do it right thru the phone. Whoever try to transfer you to a different department is trying to ditch your problem since it might require them to actually work. I have similar problem with Rogers prepaid rocket stick. After spending 3 hours on the phone being transfer to different department like a ball, I finally got so fed up and ask to do a 3 way talking. What it does is the agent has to connect to the department that is trying to transfer me to and speak to someone there about my problem before she/he can leave my call to the other agent.

  7. 0

    sally says...

    this is why i got rid of bell.

  8. 0

    Cheryl says...

    Hahahaha…this is awesome.
    Thanks for sharing. I needed a good laugh tonight.

  9. 0

    Becky says...

    I really hope this has worked out for you since you last posted … but if not when you call ask to speak to a represetative in Canada. Bell yanked me around for 2 months with similar excuses … or is there a Bell store? Do they even have those anymore? Good Luck!!

  10. 0

    Macej says...

    Unbelievable! This has got to be up there on the top 10 worst customer service complaints. That would make a good newspaper read and certainly would generate feedback!

  11. 0

    jayne_a says...

    i had the same kind of problem with bell, The person who had my number before me, had a message system, so when ppl leave a message bell calls me and tells me that i have messages. I tried to call them and tell them that the person no longer has this number and to stop calling me, I talked to so many ppl, over a 3 day span, in which they told me they don’t have service in sask, I said then why are you calling me. They told me to call my service provider and block the calls, (which i would have to pay for monthly) i still get the calls and it’s been 3 months. I have never used bell, but they SUCK !!!!!!

  12. 0

    Nizi says...

    As soon as my cell phone contract is over, I too will be cancelling my account with Bell. Their service sucks and they are so over priced.

  13. 0

    brunt says...

    I used to have three services with Bell (satellite, landline and dial-up Internet), but now have zero.

    Their Internet service was horrible. It hardly ever connected, and when it did, it was at a very slow speed. They always pointed their finger at me as the source of the problem, as I *obviously* had a virus on my computer.

    Their satellite service was worse. We had a defective card in our receiver (didn’t know it at the time), and the extended channels would “blank out” for extended periods of time with a message stating that we had to pay for that channel (which we were). Each call to their customer service would be the same thing, where they would re download our channels.

    We tried this three times, and it didn’t fix a thing. I finally got fed up, and called again, where they started the same thing again. I told the tech that it wouldn’t work, just like it didn’t work the last three times, and he assured me that it would work, and if it didn’t it was my fault because I wasn’t thinking positively about it. It didn’t work. And oddly enough, I didn’t feel like it was my fault.

    I then asked to talk to a supervisor, whereupon I told him about the three previous times that we tried the same bloody thing, none of which worked, and now the fourth time didn’t work either. He looked up our history and said that that was only the third time that they tried the same thing that did not work, and he outright called me a liar, all the time sidestepping the issue that they were not even trying to fix the real problem.

    I was too furious for words, so I hung up, cooled off for a few minutes, then called to disconnect all of our services. THEN they offered to consider the possibility that there was a defective card, but I would not have stayed by then if the service was free.

    For months after we quit Bell, we received cards with big eyed puppies saying how much Bell missed us, and how they hoped we would come back.

    Not terribly bloody likely.

  14. 0

    JP says...

    Not sure without more details, but it is my understanding that Bell only offers landline Internet in Ontario/Quebec areas. (And the Maritimes through Bell Aliant maybe?) .. Anyway, I don’t believe they offer regular landline service in Western Canada. I am curious if possibly the service you had was a cellular Internet service? (Through an ‘Internet stick’ OR through a tablet device, etc).. Maybe that is why the issue? Obviously the reps themselves should understand this is a possibility.. but that might explain why there was so much issue.. because it was the landline Internet department? (or maybe they do offer some Internet services for businesses, but again, wrong department?)..

    Just a thought.. since it is really strange to be getting service that they specifically don’t offer.. heh.

  15. 0

    Pat24 says...

    I’ve had nothing but problems with Bell.

    1) I’ve received 3 separate automated email notifications over a period of a couple weeks indicating changes to my account — such as passwords and usernames — which I did not authorize. But when I phoned each time, they insisted that no changes have been made, no record of such changes exists, they could not identify what these changes were or why I was receiving these emails, and each technician gave me a different explanation.

    2) Constant outages & “flickering” of service, sometimes several times per day, each time requiring pressing the reset button on the modem. This is a royal pain especially considering I have roommates who I have to troubleshoot for, who have to wait if I am not home, and who are paying me for their share of internet.

    3) If in the troubleshooting process, the modem is unplugged & plugged back in, our computers would get a message when trying to access the internet asking us to “set up your new Bell account!” before we can get online again. Again, I’m the one who has to troubleshoot for my roommates so if I am not home, they have to wait, and they are paying me for their share of the internet. Troubleshooting this requires me to dig around for account number, username, password, registration key, dry loop line, etc. Often this would not work, since my passwords and usernames were changed as “authorized” according to the automated emails, though they have no record of this (see #1 above).

    3) After repeated phone calls to them to try to clear all this up, I suddenly started receiving voicemails from Bell every couple days over a period of a few weeks stating “sorry we missed you, please call to reschedule” because apparently I wasn’t home when their technicians arrived for “scheduled” installation appointments at my home. This was several months after installation was already completed. I did not need anything else installed, had not asked for anything else, and I called them repeatedly to tell them to stop sending technicians. They responded each time by saying they did not have any record of any scheduled appointments nor of any technicians being sent to my home at all. One day, I actually ran into a Bell technician at my front door and told him to go away and remove my address from their schedule.

    Fed up, I called to cancel. It takes 30 days to take effect. They would not let me downgrade service to their cheapest plan for remaining month, and gave no reason why. I am not in a contract.

    I am now looking forward to sending back their modem and getting them out of my life permanently. I’ve written down my cancellation code and will be watching my credit card for unauthorized payments to Bell, as I see from reviewing complaints that this has been a problem for others.

  16. 0

    threenorns says...

    my daughter lives in calgary, “alberat”, and has internet - it’s telus, not bell.

    i used to work in a call centre for telephone service - alberta is telus, not bell.

    so i’m not sure where you came from with that.

  17. 0

    threenorns says...

    as for bell, i lost a job bec of so many missed appts by the technicians to install the service i needed bec i was starting a home-based business.

    when i finally got the service installed, i ended up phoning tech support pretty much daily - literally - for over two months just *screaming* because network speeds were so slow i couldn’t even use bell’s own speedcheck utility - the page kept timing out. speeds recorded on speedtest.net were as low as 0.09kbps - this, on a DSL line that was supposed to be 6MBps!

    “when i signed up, i was told i’d be getting the fastest speed on the fastest network,” i said. “nobody told me oh, except for 6pm to midnight weekdays and pretty much all weekends when the network will be so choked up you might as well go read a book while waiting for the pages to load! then i also pointed out that ppl in my little town are paying the same price as ppl in the GTA who don’t have this problem, yet we are not getting the same service AND that bell has known about this problem since january yet, not only was i not informed, but here it is june and there’s no interest in fixing this problem. do i really need to go to the competition bureau?”

    i was on the phone with the tech centre as they were explanding capacity at the central office - and it’s been golden ever since.

    four months’ free internet service doesn’t hurt, either: tip - every time (EVERY time!) they miss an appt or cause serious inconvenience, ask for a supervisor and request compensation for your inconvenience.

  18. 0

    Iatros says...

    Readers may also find this story/correspondence informative:

    Wade Oosterman, President,
    Bell Mobility,
    1, Carrefour Alexander Graham Bell,
    Building A Fourth Floor,
    Verdun, Quebec, H3E 3B3 2011

    Dear Mr. Oosterman,

    Identity Theft

    It may seem inappropriate for me to be writing to yourself about this matter, but your web site and your staff make it extremely difficult to identify just who is the right person. I will return to this later, but my most pressing concern is that I appear to have been the victim of identity theft, in order to obtain services from you company.

    Let me make it quite clear, I have never sought to purchase any equipment or service from Bell Canada, and after this experience it is highly improbable that I will do so in the future. Yet last week I received a letter dated June 7th informing me that I owed $****.** on account number ************.

    It would appear that I have been the victim of identity theft in the purchase of service from your company; and to discover the extent to which my identity has been abused I need all the information I can gather to lay before the RCMP.

    This morning I first contacted Darlins (?). Unfortunately she was almost unintelligible in English. She also refused to serve me unless I provided additional personal information including my date of birth. Since my personal information has already been abused, you should understand why I demurred. Besides, I have no way of knowing (and neither does she) whether the person who abused my name knows my date of birth. It is irrelevant at this point.

    I asked Darlins to transfer me to her supervisor, but the call was dropped.

    I called back and spoke with Esther, who volunteered the information that the account number was linked to a mobile phone number *** *** ****. She refused to provide me with the name of the city or business where the ‘phone and/or service were purchased, unless I provided my date of birth. Again I demurred and asked to speak to her Supervisor, and was transferred to Sophie.

    Sophie told me that the service had been purchased on *** **th in ******, which is where I live. However ****** is only a residential community ….. and has no retail businesses whatsoever. Sophie refused to provide me with any more information so I asked to be transferred to your company’s security department. She said she would do so, but a period of about 5 minutes elapsed during which I could hear voices talking in the background, but no one spoke to me. It appeared that Sophie had simply put the ‘phone down on her desk.

    As a responsible corporate entity Bell Mobility has a responsibility to assist in the identification and prevention of identity theft. Far from making communication with your company transparent, there are layers of obfuscation which many may find daunting. However I prize the value of my good name highly and will not allow this matter to drop until the culprit who has been abusing it is apprehended.

    To this end I request that Bell provide all necessary information to myself or through ********** RCMP. I also expect an early confirmation from Bell Mobility that this matter has been taken under advisement.

    This was written over 2 months ago and I have not received a response. IN the intering I have started receiving threatening ‘phone calls from a debt collection agency.

    I have subsequently written to a provincial privacy commissioner who has in effect confirmed that my privacy rights have been violated by Bell Canada. However since Bell is a trasnational company, my complaint has been re-driected to the Canadian federal privacy commissioner.

    It transpires that this so-called ‘debt’ has now been reported to a credit rating agency - even though I have never had any dealings whatsoever with Bell Canada or any of its subsidiaries.

    Many may feel it is not worth the trouble to respond to this abuse, but I consider my ‘good name’ to be a prized asset and am not about to back down or let it drop. Fortunately I have the wherewithall to fight this battle - all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada if necessary.

    I encourage all victims of Bell Canada to take the same determined approach.

  19. 0

    John Dorner says...

    they send me a bill, charge me $2 for paper it arrives the day it’s due, have a late fee already on the bill, they tell me it is my problem.I say tell all the new business people you know,

  20. 0

    BC says...

    I recently signed up for Fibe 6 internet service. Bad experience overall, the technicians never came nor called. The call centers located overseas were not very helpful. I assume Bell doesn’t want my business. I will be going elsewhere.

  21. 0

    Big City says...

    I initially signed up for Bell as I was in a commecial building and we didn’t have any other options for internet. I didn’t have to much problem initially other than I was paying much higher rates than I should. I signed a year contract. After about a 2 years and 3 months I moved locations to a new place that included internet (ya!), so I call Bell to cancel my service. 30 mins waiting before I get a customer service rep. It is at this time that they tell be I am still under contract and there will be a penalty of 3 months. I am like “What? I only had a year contract” they then inform me that my contract AUTO-RENEWS every year, so I am now on the hook for 3 months of service. I ask to speak to a manager, I am put on hold for another 20 minutes, then the operator says that a manager isn’t available, and that if I like I can get a manager to call me back within 72 hours. I tell the guy I don’t want to wait and to just send me my bill (I gave up at that point.) So I wait for the final bill, and nothing shows up in the mail. I call them again a month later to request my final bill, and for them to send me a box or something so i can send them there modem back. They tell me that they have been sending my bills to the old address, the one I told them I was moving from and would never ever be going back to, so I give them my new address (again). 3 months later I get a call from there collection department for the bill. I tell them I have been waiting for the bill and it was never sent to me. They respond coldly with some vague thing saying must have been a computer glitch or something, and they tell me they are charging me late fees on the bill I never got. I ask them where they have been sending the bills, and of course it is still my old address, so again i give them my new address. All in all a total bunch of useless tools. I will NEVER deal with Bell again!

  22. 0

    Joseph says...

    I was a 23 year customer with Bell. This past summer they lost my business due to how broken, disconnected and unethical they are. Bell’s customer service team are incompetent, their processes are completely messed up. I wasted 3 days of my summer holidays trying to sort out a billing problem which they created. I finally had to get a federal MP and a lawyer involved. Once everything was cancelled, they still billed me and never turned the phone service off. Trust me, the emperor has no clothes, when it comes to Bell. Do not the size of the company fool you. They are completely screwed up. The various departments do not keep reliable systems and financial accounting. God help you if you subscribe to multiple services. I have given them confirmation numbers for transactions and they have no record of the confirmation numbers. Dealing with Bell customer service is like working with someone who is a complete ignorant fool who thinks they know more than everyone around them. Bell is utterly beyond hope.

  23. 0

    Jason says...

    BELL SUCK! If you want/crave for some frustration, sign up with them. I and the rest of the people above guarantee you will enjoy every bit of it.

  24. 0

    sarah says...

    hahahahahaha bell CANADA does not provide service for internet and homephone outside of ontario or quebec. And if you tried to every get something like this published ina paper they would simply look into the situation and realize you have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe you have bell west, but that is a different company all together, just like bell alient is different from bell canada. I get that it might be annoying to be told something different from what YOU think the answer is, but guess what princess bell canada does not have internet or homephone in alberta, only sat t.v. hahahahhahahahahhahaha i had a really good laugh at this tho.

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