Dear Sympatico user - you're screwed.

3828 Views 34 Replies 15 Participants Last post by ErnstNL, May 24, 2007

MacAndy

Discussion Starter · May 2, 2007

My mum, who lives in Oshawa east of Toronto, just called me at work a half an hour ago with an ominous tone - the kind of tone you hear when a family member dies - so I started worrying.

"Andrew, I don't know what to do..."

What is it ma?

"Well, I was fine up until a few minutes ago, and then..."

Then what?! Ma!

"My internet, I can't connect.

Sheezus!!!

I couldn't troubleshoot her dilemma from work, just not possible, she was reading off all kinds of dialogue boxes.

I said she'd have to call Bell because if it worked yesterday, and it doesn't today, it's their problem, not hers.

She just called me back a few minutes ago. Seems her modem is out of date.

What the hell is it with Bell that they can just shut down a customer like this?

And, worse... it'll be 2-3 days before a new one is delivered. And, they tell her it's very easy to set up. Like hell it will be. She's not a tech-savvy person, she won't be touching it.

Sympatico has gone down the crapper yet again.

While I use it at home, I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE.

Avoid Sympatico at all costs. Maybe, years from now, when their client base has evaporated like Bell customers have, they'll get the idea.

What a bunch of maroons. I'm writing a letter to the CRTC.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 35 Posts

monokitty

· #2 · May 2, 2007 (Edited)

Though I feel for her situation, as upgrades to a particular service are performed, older hardware can become incompatible (common knowledge). Waiting up to 3 days for a new modem could be much worse. If she's concerned about getting it setup, get a Mac-savvy Bell tech to set it up for her (believe it or not, there are a few), or hire a Mac tech to do it for her.

A single piece of hardware isn't going to last forever, and if her modem needs replacing, it needs replacing if that's what it takes to stay connected to upgraded Sympatico/Bell services. (unless I'm reading something incorrectly in your post.)

HowEver

· #3 · May 2, 2007

Sympatico and Bell are NOT the same thing.

There are Sympatico users who are not Bell customers. Sympatico is the internet service that Bell has contracted.

They might as well be, of course.

fwiw, that modem may be years out of date, and asking for a new one every few years might be a good idea.

Sympatico will walk you through, as Lars suggests, the complete setup process.

Lars said:
Sympatico and Bell are the same thing.

Though I feel for her situation, as upgrades to a particular service are performed, older hardware can become incompatible (common knowledge). Waiting up to 3 days for a new modem could be much worse. If she's concerned about getting it setup, get a Mac-savvy Bell tech to set it up for her (believe it or not, there are a few), or hire a Mac tech to do it for her.

A single piece of hardware isn't going to last forever, and if her modem needs replacing, it needs replacing if that's what it takes to stay connected to upgraded Sympatico/Bell services. (unless I'm reading something incorrectly in your post.)

Carl

· #4 · May 2, 2007

I doubt that the modem is out of date. Sounds like something was lost in translation and a line test showed that the modem is not working properly. 3 days for a new modem doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I question the voracity of the tech support person. To get a line test you have to talk to someone above level one, which may have happened. Where the "outdated" term came from is a mystery though. That would suggest that thousands of customers would be affected at the same time, which is doubtful.
I do not have a choice. I am in a rural area and the DSL ends where I live, so I am lucky to get this (Sympatico). No cable, satellite is slow and expensive.
Modems fail sometimes.

monokitty

· #5 · May 2, 2007

Sympatico is the internet service that Bell has contracted.

They might as well be, of course.

Heh.

I guess when it comes to Internet related issues or services, it makes no difference of which company you're a customer of, be it Sympatico or Bell.

Statement retracted.

Ants

· #6 · May 2, 2007

No Mac Support from Sympatico?

A little off topic..

Not sure if others have experienced the same thing but a friend of mine living in Montreal is using Sympatico's High Speed service and when she inquired about setting up a wireless router, she was informed that the service would not work because she's a Mac user. I can't believe this to be true. Or is it?

Alternately, many of my Montreal friends use Videotron and they all received a wireless modem/router supplied from their ISP. It's a Belkin (can't remember the model #) but it was really simple to set up and works.

monokitty

· #7 · May 2, 2007

she was informed that the service would not work because she's a Mac user. I can't believe this to be true. Or is it?

Untrue. What they're implying is that they won't support that kind of setup on a Mac, as you being their customer. So, if you need help setting it up, etc., they won't be there for you.

HowEver

· #8 · May 2, 2007

Sympatico customer service now supports Mac users.

They won't offer you support for the wireless part of the equation unless you are renting a DSL+wireless modem/router from them--and of course there is no need to pay a rental fee for that purpose.

But don't worry: the router company will do that. For example, d-link usually comes with a lifetime warranty, and you can call their 800 number for troubleshooting anytime. They'd rather help you over the phone than refund the cost of the router.

Ants

· #9 · May 2, 2007

I figured there would be some level of support from them. Thank you both for the info, will pas it one and hopefully she will get it all worked out.

MacAndy

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 3, 2007

HowEver said:
Sympatico and Bell are NOT the same thing.

Bell - call 310-BELL

Sympatico - call 310-SURF

Same difference to me. Bell logo all over their support pages - the MSN title page for support lists Sympatico as Bell Sympatico.

It's Bell, get over it.

The fact of this matter is, THEY TOLD HER IT WAS OUT OF DATE. How the hell should she know. And, if equipment is going to go OUT OF DATE, Sympatico should be proactive and replace it PRIOR TO CUTTING PEOPLE OFF.

Plain and simple. They are shooting themselves in the foot. My mother doesn't have service now. UNHAPPY CUSTOMER = LOSS OF CUSTOMER. She has Rogers cable so she just might as well switch to Rogers.

Pelao

· #11 · May 3, 2007

The fact of this matter is, THEY TOLD HER IT WAS OUT OF DATE. How the hell should she know. And, if equipment is going to go OUT OF DATE, Sympatico should be proactive and replace it PRIOR TO CUTTING PEOPLE OFF.

Fair comment. If it is true that the hardware is out of date, then she should have been informed and the new one should have arrived in advance.

absolutetotalgeek

· #12 · May 3, 2007

Bell is not a customer oriented company, the are a monopoly and their sole purpose is to suck every last penny out of it's customers. Bell cares nothing about quality of service or whether yours works the way it should, they just want more money from you. Talk to people in rural areas that have bad or almost non-functioning phone lines and they'll tell you, Bell won't do a damn thing about it. Why? Because there isn't any profit in drawing new lines or adding stations.

Canada has one of the worst telephone and communication infrastructures/systems and lags in many areas compared to other countries. Again, it's not about service, it's about squeezing every last penny out of you. I know someone that came here from Brazil, San Paulo, and he was absolutely stunned at the state of what we have here for phone service, both land line and cell. He said it's like going back 15 years from what's available there and I've heard similar stories from others as well, engineers from Europe that I've worked with, it's pathetic that we have amazing technology but it's controlled by idiots that only see it as a way to suck cash from people.

Oh and no I don't have a single Bell service in my house and never will.

tptptptp

See less See more

HowEver

· #13 · May 3, 2007

Customers switch all the time. Sympatico and Rogers have entire departments set up to try to retain such people. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don't.

I have an elderly relative who would be very displeased without internet service. They're with Rogers and it rarely goes down. But it's expensive. When you bundle services, you can't get retention deals. And cancelling one service loses the perks on all the others.

But the modem stopping service by going "out of date" is just plain weird. It's anomalous. Chances are the Sympatico "support" person just didn't have a clue how to fix the problem, and it was likely an easy fix. That's why 95 times out of 100 a simple reset ends the support call. I only call when I have the time to talk through to the level 3 tech, the only ones with any power to actually do something about your line.

btw did your mother add any phone lines, a fax machine or anything else just before her internet stopped working?

Good luck.

MacAndy said:
Bell - call 310-BELL

Sympatico - call 310-SURF

Same difference to me. Bell logo all over their support pages - the MSN title page for support lists Sympatico as Bell Sympatico.

It's Bell, get over it.

The fact of this matter is, THEY TOLD HER IT WAS OUT OF DATE. How the hell should she know. And, if equipment is going to go OUT OF DATE, Sympatico should be proactive and replace it PRIOR TO CUTTING PEOPLE OFF.

Plain and simple. They are shooting themselves in the foot. My mother doesn't have service now. UNHAPPY CUSTOMER = LOSS OF CUSTOMER. She has Rogers cable so she just might as well switch to Rogers.

krs

· #14 · May 3, 2007

absolutetotalgeek said:
Canada has one of the worst telephone and communication infrastructures/systems and lags in many areas compared to other countries.

I'm surprised you would say that.

I have worked in the US on and off for about ten years and also in Europe for four years, and the telephone service in Canada was much better than in the US or Europe.
Mind you, that was before 2005, but I don't think the telephone service in Canada has gone downhill that much in the last two years (or the US/European service improved).
I think people here are very intolerant of the slightest problem - in Europe it was normal that you waited months to have your service reconnected when you moved - here people are upset if it doesn't happen immediately.

IronMac

· #15 · May 3, 2007

Gee, I'm a pretty happy Sympatico customer. There were some difficulties but the techies have gone way beyond what was expected of them in order to try and solve my problems. Half of the time they have no clue as to what they are doing but I'm been using the service quite happily for well over a year now.

Pelao

· #16 · May 3, 2007

Gee, I'm a pretty happy Sympatico customer.

Yes, me too. More than 5 years of HS without a serious issue. Probably a total of 4 hours without connection in that time.

krs

· #17 · May 3, 2007

IronMac said:
Gee, I'm a pretty happy Sympatico customer.

Same here.
When I first set up with Sympatico in Montreal, I talked to two of their techies on two separate occasions - they both knew OS X quite well - at least the part that related to internet connectivity.
I then moved the service to an apartment in another part of town while the house was renovated, and then of course back to the house.
All that was done without a hitch - if I remember right we never lost internet service except for the time I was actually moving the Mac from one loction to the other.

absolutetotalgeek

· #18 · May 3, 2007

I think people here are very intolerant of the slightest problem - in Europe it was normal that you waited months to have your service reconnected when you moved - here people are upset if it doesn't happen immediately.

People in rural areas get screwed over pretty good from Bell, it's not even so much a matter of the speed of service, I mean they'll send a tech out the next day, he won't fix anything 'cause there's nothing he can do at your house. Your house isn't the problem, it's the trunk and and 'feeder' lines that are the problem, and the ones Bell won't replace. I know someone that lives in the country and they are a retired Bell engineer/manager and he knows why his phone line hums and he knows there's nothing Bell will do unless 5000 people move into the area around him.

As for the rest, I think people just get used to what they have so they think it's good. We have only just now been given the choice of carrying our numbers to a new cellular carrier, how long has the rest of the world been able to do this?

Make a long distance call on your cell and on your land-line, it's the same. Why are you charged a huge premium for the cell call?

EVDO 3G..... We could have been innovators and involved with this years ago instead of trailing and following the 'pack'... There is no reason why this stuff has to move so slowly in Canada except for one. So that Bell, and other companies as well, can figure out how to suck as much money from you the customer as possible for using the service and technology.

tptptptp

See less See more

Mississauga

· #19 · May 3, 2007

MacAndy said:
She has Rogers cable so she just might as well switch to Rogers.

... until Rogers pulls the same boneheaded crap... which they have in the recent past for a few of my clients.

If ANY ISP doesn't first ask the model number of the client's modem, that's the ISP's first mistake.

krs

· #20 · May 3, 2007

absolutetotalgeek said:
As for the rest, I think people just get used to what they have so they think it's good. We have only just now been given the choice of carrying our numbers to a new cellular carrier, how long has the rest of the world been able to do this?

Well -in Germany for instance since November 2002............

Make a long distance call on your cell and on your land-line, it's the same. Why are you charged a huge premium for the cell call?

I don't follow you - the regular Bell LD charge is either 43 or 53 cents/minute; regular cellphone LD charge is typically 30 cents/minute.
If you want to pay less, you can go on a plan - I pay 2.8 cents/minute from a landline and from a cellphone - no difference.
Where we are ahead here compared to Germany is receiving calls on a cellphone - here the LD rate stays the same regardless if you terminate on a landline or a cellphone; in Germany you pay substantially more if you call a cellphone compared to a landline.

1 - 20 of 35 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.