Cogeco and their digital phone. Crapoloa so far

I switched my great aunt in southern Ontario from Bell Canada (for reasons outlined below) to Cogeco - where their bundle rates were well below what Bell was offering for something similar. If Bell didn't screw their customers (especially ones that have been with Bell since the 50s) then we wouldn't have switched to a cable TV provider muscling in to the phone space. But alas, Bell was overcharging for line insurance and phone insurance (my aunt didn't even have a bell phone) and in a real fuck you - Bell didn't refund that insurance for more than 3 months, but they were quite happy to charge if for 8 years. Anyway, we switched to Cogeco. I guess these guys should stick to digital cable TV. The phone service has been cacking out now for a while and totally down twice this week.

When we make a customer service call (it takes over a minute to get to phone service and the first fucking dumb question the recorded message asks you is 'do you still want to talk to a CSR' like no, i don't i just thought I'd call and waste my time, we ask to get the phone line fixed, we get a nice 8am-5pm window. Really? I'm mean effen really, are you sure 9 effen hours is tight enough for you to figure out when to come by??? My aunt, who's quite old, was originally told she'd have to wait 4 days before a technician could come out. Four days for a senior to wait to have phone service. Really. Have cable and phone companies gone fucking mad. They're making record profits but it just seems a never ending technical set of mess ups or ridiculous customer service experiences after another.

I think the only strategy here is to call Bell, tell them you're going to leave for another provider, get them to make you an offer so you're being screwed less, and then stick with Bell where at least you get reliable phone service. For Internet and TV sure, stick with cogeco, but just don't expect smart CSR's or a reliable technician : )

Wind Mobile - Blows

Oy! I'm really at a loss here. I know, I know, that old adage, you get what you pay for keeps coming back up. I have to state up front that I will give Wind Mobile a shout out for simplification of their service. I like that there is one fee - for a whole bevy of service, and when you get your bill, it's JUST THAT FEE plus the HST of course (up here in Canada). No other bullshit fees like all the other carriers. Even when you roam they only charge you a modest amount - Modest = less than what the other telco jerks charge if you go over you're monthly minute allotment. Canadians are royally screwed by their telcos. And the one company that doesn't suck, Wind, blows. I mean their service. This pains me, really. I like their plan, my plan. It's so cheap. BUT - it's only cheap when I can make a call, or receive one.

I've lost count of the times I've been 'on hold' with some customer support department (notice how it doesn't matter what the industry is, every time you call they're experiencing a larger than normal call volume. If each company's service sucks that bad they should fire the product development team or the CTO), and just as I get through to a CSR wind drops the call, but i digress. With Wind Mobile I get text messages - a day later. I get voicemail messages and a text messages, usually at the same time. I'm lucky when I get a call.

I've been in my house, on the front porch or in the back yard and have dialed out 5 times in a row before getting a signal or a number to go through. I've had my phone on the desk and had hours later a voicemail message show up. The phone didn't ring. I have more conversations that get cut off after 15 minutes than not. So, great plans, great consumer facing billing and messaging, but, uh, oh yeah, the underlying service - is crap!

This means, a) i'm going to have to find another provider because I can't afford to not get or make calls for work and b) i'm going to get screwed by the other telcos. Canadians pay an inordinately high amount for mobile services, and broadband for that matter.

I know all the big guys have their discount brands like fido, chattr, virgin, koodoo, but their model should really be "we screw you less", since they also take on fees, and nickel and dime you till your fucking phone bill is well north of $80 a month. Why, I ask, as a visitor here, do Canadians just take this????

So - if anyone has a suggestion for a Canadian mobile company that screws you less, let me know - morleybrown@gmail.com I'll check them out. Until then, I'm singing the telco blues up here in the great white north!!