It has been a month since we launched !

It has been a month since we launched iHateBadService.ca ! We are seeing some encouraging feedback / statistics and we are glad that people actually love our service. Here is our statistics dump from Google Analytics:



Thanks for everyones support and we still have a long way to go. We will do our best to spread the word and let your stories be heard.

Here are some other interesting highlights about iHateBadService.ca

1. We have 46 posts in total, that's about 1 story per day !
   
2. 82% of our visitors are from Canada
3. In a post regarding Shopper Drug Mart, we actually have an employee from Shopper Drug Mart responding back
4. The top 3 posts in August are on Rogers, Tim Hortons and the Bad Customer Service Video
5. The top 3 industries in August are Retail, Restaurant and Health

Please keep supporting us by telling your friends, sharing your stories, subscribing to us, bookmark our site or simply check out our sponsors ads at the very bottom.

You share it, and we will spread the word.

Another Shaw Cable Rip-Off

Location: Alberta, Red Deer County
Industry: Telecom
Company: Shaw Cable

I just finished reading the complaints about Shaw Cable and decided to add my two cents worth.

I had been a customer of Shaw Cable in Calgary for a number of years, so when I relocated to the outskirts of Red Deer on July 1st. I decided to continue their service. I called them in mid-June to give them my new address so it would be ready when I moved in. They informed me that there was no such address on their records and could I give them more information. I tracked down the county lot number and range number and passed it on. Same result...does not exist. I gave them the name of the previous owner as well as his son's name. (The elderly gent had been moved to a health care facility) Again no luck. I chased down his daughter's name in Vancouver. (Many, many phone calls.) Voila! This one produced results. The customer service person thought it was hilarious. Everyone had been looking for the street name as one word instead of two. She thought it was a great joke.
I get told that there was no problem...service would be in by July 1st. I called the next day to confirm and was again told it was taken care of. You already know the result...no service. I call again this time on my cell phone because I had been using Vonage on VOIP. I was informed there was no record of any such order and therefore I could not get the installation until the 5th. Now relocating requires a lot of telephone work and it was all done on my cell at the prepaid rates.
On the 5th. Shaw arrives and the installation goes ahead. The installer tries to sell me on Shaw's VOIP service. It is twice the cost of Vonage with far less services. No thanks, Shaw. he then tells me my modem is out of date and I will need a new one. (I own the modem) After he leaves I reconnect my Vonage router and am glad I can get off the high phone charges. Wrong again. Shaw's modem will not accept the Vonage router. It keeps shutting down my internet connection whenever it is plugged in. I talk to Vonage and they spend an hour trying to get it up and running...no luck. They inform me this is a typical scam by the big telecom companies to shut out other VOIP providers. Shaw, of course, denies this. I purchase a DLink router to try getting in that way. No luck. Another hour on the phone with Dlink and they eventually tell me the only way I can get this thing to work with Shaw is to change all my port settings...a long, complicated procedure. They agree with Vonage about denial of service.
I then called Shaw and told them I wanted my old modem back. (It had a dual jack system) I basically get told to 'suck eggs'. If I want it back I will have to get in touch with their salvage centre in Edmonton and, if it has not been destroyed, I have to provider a serial number and pay for shipping.
I eventually have to sign up with that other gang of thugs (Telus) for a land line and give up the best telephone service I have ever had.
I can't get wireless service here (although I can throw a stone across the Red Deer city limits) but it is expanding and just as soon as it is available I will be switching.
P.S. I tried switching to Telus high speed but they are even worse. Their system is not coampatible with Windows Vista but they don't tell you that until after installation. Also, when I cancelled Shaw I was informed that I could have gotten a different modem if only I had made them aware of the problem!!!!! iHate Shaw and Telus and I hope they get nailed before the CRTC where they are being charged by a host of VOIP providers. I don't hold out much hope though...Shaw and Telus can pay more to the regulators.

IL FORNELLO at Hwy7 and Yonge,Richmond Hill,ON

Location: Ontario, Richmond Hill
Industry: Restaurant mv

I recently had dinner at Il Fornello located at Yonge & Hwy 7. I have previously been to their other locations many times and have found their food & service pretty decent.

However, this time I went, I had a very different experience. It was a party of 3 where we ordered appetizers and main courses, no drinks except for 2 glasses of regular water, and 1 glass of hot water. When the bill came, I was very surprised to see a charge of $1.25 for hot water...(now before everyone goes off on a tangent here, yes, I DO realize that we are talking about only $1.25 and trust me, I have no issues with paying that and that's not the point of this thread). However, of all the restaurants I've been to in N. America, Asia, Europe, Australia, etc.. never have I been charged for hot water.

When I asked the waitress and restaurant manager about this charge, I was provided with a meaningless explanation of "it's our restaurant's policy to charge for hot water". I challenged their response some more by asking them to explain to me why a customer needs to pay for something that is FREE (hot water) and why then wasn't I charged for the other 2 glasses of cold water. Their response became even more incredulous. The restaurant manager said (verbatim) "Ma'am, we are in the business of making money. It costs me money to serve the hot water in a cup and saucer. We are also finding that patrons are bringing their own teabags, and therefore, we need to charge them for the hot water."
So I then asked whether this "restaurant policy" would still apply if I had asked him to serve the hot water in a glass instead of a cup/saucer. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to regurgitate the "it's restaurant policy" chant.

I could relate to his argument around people bringing in their own teabags and consequently having to charge them for the hot water to "make their tea". But in this case, the individual ordered hot water because they don't drink cold water (for health reasons). We never asked for the hot water to be served in a cup/saucer, nor do we care how it is served.

Again, I have no problems with paying the $1.25, which I did. I was just appalled by the blatant disregard for customer service, coupled with a rather feable justification of their restaurant policy to charge for hot water. This is awful restaurant practice, and very happy to see that it's not a widespread practice. Who knows, maybe they'll start charging customers for extra salad dressing or a slice of lemon soon.

I welcome everyone else's input, feedback, or similar experiences.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=491678

Please read the thread.

I hate TD Canada Trust!

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Finance md
Company: TD Canada Trust

What the hell $293.00 in service charges in one month for a small business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SERVICE CHARGES!!!!!!!!

Terrible service at Staples

Location: British Columbia, Vancouver
Industry: Retail mv
Company: Staples the Business Depot

I ordered a desktop computer from Staples with the very firm promise it would be delivered the next day. I sat at home for the whole day: no computer arrived. At the end of the day, I called, received no apology whatsoever, and decided to cancel the order.

Several days later I checked my Visa account and saw that the $1500 charge from Staples was still on my bill. I called to complain. One week later, the charge was still there. I called again...in the end it took Staples FIVE WEEKS to reverse the charge for the computer they never bothered to deliver. In other words, they basically took out a loan at my expense.
At no point during this process, did I ever receive so much as an apology.

I buy a lot of office supplies, but, even though it will be inconvenient, I will NEVER spend another penny at Staples.

I hate Shaw Cable

Location: British Columbia, Vancouver
Industry: Telecom
Company: Shaw Cable

We signed up for Shaw hi-speed internet a year ago. At the same time, they persuaded us to move to an e-bill which, we were never able to log into. So, after 3 attempts to make the switch back, they finally began to send us a paper bill.

This is when we learned they used a negative option billing
scam to "upgrade" us to High speed Xtreme cable for an extra $120.00 a year. As if this isn't bad enough, the cable is slow when it works and crashes at least twice a day, every day. Despite dozens of phone calls to Shaw, there seems to be no remedy....hardly "Xtreme" service. Xtremely bad service.

When I called to get an explanation and a refund on the extra charge, they claim to have lost records of the transactions, meaning they don't want to give me a refund, because I can't prove I didn't ask for the upgrade.

Shaw Cable sucks!

DIFFERENT PRICES @ different SHOPPERS DRUG MART LOCATIONS!

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Retail mv md

I was at shoppers drug mart at Kennedy & Shepard and bought Life brand tissues for .49 cents. (keep in mind that shoppers tissue got more stingy since now it's only 96 tissues as opposed to before when it was 100 tissues oh and it's also smaller in size now as well). anywho... the next day I went to the shopper drug mart at yonge and bloor... bought the same tissues for .59 cents. I told the cashier that it was .49 cents because that's what it said on the flyer....apparently the flyers were different... in scarborough it is .49 cents but downtown toronto it is .59 cents ....so what's going on shoppers DRUG mart? have you been drugged? why are you charging people different amounts depending on the region they live in?

Canadian Funny Money

Location: Alberta, Red Deer County
Industry: Government
mv md
My father-in-law recently flew to Calgary from Winnipeg. He went to Marlin Travel to purchase his ticket as he has done every year for the past half a dozen years. When he tried to pay for his ticket with cash, he was informed that Westjet and the Great People's Airline (AC) no longer accept cash. Now, this gent is 87 years old and legally blind, although he has some limited sight. He was told he would have to use a credit card for the purchase. He does not use credit cards because he has been warned that with his poor vision he would be vulnerable to scamming clerks who could put almost anything on the card. He had verified the price beforehand and had gone to his bank to withdraw the funds. The people at his bank are aware of his situation and don't cheat him. He had to call his daughter to drive into the city to put the charges on her credit card. Since when can any corporation decide they will not accept cash which has the words Legal Tender written on it? When did the mighty Lords in government outlaw the use of Canadian currency? We, the great unwashed, have always been told that the money, printed by the government, was valid for any and all transactions. I e-mailed the Finance Department and was told it was not their problem. I e-mailed the Treasury Department and was told it was not their problem. I e-mailed my local MP and received a reply from his office filled with bafflegarb and BS, but answered nothing. What's next...will WalMart or Canadian Tire (those great icons of corporate integrity!!!!) decide they don't like cash either and force us all to use credit cards so they can apply their usurious interest rates? I don't recall a government statement telling us that Canadian Currency was no longer an acceptable method of payment for goods or services.
Powell Lucas

'Downsized' products (all)

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Manufacturing

Who started this trend of giving less for the same money. For example, a jug of windshield washer fluid that used to be 2 Litres is now 1.89 Litres. Ok greedy rocket scientist yuppies, it costs money to reprint labels and produce slightly smaller jugs, not to mention modifications to the production lines (most likely serviced by over-payed union workers). Here is another example, a 280 gram bag of Doritos used to be 300 grams for the same or less money. Are products going to shrink to smurf size or right out of existence completely?! Lame, very lame, any company partaking in this kind of rip-off should know you are not giving your existing customers reason to keep buying your products. Go on, keep 'downsizing' yourselves right out of business.

Toronto Hydro is out of control

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Utilities
mv
First I had to battle them to stop 'estimating' my bill (several years ago). Apparently it's ok for poor working people to 'loan' THEM money (my bills were always grossly OVER ESTIMATED). When they OVER CHARGE you, you are in effect, loaning THEM money at no interest. Insult to injury, if you pay that over estimated bill late, you are paying an interest fee penalty ON THE MONEY YOU ARE LOANING THEM. Well after threatening to expose this in a court of law, they installed a lock box for a key to the building for the meter reader to use. Case 2: Only months ago they replaced my meter with a so-called 'smart' meter. For some reason the old meter jumped ahead by 1000 kwh and they billed me for it. I phoned them and accused them of scamming me into paying for the new meter installation, they backed down again and scaled back my bill (I offered them to come and look inside my place to confirm I did not start a 'grow-op'). Case 3: This 'smart' meter has made my bills jump by 30 to 40%, I am not doing anything different, they are just a bill increase in disguise. Also, what the hell is "Loss Factor Adjustment", they multiply my reading by 1.0376 to add another 82 kwh to my last 'net' reading. Hey, don't other companies and utilities 'suck up' losses like this?! Then there is the "Debt Retirement" charge, umm hello, I am paying for bad management that happened BEFORE I became a Toronto Hydro customer?! Toronto Hydro are the biggest bunch of scamming boobs on the planet, I am moving to Mississauga just to get away from them and the filthy TTC.

No holiday pay...

Location: Ontario, Mississauga
Industry: Manufacturing

They don't pay new workers holiday pay in accordance with the ESA (Employment Standards Act, Ontario only). I have the pay stubs to prove it.

Cheap-ass Petro Canada

Location: Ontario, Brampton
Industry: Retail

mv
Well most gas stations put window washer fluid in their windshield cleaning stations by their pumps. Apparently this Petro Canada worker informed me that they were ordered by head office to put PLAIN WATER in them until it is too cold to do so. How frickin cheap are the yuppies in control going to get?! Plain water doesn't help remove splashed on insect guts, what the hell are they thinking. Just for that, I will boycott them with my private vehicle (I am forced to go their with the company vehicle). The location is Dixie and Steeles in Brampton, Ontario.

Stupid Crooks

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Other

Lord, I detest stupid crooks! If they're going to run a con they should at least get the correct name of the person they are trying to scam. These clowns at mp3rocket are located in Panama. (Does this raise a red flag for everyone?) And these kind folks are all set to send me a brand new & shiny Playstation 3 if I will only respond to their e-mail. Also, if I don't want to be on their mailing list, all I have to do is click on a link. This, of course, will give them your URL so they can gain access to your computer. Don't respond in any way. Ignore them or you will live to regret it. They sent me their phishing lure in my brother's name. What is happening to this world? In the old days the criminals were much smarter than that.

Travel Scam

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Tourism

Hi Folks:
I don't know if this is the kind of information you want on this site or not. If not, don't publish it and please send me an e-mail so I don't send you this kind of stuff again.
At any rate, if you receive a $1,600 voucher from some scam outfit called Ramada Plaza Resorts, throw it away. It is a scam!! If you type RPR/OFV into your search engine you will get a page full of people who were conned by these crooks. Maybe this is a legit complaint: I hate stupid crooks. If they had even bothered to check they would find that I can't get into the U.S. Dummies!!

Girl on cell phone

Location: Other, ventura, ca
Industry: Retail

I went into my local Ralphs store to buy some ice and this cashier was on her cell phone. How Rude!!! She didn't even say "hello" or anything. She just ranged up my stuff then told me that my club card does matter. Here I wanted to save a couple of pennies, ok so it's only pennies but there mine! She never got off the phone.

Movie/Music Downloading Services

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Technology

To anyone who is looking for a movie or music downloading service: If you come across this outfit, pretend you didn't see it. This site is as dangerous as the porn downloading sites. You can find them easily if you just type movie downloads into your search engine. They are most likely at the top of the page with a with a link to ConsumerDownloadGuide.org and a blurb that tells you not to purchase any service until you read their report. This is phoney-baloney organization, quite probably just dreamed up by the scammers at Butterfly. When you have signed up you will not get a P2P service, but simply a link to actual P2P downloading sites. There are a half dozens sites listed. Some, like Limewire you can get for free without going through these hucksters and some are legit sites that you have to purchase but can access, again without going through Butterfly. The rest are so virus laden that your AV program will go nuts as soon as you access them. The legit ones, like Limewire and Shareaza, won't let you connect at all. There is a standard, computer generated response to any request for support. It is always the same regardless of what the question is. I tried them because I am on a search for a very specific, hard to find item and the result was as noted. However, you can beat these clowns (and any other of these bandit sites) if you keep your phone nice and handy. The minute you realize that the item you just paid for is a sham, call your credit card provider and cancel all charges. The credit card providers don't want to lose you because, if you get bent out of shape, they may lose a customer and all the exhorbitant intrest charges they collect. They will make sure the transaction does not go through and, in many cases, will slap the firm on a watch list on your account. But don't hesitate...do it immediately. Don't think that just because you paid for the service that you are out of pocket. You do have options.
Powell Lucas

Tim Horton's BLONDE MOMENT

Location: New Brunswick, Hampton
Industry: Restaurant
Company: Tim Hortons

We went to the drive through and placed our order we told her 3 times that there was 2 orders, as we get to the window she tells us the total and I repeated that there was 2 orders so only had 1 total . With out looking at her I said thats a Blonde Moment . When I looked up at the attendent low andbehold she was a Blonde

RE: Best Buy Store

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Retail
Company: Best Buy

In reply to post "Best Buy Store".

Yeah, they're all the same. About six months ago I decided to try an iMac since I was fed up trying run Windows XP. Went into Best Buy with a few questions. After trying 3 or 4 teeny boppers I finally found a kid who told me the truth. There was one guy in the store who knew about iMacs, but he was off for two days. He would gladly check the schedule to let me know when this person was available. You would think I was setting up an appointment with a doctor or a bank teller. So long Best Buy! I haven't been back, nor will I. And if anyone thinks I'm kidding...ever since PBS ran the story on how Sears coluded with Sony to undermine the North American television manufacturing sector I have never set foot in one of their stores. That was 20 years ago and I used to buy there all the time.
Powell Lucas

We Got What We Wanted

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Other

Well folks, we got what the various consumer associations wanted ... cheap, cheap prices. Of course that's mainly for imported junk which, as recent evidence has shown is dangerous to our health and that of our children. This should really help our health care costs as we try to keep up with all the antidotes required for the poison we're buying. But the junk is cheap. And, to go along with that we have these big retailers who pay their employees sub standard wages with no benefits. But that keeps costs down and the products are cheap. The fact that once upon a time a person could work in retail and afford a home and automobile has gone by the wayside. Now you get kids working in these places with no knowledge of the products or their uses and a 'get stuffed attitude'. For the wages they get why should they care. But the products are cheap. Besides, who cares if these people can't afford even an apartment, let alone a home...our taxes will continue to go up to pay for subsidized housing. But the products are still cheap. So what if you spend more than the price of the product in gasoline as you return items over and over again. They're cheap. Airlines now fly with people jammed in like cattle. Luggage arrival is a crap shoot. Cancelled or delayed flights are the norm. Maintenance is cut to the bone and the skies are becoming deadly because we don't pay for qualified security people or sufficient air traffic control. But the flights are cheap. Just think, in a short time we will have reduced wages to the level of those in the countries where most of these products are made. Of course the cost of accomodations does not come down to match those countries. No, it stays at the good old North American level. Does anyone notice a little incongruity in this scenario? When wages get down to 10 cents an hour and a bachelor suite reaches $5,000 a month we won't care. Products will still be cheap. To all you wonderful consumer advocates out there...be proud, you've attained your goal. Prices are cheap...but I'm afraid the final cost will be very high!

Unethical ISP providers

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Telecom
mv
After having a number of problems with Shaw Cable systems' internet service, I decided to switch to Telus. After finally blowing my top with some moron who kept insisting that I sign a long term contract they finally gave up and agreed to a simple month-by-month plan. (I never sign long term contracts and thank God I didn't this time.) The service was hooked up and I installed the start-up disk that came with the modem. The disk wouldn't open so I called Telus and was informed that the service had not been activated. I was assured it would be activated the next day. On the following day I tried again...same result. This time the answer was that "it should work and maybe I should open it through 'My Computer'. The fact that I had tried that didn't matter. "Try it again" Same result. Third day when I called, I was told they would look into it and maybe send me a new disk, but they would get back to me. No call. Fourth day...same result. Call again. This time someone finally told me that the Telus system was not yet fully compatible with Vista but they would lead me through the setup by phone. O.K. Got it set up and running until I used the Telus mail system. At this point I get a message saying I had to reload all my e-mail addresses into their system because it wouldn't work with Windows Contacts. This is a big no-no. It's bad enough that Dell and Microsoft have all these addresses (that's two too many) but to give it to these ad-happy clowns would mean all my contacts with get flooded with advertising hammering them to sign up for one of Telus' crappy services. I said I wouldn't do that and was told that I couldn't use my e-mail in that case. Since I had to send a bunch of photos, I put that single address into their contacts file and sent them off. The file was too large for the reciving ISP and I got a message to that affect. I cut down the number of photos and tried to send them. Lo and behold, the original file also tried to go out with the new one. I figured "stupid me, I didn't delete the old file in the Outbox" Hold on! What Outbox? The Telus system had no Outbox. I then checked my Windows Mail and guess what...there was the old file along with two new messages. It seems the Telus system uses Windows Outbox and, sometime, but not always, Windows Inbox. It was to be a guessing game as to where incoming or returned e-mail was placed. This is supposed to be a high tech company? No wonder they give away a computer if you sign a long term contract. This is so you will have something to throw out the window when you realize you are stuck with a non-functioning service. And to top it off, these idiots keep sending bills that have the internet service charges still applied. When you contact them they tell you that their billings are all screwed up, but to just pay the bill and they will make adjustments. Riiiiight...and five pound robins aren't fat. My advice...whenever any tech firm, whether cell phone provider, internet provider, cable provider, etc. mentions a long term contract, get on your horse and get out of Dodge.
Powell Lucas

Porkers Ride for Free

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Health

Just recently it was announced that surgeons in Alberta would get a 25% premium for operating on obese people. Where are the screams of outrage? When the smoke Nazis got after the puffers, their big complaint was the added costs to the health care system. How come there is this complete silence about the cost of Fatties to the system? At least smokers weren't an add-on cost. And this is not meant to promote smoking. It is a dangerous and dirty habit and keeping it out of public places is a great step forward. But, isn't it a little unfair that overweight people get off Scott free. It is well documented that the surge in childhood obesity will place an horrific load on the health care system, yet everyone tippy-toes around the subject. Since the tax on tobacco products is somewhere in the 700-800% range, I feel the same should apply to all junk food. All the potato chips, Twinkies, soda pop, etc. should be subject to the same rate of taxation. C'mon folks...fair is fair. As my buddy from Quebec used to say: "What's good for the goose, is good for the other goose too.
Powell Lucas

Shaw Cable

Location: Alberta, Red Deer
Industry: Telecom
Company: Shaw Cable

I recently relocated from Calgary to Red Deer (July 1st.) and in mid June I contacted Shaw Cable to make arrangements to have my service changed. Firstly, they kept telling me the address I was moving to was non-existant. I called them in Calgary and Edmonton and got the same result. I finally contacted the previous home owner in Vancouver and got the account name. (It was in the name of the previous owner's son) I called Shaw again and the person at the other end thought it was hilarious...they had been looking for a street named Englandway instead of England Way. (Ho-ho, Ha-ha).

That alone demonstrates the level of competence of their personnel. They assured me, however, that evrything would be ready for the first of the month. I called the next day to verify this assurance. Yep...no problem! Everything was in order. Come July 1st. and no service. Call them again and they had no record of any installation at this address and no work order had been generated. They arrived on the 5th. and proceeded with the installation. At that time I was told they would have to change my modem as it was outdated. I enquired as to whether the new modem would allow me to connect my Vonage router. After I got the big sales pitch about how I should be using Shaw's VOIP, which I refused (It was at least twice the cost with half the services), I was assured there would be no problem with the new modem. LIE!!! The new modem did not have a separate jack for the router as did my old modem and when I connected the cable through the Vonage router my internet connection went dead. I contacted Shaw and was told it was Vonage's problem??? I contacted Vonage and spent nearly an hour on the phone trying to get it to work. No luck, and as Vonage explained, this is the reason the VOIP providers have the ISPs before the Canadian Telecommunications Board. I purchased a D-Link router and tried it. Again nearly an hour on the phone with D-Link and it finally boiled down to the fact Shaw's setup would not let me through unless I changed all my port settings. (Shaw, of course denies they are doing anything to interfere with third party VOIP providers.) I called Shaw and told them I wanted my dual jack modem back. I was basically told to suck eggs. If I wanted my old modem I would have to contact the Shaw salvage depot in Edmonton, give them the modem serial number and hope they could find it. I have tried going wireless but there is no signal in my area. I tried Telus, only to find out, after the fact, that they are not compatible with Vista. (That's a whole other story) So, I had to give up the best phone service I ever had while these thugs tell me that it is not their problem that a system that worked like a dream in Calgary won't work in Red Deer. (Must be the internet fairies playing games.) I will, however, keep checking for new wireless providers and, as soon as there is one that I can connect to, Shaw will be history.

Extended Warranty

Location: Ontario, Kingston
Industry: Retail
Company: Staples the Business Depot

The extended warranties at Staples are worthless. I purchased an Acer laptop there about a year and a half ago (buying an Acer was my first mistake). Within the year, the screen went. It was sent back to the manufacturer and repaired. Three months ago, while it was on the extended warranty, the screen went again. I was told by the Staples Warranty department that they would need my computer for at least two weeks. I told them that I used my computer in my business and could not do without it for that length of time. They offered no help. They would not provide me with a loaner and the manager was curt.

I ordered a Dell laptop. Once it was received and set up, I took my Acer to Staples. After a week, they called to inform me that it would cost more to repair than the current market value of the machine. They offered me $554 in store credits and they will keep the computer. As all I need is a monitor, I turned them down and they sent the Acer back. Again, the staff were unfriendly. Think about it though. I paid $169 for something that would provide me with $554 in store credits just over a year later. Good deal for Staples.

An important note that Staples never mentions that the warranty is refundable. If you take it in, they will give you the pro-rated amount. I rummaged through all of my old bills and found three warranties which I took back. The clerk had never heard of this before and called over the manager who was as unknowledgeable and, again, unfriendly. I explained why I was there and showed him the paragraph that gave me the right to a refund. He said he did not know about this and said I would need to call the warranty department and find out what I was to do. You call them, I said. It is plainly written on the warranty that I am to take it back to the store where I purchased it and claim the refund. He looked them over and, at first, said he was not going to pay one because it was from two years ago. I pointed out that the Staples warranty I purchased was for two years after the end of the manufacturer's one year warranty.

He eventually went off to phone and came back to refund me most of the remaining amounts. However, on at least one, I had negotiated a deal as the item was slightly damaged. He insisted that he deduct that from what I was owed.

Terrible product, terrible service.

Rogers Trains Their Employees to Conveniently Lie and Decept Their Customers for Profit

Location: British Columbia, Vancouver
Industry: Telecom mv md
Company: Rogers

Sept '06 - Signed up for Rogers Wireless corporate plan. Required to pay a $250 deposit - which was told would be added to my account as a credit after one year.

Oct '06 - Switched to a different company corporate plan which had a better deal and accordingly the Customer Service Representative adjusted my bill appearing as credits on my account each month. (The representative who helped me was very helpful)

Nov '06 - Called to have a long distance plan added to the account as I was not willing to pay 30 cents/min long distance - their lowest long distance plan offered was the same amount of my current base rate bill and only offered a reduction to 20 cents/min. Accordingly, I declined their poor offer, and overheard the Customer Relations Representative mumble something about credits on the account

Dec '06 - "Mysteriously", my credits for my switched corporate plan disappear. I call Customer Service to have the problem resolved and the Neanderthal handling my call claimed that there was "no history of a change in corporate plan" - even though he admitted that my bill had been credited for the months of October and November, yet could not justify that the change in corporate plan linked to these credits, to which I replied:

"Alright, well let's fix this problem"

To which the agent again repeated:

"No record bla bla" - and eventually he disconnected the call without resolving the matter.

I called back the next day to file a complaint and have the matter resolved. The matter was not resolved and no complaint was taken to seek action taken on the Customer Service Representative who mistreated my call.

Jan '07 - My corporate account is finally and re-officially re-changed back to the new plan, but "mysteriously" the plan that which it was and was quoted to me as being different cost savings wise, is further "mysteriously" non-existent. Rogers seems to have no recollection of that it was in fact less expensive (voicemail was included in the package without having to pay extra for it).

June '07-August '07 - I am doing a lot of traveling and making a lot of long distance 30 cents/min / roaming calls along with my brother who also has a number under my corporate account. Accordingly, the phone bill reaches the $300 credit limit all 3 months in a row. Each time the phone is cut off without warning before the bill due date. Even though they claim to have contacted me, but rather than my number being the primary contact number on the account, they contact my brother via one text message, less than 12 hours before cutting off each time, despite my repeated requests to have my number made as the primary contact and have the credit limit increased to accommodate increased usage. (BTW to add an extra 100 minutes to my plan would double my base rate, so I opt to develop the habit of using skype more often).

August '07 - After the third time having my phone cut off without warning, after repeated requests to have the credit limit within the 30 day time period increased, after repeated requests to have my number put as the primary contact, I phoned Rogers AGAIN to have my phone reconnected. However, this time the Accounts Receivable Representative pulled another Neanderthal Dec '06 act on me and refused to reconnect my phone, even though advanced payment was already made before my bill was even due, at which point I asked to be put through to Customer Relations as I was going to cancel my account, to which the Accounts Receivable Representative responded and I kid you not at 7PM PST on a weeknight:

"Customer Relations is not open"

Me (knowing he is lying through his teeth): "Oh really, what time do they close?"

Neanderthal: "9 ET"

Me: "Oh really huh, because I have talked to customer relations at this same time before"

Neanderthal: "Oh yeah you're so smart what do you liiiiiike you like wooooooooork for Rogers or something, hang up and call back tomorrow" - this said in the most condescending and patronizing tone possible

Me: "Hold the line".... As I dial Rogers Customer Service number via another phone and asked to be directed to the Customer Relations department who.. whatya know... is *open*...

Me: "Hi there, this is Mxxxxxx-xxxxxx Pxxxxxx calling, I have an Accounts Receivable Representative on the other line, who out and out denies that Customer Relations is not open right now and to call back tomorrow.. yet.. I am talking to you right now...."

Neanderthal: *click* - disconnects as he hears me *actually* talking to a Customer Relations Representative with the other phone in my hand.

My phone is finally reconnected by a Customer Relations Representative talking to another Accounts Receivable Representative on a 3-way call - WOW the second of *only* 25 people I've dealt with who've actually been helpful.

Sept '07 - That $250 credit is denied from being applied to my account by "the system" as apparently I went over my credit limit throughout the course of the past year even though it was within the 30 day billing cycle. So they now keep my $250 credit for another entire year. Plus, if I want my credit limit increased I am required by "the system" to pay another $300, to have my account credit limit increased by another $100. Hey man, it's "the system" - can't mess with "the system".

Rogers never-ending bullshit continues... I would have rather stayed with Bell if it wasn't for the fact that all my colleagues and associates are with Rogers and want me on unlimited Rogers to Rogers calling...

Poor customer service ties directly in with poor training, poor training directly linked with poor management, which in turn is linked directly to poor executive leadership of middle management.

*I sincerely hope for the sake of Rogers shareholders, that someone in executive management reads this posting for a wake up call to realize how much their customers *despise* them and that when Canada goes to WiBro - wireless communication on flat rate (not billed by the min) how many customers they're going to lose.*

Worst Things that can happen when you are using a phone card

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Telecom mv

• It says: "You are not allow to dial to this destination" ...
• You speak to the phone and the person on the other end couldn't hear you at all
• Vice Versa
• It says: "You have ... 40 min for this call" .... U talked for 10 min and next time it says "You don't have enough credit for this call"
• It says: "The network is currently busy, please try again later" for half a day

You can experience the above service by getting this Online Asia Card from ontariophonecards.ca

P.S. This card did offer good rate when the above don't occur. So take your risk and try your luck.