I moved entirely away from Bell. Couldn't get DSL in Richmond Hill so Roger's was the only choice. Bell land line with 905 is long distance to Mississauga 905 and could not find a reasonable long distance plan. Plus, Bell Landline still charges for Touchtone service?????

Hence, moved to Vonage for internet phone. Get unlimited long distance plus a 416 area code. With Extreme High Speed internet, calls are pretty well trouble free. I have a Linksys router with QoS settings to give priority to VOIP.

As for TV, well even though I have HD, I use OTA with an antenna to get most of my HD channels. Don't need the premium channels as I really don't get to watch much TV. Save a bundle here.

As for cell phone, I'm with Rogers as I prefer GSM. It's easy to change phones with the SIM card. The rate plans are all competitive as well.

That's my 2 cents.

 

That's pretty wild Kevin. My worst ever was with UPS but not quite as bad as your Bell experience.

 

Obviously I dont like in Canada so I dont have a lot of experience with the different companies, but I used to travel to TO every couple weeks or so and my cell would switch over to Rogers. I never missed calls, had great reception, and didnt even get hit with roaming and LD charges. In case it helps

 

Gators are always welcome here.

 

i have cable internet with 3web right now. i switched over from rogers because they kept boosting my rates. same great speed at a much lower price. have a look... i haven't had any problems to date: http://www.get3web.com/

 

I've been lucky with UPS, but I think I'm the only one!

 

I'm forced to deal with them through my head office. Things have gotten straigtened away now and I also managed to negotiate a great deal on all my incoming shipments/broker fees.

 

Bell.

 

I think the biggest problem with all these utilities is "Call Centres". You do not get to speak to employees unless you make very loud noises. You cannot even speak to a call centre worker with Telus, they make you talk to a computer. I wan't to snap my phone in half every time I have to call Telus. I even formally complained about this system and they told me surveys show that the majority of their customers prefer the new system. What was the basis of that survey?
A. Do you prefer where you were place on hold for 37 minutes while we sat waiting for you to give up
or
B. Do you prefer our new automated system (that takes you through a ******* maze of options burning up valuable time only to cut you off when you get where you want so that you can enjoy the tour with "Nancy the talking silicone chip" for another round only to be told that you will need to call back because they are currently working on the problem.)

I "HATE" all of them but unfortunately have to deal with them all. I have Expressvu because it is the only decent HD provider as yet out west with adequate HD PVR setups. I have Shaw for internet because they are the only provider with decent bandwith under $ 100.00 mth.(Shaw extreme). The only thing I changed was I told Telus to go take a flying **** through a rolling donut and cancelled my entire account and went VOIP with Shaw. No issues, works just fine.

I realize that consumer expectations for technology services is high. Some of this stuff is old hat but some is still in infancy and full of bugs. The providers do not like telling you that though when they are charging as much as they do for their services. I know, long rant and so sorry but I can tell you in a nutshell:

"My life was healthier and less stressful before faxes, cell phones, satellite tv, HDTV, DVD's, digital cameras, email, blackberry's and voicemail. This stuff although very cool, did nothing but complicate my life and force me to work harder and longer due to higher expectations"

p.s. "this computer as well!"

 

They both have their issues - maybe talk to some of your neighbours and see who they're using, as some issues can be very localized.

I was with Rogers for years - and cell phones back to the Cantel days, but switched over to Bell for ExpressVu and then Rogers started charging me an extra $10 per month for internet service because I didn't have TV service through them. I threatened to leave and they said "sorry sir, that's the way it is".

Bell was offering bundled service, so I switched my internet, cell phones, existing expressvu and long distance plan to one of Bell's bundles, and i am saving money compared to Rogers and have had no issues to speak of with Bell.

When I called Rogers to officially cancel, then they were willing to jump through hoops to keep me - lower rates on cell phone usage, wipeout the $10 surcharge, and some other incentives to stay - but I told them that they had the chance to keep me for just waiving the $10 surcharge when I called and warned them the first time that I was leaving, and since they did nothing, I left. Sorry Rogers, too late - shove your surcharges for not having TV service.

When I have had to call in to bell, they've been pretty good, and have been helpful - but I know that I have just been lucky. You can have good experiences (and bad) with either -so it's really a comparison of costs for what you're after, and unfortunately, the customer service end of it is a roll of the dice.

I can't stand talking to "Emily" - bell's automated assistant. One day (at work) I swore a blue streak at Emily, and she said, "I'm sorry, I don't understand, let me get a customer service representative for you". I did laugh out loud - not sure why - but there was something gratifying about tearing a strip off a machine.

It seems that neither company will do much if you threaten to leave - they must hear that a million times a day - but when you actually call to cancel, then they escalate the issue and jump through some hoops.

One slight snag for me is that I'm going to be getting an Apple iPhone, and I "think" (could be wrong) that Rogers is the only one providing that service in Canada. Not really a big issue, as I can keep my wife on the Bell bundle plan for her cell phone, and just do my iPhone with Rogers if that is in fact the case.

Good luck!

 

I like 3web....cheap rates and offers the same quality service as big guys.