Primus.ca
Reviews and Complaints

I have been on hold for 1 hour and 20 minutes and have not yet heard from a live person. I am trying to cancel my mother's home phone as she no longer lives at that address. NoW my phone is out of power and I cannot call back! This service is utterly unacceptable.. I am very busy and have no more time for this nonense. I will put stop payments on the primus bills and they can do it at their leisure..

My internet is not working since two months. Modem needs to be replace. Its not turning on. I keep calling customer service technician. First they hold me for two hours. I request for call back many time I just got call one time. The guy told me call us at night when I call them at night the said call us at the morning when I call them at the morning the didn, t answer in more than two hours I spoke with one agent two months ago. I request to replace my modem. He told me you will get it in two days. Still waitng that any one call and tell them to send me new modem. Its waste of time its better to cancell the order and go with some other provider.

... Changed services in may and in july I was invoiced for a non return of their modem... I used their return kit to mail back their modem on may 19th.. I also was astute enough to get a tracking receipt from the post office...
... But trying to get to customer service to convey this information was almost impossible... Enduring long periods of time listening to elevator music whilst waiting for a voice to answer is not my idea of 'access to customer service'...
... When I finally got a voice, she quickly informed me that I would have to pay 115.00 bucks for the modem... The aggressive tone prevailed until I revealed that I had a post office receipt... She took down the tracking number and stated that she would investigate... If this is a ploy to gleam extra funds from a long time customer, i'm not impressed.. Oh, and by the way, I cancelled the service because they kept exponentially raising their rates...

5 weeks ago I called and ordered internet, after a long process they said it would be 2-3 weeks, the box will be sent first and then a technician would come... I explained that I have a network marketing business I run from home and that internet is crucial asap, I was assured that they were very sorry and would address it as fast as they could... 2 weeks later I get a call from a guy who states he is from the credit department insisting that I disclose to him my social insurance number and wanting to know my previous addresses! Then a couple days later a lady calls and says its going to be around the 25th of may that I can expect to hear from them again and someone will be out! This is now a month later! Today, now week 5, sick of waiting and my business now struggling without internet, I call them... After 25 minutes in arguement with primus to tell me whats going on, they tell me that the credit department cancelled my order 2 weeks ago and that they didnt provide internet down my street or area! Wtf!? Why didnt anyone let me know and how is it that it could have taken them this long to know if it was available in my area?!?!?!?!?!?! They were so rude it was disgusting and then in return tried to turn it around on me... Their customer service is rediculous and I will never try and deal with them again as well as I am making it my mission to tell everyone I know of my experience! Shame on you primus!

On march 14 I applied to primus to move my services.
Primus refused because they don't have services in the needed area.
I applied to other internet provider and paid $165 include modem.
After my research I proved to primus that they do have services and back to them.
I staid couple weeks with no internet, paid additional $ to have internet and lost $35 shipment/returning of the modem to other company.
As an apology primus offered 1 month credit (?). This even not covers 25% of my expenses and suffer. I wanted them to back to me and asked them to credit me for 12 month (expecting to be fair and make appropriate credit offer). I cant afford to pay each time to different providers connection fees and modems and so, or stay weeks with no services.

Short story of relationships:

I purchased modem from primus.

Since I moved to primus - costco services (13 months ago) I had many problems:
* couple weeks took to establish properly services (big mess?).

* august 2015 moved to barrie with big mess of no appropriate speed - 25 changed for 6.
Fixed in couple months. Took time for credit for unprovided services.

* december 2015. Big mess. Couple weeks with no services. Long time fixed problem. Credit and apologies provided.

Poor internet service that was down more than it worked. Constant lack of internet reception that was down for over a week at a time. You call and they couldn't even tell you when it would be fixed. Promised a credit but never followed through and kept billing me for 3 months after cancelling. When I called to discuss the credit and over billing I was rudely told they couldn't do anything for me. They just put me on hold for a long time hoping I would go away. Do not waste your money on this poor service provider...

BEWARE!
Primus’ affordable price and unlimited internet usage may be appealing, but poor internet connectivity is a deal breaker.

I was originally subscribed with Rogers’ Internet, Cable and Home Phone. I decided to cut the cable and rely on Netflix and free OTA broadcasts. Primus’ unlimited internet usage and VOIP telephone appear to fit my needs. Enrollment through Costco was quick and installation with a Bell technician went smoothly. I subscribed to Internet 60 and Basic Digital Home Phone Bundle. The initial 2 week period was great. No issues with streaming Netflix. VOIP quality was clear. Then the issues began. The phone stopped working. Cannot make or receive calls as there was no dial tone. Resetting the modem resolved this issue. Furthermore, internet connectivity was frequently poor in the evenings after 10pm. Forget about streaming Netflix or YouTube, surfing the web was slow. I suspected Primus was throttling my bandwidth allowance in the evenings when public usage levels were high. As a result of poor internet connectivity, my VOIP was regularly dropped. I was forced to reset the modem every few days to restore phone service. Several calls to tech support revealed no resolution, although they were friendly. Primus did acknowledge my documented poor connectivity instances, but denied throttling. Instead, I was told the source of my problem could be from my router, my laptop, my phone lines etc or even the absurd possibility of my neighbor’s equipment emitting EMI. My network equipment setup did not pose a problem with Rogers’ internet. The only change in my setup was Primus. I recently went away on vacation for 2 weeks and surprisingly my phone worked for the whole duration and continued for another 2 weeks after I returned. But now, the grace period is over and I’ve resumed resetting the modem every few days.

After 5 months of tolerating Primus, I realize that it won’t get better. I’m reluctantly returning to Rogers’ internet where I’ll be paying more, but it will be reliable.

As a parting gift to Primus, I will give them $200 (cancellation fee) for terminating my 2 year contract. This useful information is hidden within the “Terms & Conditions” link found on the web page where you select either 1 year or 2 year term to order.

I’ve tried to be objective in writing my review. You can decide whether or not to give them your business. Buyer Beware.

I requested Primus phone and internet service in February for it to take effect in March. I called 2 weeks before the starting date to ensure them sending me the box and the technician on time, they could not confirm and advised that someone will call back shortly.. that never happened nor did I receive the box in the mail a week earlier as promised. Meanwhile bell called to win us back so we thought Primus could not be trusted, better to leave things as is with bell. What do you know; primus pulled our port and denied bell access to it. For 4 days they denied that they did so with all sort of false claims until bell confronted them on a 3 way call I initiated on a friday morning and they had to admitted the error is on their side and they will handle it and call me back in the evening.. never happened I call the saturday after, 35 min holding while they see what is going on.. sorry we cant help you till monday, someone will be calling you back. still waiting..

Jan 15, 2015

As a Costco member in Mississauga I noticed that Primus Canada representative was promoting their services. It captured my attention and I learned that I buy and receive a 7.0 Mbps (download) service for 32.99 / month + tax.

I was happy and exited thinking that I got myself a very nice deal. Oh boy was I wrong!

Bell Canada came and did what he had to do. Bell Canada Rep was very knowledgeable and professional. After connecting and testing the Dry Loop, he indicated that his job is done and rest is up to Primus Canada.

Right from the start there was no internet, sometimes when connection was established it would be extremely slow when I tested it (multiple times)via www.speedtest.net it reported Download Speed of 0.03 Mbps +- 20% my upload speed was reported as 0.2 Mbps +-20% (upload speed was and is faster then my download! If and when connection is established) I have never seen anything like that.
For this test My modem was connected directly to the demarcation jack in order to eliminate possibility of bad wiring inside the house. Results were the same, this clearly indicates that problem is with Primus Canada.
I called the Technical support multiple times they indicated that it will take 48 Hrs. for them to get back to me. I have also expressed my concern with Customer service and requested manager for a call back. I am still waiting for the Managers call back.
Then I googled “Primus Canada reviews” oh my gosh lots of negative comments in reference to internet speed / Telephone services and professionalism .
I am still waiting for a resolution at this point, and I am 95% that this is not a Internet provider I wish to do business with. Because I can’t wait 48 hours every time there is a technical issue. For them to get back to me.
You have been warned! I wish I googled primus Canada first, the reason why I felt confident is that I have acquired their service via Costco. 90% of the time Costco always produced satisfactory representation, BUT NOT THIS TIME.
If I don’t update you can make an assumption that the service was terminated with Primus Canada, Otherwise I will update here.

The worst customer service ever. Took me almost a month just to have my internet running. The internet is very slow and the connection is always disrupted. To make things worse when you try to contact Tech support you could be on hold for over an hour. I once called at 3:00 AM EST and i was on hold for close to 2 hours and that is when I had my services canceled. dont be misled by the cheap fees (which I was) they are about $12 bucks cheaper than Telus or shaw and trust me $12 extra a month is tottaly worth not going through their BS!

more than incompetent service..it borders on a scam when it comes to overbilling. Cancelled long distance service in Sept and they are still billing my credit card...cancellation fees and monthly service. They are not interested in listening to facts, and seem to have a policy to do whatever you can to irritate and infuriate complainants to have them not want to call again. Stay away from Primus and do not give them your credit card number.

On April 1st I booked a move within the same city, Ottawa. The date for the phone and internet to be moved was April 22. As of May 3 we had no phone. Internet was working at the old address but not new address. Since Primus is a reseller in this location move was to handled by Bell?.
They then told me that they had neglected to tell Bell about our internet-- booking the move with Bell almost a month after I had booked it with them;.
Bell's first date was May 8th due to Primus delay in booking move ticket..
At end of day no service/. We troubleshooted extensively pluging into demarc.. Notes were made!. Then Manager (I am told his name is Pedrum and is in Edmonton) refused to submit the ticket to Bell delaying this another 2 days internally-- claiming need for further troubleshooting even though it had clearly been done as per previous notes/. since line is new install it had also been tested by Bell just a couple days earlier as per notes, . Service techs George and Bernie in the meantime told me ticket at Bell and delay was the fault of Bell even though file clearly showed Bell never given ticket. Finally Friday at 4pm Primus-- 18 days after service was to be in place-- notified Bell of ticket. Now we wait 2 more days for acknowledgement and then perhaps a fix maybe sometime next week or later. In meantime Primus techs told me that Primus had no obligation to respond within a specific time. I explained that is only because this is so seriously overdue that there can no longer be a timeline to give service to a customer left hanging so long. What kind of service is this? People lying.
I work from home and am losing contracts. My family cannot access internet to keep in touch (some are overseas), our kids are having trouble doing homework that requires internet. We go to restaurants with internet but have to buy food/drinks each time to justify being there.

Over one year ago and after our 3 years contract ended with Primus, we have switch the internet service to Shaw (cable). As per Primus return equipment package, we have send them back the Internet Modem. and they indicated they have received it.

One year later they call me and tell me the Modem that we send was a DIFFERENT MODEL'S MODEM! So they bill us almost $300 for it! And because they had TALK to ME and I had no response, so they send my case to collection agency!

First, There is no way we send they a WRONG MODEM! Shaw uses a different modem, we have no use for 3 to 4 years old modem since all service provider will provide their OWN modem.

Second, Even if it is a wrong model, shouldn't they be sending it back to us or let me know about this! I call the customer service one week ago and they keep telling me they call me over 20 times at the store! They have my cell number (never call), They have my email (they are internet company that does use email right?). I don't know what they are doing and I ended up got calls from collector! (They provide the collector my cell number!)

We paid them on time over the the 3 year+ contract period! Totally disappointed with their service!
Well, what service?!

I signed up with Primus in the month of may 2011 I did not receive any service from them until nearly the middle of the month of June. I was patient about this however when I finally did receive service frome them I got 3 days of internet service and 2 days of phone service after which my service went completely dead. I tried for 5 days to get the issue resolved and my services back on line then had their services cancelled.

This company had me give them a security deposit of 150 dollars could not resolve my problem could not even tell me what the problem was. I called every day to get the issued resolved right up until I cancelled. Now they are charging nearly 110 dollars for a service that I did not receive in the first place, and informed me that they will be taking it out of my security deposit. A security deposit that I put down because I was supposed to be a risk for them as far as I can tell I was the only one at risk and now it would seem that I have also been screwed out of nearly 150 dollars. Anyone with info on what I can do about this please comment.

I was a Primus customer and my account number was [protected]. This number is still on my son's name, even thou I have called 8 months ago and ask to switch to my name, because he left 8 months ago and he is living with his father.

I switch my service from Primus to Camway. My last payment to Primus Company was for the month of September in an amount of $30.76 because my service was finally switch to Camway at the end of September, I have called Primus a couple of times to inform them about my decision.

I thought after September my service with Primus is done and my balance with Primus is zero.

But after that I have received a new bill from Primus owing them $67.80. I called and asked, but they explained that this is a cancellation fee also they told me that I was on contract what also surprised me, because I "never" have signed any contract with any company.

I was calling and complaining to customer service, then after to the supervisor and no one can explain to me what will happen to my account.

I will not be paying any fee that I was not informed about and no one sent me any info regarding cancellation policy and on the bills was nothing mentioned about cancellation policy.

On July 6th, my business phone line got suspended. I made a call to inquire to them about this and all I got was rude replies.

1st call - I got in contact with technical dept.
After I told them my account numbers and etc. I waited for 10 minutes!
When technical rep. came back, he is telling me that it was suspended because of amount not paid and that they tried to reach me 4-5times. So I told them I never received any such call and I have been paying everything in right time and I told him that I'd like to speak to customer rep. then he suddenly tells me that he is a customer rep?! I argued with him a bit and hung up since he wouldn't transfer my call to customer dept.

2nd call - I got in contact with customer rep. and she was very nice and all but when she looked into my account her voice became cold. I asked I have made full payment and I would like to have my business phone line back and she replies "IT WILL TAKE 4-5 DAYS IN ORDER TO REACTIVATE THE SERVICE"!?!? WTH!?
I was so pissed and asked her what amount was not paid. She told me that it was from June. I told her, 'I have made payment on June 28th?"Then she goes silent. I asked her,"If I haven't paid then why in the world would you suspend the service now? why not in June? I mean I have made fully payment and a week after June you guys suspend it?' She's still silent... Then her reply was the greatest joke of all time. "I guess you were lucky.."
OH MY GOD! I guess this # company's system works based on the LUCK?
I got furious and she said that I need to speak to billing dept. and she said one moment, and transferred my call.
But instead of billing dept. all I hear was messages from main menu saying, 'please press 1 for service in english'!?!?!? I am pretty sure that was done purposely to buy them some time to think this over since it was clear that I HAVE PAID FULLY PAYMENT AND THEY CLEARLY MADE MISTAKE

3rd call - Credit rep. is telling me that I have made full payment but because I had remaining balance on march and April, their system has made a choice to suspending my account. So I argued that why on earth suspend it now? not in March of April? We argues for 15 minutes for he was keep saying ' its the system that does it' I got furious and cursed at him and at this he yelled, 'I can't take this no longer sir! I am going to transfer your call'! I never received such rude customer care ever. I've been dealt with Bell, rogers, and Cogeco, never in my life I have been yelled at by the reps. EVER

- I got transferred to customer rep. and now she is telling me that their is dept. for billing and dept. who does suspension. LIKE I DON'T KNOW THAT?
I told her, ' OK I have made full payment and this is my 5th time being transferred around, I am really angry about this. You better tell me why my business line got suspended.'
She replies, 'You have made full payment on June 30th and our suspension call was also made.'
I told her, 'so? why didn't you cancel that call? since it has been a week since I made the payment?'
She replies, 'We cannot cancel the suspension call sir.' OH MY GOD! At this I just gave up and told her that 'go Fuxx yourself' and hung up. You know what is even more funny? They reactivated my service 30 minutes later. WOW! what happened to "it takes 4-5 days to reactivate' and what happened to 'WE CANNOT CANCEL THE SUSPENSION!?' I changed my phone service to different providers right away after this call.

In conclusion, if you are using Primus. Phone line, Switch it NOW. Really, you never know something like this might happened to your home or your business. IT IS CLEAR THAT THEIR DEPARTMENTS DOES NOT WORK TOGETHER BUT RATHER INDEPENDENTLY. I mean how can you trust a company that cannot even keep track whether the customer have made payment or not? I have wasted about 2 hours and my business phone could not take any calls. Loss was great for me. What a # day.

4 days without a phone with Primus. They have lied and backtracked to cover their incompetence. They disconnected me by mistake and now have jacked me around with fake service calls(had to *** work etc.)and still not fixed.

A Bell line tech called me and told me that they disconnected me and all they have to do is issue an inward order to connect. I have told them this 3 times now in emails and phone calls and still no service. Now, getting emails saying they are monitoring it and totally ignoring the real issue from Bell.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Mir Kamal
1823 Lawrence Ave W
Toronto – Ontario
M6L1E4

Primus Canada
5343 Dundas W, TORONTO, ON
M9B 6K5
[protected]
Manager: Primus Canada by Fax, Registered Mail & E-mail
Fax # [protected]
& [protected]
& [protected]

Complaint against – Primus Canada & Bell Canada – Toronto
Failure to activate Fax number # [protected]
Giving different excuses – and playing delay tactics

Please be advised:

1. My main phone number [protected] was transferred from Bell Canada on April 08, 2022 but the fax number [protected] was not activated.
2. The customer service asked me to call Bell and get reservation number, I Called Bell and got the number
3. When I called on April 8, I was advised that it would be activated on 11th or 12th April 2011.
4. When I called on 12th April, I was advised it would be activated on 14th April, 2011
5. On 15th when I called again on 10.09 AM, the customer service told me, she does not know anything and she disconnected my call.
6. Again I called Primus on 10.32 AM, I told the representative that the earlier representative disconnected my call, I want to take the matter to the court for damages and the court order, then she told me that she will speak to supervisor.
7. The supervisor who identified herself as Carol ID # 5612: she told just now she got the information and it may take several days to activate the number. As she does not have reservation number. Even Primus could call Bell Canada to get reservation number again instead of misrepresenting the fact.
8. It is submitted the main number [protected] was activated on April 08, 2011 and a secondary number should not take so long and there is no need to misrepresent the fact so many times.
It is submitted I, manage home business on this number. And these numbers are at home. Due to unfortunate and irresponsible acts of Primus Canada my business is suffering. I am a feeling disturbed. And when my number [protected] called the message says the number is disconnected. Instead of saying the number – is moving or line has problem.

I decided to switch to Primus after receiving a promotional letter, BIG MISTAKE!

The line is full of static and is faint! I was unable to receive any inbound calls for 8 days and counting since I switched to them. Their technical support is atrocious and one of them was so arrogant, aggressive and hung up on me after telling me get the technical issue resolved myself! The nerve of these people!

They do not have the manpower to send technicians over to your home like Rogers or Bell so they constantly try to delay the whole process in order to avoid sending technicians to your home which they do not have. The customer service reps work from home and instead of dispatching a technician directly to your home to fix your problem, they ask you this whole questionnaire with a lot of silly questions which don't have anything to do with your problem. One of them even told me to not do anything and just wait another day and hopefully it starts to work!

I will be switching, please do not make the same mistake I did by switching to this cheapskate company who are unable to provide the technical support which is vital to operating a good business. They simply do not have the manpower, maybe because their executives would rather keep that extra money in their own pockets instead of investing it to hire some technicians to support their customers.

After 5 years with Primus on my cell phone and VOIP land line telephone, I called them to cancel my service November 2010. Shaw cable is now charging similar rates for a superior service with practically 100% uptime compared to Primus' lousy phone quality and constant busy line tone (or no tone at all sometimes) Unfortunately I just found out, like many other Ex-Primus customers that in my last invoice I've been hit with "lost equipment" charges even though I returned the PrimusVOIP modem (and with a Canada Post tracking number provided by Primus). This seems to be standard practice for Primus, after you cancel your account and return their equipment - they charge you anyway pretending they never received it! Google "Primus unreturned modem" and see what I'm talking about

Just to get the facts out, I cancelled the service in November, got charged a full month and a half extra, return shipping+ $168 ('lost' modem + HST). They did not send return postage until February 2011. That's 4 months after I cancelled, after which I immediately shipped the modem back with all their cables and in the original box. I placed the box inside a waterproof padded plastic shipping bag to ensure nothing got damaged along the way.

I have opened a complaint with the better business bureau and will post the story on as many websites as I can. If they do not reverse charges on my invoice, I will have to pursue legal action not just for the money, but because this will create a negative impact on my credit score. I think some media coverage might be in order, CTV, CBC that sort of thing.

It seems like Primus is losing the VOIP wars (the shaw modem not only sounds better but has so far 100% uptime) and as a result, their corporate policy dictates they make their money by ripping off their customers. I should note I had been using their VOIP service for almost 5 years= before cancelling.

Thinking about using Primus for your VOIP phone ? DON'T DO IT !