Bell Sympatico reviews and complaints
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Internet Speed Throttle Admitted
Hi All,
Below is an actual online chat conversation I had with a Bell Sympatico service rep tonight in regards to them throttling internet usage to its paying customers. They are regulating your speed that YOU paid for. I am by no means fully version in computer terminology etc, but I do know what I pay for...enjoy below...you can almost tell where the guys boss advises him on what to say.
Forward this to eveyone on Sympatico...(this chat was copy/pasted from their chat menu) - session ID and SCI changed to protect their employee's job.
System: Welcome Peter Session ID:360656
System: Connecting to server. Please wait...
System: Connection with server established. Please wait...
System: Adam (SCI-11639) has joined this session!
System: Connected with Adam (SCI-11639)
You: Adam,
Adam (SCI-11639): Hi Peter, welcome to Bell Internet Services, my name is Adam (SCI-11639). I see that you have questions regarding your network access, how may I assist you with this?
You: How do I get Bell to unthrottle my internet service that I am paying for?
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, I certainly help you with the information regarding Internet throttling.
You: Great! How do I get Bell to take me off it? I didn’t switch to Bell to get throttled.
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, Shall I take a minute. So that I can check your account details thoroughly.
You: Sure thing. I am on the 7 Mb plan but am getting throttled on P2P applications...didn't pay for that and being limited to well below my paid for 7 Mbs is an issue
Adam (SCI-11639): Okay. Let me check your account details.
You: Sure thing. Can you unthrottle my access? Appreciate the help
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, I will give you a clear cut idea why we are throttling the Internet usage.
Adam (SCI-11639): The reason Bell has a responsibility to maximize the ability for all customers to use and enjoy their Bell Internet service and a responsibility to deliver bandwidth fairly to its customers.
You: Sure thing, but it’s not "enhancing customer experience". Besides, I didn't pay to be restricted below what I paid for. Would anyone pay to have their maximum paid for be limited below that. Is that fair to its customers it brings on board? Can I be unthrottled? I just want what I paid for, especially since I use my internet during the peak throttled hours.
Adam (SCI-11639): P2P file sharing will take more bandwidth, In peak hours your Internet usage will be throttled. This is to ensure all the Bell customer receive the same performance on Internet usage.
You: If I pay for the 10Mb service program, will I be throttled there too?
Adam (SCI-11639): We do not throttle Internet usage, but Bell follows Internet Traffic management to provide fair service to all customers.
Adam (SCI-11639): This is not only for you. This was followed for each and every customers in Canada.
You: bell states that the 7 Mb service is for "Download high quality music files, stream video, or play games". I do online gaming and am finding my P2P being throttled.
You: But I am paying for 7 Mb...what about at 10Mb, what level do they realy get?
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, we do not support P2P file sharing.
You: How should I go about getting unthrottled? Please advise. Rogers had a much faster internet. Can I cancel service with Bell without penalty?
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, We are not throttling the speed. we do not support P2P file sharing. If you use P2P file sharing your Internet speed will be decreased. This not only with Bell, But all the ISP over Canada is following the same Internet traffic management.
Adam (SCI-11639): The slow speed is caused because you are using p2p file sharing.
You: Bell admitted to throttling. Please advise.
Adam (SCI-11639): Sorry Peter. We do not support p2p file sharing.
You: It's Ok...thanks though
Adam (SCI-11639): You are welcome.
Adam (SCI-11639): Is there anything else I can assist you ?
Adam (SCI-11639): Peter, not to hurry you. Are you still with me ?
You: Can you get me off the internet traffic management?
Adam (SCI-11639): Sorry, Peter. We are not throttling the Internet usage.
You: Have a good night.
Adam (SCI-11639): Same to you.
Adam (SCI-11639): Thank you for choosing Bell and have yourself a great day.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Consumer rip-off!
Bell Sympatico sold me their Hi-Speed Internet Services a few years ago and I just found out that all along my residence location is not qualified for such services. Bell Sympatico had charged me for a service that they never provided from Day One. Yet...they refused to redress the problem by refunding me the amount overcharged. They only offer me the ridiculous solution to downgrade me service !
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I'm in the same situation as you guys. Was told by many that I was too far away to recieve decent hispeed, but sympatico sold it to me anyways. They failed to mention the fact that I had to pay for internet that doesnt even exist. it only works late at night, and even then its shoddy at best. They offered me a "courtesy", meaning I dont have to constantly get ripped off for their terrible service anymore, but honestly. even dial up would be better than this so called courtesy, im honestly thinking of switching back to dial up, believe it or not. sure it slow, but its faster than sympatico unplugged. High speed my a**. Whats even worse is whenever I call them to complain, they have the nerve to say its my modems problem, or its a connection error on MY end. They're sellin me s*** and callin it sugar. i hope anyone who's thinking about getting sympatico reads this first, their service is pathetic.
The same thing happened to me - the high speed wasn't available in my area - but Bell gave it to me anyways and charged me for it! After a year, I started downloading songs from iTunes and that's when I realized I had been scammed. I fought with Bell for weeks and then finally threatened to sign up with another service provider. In the end, they reimbursed me for the year they had over-charged me. I'm still with Bell because since then they've treated me very well -- for now!
right now i'm an employee of bell. i work for billing. there might really be some flause on it, but it's not really the people or even our bosses screwing up, it's the system. everythinh on the system is automatic, it's programmed to do it. that is why bell some up with providing customer care call centers to address this type of concerns and that this system as well is made so it will allow adjustments and corrections to be done. it's hard working with bell, efforts and all that, but what i can say is that i'm very proud of bell and it will always be the best!
Hello,
I totally agree. I signed up with Bell Sympatico almost 1 year ago for the 5 MB/sec. package.
I have an AT&T Modem the 2700HG-B.
The package they were offered according to them now they say was for a connection speed of 1.5MBsec. - 5MBsec. My agreement was for 1 year, First month was free and the preceeding 2 months would be at a reduced price.
My connection speed for the first 3 Month, (Trial Period) was over 3MB'ssec.
After the 3 Months, all of a sudden, My connection dropped down to what it is now... 1728 KB'ssec.
Less than a 2MBsec. connection but still over the 1.5 MB's that the package they now say I have.
I know for fact that they dropped me to a different switch for those who have the 2MB's sec. deal.
Sympatico is now ripping me off.
I am only gettting a 2MBsec. connection yet they are charging the rate for a 5 MBsec. connection.
2 MBsec. connection was worth something like $22 /mth. plus taxes.
I live in a high-rise apartment building less than 1Km for the service center and get less than a 2MB'ssec.
Yet, I have 2 other friends. One that lives approx. 2 Km from the service center and he gets a 6 MBs connection. He is a Microsoft certified tech. and knows what he is talking about. They tried to pull the same trick on him. After a little comference with bell and having a service tech come to his place. They didn't even come in the door, upgrade his line or anything like that. They simply moved him from one switch to another.
I have another friend that lives approx. 5Km from the service center and is signed up with another ISP but still uses the Bell lines. His connect is just over 3MB'ssec. but that person doesn't do alot of downloading however so maybe thats why they keep him on the higher switch...
All I can say is buyer beware. Do not sign up with Sympatico. Sign up with another ISP like Acanac which offers you a 5MB connection. Harder to screw with people that belong to a different ISP other than Sympatico.
Sympatico offer a modem but is blocked from you ever entering into it to find your true upload and download connection rates.
Buy yourself another modem and check your speed.
Chances are they have screwed you like they have me.
I worked for Bell Sympatico
I just feel the need to tell people the truth about Bell Sympatico. I worked for Bell Sympatico as a "technical support" person. Let me tell you a few things about what I had to do to keep my job - my purpose was not so much to solve internet connection issues but rather to get money from customers. Cute things like "mistakenly" setting customers up for...
Read full review of Bell Sympatico and 4 commentsBeware - you might be overcharged!
If you use the BELL SYMPATICO SERVICE it is possible that you might be paying extra for services you are not receiving. Bell currently charges based on the transmission rate under 1megabit, 2.5megabit or 6megabit rates.
The problem is that they cannot guarantee the 6megabit service so most people paying for this service are only getting the 2.5megabit service and sometimes only 1.5megabit. You can verify if you are getting what you paid for by doing this simple test.
If you are using windows XP or VISTA. Click on START -> ALL PROGRAMS -> ACCESSORIES -> COMMAND PROMPT [XP] or RUN[VISTA]. At the command prompt, type the following: tracert google.com.
This command will show you the route through the internet that BELL is using to find GOOGLE. SAMPLE FROM AN ISP OTHER THAN BELL >
tracert google.com
Tracing route to google.com [64.233.187.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.100.254
2 7 ms 8 ms 7 ms 10.194.64.1
3 7 ms 8 ms 7 ms 24.200.240.197
4 8 ms 8 ms 9 ms ia-piex-bb04-ge6-1-0.vtl.net
[216.113.122.17]
5 19 ms 16 ms 17 ms ia-piex-bb04-pos11-0-0-cpe082.vtl.net
[216.113.122.82]
6 18 ms 15 ms 18 ms sl-bb26-nyc-9-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.13.49]
7 17 ms 17 ms 27 ms sl-bb22-nyc-6-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.7.42]
8 40 ms 39 ms 39 ms sl-bb21-chi-3-0-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.20.102]
9 40 ms 53 ms 40 ms sl-bb20-chi-14-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.26.1]
10 50 ms 41 ms 41 ms sl-st20-chi-13-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.20.3]
11 44 ms 41 ms 43 ms 144.228.155.166
12 47 ms 41 ms 43 ms 216.239.48.154
13 50 ms 50 ms 49 ms 64.233.175.99
14 48 ms 49 ms 68 ms 216.239.49.45
15 51 ms 51 ms 49 ms jc-in-f99.google.com [64.233.187.99]
Trace complete.
The duration in ms (milleseconds) is how long it takes to get from your location to GOOGLE.
IF YOU SEE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING LINES.
9 * * * Request timed out.
you are being duped(replace this word with your own) by BELL.
SAMPLE FROM BELL
1
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I have high speed internet through Bell Sympatico. I have seen dial-up quicker then this crap. Also, their security services (virus protection) is full of problems.
Beware.