Monday, July 7, 2008

Primus Phone Service ! NEVER, EVER!

Here is an email I received from Primus, it was sent on the third, about a week after my email to them. Before reading it, bear in mind that I stressed in my first email that I had been asked to assist a friend with their account, and that Primus might prefer to obtain confirmation of that from the account holder. Anyway, here is the text of the email, my conclusions are below it:

Good Morning Mr. John XXXXXXXX,
Ref: account of XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
We apologize for the delay in answering your below message.

This refers to your recent inquiry regarding account number with Primus Canada.

Due to our privacy act policy, we are unable to answer your inquiry, as your name does not appear in the above-mentioned account. The account holder will need to call us at 1-800-806-3273 in order to have your name added to the account as extra contact before we are able to address y
our concerns. Although we apologize for the inconvenience, this is done for your security. As a leader in the telecommunications industry, we strive to maintain a high level of integrity in all our business practices. We can assure you we are committed to quality and processes.

To view the Policy, please go to the Primus Canada web site at http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/legal/privacypolicy.html

Once you are authorized to have access to the account and have further questions, let us know.

Sincerely yours,

Jamie

Customer Service Associate

Primus Telecommunications Canada

customer.care@primustel.ca

Primus web site information: www.primustel.ca

Toll Free customer service number: 1-800-806-3273

Our Terms and Conditions which can be found at http://www.primus.ca/en/residential/legal/termsofuse.html

And here are my conclusion:
Primus customer care appear to have a focus on what in the call-center industry is known as 'handle-time". This is basically the ability to get rid of the caller as quickly as possible.
They are insulting me by ignoring my email to them.
They are using a template for the text of this latest email, and cannot even be bothered to change it to be appropriate, relative to the account number.
In short, this leaves me with the feeling that if I was a customer, I can expect nothing except a runaround from them.
They have failed to react in any way to the level of this complaint, as I have sent several emails together with links to my various blog entries about Primus in several different blogs.
The level of poor behaviour amazes me, as if I was working for them and received such emails as I sent, then the alarm bells for damage control would be ringing loudly.
The final analysis has to be that Primus are such a poorly run concern that they really do not care at any level, even about their own continued existence.
Remember now, this all arises from their initializing action to attempt a sale - it was not anything to do with anything that the account holder did (other than believe the Primus salesperson!)

Not being an ignorant person, I always respond to emails. Believe me, my response to this one will be extremely brief, as I just don't have the time to waste dealing with morons. The friend is changing away from Primus to other carriers due to Primus's inability to adjust even the simplest of their errors. The matter is now closed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had the same experience with them while calling in support. I was working with the office of the president @ Primus on two earlier occasions, then all of a sudden they play the privacy card. Account is under my wifes name. I was pissed off this time so they want to play hardball.

So as per their privacy policy I have faxed their legal division with a request for information, basically they broke their policy by allowing me to act on behalf of my wife. That was two weeks ago, no response. So i have filed a complaint with the CRTC now, and will proceed with legal action.

Had this guy focused on customer service in the first place I wouldnt be this pissed off.

Anyone in this situation, read the policy - use it!, and also file a complaint with the CRTC - that way they will be kept honest.

I think now they are playing games with my account because im getting subnets blocked, ones Ive listed in my tickets - basically i have an internet connection now, can surf all over the place, but cannot access my office VPN/remotely from Primus. So some guy over there that is disgruntled has put a static route in there just for me to piss me off further.

Nice!

Anonymous said...

Re: Primus Triple Value Bundle Rip Off

A classic Bait and Switch Scam

http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/bundle/bundledServices-tripleValueBundle-g.htm

The above web address carries an ad as listed below

Save over $49 a month! Let's compare:
Primus Bell Rogers
Home Phone
Calling Features
High Speed Internet (7Mbps, not Lite)
Unlimited Long Distance (Can/U.S.) Included
18
Included
Included $40.94
5
$42.94
$24.95 $42.17
6
$47.95
$19.95
Network Charge $0 $5.95 $5.95
Total $64.95 $111.79 $107.03†
Monthly Savings with Primus Triple Value Bundle $49.84 $42.08

I signed up for this service after checking the availability etc with postal code for the service listed at $64.95 and received a confirmation as follows:-

“We are pleased to confirm that your order for Home Phone service shows
completed as of November 7. Please let us know if you are experiencing any
difficulty, however.”

Interesting enough I get my first bill in December at 84.95 per month, an e-mail, two customer service reps and a supervisor Celine ticket# 2204873 on Dec 10 2008 questioning the discrepancy was answered with absolute nonsense, rhetoric and an explanation that the site has a technical difficulty and the $64.95 offer was incorrect, I did advise them that the site processed the information and order after a postal code verification. When requested Celine further refused to send her explanation in writing further establishing primus has something to hide, after all when has any reputable company ever refused to confirm in writing a discrepancy?

What is interesting is that I have been on this site two weeks prior to Nov 07 2008 with this so called better deal than Bell & Rogers however it is unknown to me how long they have been running this scam. Oct to Dec with a technical difficulty on their web site for customers to sign up for a price that is changed on their fist bill is criminal, it is hard to believe that the competition and the regulatory agencies in Ontario actually allows this type of business practice to go on.

Note I was fully aware of the fine print and the one year contract clause was only taken into account after I advised them and was then offered it at $74.95, a further discount of $5/- was offered by Celine if I accepted it, as if they were doing me a favour I advised her that was not the contractual obligation I signed up on the web site and that it is false advertising & illegal in Ontario to conduct business in that fashion, note had I acknowledged the $5/- discount offered by Celine that would be an acceptance (Variance) to the contract to which I signed on the web site smart little trick to pull on unsuspecting customers. One has to wonder how many customers are stolen away by Primus from their competition by this type of sleazy business practice.

This is not acceptable in any shape or form not withstanding all the other customers that have fallen victim to this outrageous practice.

Redress is not only warranted but demanded from this unscrupulous business practice

David Schokman