letsbreakglass

2006-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

letsbreakglass
A wonderful site with lots of complaints about PRIMUS
http://bstewart23.wordpress.com/2006/04/28/primus-sucks-a-happy-ending-update/#comment-430

2006-10-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

PRIMUS COMMENTS FROM THE WEB

SmartyHost Stinks!!!

Posted by: Chris T

Posted on: 24/05/06

Story: SmartyHost dumps Primus

After having no email for nearly two weeks and trying to call these guys 5 times a day - leaving messages, there is still nothing.

I can't believe their lack of commitment to their customers.

THis is a total joke.

DON NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY!!!

While researching Voice over IP service, I considered Primus, but the overwhelmingly opinions about their service was that it falls far short of expectations. That's a third-party opinion, but hey it's free advice.hmmm... not sure what this has to do with "Anything Mac & iPod", but anyway...

I get my DSL service from Magma, which is a Primus company now (though it used to be an independant Ottawa ISP and seems to have retained some independance from the mothership since the takeover), and I must say that I'm completely satisfied with their service. It's reliable, customer service has been fast and polite, and the telephone tech support has been great (hardly any waiting, I might add).

MacS

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My parents and sister had issue with them recently. There are 2 phone lines in the house, 1 in my Dad's name and one in my sisters. My Mom(who didn't have authority over either account), phoned and got my parents phone switched to Primus for long distance. So Primus switched over their account, and my sisters. My sister never specified they should do this and was still a Bell customer. So a month passes and they get duplicate bills. One from Bell, one from Primus. Apparently you have to do the legwork to cancel Bell service, which sounds like a load of crap. So my sister refused to pay Primus, as she wasn't even a customer, then to remove her from the account, had to get my mom to phone to change it, even though she had no authority over that phone line. it was just rediculous.

Primus sucks!!!! Discuss

I just wanted to know if anyone else has had a terrible time with the Primus Customer "Care" representatives and Tech "support"? At first it seemed like a good idea to sign on with them, i even bought into their talk broadband. Since then the problems have been mounting. First, they diconnected our homeline by accident for a month. Then there's this whole issue of voice mail which hasn't been implemented for two months, even though we requested it from the get go. Then there's the problem of the lying CSRs who said that it was done, then on subsequent calls said that it'd be done in a couple of hours, then a couple of days, then a week. Each time I called it was like they were moving the priority lower and lower, even thought they said they'd up the priority. This nightmare has been going on for moonths now. DON'T SIGN ON WITH PRIMUS FOR ANYTHING, not broadband, not talk broadband, not homephone, or anything else they offer unless you enjoy 40 minute waits on the phone to speak to someone who is utterly powerless to do anything and who'll give you a line of BS just to get you off the line. There, I've said it. Comments? Stories? Post away.

Primus has VERY poor customer service View full version

User #15276 13 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

i got a primus dialup account with primus as a backup for my broadband a while ago, i kept it for maybe 6 months without using it and then in feb this year i needed it, i called customer service for the dialin number, and after waiting more than 20mins to speak with a consultant i decided i would cancel it, which i did when i was finally connected.

Two months later i got a call at night from a guy whos english was so heavily accented i could barely understand him, asking why i had not paid the bill, i explained that the reason i had not paid was because i had already cancelled it. He told me they had no record of a cancellation and unless i could prove i had called, i was liable for the payment. I have requested the phone records and in time i will have the proof.

Today i discovered primus has debited my account for services supplied up to today!!!

I called them while writing this post (waited 20 minutes to speak to someone) and was informed that the account was STILL not cancelled.

To make a mistake once IS forgivable in my opinion, but honestly these guys are supplying well below average service, in my imagination i see a troop of monkeys sitting at desks in an office with a big PRIMUS sign on the wall.

My advice to anyone considering an ISP change is stay well away from this one.

anchor

posted 2005-May-9, 3pm AEST

User #67578 68 posts

anty113

Forum Regular

Yeh there is a problem with the billing with this company

I posted previously a few months ago that they were gonna charge me for adsl when there where no availiable ports in my area and so i didnt have adsl

I rang them about the letter and told them about this and they guy said that i wouldnt be charged but when I read him the clause in the services that I would be charged within 10 days if I didnt connect my adsl (which was not possible seeing I didnt even have it on my line yet) he adjusted it all

Overall the phone reps are not aware of their employers products and terms of service and so you just unluckly got stuck with someone who didnt know what he was doing

In my case if i hadnt of read the terms and insisted that they suspend my account I to would have been charged- I know its a joke but I'm not sure what you can do now

anchor

posted 2005-May-9, 5pm AEST

User #82056 999 posts

Leigh Kay

Whirlpool Enthusiast

Yeah...Primus have there Pro's and Con's. (Pro..slackness, Con...Slackness)

We are on PrimusOne, and for the first 4 months didnt actually pay a bill. Dad's account number changed, and the direct-debit no longer worked. We didnt recieve a call, not anything, they just kept adding the money on from the month before, without late payment penalties or nothing.... sorta sucked when we had to pay $400 dollars at once.

When we rang the sales department (with, of-course, no time in a cue) they fixed it up, no questions. If only they stacked there tech centers as much as there sales.

leigh

anchor

posted 2005-May-9, 5pm AEST

User #49461 188 posts

vinref

Forum Regular

I am currently having a whole heap of hassles trying to get information out of them. The very first person I always get to speak to doesn't seem to know anything about networking, apart from telling me it must be my firewall/viruses/the position of the stars.

Can anyone tell me how they "test the line" for noise etc. Someone always puts me on hold to go and "test the line". I didn't think this was possible whilst I was on it. I suspect someone is going to make a coffee/pee/write an email to his mate/tell his colleagues what a jerk he has on the phone...

anchor

posted 2005-May-10, 1pm AEST

User #82056 999 posts

Leigh Kay

Whirlpool Enthusiast

vinref writes...

Hey Vin

Yeah they did that to me. They said they were looking at the drivers on my modem, and found that they needed to be updated. They even gave me a site to look for them...strange thing was, when i went to install new drivers, i realised that the modem wasnt even plugged in.

As you said... his coffe machine needs a driver update i think.

My Dad and Grandpa have both worked for Telstra in the past, and they laughed at the thought...

anchor

posted 2005-May-10, 4pm AEST

edited 2005-May-11, 12pm AEST

User #44049 3576 posts

AusLeo

Whirlpool Forums Addict

Dan writes...

i got a primus dialup account with primus as a backup for my broadband

Why?

You already get one with the Broadband account.

i kept it for maybe 6 months without using it and then in feb this year i needed it

Strange, when I need a dialup account I use my Broadband log in?

My advice to anyone considering an ISP change is stay well away from this one.

Still eludes me to think why you would need an extra dialup account.

My advice to anyone considering taking the above advice,

make up your own mind instead of using the OP as your only reason to follow any such advice ;-).

anchor

posted 2005-May-10, 4pm AEST

User #35517 82 posts

commie

Forum Regular

vinref writes...

know anything about networking

Why would you ring up an ISP and ask questions about networks? iPrimus doesn't support networks and thus won't help with any networking problems

anchor

posted 2005-May-10, 10pm AEST

User #14687 156 posts

KostoN

Forum Regular

Actually, when you ring customer support there is an option i think at the start of the Internet part that says "do you wish to hear the dialup numbers for your area...etc" and it automatically tells you.

anchor

posted 2005-May-11, 3am AEST

User #49461 188 posts

vinref

Forum Regular

I rang up Primus to discuss a very slow/poor DNS response. I would expect that a tech-support rep would at least know what a DNS server is, know about firewalls, packet headers etc. That's all.

anchor

posted 2005-May-11, 1pm AEST

User #69032 444 posts

LogMeIn

Forum Regular

Dan writes...

My advice to anyone considering an ISP change is stay well away from this one.

Can i edit the thread title....plz..

Primus has NO Customer Sevice..thats sounds good now!!

cheers

anchor

posted 2005-May-22, 10pm AEST

User #15276 13 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

AMAZING -- i just got a call from primus to tell me my credit card had expired and my payment was overdue!!!

they had re-activated my account!! no explanation! no reason!

if it wasnt costing me money i would be laughing.

They agreed to refund the money (direct debits since the last time i asked them to cancel the account) as there was no request for reactivation.

whether or not they actually do it remains to be seen.

;)

has anyone ever dealt with a company that does something like this ever? in any industry? this makes the fourth time i have had to request the account be cancelled.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-21, 12pm AEST

User #15276 13 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

AusLeo writes...

Why?

You already get one with the Broadband account.

you idiot... obviously i didnt have a dialup with my broadband ISP (there is no way i would go for primus for broadband, there are too many better deals out there)

Strange, when I need a dialup account I use my Broadband log in?

good for you, however luckily i am not you, so i dont see the relevance

Still eludes me to think why you would need an extra dialup account.

eludes you like the reason for wearing your seatbelt, while your not having an accident?

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-21, 12pm AEST

User #9102 163 posts

Costa

Forum Regular

Dan writes...

He told me they had no record of a cancellation and unless i could prove i had called, i was liable for the payment. I have requested the phone records and in time i will have the proof.

So was it on your bill?

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-21, 3pm AEST

User #42624 57 posts

Theriomorph

Forum Regular

Leigh Kay writes...

They even gave me a site to look for them...strange thing was, when i went to install new drivers, i realised that the modem wasnt even plugged in.

Did you do any troubleshooting at all before calling? There's a good explanation as to why the wait times are so long.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-21, 3pm AEST

User #82056 999 posts

Leigh Kay

Whirlpool Enthusiast

Theriomorph writes...

Did you do any troubleshooting at all before calling? There's a good explanation as to why the wait times are so long.

I had unplugged the modem to plug the phone in to call tech support. So, yes i had done troubleshooting before i called them. I just thought it was funny how they could "talk to my modem and find out it needs a software upgrade" when it wasnt even plugged in.

so...the wait times are so long because they waste time doing pointless tests in order to try and blame the customer.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-21, 4pm AEST

User #9102 163 posts

Costa

Forum Regular

Leigh Kay writes...

They even gave me a site to look for them...strange thing was, when i went to install new drivers, i realised that the modem wasnt even plugged in.

Did installing the new drivers fix the problem?

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 2pm AEST

User #89260 24 posts

Triumphant

Forum Regular

Holy cow!!! I just made an agreement over the phone with Primus, they tell me there is a one in five chance that I can get Adsl service at my house.(Sw brisbane). As yet I have furnished no bank details or parted with any cash. Am I glad I read this.

If they tell me they can connect I really dont know which way to go, because noone is seeming to offer connection in this area.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 3pm AEST

User #72915 576 posts

holy cow

Whirlpool Enthusiast

Triumphant writes...

If they tell me they can connect I really dont know which way to go, because noone is seeming to offer connection in this area.

If primus can connect you, then so can just about any other provider. Shop around... primus tech support works, but its very slow... primus network is good, just that their plans are expensive.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 3pm AEST

User #44049 3576 posts

AusLeo

Whirlpool Forums Addict

scoome writes...

primus network is good,

just that their plans are expensive.

They have brought the prices down this year. If you look at the bundle options they balance out and compare very well to others.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 11pm AEST

edited 2005-Jul-22, 11pm AEST

User #58054 1598 posts

Superior

Whirlpool Enthusiast

I have had shocking experiences with IPRIMUS. I actually got referred unfairly to BAYCORP (no questions asked) and threatened with a bad credit rating and court. I was shocked! I had paid my bill a year prior and never heard from IPRIMUS since then thinking good all business has been settled and then cancelled my account. A whole year later no other bills or anything or reminders I get a letter from BAYCORP threatening me with legal action. I rang them and tried to sort it out. Unfortunately I did not keep the bill a whole year:(. In the end I paid the bill two times + extra fees from BAYCORP as well. Paying a bill twice happened to me before that as well with IPRIMUS and a good friend of mine as well. Their billing system really stinks I can tell you. It is simply not justified what happened to me and I am still very ANGRY about it 6 months afterwards. NEVER ever will I go with IPRIMUS again and neither will anyone that I know. I shall keep spreading the word!

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 11pm AEST

edited 2005-Jul-22, 11pm AEST

User #44049 3576 posts

AusLeo

Whirlpool Forums Addict

Superior writes...

I shall keep spreading the word!

Looks like you are, with all the keywords used. Can just imagine your post coming up in a google search.

I missed the line in your post that said you had receipts or statements to check this billing error.

Paying a bill twice happened to me before that as well

It would be better if they had a more detailed online billing history available in our account toolbox. Like for the term of the account not just the last couple of bills. At least you wouldn't have to phone them up about a billing problem, you would see it in your account.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-22, 11pm AEST

User #89185 15 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

" Paying a bill twice happened to me before that as well with IPRIMUS and a good friend of mine as well. Their billing system really stinks I can tell you. "

I have had issues with several telecommunication providers. They are all they same, its just the degree of shitness that varies. I have recently signed up with primus and already I am finding items on my bill that are not valid (eg phone rental). Its not just the money though. Combined with thier inadaquacies is their inabilitly to provide customer support. In the past week i have wasted about five hours of my life to finally speak to someone with half a brain. This is not to say that it is the workers fault. Its the organisations greed and lack of resources that contributes to the customers fraustration. I have found myself dialing primus and running through thier intial menus as a new customer just to speak to someone. You soon learn that if you proceed as an existing customer you will be waiting for a considerable amount of time.

Anyway, I say F**k em all

cheers

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-23, 10pm AEST

User #44049 3576 posts

AusLeo

Whirlpool Forums Addict

Dan writes...

In the past week i have wasted about five hours of my life to finally speak to someone with half a brain.

Oh come on..you could do that at the pub.

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-23, 11pm AEST

User #89185 15 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

exactly my point

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-24, 12am AEST

User #89421 6 posts

jay-el

Forum Regular

I've had HEAPS of problems with them, and am changing to Optus as soon as I can get out of my contract. I've taked to loads of people about the problems we've been having with them, and everyone but anyone at Primus knows exactly what the problem is - overload when all the kids come out of school and hit the net, we drop out for the night, and they keep telling me it's my cables! W*nkers!

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-24, 10am AEST

User #88143 247 posts

NVRENUF

Forum Regular

YEs i agree they have a lot to be desired im gone soon as my contracts up...

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-24, 12pm AEST

User #89421 6 posts

jay-el

Forum Regular

I'm glad I stumbled across this site coz I was going nuts thinking I was the only one with a problem with Primus. I'd better go and check out what's happening in the Optus section before I change!

anchor

posted 2005-Jul-24, 1pm AEST

User #15276 13 posts

Dan

Forum Regular

Well... i received a refund check today, they had promised to refund the last 3 debits, they refunded only one.

the monkeys at iprumus continue to amaze me... how is it possible for a company like this to survive in the private sector??? i wish i could srew up so often

;)

i guess i will be on the phone for 2 and a half hours again tomorrow...

*sighs*

Primus TalkBroadband sucks

«« MUUG Presentation on Tuesday | Bell South, and charging for premium service »»

Wanting to get away from high telephone bills, I made the jump to Primus TalkBroadband a few months ago, and what a mistake that was.

I must say it was easy to get signed up. I filled out a web page, and a little while later, I was sent a package containing my VoIP box (ATA) and instructions. I soon got an email with the day my number would be ported, and it was transferred when they said it would be.

However, quality problems made the service unusable. I played with QoS, called Tech support, tweaked this, tweaked that, and eventually gave up. This, I don’t fault them for. I have a few friends who are happy with the service, it just didn’t work for me.

So, I called up Shaw for their Digital Voice package. They gave me a temporary number to use, I set up my TalkBroadband line to forward all calls to that number, and disconnected the ATA.

I then called Primus customer service to switch to the lowest plan possible, $15/month (if I’m not using the service, why pay $30?). Surprisingly, I wasn’t asked why I was leaving. Even after working in “I’m just not happy with the service”, I didn’t get “sorry to hear that”.

An unfortunate mixup with Shaw caused the number porting to take much longer than it should have. (Other than that, I’m very impressed with Shaw’s service. The guys that came to wire my house did an outstanding job) Any calls to my Primus number which were call forwarded to Shaw (never touching VoIP) had awful quality, such that we usually ended up calling people back whenever they called us.

So, I called Primus support. The first guy I talked to seemed rather angry at me and very argumentative. I called back through customer support to complain, who had no record of the previous call. So, I got someone else in tech support, who blamed the problem on Shaw.

Around the same time, when people called us in the evenings, they’d sometimes get an “out of trunks” message. I called Primus about that, too, and the support guy told me that he could only help me if I was getting the message now, and to call back when I was having the problem.

Finally, on Dec 21, my number ported over to Shaw. I was told my account would be cancelled. Late last week, a friend on TalkBroadband tried to call me and got a “not available message”.

So, I called Primus this morning. The lady told me my account hadn’t been cancelled, and since I have to give 30 days notice, they were billing me until Feb 9. Fine. I then asked her what to do about the problem where Primus customers couldn’t call me and she told me that I couldn’t possibly be having this problem, and that the person calling me should call in. After trying to explain my situation to her, I asked to be transferred to tech support.

The guy on the tech side was nice enough, and seemed to have an idea of what might be wrong. Since my account wasn’t cancelled, Primus customers were still going the old way. He called some people internally and told me I should wait a few hours for the account to be cancelled inside their system first.

All told, I’ve spent around $50 on a service I didn’t use (that’s not including the $30 on the month of service that I did use), and have had many problems dealing with Primus’ so called “customer service”. I have never dealt with so many rude people as a customer of a company or felt less valued as a customer.

I have friends who are happy on Primus, though they have never had to call for help. (That said, one of them did have a billing problem, and it took a very long time to resolve because of the pathetic customer service).

On the flip side, Shaw has been nothing but helpful. I pay more for the Shaw service, but it is excellent, and I feel taken care of.

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9 Responses

1. Shane Says:

January 10th, 2006 at 11:43 pm

Hey Sean,

Did you consider voip.net? I know a few people who are using it and have nothing but good things to say and from what I can tell, has the cheapest rates out there.

I was thinking of subscribing myself so I’m curious to see why you went shaw.

2. Mike Says:

March 21st, 2006 at 5:11 pm

Hi.. I had Primus.. I got it on Tuesday, it went back two weeks later. The phone number they gave me never worked first or last (no one could call me). When I called out, people would get any one of three possible phone numbers for me. I thought the quality was worst than my old analog cell phone - the other person always got a hum on their end.

At that time, they also claimed that the unlimited service isn’t really unlimited (read the VERY fine print).. basically they said that some calls (forewarded or transferred) MAY be charged the regular long distance rate, even with the unlimited package. I posted a message on their message baord and called and asked what the deal was with that.. my problem was that basically at the end of my billing month, I MIGHT get a bill for $29.99 plus tax or I MIGHT get a bill for $100 depending on whether they decide to charge my for long distance calls or not. They never gave me an answer first or last. It sounds to me like you’re talking a chance - you MAY get charged or you MAY NOT. (BTW: vonage is simple, it doesn’t matter.. ALL calls are included, period.)

I was with Vonage before and am still with them now. It’s about $10 more a month, but definitely worth it. I tried to save a few bucks by switching, but it wasn’t worth the time or trouble.

Save yourself time and money and hassle - go with Vonage!

3. Murray Says:

April 12th, 2006 at 2:21 pm

I have experienced many of the same problems with Primus and I am now trying to switch to Shaw. Also similar to your experience, Shaw is having trouble figuring out how to switch my number because they do not know who Primus uses as a Local Exchange Carrier in Winnipeg. Do you know how Shaw finally managed to have your number switched?

4. Andrew Says:

April 19th, 2006 at 10:04 pm

I am having the exact same issues with Primus. I have Shaw Extreme, and for a while my phone worked quite well. But about a month ago, my out going call quality went way down. I could hear people just fine, but when I talked…..they say it sounds like that part in Wayne’s World when they are trying to oder fast food, and they miss every second word.

I called Primus tech support, and they said it was Shaw turning off their QoS for third party VOIP products. I guess as soon Shaw Digital phone came out, they turned off the Qos to force people to use their digital phone. I confromted Shaw regarding this, and they the guy actually said…..AND I QUOTE “no comment,” and pointed the finger back at Primus. All this finger pointing and I still have a product that sucks…??

5. bstewart23 Says:

April 21st, 2006 at 4:33 pm

Primus: The Exact Opposite of Customer Service.

6. Andrew Says:

May 9th, 2006 at 7:37 pm

Well, after calling Shaw customer service, and threatening to leave if they didn’t fix my connection…..we have progress.

I told them I was leaving Shaw, unless tehy sent a tech to my house to test my connection. The tech couldn’t make it for 3 days, but the next morning….my connection was fixed. Hmmmm…. I wonder if they flicked the QOS switch, and fixed my VOIP.

Back up and running….after much frustrating delay.

7. Andrew Cripps Says:

May 24th, 2006 at 12:08 pm

Similar bad experience

We recently moved house and I decided to change from TELUS to a combination of Shaw cable as the internet provider and a Voice Over IP (VOIP) provider – Primus.

The experience has been less than thrilling.

Shaw cable was fine, and installed the internet connection as expected, and it worked without much messing around.

I called Primus before we moved and filled in an online application form for the new VOIP service. I told them when I was moving house. No problem they said, we’ll have it ready in 10-15 days.

The VOIP modem and a letter confirming that our telephone number would remain the same arrived from Primus, but was sent to the NEW address before we had moved in. I had to pick the parcel up at the post office.

In the meantime, we arranged for our TELUS line to be disconnected on the day of the move. We moved in, and I then connected Shaw cable and the Primus equipment. I got a dial tone, and thought we were all set.

Unfortunately, the old phone number had not been transferred! No one could call us! The message was “the number is not assigned.” I called Primus and they said “But the number is disconnected.”

Of course the number is disconnected. I had to disconnect the phone because new occupants were moving into our old house.

Primus was quite unable to help. They were simply stuck – they had failed to take account of the fact that I was both moving and getting a new phone service.

It would have been nice if Primus has instructions to help customers. The right procedure would have been to transfer the phone number to the new home, and then call Primus to get VOIP service.

So far I’m unimpressed by the customer service at Primus, and by their inability to help.

I reactivated by phone number with TELUS for a $45 charge.

8. Sonny Says:

July 22nd, 2006 at 8:53 pm

Regarding Andrew Cripps experience,

Primus states right on their website that if you need to keep your phone number - do not disconnect your old number!… for god’s sake.. if you need to transfer a number…how do you transfer it if you dont have a number anymore?

9. robert wilson Says:

September 16th, 2006 at 6:51 am

I ordered Primus DSL and voip unlimited. DIsaster.

My phone would not ring for the first 10 days of so called service and since installation the service has diconnected on my computer more times than it has run. Countless calls to service results in them putting a “ticket” on the line but nothing has been resolved. I can get the signal back to my computer by picking up the pjone and dialing 1 then any other group of numbers. ANything really. SOmehow this kicks the DSL back in. Primus tech is not interested in my discovery though. Primus is a disaster I think.

Primus: The Exact Opposite of Customer Service

April 21, 2006 at 14:24 · Filed under Bad Ads, Bad Behaviour

So, despite the unpleasant recent experiences my organization has had with Primus Canada — essentially they disconnected a critical data line and took over a month to even respond to our panicked cries for help, let alone reconnect — I decided to check out their TalkBroadband VoIP (Voice over IP) service, dutifully filled out the online registration form and sent it off, hoping that I'd soon be able to toss my Bell service into the trash (where it belongs).

Well, easier said than done.

Twelve days after submitting the application, I called up to see why I'd received nothing. No box of goodies, no email message, no phone call.

Turns out that somehow a character got dropped from my credit card number — odd, considering I'm looking at a screenshot right now of the submission and it's not missing that character — so the semi-helpful Credit Department person with whom I spoke said I'd get a call the next day about the approval. (Of course, one wonders why a simple phone call, which would have cleared everything up, couldn't be made during the previous 12 days. One now knows why.) Well after the close of (normal) business the next day, having received no call, I once again called and spoke with yet another Credit Department person who told me that I'd definitely be called the day after that with the approval.

Not receiving a call by noon, I called, yet again, and spoke with someone in the Credit Department. I was told that, despite the fact that I've paid for many hundreds of dollars in goods with my credit card, my credit history — which is, by the way, pristine — is not extensive enough to sign me up for their $30/month service and that I needed to pay a $250 deposit. Bullshit. I asked to speak with Customer Service.

At least the first CS person with whom I spoke made an attempt to be helpful, stating that perhaps her supervisor could act as my advocate and call the Credit Department to plead my case. Terrific. He was far from helpful. Belligerent, even. (Thanks ever so much, Gene.) Told me, completely contrary to what his underling had said (and with not even the slightest degree of concern, interest or sincerity in his voice), that he could do nothing for me and that I needed to speak with the Credit Department.

So… I made my telephonic way back to the Credit Department (for those keeping count, this is Primus Robot #6) and spoke with one of the most singularly unhelpful, discourteous and uninterested corporate drones in recent memory. (You're the best, Tracy!) Nope, they would not budge. Would not even consider automatic withdrawl from my chequing account without the $250 deposit. For a $30/month service.

Memo to Gene and Tracy at Primus: there's no need for you to demand a deposit because you have a Visa credit card, you morons!!!

Now, at this point it might be helpful to note that my whole reason for going to Primus was that I was sick and tired of the runaround from Bell concerning every issue I've ever had with my phone line. Not to mention the gouging. Similarly, since Rogers Internet service bites the big one, I was prepared, if Primus TalkBroadband was a success, to switch my ISP to Primus, too.

Now? That's as likely as me eating my testicles, one after the other.

I cannot stress enough that my experience with Primus was as unpleasant and ridiculous as any I've ever had. And I strongly urge anyone who may be reading this to avoid Primus Canada like the plague.

Try Vonage instead.

Other pissed-off Primus customers:

* "Primus TalkBroadband Sucks"

* "…Don't try and escalate to their supervisor group since they just laugh at you and some will even hang up if you try and ask for their manager… …Looong waits for customer service, and when finally they picked up, they were rude and not helpful… …primus has good features but garbage customer service… …Their customer service group are complete idiots. No follow-up whatsoever. They promised a return phone call 5 times and it never happened…"

* "…You might want to work on your customer service skills…"

Permalink

5 Comments »

bstewart23 said,

April 21, 2006 @ 19:50

Guess what was waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home today? Yup. A junkmail brochure for Primus TalkBroadband.

Chantelle said,

June 20, 2006 @ 20:08

I had similar experiences with Primus, and unfortunately, I actually did get connected. However, only to have a horrible connection, gaps in service, and technical difficulties. Every time I called, it seemed they wanted to do anything but help. I also got numerous annoying messages about payment, even though it was mandatory that I sign up for preauthorized payments, which I had done in the beginning. It was not my fault they were not withdrawing them! When I called, they would not let my pay the outstanding balance any other way, and kept insisting it would be cleared up. I finally called after months of this, and they had added a number to my bank transit number, but nobody had called for this information, instead they hounded me for money while at the same time insisting I could not pay any other way.

I then moved, and asked they switch the number, which they did not do. Again, I hounded them, while at the same time they did not fix my problem, which was that my phone was not working. Then eventually I asked them to discontinue the service. They kept withdrawing money from my account for another six months. Again, I had to call several times for them to send me a 'return package' for my gateway, and ask that they refund me six months worth of payments for a service I had disconnected. I am still waiting.

bstewart23 said,

June 21, 2006 @ 6:23

Yikes! If stories like ours are any lesson, it's to always Google "companyname 'customer service'" prior to any financial or legal entanglement. Good luck with your… disentanglement from Primus!

In competitive news, I'm still very pleased with my Vonage service, with only minor annoyances (like the marked decline in audio quality whilst doing some heavy-duty P2P — totally expected, by the way — and a "message waiting" light which won't stop blinking when voicemail messages are remotely deleted).

bstewart23 » Bell’s Freudian Offer to “Meet My Needs” said,

August 18, 2006 @ 16:36

[…] I received this card in the mail yesterday, from my former land-line telephone service provider; I dropped Bell for phone service back in April (you may have read about the disastrous dealings with Primus before landing, quite happily, with Vonage). […]

robert shuttleworth said,

September 16, 2006 @ 19:57

I have had a terrible 45 days with primus dsl. It always disconnects but sometimes reconnects if I pick up the phone and dial 1 and then any 4 numbers.

The entire experience has been a disaster from day 1 even before I received my modem. I had no incomming calls for 12 days while they changed the line. I am so fed up. STOP SURFING AND START WAITING is my slogan for this disasterous company/ They don’t give a damn and of course keep the money. The download speed comes nowhere near the 4mbps they said I would get at my location in Toronto.

Class action anyone? These companies are laughing all the way to the bank with our money.

I am going to start a Primus service blog and everyone can post there so others don’t get sucked into their stupid advertising tricks.

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primus voip service

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 16, 2005 - 6:22pm.

Well, well, where to start. I recently had a bad experience with my local phone company here in Winnipeg, and decided to check out other avenues for phone service. I signed up for Primus TalkBroadband, as the price was cheap, it's new technology, and I figured I have nothing to lose. I decided to check it out for a month or two and see how it goes. I received my gateway on March 11th, and I sit here still waiting for them to activate my line. I called their tech support, and it appears someone did not provision the line correctly, and it will take 3-5 business days to fix. After numerous calls, conversations with tech support and customer service, and numerous requests to speak to a supervisor (at which none are ever available), I still wait here to have my line activated. I informed them that with such a new technology, people are going to be skeptical, and as such they should bend over backwards to ensure happy customers. I guess this is not their priority.

I called "my" number yesterday, and had a nice conversation with the gentleman in Vancouver who had recently disconnected "my" number due to service quality issues. yay. At least I'm getting a $20 credit on my account. w00000

Bob890 (Unregistered)

I agree

I agree, stay away from Primus!

» | 2005-07-13 23:07:53 | Reply to this

Jamesprimus (Unregistered)

reality of Primus

I work in Primus and I can tell you, we are trained to sell services to Primus that will not work due to bad copper / distance etc as the 2 months that they hook you in with no service is how they make their money.

» | 2005-08-30 15:31:59 | Reply to this

Government (Unregistered)

Involve the regulator

The CRTC should be informed about the no service / billed anyway situation. The CRTC cannot deal much with the technical issues, however, they have more clout with business practises.

» | 2006-04-27 19:59:11 | Reply to this

techtonic

Member

2006-07-10

Loc:Calgary, AB

Primus

If this is true how is primus even still in buisness, and how to people get suckered into there services?

The crtc should definetly step in and do something about their buisness practices

» | 2006-07-14 15:20:07 | [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · Reply to this

2006-10-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

DEAR DIARY

It’s Sunday night the first week of October 2006. I have had another exasperating, hair pulling day with Primus high speed DSL. It has disconnected at least 15 times today resulting in me crawling under the desk to turn off the modem and router and starting it up Sometimes it works other times it does not work. Tonight I have given up on the issue altogether. I can't make it work. Sometimes it seems to get back on line if I connect the phone and dial 1 54567885858586734 or any number starting with 1. I say connect the phone because I have found that I can connect to the net for a longer period of time if I only have the DSL modem connected to the phone line. So nobody can phone me, like having dial-up again. Actually today I connected a filter to the line which would normally run to the DSL modem and connected via my dial-up account for a while. It’s insane that I should be paying for both and even more insane that my dial-up and DSL are both with Primus/ Win-tel. They are getting payment from me for both “services”. At least the dial-up works

I really want to get a new DSL service installed with someone who will help so we can use the internet but I just gave P/W the required 30 notice on Friday (Sept 29^th) so I am stuck with no service until I can have the line signed over by Primus to another company 30 days from now . Insane! I am stuck paying for a service that is not provided and can’t get another service because they want 30 days notice for no useful DSL line. I want to send them an email and ask if they can keep their 30 day blood money but let me get a service from another provider earlier so I can get back on the net. I guess I can crawl under the desk again and unhook the DSL modem and filter the line and connect to the modem and try that and send my email then disconnect and decide what I want to do , try to get DSL working again or reconnect the phone to have it available for a call I have been waiting for.

I think all of this has been going on since June 18^th or so. When I ordered the DSL line they said I would have a download speed of 3 to 4 mbps. I have never had anywhere near that. Just to confirm I called recently about a DSL account for the phone line upstairs and asked them about speeds and this time the operator said confidently that I would get 4mbps. Not “ 3 to 4” but “4” So I didn’t hear incorrectly. I’ll bet that they are telling that same number to every potential new customer.

I got my modem and connected it and right away it did not work. On top of that my phone would not ring for 10 or 11 days. When I asked Primus about that they said it is just a little glitch with signing over the line. No problem. It was a problem. People could not get in touch with me and that is a problem. I wonder how many other people have had a similar experience? I have called tech many times and waited on the live for 20 minutes to 1 hour. They ask the usual questions from a script I think and then tell me they are putting a ticket on the line and hang up. Once a tech accused me of lying about something. Over all the tech people are quite pleasant but nothing is ever resolved. They don’t seem to know where the information goes after they put a ticket on the line. I get the feeling, sometimes, that we Primus customers are sharing a line with other people in a stream and that’s why it disconnects. I would like to meet a Primus employee who could confirm this or let me in on what really goes on. Yes I would like to find just one or two disgruntled employees. Maybe I can find them on the net somehow.

I got a new modem and same problems. I set up a network stupidly and the same problem of course. It would certainly not improve things.

Two weeks ago I tore all of the old wiring out of the house (my own initiative, it was never suggested by tech) and from the telephone line demarkation point ran a soild core real telephone line directly to the computer and plugged her in and same problems. It is an absolutely clean line and everything still stinks. I cannot hear the tech people very well because of noise on my end of the line and that’s with 2 filters between the phone and the line.. They get upset when I ask them to speak up so I can hear what they are saying.

I think I spend roughly 3 hours a day fighting with Primus DSL troubles. That’s about 180 hours of aggravation, much more when you consider all of the net things I have to re-do over and of course my phone is disconnected most of the time. We have had to use a cell phone at some expense. Not much expense but that’s not the point. My girlfriend seldom speaks to me because I am in such a rage most of the time. The cat has left home and I don’t blame her. I injured my hand when I punched the desk in a mad rage. It still hurts after 2 weeks. I drink early in the day (something I have never done) and go to bed with a scowl.

My sleep pattern has gone to hell come to think of it. Maybe I am drinking too much before bed. I had a bad Microsoft experience recently with one of their automated systems which did not work and got stuck in a loop until the DSL disconnected.. Everything has all gone to hell actually. I have started to make up slogans for the company like “STOP SURFING AND START WAITING” but that does not make me feel any better. I feel sorry for other people who have to go through this with PRIMUS. My driving has become aggressive and I think I am becoming a danger on the road. I fly into a rage at the slightest provocation. I used to be courteous to other drivers but now I am a monster

I was attracted to Primus because of an offer which sounded good and affordable and a speed of 3 to 4 Mbps but in the end it has cost me dearly.

I wonder if they are going to hit me with a cancellation fee.

Well those are my thoughts for tonight. Maybe I will talk to my girlfriend or go look for the cat or have a drink. I won’t be on the net. Can’t! I have PRIMUS DSL

2006-10-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

letsbreakglass
I agree 100% and more. This is a terrible company to deal with. Total dissatisfaction.

2006-10-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

PRIMUS / WIN-TEL CANADA
How much do you hate this company? Have you had difficulty sleeping? Are you in a rage and find your driving suffering and becoming aggressive? Does you mate seldom talk to you because you are in a bad mood? Do you go to bed with a scowl on your face? Do you wake up with a scowl? Will this is how I am after 3 months of no service from PRIMUS/ WIN-Tel high speed DSL. It is in fact not high speed at all in my opinion. They tell you, during the signup process, that you will enjoy speeds of between 3 and 4 Mbps. I have never had speeds approaching that. In their documents it is phrased differently. “Up to 4 Mbps” or “up to 5 Mbps” which can mean any speed even 56K. Using the PRIMUS speed test tool I have often achieved speeds of 346kbps. At his writing Oct. 3/06 when one calls technical service one is confronted with a new recording that states they are experiencing an unusually high volume of calls and although new tech personnel is being trained to handle the volume it is suggested that you hang up and call back at a less busy time. It is always the same recording so there is no better time. They seem to look at it as a sign of success that so many people are calling. It only means that their system does not work and there are umpteen angry and frustrated people waiting for their own personal run around. The tech person seems to read from a script. If you ask the techs what happens to the ticket they are putting on the line, you are told that they do not know. It just goes upstairs.
So far I have lost about 180 hours of my life to this company and paid them cash for the pleasure.
But here is the hook. In order to get a new ISP and get away from PRIMUS I must first give 30 days notice in writing. In order to get new service the line must be signed over and taken over so I have to wait out the 30 days with no internet and lousy phone to fulfil the requirements. I cannot get another provider until they are finished with me. It is like the communist stores of the USSR. You want to buy cigarettes at the store but they don't have any but you still have to buy from them even though you can't get any. Something like that and of course I have to pay them for 30 days for the no service.
If you know anyone who has had bad experiences with PRIMUS or has worked for them and would like to give this blog some insight into the workings of the company, please contact
letsbreakglass@yahoo.com