When will CANADIAN companies realize that shipping service overseas to India p***es people off?

Remember the good old days when you called customer service for one utility or another and you actually spoke with someone in your own country? Maybe even someone in your own city?

Understanding the petty nature of politics these days, I realize that what I'm about to write will likely end up being dug up by some other party's dirt diggers should I ever decide to put my own name on the ballot. Nobody can write (or say) anything that might offend anyone... and if they do, they'll be fired by party leadership or forced to resign by the mob-like media "covering" the elections.

I last wrote about my experience with Primus "Canada" on December 6, 2007. I wrote about how I got sucked into switching to Primus "Canada" from Bell... it seemed like a good idea at the time: "I figured that I'd take advantage of their offer to provide home phone service at a 25% discount. Better to have the money in my pocket rather than theirs." The ever so polite customer service representative wasted no time signing me up when I agreed to make the switch. I had been promised that the change would be virtually seamless. It was very, very painful. The "seamless" transition meant that my Bell service was disconnected sometime early on December 3rd. I would not hear a dial tone again until around dinner time on the 6th.

While I cannot complain about the service that I have since received (in other words, the phone and internet have worked without any problems, they have failed me yet again after a service request was made.

On August 28th I called to have my service transferred to a new address - I am moving on September 30th. After waiting on hold for almost 90 minutes (they gave me a BS message about "we're experiencing a higher volume of calls and you can expect to wait over 20 minutes... we're hiring new people to rectify the problem") I spoke with a bloke from India for over one hour and fifty minutes. At first he told me that I could not get phone service at my new address - turned out 30 minutes later he misunderstood my spelling out of my street name and address - 2-1-5 I told hom, not 215, figuring he'd mistake 250 for 215. Giving each individual digit still resulted in a misunderstanding. After going back and forth for another hour and discovering (horror of horrors!!) that I had two account numbers - one for home phone and one for my internet - I was told that this was a problem! EXCUSE ME?! Dear, oh dear. I was eventually promised that the changeover would take place on the 30th of September... but that they couldn't give me my existing phone number as Bell owned it. They would have to assign a new number... but they couldn't do that at that time. They'd get back to me.

Fast forward to today. I'm moving on Tuesday. Today is Friday. I got the same message "we're experiencing a higher volume of calls and you can expect to wait over 20 minutes... we're hiring new people to rectify the problem". Today I waited 45 minutes for another guy who turned out to be in India to come on the line. I guess Primus "Canada" doesn't have any employees in Canada anymore. Did it?

So buddy comes on the line and after confirming my information, he gives me little more than dead air. Silence. He put me on hold and came back a number of minutes later (forgot to count this time). When he finally came back on he informed me that an "error" occurred while processing my order and as a result, it would have to be re-processed and I could only get service in about 10 business days. Once again, Primus "Canada" gave me a case of apoplexy. After confirming that I actually did hear exactly what this guy was feeding me, I demanded to speak with a manager. He told me he'd get one.

Twenty-five painful minutes of hearing "thank you for your patience while on hold..." buddy came back with a message from a manager, stating that my order will be processed and service would be restored in 10 business days. This time I blew my top, speaking to the machine that is allegedly taping the call for quality assurance purposes, asking it if it is catching all of this. I then asked buddy if he would accept such ridiculous service after going through my experience with Primus "Canada" since day one. I again demanded a manager and told him that he had better not put me on hold again for twenty-five minutes. I'm about 10 minutes into it as I type.

Having checked the Better Business Bureau see that some Primus "Canada" entries at the BBB site have an unsatisfactory record or a satisfactory record with resolved issues. Had I see that before getting sucked in, I would have avoided them like the plague.

So... what's next? I'm sure buddy will come back on stating that no manager is working or a manager will come on and give me some useless platitudes. Yep, that's pretty much what happened. I went through my history with the manager and he told me the same thing buddy did. As the manager was as useless as buddy was, I asked if he could guarantee that if I switch to Bell due to their incompetent inability to actually provide service when service is requested from a customer, he answered in the affirmative. Not believing him - I mean, when I get a bill at my new address in six (or sixteen!?) weeks demanding some ridiculous cancellation fee (I agreed to combine my internet and phone service for a lower rate agreeing to a 12 month contract when making the address change - I should have run at that time) who would believe me?

Manager guy then told me he'd give me a reference number... and put me on hold! Then came back 3-4 minutes later telling me he'd be a bit longer generating that number and thanked me for my patience.

I'll probably get my confirmation number before 7pm eastern time and then I'll call Bell. I know Bell will likely tell me I can't get service right away as well, and I know I'll likely speak with someone from India again (I'll update if I get someone from anywhere within a couple thousand kilometres of Ottawa!), but I'll have stuck it to Primus "Canada" and will learn the time tested adage of:

"IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT"

I don't think I actually saved much by switching and I'm almost certain my life has been shortened by a few months as a result of my having to interact with them. I have no issue with people who live in or come from India - it just pisses me off that we have people longing for jobs in Canada and that there's no address in Canada that I can drop in to make a service request in person anymore.

All in the name of the almighty buck.

Come on, Canadian corporations, let's bring these operations home. Crappy service on the phone from India and poisonous food and toys from China... when will it stop?!

UPDATE: 22 minutes after starting to dial Bell Canada I spoke with a representative in Canada who transferred me to someone in New Activations who not only was in Canada, was right here in Ottawa. I'll have phone service from Bell on October 3rd. 22 minutes beginning to end. I'd have waited an hour before talking to anyone with Primus. When Primus comes calling, HANG UP AND RUN LIKE HELL! DO NOT BUY PHONE SERVICE FROM PRIMUS!

It's a bad, bad joke

So after doing a good deed last night I'm driving home, listening to CFRA as I usually do. John Counsell is bleating about the price of gas. I think to myself that finally, someone is complaining about the fact that oil market prices are at a what, six-month low, and prices at the pump have not followed. Sure, they came down a bit when the barrel fell below $145, but they have recently been a holding pattern of sorts despite a price free-fall on the international market.

After listening for a few minutes I realize that the so-called "price watchdog" Liberal MP actually warned us that the prices at the pumps would be going up an unprecedented 12.9 cents per litre overnight in most parts of the country. I'd love to know if prices went up 50 cents a gallon down south.

The ironic thing?

The big talking heads that run the mob here in Canada... I mean oil companies... are blaming incoming hurricane Ike and its effect on Texas oil refineries. OK, that "excuse" has proven to be an effective one in the past, causing the international oil market to spike the prices which in turn magically inflate the price of gasoline that has already been delivered to retailers.

Someone forgot to tell the international oil traders. The barrel has consistently fallen throughout the week, Ike be damned! In fact, after watching some of CBS' Early Show taped this morning on my PVR, I see that Ike is real and he's coming. Yet, at 11:42ET this morning, oil was trading upwards... but not up $38 to go back up over $131 a barrel, but up 38 cents.

Why is it, then, that the commodity itself has not zoomed upwards, yet the retailers hike pricing like they never have before? It seems that the speculators have finally moderated themselves on an international scale. I get it that production might and will fall as a result of this storm, likely resulting in price hikes some days or months down the road. What I do not get, however, is how these bozos have come up with yet a new way to stick it to each and every one of us and to such an unprecedented degree.

They can't blame it on the barrel - it's still trending downwards and traders are yawning as they watch Ike make landfall! Oh that's right, it doesn't matter why. They do it because THEY CAN. There's no collusion, there's nothing untoward or illegal going on. Maybe we should all vote for Jack Layton's NDP - he was heard on the radio today saying he'd take care of Canadians and stop all of this.

Riiiiiight. And Dion's Green Shift will be revenue neutral. Oh yeah, I believe everything politicians tell me - they wouldn't lie, would they?!

PS: As I clicked on PUBLISH an e-mail from CNN found its way to my mailbox. It was titled "Oil trades below $100 for first time in more than five months." Explain last night's move to me then, crooks who run Petro Canada, Esso, Shell et al. Just try reconciling the two.