A little guidance please...thanks.

Good morning jrose:

Yes, I had actually found that thread and gone through it.

There were several items of interest, but nothing which seemingly addressed the portable internet system.

I was pleased to see that someone had found a partial solution to when Rogers screwed them out of many dollars with their cell phone.  We had a similar experience when our usual $40/month bill miraculously skyrocketed to a hair under $300 in one month.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any refund from the thugs in Rogers mis-accounting department.

What has happened to me is this - and if this is in the wrong area, perhaps you could re-locate it to where it should be - I signed up for a Rogers portable modem a/c in October 2007.

It was supposed to be 6 months at $29.95, then $49.95 after that.  Why on earth they need to jack it up after 6 months is beyond me, but whatever.

OK, so my first bill arrives for $200.25.  Oh dear, what do I do?  The entire bill made no sense at all, neither my wife or I could figure out how they arrived at the total.  I thought perhaps it was for the first 6 months, so, like a complete fool, I paid it.

Next month my bill arrives for $49.95 plus tax.  I'm not exactly too happy about this, so I made a polite call to Rogers to ask what was the reason for this apparent overcharge.  And seriously, I was extremely polite, as that is my nature.  Sadly, Rogers has gone a long way into turning me into an obnoxious old SOB.

Rogers says they will look into it and let me know.  What a load of horsefeathers that was.

This BS kept up until August of 2008, still billing me $49.95 a month, and me still paying the bill like clockwork.  Exactly what Rogers wanted.  At which time the tower from which we were getting our internet signal went down.

Since this was my first computer ever (I'm a retired old guy) and I didn't really understand these things, once again I make a polite call to Rogers.  The tech guy assures me that their tower is working just fine and there is something wrong with my nice shiny new iMac.  He did whatever tests he coud do with me online - nothing worked - and then said I should buy a new cable between the computer and the modem.

At this point I should let you know we live on a small unserviced island (Ruxton Isl.) about 15 miles south east of Nanaimo, B.C.  So a trip over to town is usually an all day affair. It's not like we can just hop in the van and bop off to town.  There is the little matter of a one hour boat ride each way to deal with, followed by a half hour drive up to Nanaimo.  So, when the weather kicks up, we stay home.

OK, so I get a new cable, in fact I got two just to make sure.  Didn't make a blind bit of difference.  OK, says Mr. Tech guy, you had better call Apple, as your nice shiny new iMac seems to be hooped.

I call Apple.  Their tech guy is several orders of magnitude superior to anything Rogers has to offer up and he spends a good 1/2 hour on the phone with me going through everything.  All is 100% perfect, as I would expect from a nice shiny new iMac.

In any event, the Apple guy suggests that on the very slight chance there is something wrong that they cannot diagnose over the phone, I could take it  to town where they have an authorized repair centre.  This just happened to be the same place I bought the computer from - also the modem.  There will be no charge for this service.

OK, so after having called the almighty Rogers again, it is decided to take the iMac on a little trip since they are still unable to get the system up and running again.  This is duly done and I'm sure you won't be in the least bit surprised to learn that there was nothing at all wrong with the computer.  This was a gentle three week delay here by the way.

By this time, it is getting to be well into September and Rogers is still unable to get the internet problem fixed. And I am STILL paying the bill!!!

I then visited a Rogers dealer who has been looking after our cell phone service (which has been good) to see if he could assist with the modem trouble.  It turns out that Ken in the store just happens to know the chap who looks after the tower at Fuller Lake where our modem signal allegedly comes from.  He has been aware that the tower has been down since early August, and that the maintenance chap is having one hell of a time trying to get it fixed.  Rogers seems to be blissfully unaware of this lo these many weeks.

Therefore, I give them yet another call - by this time the call list is getting pretty long - to let them know why their tower is down.  They feign complete surprise about this, and immediately issue a "ticket".  Fat lot of good that does.  I think it is just another of Rogers ploys to make the customer think they are actually doing something.  And for awhile, I actually believed them.  I know much better now, of course.

A couple of days after this "ticket" is issued, I receive an automated phone call from the almighty Rogers, advising me that the problem is now fixed and my life can proceed forthwith.

Excellent!  So I turn the computer on, still dead as a dodo.  Yet another call to the almighty Rogers to let them know of their ineptitude, and - wonder of wonders - they will issue yet another ticket.  Well, thank goodness for that.

Finally, in early October, one of Rogers brilliant tech guys, who still believes their tower is working BTW, says I should go and buy an outdoor modem.  Apparently, the outdoor modem has considerably more range than an indoor modem, which I was using.  And incidentally, my usual signal strength was 5 lights, as good as it gets for those of you who don't know.

We live some 14 miles away from the tower, and normally, this would be way outside the range of their signal.  But almst 100% of this distance is over open water, and in fact we have clear line of sight to the tower.  Which is why it works so well.  Even the almighty Rogers could not believe how well it worked.

Right...so off I go to waste another $250 + tax on an outdoor modem, on the offchance that it might work.  This was October 8, 2008 - keep that date in mind.

I come back to the island here, and after drilling a copious number of holes in the house to run the wiring, as well as building a mount to put the beast up on the peak of the roof, wonder of wonders - it works!  Sort of.

Now, please don't think that the almighty Rogers had stumbled on the solution, because let me assure you, they definitely hadn't.  By the strangest of coincidences, it just so happened that Ken's friend at the tower had called to let him know that the tower had been repaired.  So ken called me to give me the good news.

I let Ken know that I had literally, just a few minutes earlier, finished rigging up the new outdoor modem.

This, of course, requires yet another call to the almighty Rogers to get their unflagging assistance in the setup of the new modem.  OK, this gets done, they need the new serial number, the age and sex of my kids, how tall I am, what I ate for breakfast and the colour of my underwear that day.  There were probably a few other things, but mercifully they slip my mind right now.

Right, so this new modem - which is supposed to have a greater capability than the lowly indoor modem, has some difficulty getting a decent signal.  Occasionally 4 lights, mostly 3 lights, and sometimes only 2 lights.  When this happens, the signal slows down.  I spend a considerable amount of time up on the roof (remember I am a retired old guy) getting the absolute best signal.  This I do over a number of days.

At this point, it didn't occur to me that the indoor modem might still be working.  You see, all this time, the almighty Rogers was convinced that their precious tower was working just fine, and that I was the problem - not them.

Once the signal was functioning, albeit not that well, I called the almighty again to see if I can get some sort of credit to my account for the 55 days of downtime.  I am talking to some young gay guy, and he quite cheerfully gives me 55 days of credit without any argument at all.

So, since this kid was such a fine upstanding fellow, I asked him if he could look into my first bill for $200.25, and the subsequent $49.95 a month which should have been $29.95.  OK, says he, let me look.  Oh dear, but wouldn't you know it, after one year the almighty archives their invoices and it will be just too much trouble for little old me to have to dig it out for you.  Did I happen to have my original bill handy.  No, says I, I don't.  That's why I would like you to find the bill and try to explain it to me.  You can guess how far this got.

At that point, I made a call to customer mis-service for the specific purpose of getting someone to explain the bill, and I'm not any too willing to be given the typical runaround this time.  Despite my best efforts, the almighty came up with one excuse after another as to why they couldn't give me this information.  This haggling kept up with these clods until early June of this year, when the signal went down again.

This time it was due to a lightning strike on the tower, and the signal was only down for 5 days.

During this 5 day period, I was trying to take an online course, so that got screwed up.  While speaking to one of the almighty Rogers tech guys, he says I should definitely go and get myself the amazing Rocketstick.  It is MUCH faster than the portable modem, it is MUCH more reliable than the modem, and for the first 3 months, you can get such a deal you wouldn't believe it.  Not only that, but since there are no less than three - count 'em, one, two, three cell towers all in a row on Vancouver Island right in front of us, there is simply no way that it could ever fail.  How could I possibly lose!

So a trip to the dealer in Nanaimo once again, and I VERY RELUCTANTLY get this damn Rocketstick.  Talk about mis-named.

The cost for this magnificent piece of technical wizardry will be zip, as long as I get a 3 year contract.  Or $200 with no contract.  I take one look at this pathetic excuse and right away I am less than impressed.  Probably made in China for a cost of two or three bucks.

But then if I have any appreciable amount of usage, the monthly damage after the first 3 months might well be more than $100 with taxes.  I definitely don't like that part.  Pensioners can't afford that nonsense.

Anyway, by the time I am able to get to town and back, the tower is fixed so there is no need to hook up this piece of junk.

A few short weeks later, there is a minor act of vandalism somewhere over in the Vancouver area, and a fiber optics cable is cut putting all the towers out of commission for  a day.

Aha, say I, sitting here on my desk is this wonderful little Rocketstick.  OK, plug it in, and after yet more brilliant talk with Rogers, it is functioning.  But just like the outdoor modem, none too well.  All this hogwash about it being MUCH faster was a load of trollop.  In fact, it was nowhere near as fast as the original ($99) indoor modem.

So I am putting up with this less-than-stellar performing gadget, when, 30 days later, without so much as a by-your-leave, my email program quits.  So I spend some very considerable amount of time going through everything on the Mac but I cannot get it figured out.

Poor me, yet another call to the gods at Rogers.  It takes the tech guy about 30 seconds to figure it out.  Oh, he says, you can't have a Rogers.com email address with the Rocketstick.  And why the hell might that be?  Aren't you still Rogers?  Well, yes we are, but you just can't have your old email address any more.  No explanation.

OK, bonehead, why didn't someone tell me that BEFORE I got this useless pice of junk?  At this point, I decide on the spot that the Rocketstick is on its' way back to the dealer, and I'm going to hook up my outdoor modem again.  Fortunately, it was still up on the roof and only needed me to plug in the cable.  Done.

Ooops, why doesn't it work?  So, Mr. tech guy sends me up to the roof to check on the signal being displayed by the modem.  OK, it's doing this.  Hmmmmmmm, says he.  I can't remember what that means, but he has heard of it before.  Would I hang on while he finds out what that means.  Sure, I have dick all else to do today.

Five minutes later - blindingly fast by Rogers standards - he comes back on the line to let me know that my outdoor modem is toast.  Ahhhh, just f.....g lovely.

But wait, says I, I still have my original INDOOR modem, maybe that will still work.  So I track down all the bits and pieces, hook up the modem, and lo and behold, the damn thing still works.  Will wonders never cease.

OK, so now Mr. Rogers has the original serial number of the indoor modem attached to my account, the outdoor modem serial number is removed and all is well on the western front.  Or so I think.  But, this is the almighty Rogers.  And if anyone can screw things up, they sure as hell can.

Remember now, that the Rocketstick is being returned to the dealer, and because Rogers failed to tell me that it wouldn't work with my email address they would not be charging me any cancellation fee, got that?

Right after this the first bill arrives for the Rocketstick.  $162.10.  That's one hundred and sixty two dollars and ten cents, Canadian funds.

Fondly recalling my very first bill for $200.25 I see a pattern here that Rogers takes to shaft the customer big time.  Except this time, I'm not going for it.  There are 16 items listed on the bill for this Rocketstick, none of which make any sense to me whatsoever, exactly like the first bill for $200.25.

I call Rogers and want an explanation.  This time, I want a full explanation of every one of the sixteen items on the page please.

OK, item one, what's that?  Well, Mr. Elliott, it's actually a mistake.  I see.

OK, item two, what's that?  Well, Mr. Elliott, it's actually a mistake as well.  I see.

OK, item three, what's that?  Well, Mr. Elliott, it too is a mistake.  I see, do I detect some sort of a pattern developing here?

OK, one more try, item four, what's that?  Well, Mr. Elliott...you get the gist of it, I'm sure.

OK pal, what's the bottom line here.  Well, Mr. Elliott, the fact is that the entire bill is a mistake.

Yes, that's what I thought, now I want to know how and why you made this idotic mistake.  Give it your best shot.

No explanation, but he will simply eliminate the whole bill and we will go back to square one.  But I have one more question for you, Mr. Rogers, and I want you to think very carefully before you answer it, OK?

If I had just gone ahead and paid the bill in the amount of $162.10, would Rogers have called me to let me know that this was in fact a mistake.

There is a very long pause, and finally the Rogers minion says...probably not.  I suggest that is not quite good enough, is the answer yes or no, not probably not.  He refuses to say anything further, which goes to prove that Rogers would never have had the least intention of calling.  Just as they didn't with my first $200.25.

Right, so because the outdoor modem was still under warranty, at least according to me, I ask the Rogers minion how I go about filing a warranty claim.  Hooboy, if you ever want to find a way to waste 20 or 30 hours of your otherwise productive life, just try and claim something from Rogers.

What a bloody joke.  Remember when I said the date of purchase was October 8, 2008?  I wasn't kidding.

So the Rogers idiot now proceeds to get the serial numbers fouled up, and insists that I bought the outdoor modem on October 10, 2007.  And no matter what I tell them, they flatly refuse to believe me.  They insist that the outdoor modem was bought October 10, 2007 and that's all there is to that.  OK, says I - when do you think I got the indoor modem, which is now hooked up and running just fine on my computer.  Oh, you got that one on October 8, 2008, so that one is still under warranty.  There were several calls about this, and finally it was decided I should fax them a copy of my original purchase receipt to prove that I am not lying, they are.

Since i have no fax machine, I got the dealer to do this for me.  No problem.

Several days later, after not receiving the call which Rogers promised me, I called them.  Did you get the fax from the dealer?  Umm. no, we don't seem to be able to find it.  So, I hung up and quickly called the dealer, who assured me that they had sent the fax a few minutes after I had asked them several days ago.  She gave me the exact time, and to whom it was sent.

Back to Rogers, here's the information you need honey, find the damn fax.  Several days later they stumble across the fax and call me to let me know they have it.  Good, so now maybe we can get somewhere.  What would you like me to do next?  Pack up the modem with all the attendant bits and pieces and send it by courier to our warehouse.

Lovely, no self respecting courier would ever set foot on this island for fear of being blown up.  We don't trust anyone we don't know here.  Not to mention that they wouldn't have a left handed clue where we are anyway.

OK, so Rogers sends me a form by email to UPS this expired junkpile to them.  I duly deliver it to the dealer, who is kind enough to call UPS and have them take it from there.  And of course, Rogers will let me know the instant it arrives at their warehouse.  At which time I can get reimbursed. Uh huh.

I am not including all the many calls and emails which have transpired between them and I, just because I only have maybe 10 years to live, and I have a couple of other things I would like to do before I kick off.

Checking the tracking number, I am aware of when the parcel arrives at Rogers.  I wait a couple more days and then call them to try and arrange for my refund.  Oh dear, but wouldn't you know it, they have no record of my modem arriving there!  Doesn't that just come as an earth shattering surprise!

Eventually they manage to find it, but only after it has been there for over a month, and I have made several calls.

Now I am on at customer mis-service, who will arrange my refund.  Sure they will.  Oh, My dear Mr. Elliott, but I am so sorry to inform you that we cannot give you a refund, we can only give you a new outdoor modem.  Lady, I don't want your damn outdoor modem, I want my money back period.

Well, my dear Mr. Elliott, it is our policy that we only give refunds if the item is returned to us in less than 30 days.  Honey, the damn thing was still working at 30 days, why the hell would I want to return it then?  And, by the way, don't forget that it was only your complete and utter incompetance that I had to get the thing in the first place.

After much arguing, with a considerable amount of voice raising on both sides, and yet more telephone calls, Rogers agreed to give me a refund.  At least, that is what one employee told me.

And for those of you who know how Rogers works, they throw every imaginable roadblock in your way in the hope that you will just give up and go away.

Eventually, after having two conversations with one of their "managers", it was determined that the best Rogers could do was to credit my account for the purchase price of $279.99.  And believe me, this was only after a long drawn out battle in which I flatly refused to give up.  This was two months ago.

OK, so last month, my bill arrives for $49.95 + tax and I ignore it, knowing by now that Rogers takes AT LEAST 30 days to get anything sorted out with their pathetic accounting department.  A few days ago, another bill arrives for two months charges, still no credit applied.  By this time, I realize that the Rogers minions will be calling me demanding money any day now.  Two days ago I get a call from Julie at Rogers asking if I have recently made my payment.  No, I have not, why do you ask?  Well, Mr. Elliott, your account is two months in arrears now.

Julie honey, Rogers owes me a credit of $279.99 on my account, and I proceed to explain as briefly as possible to her why this is.  At which point she says that I will have to contact customer service to arrange for this credit to be applied.  Julie, you sound like a nice young lady, but I have already done this so many times that I can name the firstborn of every single employee in that department.  So please tell me why I should be responsible for doing this yet again.

Now here, ladies and gentlemen, is another of Rogers pathetic tricks.  Why would I have to do this, and why could Julie not do this for me...the answer is simple.  Well, it is YOUR account.  Now, at this pont, I am certain that most customers would think well yes it is my account, so I had better do what Rogers says.

I patiently explain to the lovely but naive Julie that it is SHE who will be calling customer service on my behalf to sort out the problem.  Whereupon she advises me that she CANNOT contact customer service!  Say what?  You cannot contact them?  Why on earth not?  All she can do is to put a "note" on my account.  Don't we all know just how much good these notes do.

As soon as I hang up the phone I send an email to Rogers.  In fact, I had sent them an earlier email when I got the bill for the two months service with no credit showing.  They are supposed to reply within 24 hours.  Four days later, I get a reply saying they have NO RECORD of me having bought an outdoor modem on my account!!!!!  Would I please be a nice guy and send them the serial number and so on so that they could track it down in their warehouse.

My reply mentioned the fact that this had been going on for many months, and Rogers could go and find the serial number for themselves.  I'm tired of doing your dirty work.  I suggested that they might like to refer to any one of the couple of dozen emails or the 25+ hours of telephone calls that have been made to Rogers.

Now Rogers not only has my $279.99, but also my modem which they are evidently unable to locate. 

I am in the lengthy process of drafting up a letter to Nadir Mohammed, head honcho at Rogers, about this whole damn mess.

I know that I am not alone with this sort of bad faith dealing from Rogers point of view.  I have a friend here on the island who has just cancelled his Rocketstick because it functioned so slowly, that it couldn't even maintain a connection.  They pulled the same crap with him as far as sending his bill.  Huge dollars but no service.  Like an idiot, he paid it.  Just what Rogers wants us poor so-and-so's to do.

Oh, and one other little trick that Rogers pulls...they tell you that "this call is being recorded for training purposes".  That's utter BS.  They aren't allowed to record a call without asking for your permission FIRST, a point which I always mention to them.  Usually, I say you DO NOT have my permission to record this call.  Most of them have no idea what to say after that.  If you try to get hold of one of these calls, they have yet another set of hoops which they put you through.  You have to write to some clown back east somewhere, the big smoke I think.  And if he's not too terribly bust that day, he might be able to help you.  So I have my doubts that they use this for "training purposes".  It's just their way of trying to get you to stay poite on the phone.  Sorry pal, that crap doesn't fly with me any more.

I have found five people who have Rogers accounts, either for cell phone service or portable internet.  Every single one of them has had billing troubles with Rogers, and ALWAYS in Rogers favour.  Imagine that.

I still haven't heard back from my latest email...so the saga will continue.

Do you have anything like this to report?

Thanks.

Tommy:

You are 100% correct.

I have long tried to make the point to Rogers that they are, at least allegedly, a telecommunications company.  So why is it so difficult for them to communicate.

My letter to everybody's greatest pal, Nadir Mohammed, is part way through.  And while I do intend to send copies to anyone and everyone who I think might be able to help in the smallest way, I will address the communication to them directly, and then append the letter to Rogers.

I shall be asking for their assistance specifically, so they cannot use the excuse that you suggest...although I have no doubt that they will try.

I shall make the point that Rogers is guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation, theft and harrassment, nothing less.

The R.C.M.P. are on my list to send this one to.  Believe it or not, there are actually two R.C.M.P. members who have cabins on this little island.  One is only one lot away, the other is right across the bay from us.  I shall be seeking their help as to who this should reach at the R.C.M.P. and I will mention their names.  Every little bit helps.

Plus, did I mention that our lawyer also has a cabin on the island...small world, isn't it?

Polunatic2,

Look at it this way, at least you won't have to put up with their constant BS and harrassment all the time. 

Twelve weeks to Rogers - when they are supposed to do something - is nothing.

Twelve minutes to Rogers - when YOU are supposed to do something - is another matter entirely.

And why on earth would they need to do a "site survey"?  Either they put the cable in or they don't.

Must be because they call it a "service".  Hence the Gouge and Services Tax.

Why did they screw you out of $400 anyway?

Since my last post, I have been trying to find out from Rogers just exactly how much I paid for 30 days of Rocketstick service, since that is how long it was connected to the computer.  They have given me the numbers, which I find quite astonishing.  Not to mention outright crooked.

The total bill, which covered part of June, July, August, September, October and apparently even part of November, amounted to well over $200.

All this for a service which was connected June 19th, and disconnected EXACTLY 30 days later.  At which time my original indoor modem was reinstated and worked just fine.

According to the dealer, the monthly charge was to be $30 per month for the first 3 months - regardless of how much usage there was.  Each of the full months exceeded $52.  How one can turn $30 into $52+ I don't know.  But if any of you have investments with this kind of return I want in now!

I am awaiting a reply from Rogers to my latest salvo as to how their grade 1 math works.

Still on this Rocketstick account problem.

Just received an answer from Rogers about the supposed $30/month deal.  They placed me on some sort of $10 base plan, then added the $30/month, and on top of that another $6.95 system access fee.

Can you bloody well believe it?  What a bunch of damn thieves.

Naturally, I have sent them information explaining that my friend was NOT charged this $10.  Also pointed out that I was never told about the $10, and for that matter was never told about the $6.95 either.

BTW, they seem to have assigned a different person to reply to me now.

If the bastards think I was mad before.....

Hey there remind....I just went on the almighty Rogers site and did some snoopng around.

Nowhere on the rocketstick page is there any mention at all of either the $10 or the $6.95 a month extra charges.

There is mention of another small government charge of something like $2 to $3 or so which Rogers IS NOT responsible for collecting.

It has been evident for some time that I will be left with no option but to sue them, but evidently I need to have a chat with the ombudsman first.  I expect that Rogers has him in their pocket as well, so I doubt there will be any chance of success there either.

They still have not provided me with the name of anyone to whom I can send the bill for my wasted time.

Still, I persevere...

Yes, I agree with you - we should stop rolling over and playing dead.

I just finished composing and printing my letter to Nadir Mohammed, numero uno at Rogers.

Whether or not it has any effect remains to be seen, but if not, it will be one more thing to add to the court action.

Another reply from God.  Today, and I quote, "I can confirm that this device (referring to the rocketshit) was in use up to August 19, 2009.  This can be confirmed by reviewing your Rogers invoices."

He goes on to say..."however, there is no mention of cancellation request for the Rocketshit when the portable internet modem was reactivated on August 19, 2009."

The Rocketshit was removed on July 19, not August 19.  Even so, they still charged me right up to October 25 for the Rocketshit.  Incredible.

It seems I may be getting the better of Steven L. as he now wishes me to speak with customer care if I have questions regarding his email.

I also asked about the calls to my mum's place shortly prior to her death.  Get this, he says - and again I quote - "I can confirm that Rogers did not have your mother's number on file and we would have been unable to contact you at that number."

Wrong again Mr. Rogers.  In fact, they have her address as the address of record, along with the contact number there, because we live on an unserviced island and Rogers seemingly refuses to believe otherwise.

My instant reply to him today was getting decidedly impolite.  He has not answered the large bulk of my questions, particularly regarding the first overcharges on the internet account.

I also inquired about the two excessive telephone bills.  He says "I have reviewed all bills from 2009, and no single invoice exceeded $200 a month."  Wrong again.  The two I asked about were both well over $200.

It won't surprise me if someone different replies to the latest note I sent.

My last email contact after the above post was answered by Carman.  I was absolutely guaranteed a credit to my account on the March 14th bill.

Again, no refund.

I sent off a nasty email asking what kind of fairly tale are they going to come up with this time?

Are you ready for this?

"A REFUND WILL NOT BE FORTHCOMING".  A direct quote from their latest email.  How generous of them.

Can you bloody well believe it...after all this time.  They are offering up the same excuse as they always have.

What a bunch of useless, thieving bastards.

After having paid these damn thugs in the vicinity of $10,000 for their alleged "services", the useless turds can't even honour a simple warranty.  No wonder they make over a billion a month in income. 

This latest email was from Janice B.  In all my dealings with Rogers she has replied several times.  I have to tell you, this bitch is bad news.  Not the least bit interested in helping the customer in any way.  Her attitude is one of "Why don't you just piss off and quit bugging us with your petty little problems."

OK then, how about "This absolutely delightful, wonderful, charming, magnificent, cheerful lady seems to be less than interested in assisting me in any way".

Is that better?  Perhaps if you were the one dealing with her, you might better understand my frustration.

If I have offended you, please accept my apology.