Bell Sympatico, Corporate Ignoramus

Email to Bell:

You state in the opening paragraph of your spam addressed to me that: “You expressed interest in receiving additional information as a follow up to our phone conversation. We recommend that you save this information for your future reference.”

I specifically requested, as I have on each occasion that I have called you over the past two years, that you DO NOT send additional information, because it is Windows-only “hints.”

To repeatedly claim that I have requested more information is a lie. I DO NOT want more of your “information” because, like thousands of other Bell Sympatico customers, I use a Macintosh.

Each of your disinformation spam messages further states: "There are two ways of Uninstalling Access Manager: One way is from Add/Remove programs window and another from the Access Manager Un-installation Option.

“Un-installing Access Manager from the Add/Remove Programs window. . . .”

Here’s a clue: Some computers, such as Macs, DON’T HAVE AN ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS WINDOW.

Everyone in the world DOES NOT prefer Bill Gates’s umpteen-and-counting virus-magnet and security-sieve Windows abominations, making your auto responses tailored exclusively for Windows users nothing more than spam, equal in annoyance to those of the poor Nigerian needing my cash so we can both score millions, and notices on how to increase my penis size beyond that of the flagpole up which I fervently hope you run this message and salute.

If your self-serve model is to have any relevance for Mac users, whose money you take as readily as anyone else’s, include a couple of paragraphs explaining the network-connection settings on their machines. How difficult could that be? Are two paragraphs, one for OS 9 and one for OS X and tacked on beneath the Windows instructions beyond your capabilities? Including these would decrease the number of calls to phone support, as I presume it does on the part of Windows users, unless these e-mails don’t mean fewer calls, and that you know this but send them anyway because they are a PR-department “make-the-idiots-feel-good” exercise.

Each time that I receive another of those robotic-response spam e-mails adds to the annoyance and renews ill-feeling feeling toward Bell Sympatico. If the responses are sent merely to generate some phoney “See, we CARE!” PR fluff, they are not only a failure, they shout, “See, we DON’T CARE, AND WE FART IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION!” Especially after I ask that you NOT SEND ANOTHER ONE.

Treating Mac users as less than second class is no way — surprise! — to earn customer loyalty, and your spam does nothing but reinforce the belief that Bell is so arrogant and safe in its Microsoft-centric world that it doesn’t give a damn. That’s probably the case, but it’s bad form to display it.

I applaud the deep-thinker who acknowledged that your spam selling Windows anti-virus, anti-worm, anti-spy, anti-keytracking and God know how many other anti- programs for the platform from hell is of no relevance to Mac users, thus removing it from your auto responses, at least to me. But get this: I CARE NOT ABOUT INSTALLING ACCESS MANAGER IN WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS 95, WINDOWS 3.1, DOS AND FOR ALL I KNOW AND CARE, BABBAGE’S ANALYTICAL ENGINE! I CARE EVEN LESS ABOUT UNINSTALLING IT! CEASE, DESIST AND QUIT SPAMMING ME WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON IRRELEVANT PLATFORMS!

A final piece of hot news: Microsoft stopped supporting Mac Internet Explorer two years ago. So put THAT in your pipe, shove it up your registry and smoke it.

Sincerely,
Foaming Cleanser

thunderous applause

I have also said to Sympatico, quite specifically, in every single phone call to them, “Please do not send me any information by e-mail.” And yet, they keep sending me information by e-mail in response to my request for same. Argh!

And when I asked them how to have my messages forwarded to another account, they tried to upgrade me to a Hotmail/Sympatico package because that would clearly be a more effective way to solve my problem …

And then I tried to send a complaints letter. Do you think I could find any contact information for a complaints department?

Fucking Sympatico. I hate them.

Yes, they do.

Weak rant from another Mindless Mac Martyr.

My latest conversation with Sympatico Technical support went something like this:

MrFantsyPants: Yes, my internet access has stopped working, I’d like to get it working again.
**Sympatico-Employed Brain Donor: **Ah, ok. Well have you checked your connections?
**MrFP: **Yep. The software says it is connected, and has been assigned an IP from your server, but it can’t connect to any outside addresses.
**SEBD: **What operating system are you running?
**MrFP: **Mac OS 10.3, Mac OS 10.4, Mac OS 9, Windows XP and Windows 2000.
**SEBD: **Ah, so you have a router?
**MrFP: **Yes
**SEBD: **Well, it sounds like your router is dead. You should go out and buy another one.
**MrFP: **But if I take the router out of the loop and hook the machines up directly, they still don’t work at all.
**SEBD: **When did they stop working?
**MrFP: **About half an hour ago.
**SEBD: **Well, it sounds like you have a virus. You should really reinstall your system software on those machines.
**MrFP: **Pardon?
**SEBD: **When things stop working on several machines at once, it is always a virus.
**MrFP: **So, you’re telling me that 5 different machines, and three completely different operating systems all got the same virus within half an hour?
**SEBD: **Yep.
**MrFP: **Even though there has yet to be a single documented virus for OS X?
**SEBD: **um . . . yeah.
**MrFP: **And you want me to reinstall system software on 5 machines to fix this?
**SEBD: **that’ll definitely fix it.
**MrFP: **That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Can I speak to your supervisor?
**SEBD: **Well, I can have him call you back, but he’s just going to tell you the same thing.

Of course, the supervisor never called me back, but ten minutes later everything started working again.

Dumbasses.

Different Bell.

Me: The router isn’t getting an IP address from you guys
Guy: Okay, well, first thing we need to do is have you reboot your PC.
Me: You really thing that will help?
Guy: Yes.
Me: Okay, it’s rebooting now. While I’m waiting here, tell me how rebooting my PC will affect whether or not the router gets an IP address.
Guy: …

I know there’s a script, but basic troubleshooting is basic troubleshooting…

-Joe

Hate to say this, but screw DSL or Bell Dial Up and see if you can get Cable. Baby Bells suck for service. They adopted the old Ma Bell joke. “We don’t care, we don’t have to care, we’re the phone company”
I’ve used 2 different cable services in 2 houses and both have been rock solid, no Spam from company, and even dropped the price on Cable Internet when I suggested I was going to move to DSL. (Empty threat)
Cable is also higher peak speed, but this only matters if you do lots of downloading.
If cable not available, my condolences, I hate Baby Bells. Their attitude towards even T-1 lines that must be up all the time is to blame anything else.

Apparently you don’t live in an area Suscom “services”…

-Joe

Different Bell (Verizon, formerly BellAtlantic).

The First Pit Thread. In which their DSL installer software doesn’t work. Installling at my girlfriend’s apartment.

The Sequel. In which I decide to arrange for DSL service at my own apartment as well, and it works, but I need to “register” it to keep them from shutting it off.

Part III. In which Verizon changes how they’ll let you send email.