Comments on: EastLink’s Shoddy Work

By: Frank Hodder

Frank Hodder — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:59:39 +0000

I find this surprising, switched from shaw direct 2 years ago for the mlb package have had very little trouble with customer service other then trying to phone them(hire more CSR’s) but if a channel or channels are down they are usually working again within an hour after I tweet, I get very good reception & fast internet on my system.

By: Jay (former Truro location employee 2004-2007)

Jay (former Truro location employee 2004-2007) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:02:20 +0000

I came across this information quite by accident online.
I was looking up information on faster internet speeds offered at Eastlink. I am a former Employee of Eastlink. I worked out of the Truro office. I was there from 2004 to 2007. I have worked at a Customer Service Agent & Service and Repair. I have been on both sides of the conversation of customer and employee.
I have also took “ownership” of the calls coming in. I used to speak with allot of people in one day if it was a sales day, and I spoke to few if it was a repair/installation type day.
First; I would like to say to the customers who call in need of help. Please select the service and repair selection. CSR’s (customer service reps) can only sell you a product or rebook an appointment.
Second; I am getting tired of employee who says they can’t do anything. What a load of crap. I never in 3 years was left with an upset customer. I put in extra time and I did follow ups and even sometimes not even getting paid for it. Good customer service sometimes requires you to do something for someone else….people have forgotten about that. Sometimes I think about going back as they could use someone like me to teach or remind people that,” good customers come from good representatives.”
So an employee will not get a bonus…if they only have repair calls, …Oh well….it was mentioned during the hiring process you would be trained for customer service and repair. How about counting on something that will happen…your hours. To many people are just getting by and you’re bitching about your bonus that might happen. Problem is that people don’t like to take ownership, it creates liability and that means it might be on your conscience and you might have to do something about it… I know for a fact that Eastlink still says, “take ownership of each and every call”
Lastly, I would like to say in general the installer will do his/her best to get an install right, but as a consumer you have a few things to do as well. If it is a new house, find out what company installed cable last, when was it used last? If it is a new house, did you have the cable and telephone wires added during the construction, it should be and if it is not they will have to drill holes. Find out what grade of cable wire is currently being used and run it yourself.
As a former employee of Eastlink who left and continues to get full WTS bundle (watch talk and surf) Please Customers do your homework on your home and wire situation before booking and Eastlink, CSR’s Please after you say who you are just “LISTEN” to what is being said.

By: stripedpyjamas

stripedpyjamas — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 02:38:01 +0000

I’m a customer service representative at Eastlink…actually, my official title is “Sales & Service Representative”. There is no actual “Customer Service” Department with Eastlink. Anyways, we low-paid reps have no actual power to do anything other sell cable. We have no way of contacting installers, or putting customer complaints through to higher-ups, or issuing credits, or anything other than selling more services. I mean we are 100% incapable of it. We don’t have any phone numbers or buttons on our computers to do any of the 3,000 things customers actually need done.

Our supervisors don’t take customer calls. In fact, every time a customer insists on speaking to a higher-up, the poor representative gets in trouble. Our calls are monitored but so long as we sell the customer something it’s a “pass”, regardless of what the issue is. If we don’t manage to sell, it’s a “fail”. At the end of the month, Eastlink finds a way to steal back all the commission the agent has worked hard for for the past 4 weeks, either because sales weren’t high enough ON EVERY CALL or because…well, that’s the only real criteria for what makes a succesful call. We don’t even have any training on how this stuff is installed or what is involved. They teach us to use the computer system and then say “go sell stuff”.

In summary, when you call Eastlink because your bill is outrageous, or some idiot installer drilled holes in your hardwood floor, it is completely impossible for the agent you are speaking to do anything other than try to sell you Hi-Def tv. I don’t know if it’s any better at Bell Aliant, but I do know that, as an employee, I would never give Eastlink my business.

By: Les

Les — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:07:34 +0000

I just signed up for Eastlink and my TV was freezing and pixelating. I called thier support line and they didn’t do a damn thing for me.

By: Bern Laderoute

Bern Laderoute — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:32:47 +0000

As you know i was with persona back in 2006 or 2007..then sences EastLink came ..I god a big bill so i did pay..After new month …all tv freezeup 2 time in a month and still it keep happening ..And then i sign up on Eastlink website to lookup my bill ..and guess what..i can not log in at all ..so me i try to retreave my username and pasword , and i did wait till next day …And guess what now …no damn luck …so me i try signup again and guess what now …on website , its says ( you already have account ) so what the fuck …i got so pist off right now ,,,so what happen next? well me i stop pay them ..i was go back to vianet and plus i whent back to shaw direct …Few days later …i lost my internet and phone from vianet..so me i call vianet see what going on ..they told me to check modem and all connection so i did …i was running back and fourth on pay phone witch about 4 km away from my home and i done that about 5 time..so now i got even more pist off that vianet tech …and i told them right off..but guess what everyone…that not all …guess what happen , …i just for the hell of it ..i whent outside and go look on my poles where my cable are ..and i did look and what did i see ? my fuckin damn cable disconnect …so …i call back to vianet on pay phone again its about another 4km away from my home and i told them what i see .i told them but i whent to website ( i was using somebody internet ) i told Eastlink that ( if you try disconnect me 1 more time ..i will sue you ) ..so i did say that …i did say sorry to vianet tech …and everyone work there …but i did not say sorry to that fuckin moron (Eastlink)…so the next day i got it back…and guess what…its not all…after few month …after that..i recieved a bill ..and guess how much ….over $370 ..when i told them to send my bill into my mail and did not doing it and now they sending it …like fuckin hell i won,t damn pay that bill …the way they treat it us ? no chance in hell i won,t pay it …if Eastlink want to sue me …go head..i will get a law suit on them..plus …on top of that..this website ? …i will saved it …and i hope all people in sudbury will change to shaw direct…i love shaw direct i got few channel of hd and its cheapper too…plus the very good news too the picture and sound? well guess what…they are awesome …never had no problem ..what a picture i got on my tv..as for me to everyone live in sudbury ontario canada..i hope they going to shaw direct and the hell Eastlink …hope they doo…
well that all and good luck to everyone and take care..
bye now
Bern

By: I Quit!

I Quit! — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:34:17 +0000

As a former employee of Eastlink (at their head office in Halifax) I can’t say the number of bad experiences people have posted here surprises me. Needless to say, Eastlink’s bad reputation is growing and is a result of extremely poor management.

Like most private companies their eye is on the “bottom line”. They haven’t updated their archaic business model from when they were a small, local provider. Their focus is purely on profit, not customer satisfaction, good service or providing a solid product.

With regards to a majority of their installations, its contractors (with Eastlink Ids and trucks), not actual employees that perform these duties. So your experience will greatly vary, as there is not real “standards” on how installations are done. The attitude here is ‘Just get the damn thing done, we don’t care how, so we can get paid.’

Needless to say it was this type of foolishness and sub-standard management of the company that prompted me, and several others, to quit working for them.

As a business looking for a provider I wouldn’t expect much. I can almost guarantee your project won’t be completed on schedule. This is why the NS Provincial Government is currently looking at fining the company several million dollars.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:57:28 +0000

I have lived in Delta B.C for 20 years and have had great success with Delta Cable.. that is until they were purchased by Eastlink. I have had too many problems and like everyone previous says “no customer service” I subscribed to HD tv and bought a PVR and paid for all the hd channels as well as internet connection. 8 mos later 1 by 1 my HD channels start to dissappear! After far too many calls (from B.C. to too far back east for me) I’m repeatedly told that although I’ve been shelling out 150.00 a month these HD channels had been supplied for free and now the trial is over! Eastlink could not present a contract that could back up this so after weeks of arguing we settled on the 20.00 extra with a 10.00 discount for 12 months. It wasn’t much good having a 52″ tv and no HD signal.
Today my PVR and Internet doesn’t work and I’ve called Tech assistance and have been told my account is on hold. (My non-PVR old style tv works fine so I ‘m not sure how that is.) I have a direct withdrawl on my Mastercard so my account should be current. I have had no phonecalls,emails or letters about my account and my Mastercard worked fine this morning. My call to tech support was transferred to accounting and I was left on hold . After 10 minutes I hung up.
I could NOT reccomend this company to anyone looking to do business with them.

By: Audrey Vroom

Audrey Vroom — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:53:30 +0000

the trouble with Eastlink is they pay very low and there is a constant cycle of employees coming and going.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:33:26 +0000

I have had similar problems with Eastlink installations since moving here to Canada. I am originally from a small town in Maine. Even in small town USA we have a choice in cable companies. This puts cost lower and services from them at a higher level because these companies are competeing for your business.
I live in Cape Breton now with my wife, and since moving here I have been completely appalled and let down time and again by Eastink. In our last apartment they drilled holes through the hardwood floors just as you have pictured. I watched as they did it, and thought “If I was the landlord I would be screaming!”. I have since bought a house of my own, and Eastlink had previously been installed. I had to wait over a week for the install, which I thought was obsurd, but apparently standard in the Maritimes. Recently however, we did some renovations and my phone went down (part of the Eastlink bundle). I called on a Sunday from another residence and spoke to an operator who gave me some troubleshooting tips. I tried the remedies, but to no avail. I called back and they set up an appointment for the following day(all day appointment). I left a phone number for them to contact me. At this point I was ecstatic about their promptness, and called my employer to take the following day off to meet the repairman. I was told he could arrive anywhere between 8am and 5pm. I called at about 10 am to check up on them and to inform them that I now had a cell phone and would be on premises(They now had 2 numbers with which to contact me).. I waited the entire day until approximately 3:30 pm before I decided to call. I asked the operator when the repairman would be arriving and if I had possibly missed them. The operator then told me that I was scheduled for the following day a Tuesday!?! I proceeded to tell them that I had taken the day off, and they told me sorry but there’s nothing they could do. I asked when they were planning on calling me, and they had no answer on their little computer screen to give me. It really frustrates me that people can do a business like that here. No offers of reimbursement. I pay my bills on time every time and with Eastlink you need to pay a month in advance(another farce). How can they simply offer me a sorry after wasting my entire day and costing me a days worth of wages. I pay them over $150 per month for services which cost me half of that in the States. Even with higher taxes here in Canada, I know their profit margin must be much higher. We are slowly making them rich while they could care less if we even have use their services while we pay for them.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:45:03 +0000

Eastlink sucks big time!