Comwave Networks Inc. Comwave Refused to cancel contract due to problem-riddled TV & phone service, kept charging credit card even after services were disconnected so canceled card per Visa advice; also threatened to charge for equipment that was returned and now threatening to send account to collections North York Ontario

I canceled my TV, Internet and Home phone bundle with Comwave in February 2018 (because of their horrible problem-riddled IPTV & phone service).

I signed up over the phone for their bundle after I received an email in October 2017 offering me a 20% discount (3 services for a monthly price of $112 for a 3 year term) as Comwave long distance service subscriber.  I was never informed that their TV service is a Beta version and certain features advertised were not available.  It was only after the service was installed that I realized that 2 key features advertised (Whole Home PVR recording and Back-In-Time Recording) were not working!

A system access fee was not disclosed  during the call.  From the onset, the TV Guide would go blank and one could not figure out what’s on TV on the subscribed channels. Every time I tried to reach their customer service, it would take hours. Yes literally. At one time I was holding over 2 hours but the minimum time was always over 60 minutes! The agent informed that Comwave is working with their provider and they would be launched at a future date even though they charged the full amount for the bundle. The features were launched almost 2 months after.  And the features did NOT work. The recording feature recorded something else than the intended program and so did the playback of recorded items.  If you watched a recorded program and stopped watching it to continue watching another day, there was a totally different program recorded in that recording.

The solution offered was the same every time: power down equipment, check connections are proper; even though it was Comwave that installed the service!  It was soon routine to troubleshoot the problems as they occurred everyday whenever we started watching TV.  Each time the equipment was powered down all three services would not sync so you had to power down the modem first, then the TV box and that would affect the VOIP phone adapter which would not automatically connect to the internet and it had to be powered down separately.  Watching TV and using the home phone was a routine struggle.

Finally in mid February 2018 I cancelled their services.  They would not let me cancel their bundle saying that I must give them 30 days to fix the problem which they were not able to fix in 120 days.  Then they insisted that I would have to pay penalties of $200 for each service TV, Internet and Phone which I refused and explained the reason of my cancellation.  The service was offered to me in a bundle, not individually and it was problem-ridden and hence the cancellation of the bundle.

Billing continued even after cancellation and my wife’s credit card that was on the account was charged repeatedly.  We then reached out to Visa and they advised us that they have received similar complaints from several Comwave users and we should consider cancelling the card for our peace of mind, which we did.  The billing continued however, and now according to Comwave I owe them $844.66.  Visa in the meanwhile recovered the disputed amounts and credited to my wife’s card.  In March, one Comwave Ombudsman advised via email that the penalty would be $226 which I did not agree and again stated the reason of my cancellation.  Earlier this month another Ombudsman emailed the penalty as $427.08 which I again refused. 

I have filed a complaint against Comwave with the Better Business Bureau. I also complained to CCTS and they forwarded to me Comwave’s objection – “Pursuant to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2016-458, Comwave is only required by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to participate in the CCTS effective September 2021". CCTS has conveyed to me that they have accepted their objection.  Comwave is using this loophole to continue their unfair business practices against customers.