Primus Canada Beware!! Miss informed Toronto Ontario

I was contacted by a Primus telemarketer mid May with an offer of $16.95 for unlimited long distance anywhere in Canada, anytime of the day. I questioned her to see if there where any hidden charges (having been there before) and was informed that my bill each month would be only $16.95 + taxes.

I then proceeded to question her on calling cards, I told her my story...My husband works in Nunavut, his work takes him into smaller communities where he has to call home, I cannot call him...At this point I should have been informed that Nunavut was not included in the "anywhere in Canada plan" but I was not.

The tetemarketer at no point indicated that there were any exclusions...you hear the word "exclusion" and you would definately question what they are.

At the beginning of July I received a bill for $507, of course, I immediately call their customer service to be then told of the exclusions. I was also told that there was nothing they could do for me, I was told "it is my responsibility to check the website for the exclusions and rates" even though I was not told there were any..."anywhere in Canada" usually means anywhere in Canada and as we all know Nunavut is part of Canada.

I asked to speak to a supervisor or manager and was told I would have to be given a call back. Someone did within a week and reinterated the same message it is my responsibility to know their exclusions, therefore there is nothing they can do for me.

I am not sure how many of their customer service reps know where Nunavut is as they kept calling it the Northwest Territories and tell me that Alaska (belonging to the US) is also not include in the "unlimited Canada plan".

Aug 1 I called Primus Customer Care and was on hold for 50 minutes before my call was answered and spent a total of 90 minutes on the call to end up with the same results, so I went to the CBR website and found a different 1-800 #. I called this # and asked to speak to someone regarding my billing issue but not anyone in Customer Care (as I had already gone that route), I was to be transferred but was cut off instead.

I called back and was transferred to a gentleman who basically told me that all their representatives are trained to inform the caller of the exclusions and since he was not present to monitor the call I received he is assuming the sales rep. gave me all the correct information (she of course could not make a mistake and miss any information). He told me there was nothing he was going to do for me, so I asked to speak to someone else and was told there was no one else. So I asked to speak to the President of the Company and was told that he looks after complaints for the President as well so he was not reversing the charges.

Cordella
St. John's
Canada