When we moved into our rural home over 5 years ago, there wasn’t much choice concerning the Internet. It was either slow dial up over bad quality country phone lines or expensive line-of-sight wireless (microwave) Internet by either Storm or RipNet (out of Brockville, ON).

We got both Storm and RipNet in to do a sight survey, and Storm wanted $1200 to put up a tower, while Ripnet wanted just some $200 for a small tripod to put on top of the roof. Naturally, we went with Ripnet in August 2005. In order to minizime the cost to us, we signed up on a three year contract so we would not have to pay any installation charges. The fee for Internet access was $40/month plus $20 for equipment rental. For this we got 3 Mb/s, which was very fast back then.

Over the years, new technologies came and went until this spring Bell came out with the Turbo Stick, a cellular based internet service that promises “up to” 21 Mb/s. Being well past our first three years into Ripnet, thinking I was on some sort of a month-to-month thing with them, I signed up with Bell on the condition we could get reception at home.

I installed everything at home, and what do you know, we got “excellent reception” and 12 Mb/s, which was about 5 times faster than what we got with Ripnet. After a full two weeks of testing, Bell was up 100% of the time, versus Ripnet which always seem to have problems (especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, much to the chagrin of my wife). Plus, Bell’s service was only $39.95/month with no access fees or equipment charges. It seemed to be a no brainer.

I contacted Ripnet to tell them I was going to cancel. A few days later I got an email back saying I was in the middle of a contract and if I wanted to get out of it I would have to pay 50% of the remaining value, plus a $90 “retrieval fee” for the equipment.

I wrote them back saying they were wrong and that my contract expired a few years back.

They replied by sending me a PDF of the contract I signed five years ago, and pointed to the following section:

1.2 Term: The term of this Agreement(“Term”) commences as of the date of installation of the Hardware and terminates, subject to renewal and early termination, on the last day of the time frame selected by you under Residential Service Plans in 1.1, above. Either party may give at least thirty (30) days’ advance written notice of its intention to terminate this Agreement as of the last day of the Term. Otherwise, this Agreement shall automatically renew for a successive term of identical time period on the same terms and conditions as set forth in this Agreemen, subject to reasonable changes in the fee schedule charged by Supplier to remain current with Supplier’s then applicable rates. Supplier will provide reasonable notice to Customer of changes in rates prior to each renewal of the Agreement.

So, without my knowledge (and who ever reads these contracts??) they had automatically renewed my contract by another three year term, and I was now two years into it, unable to cancel it.

Now, I realise this agreement is perfectly legal. And legal council tells me it is quite normal for such a contract to be signed between bigger corporations, although not usually between a corporation and the public. So, it is legal, but it is not a very nice way to treat your “valued customers” (as we are called on the Ripnet website). A courtesy mailing or call just before the automatic renewal comes up would have been a nice touch. Maybe even offer an opt-out like many other companies are doing now.

Anyway, I pointed out to them their precious contract didn’t say ANYTHING about $90 “retrieval fee” so I demanded they take that off the bill. Begrugingly, they did.

So, now I owe them about $250 plus tax. I am saving about $40/month with the cheaper service now, so in the end I’ll gain, but I am not very happy to let Ripnet get away with treating their “valued customers” like they are faceless money machines.

I am told I can send them a check marked “under protest” and take it up with small claims court over the fact that it is not very clear that the term gets automatically renewed.

Still deciding on that one.

Bill Gates, certainly not the world’s dumbest person (one could call him a pretty bright computer “nerd”), has come up with an almost James Bond type diabolical “Let’s Change the Earth’s Climate” scheme. While ordinary citizens are no longer allowed to purchase plastic bags or drink a water bottle in fear that it may change the Earth’s climate, rich folk like Al Gore and Bill Gates are, apparently, allowed to mess with the Earth’s climate all they want. And to a degree that you or I could only dream of: create clouds, so more sunlight gets reflected off the Earth, so it heats up slower. Quite the plan, there.

Listen, I like the heat. Last winter, I barely picked up a snow shovel and I loved it. I don’t need Mr. Gates influencing the weather so I have to shovel, like, every day for six months straight. Come to think of it, I don’t need Mr. Gates influencing anything in my life. He may be a great anthropologist, but his software stinks and so do his licensing policies. And to go so far as to fund a cloud-creating contraption to stop global warming? I thought the man was smarter than that.

Bill needs his head examined. Or at least get it out of the clouds.

Since we got a new plasma TV over Christmas, and I wanted to get some sort of PVR thing going, I thought it was time to upgrade our Bell ExpressVu receivers to HD ones. I opted for the cheaper one (I’m Dutch) to which one can attach a USB hard drive to turn it into a PVR. The unit was $199. We could also rent it for $10 per month, but that defeats the purpose: we’d make back our rent within 20 months of buying it.

So I gathered up all my patience and headed for a Bell World. The transaction was remarkably smooth (for a Bell World) and I was out with my new receiver within 10 minutes. A pimply teenager told me I needed to “upgrade my dish” to be able to get HD signals (I didn’t know this: no mention of this on the Bell website), but that the upgrade was “free of charge”, just call and book an appointment.

Right.

First of all, everyone knows one cannot simply call the 1-888-SKY-DISH phone number without destroying at least part of your living room out of frustration. And second, I don’t have 6 spare hours to spend on hold. So I headed to the “helpful” Bell website, and clicked on “book an installation appointment online” button.

Right again.

Through this button I filled out a simple form. In the “comment” box I stated that I wanted my FREE dish upgrade.

This is where the fun begins.

First up was Anirvan Halder. He wrote me in an email:

I understand that you would like to install the free upgrade to your Bell TV satellite dish since you had purchased a new HD receiver.
I will surely address the issue.

and then the kicker:

You are requested to add 4 HD theme packs for just $10.00 per month before booking the service call for the installation of the Nimiq 2 hardware. If you do not add the HD theme packs then you will be billed for the Nimiq 2 hardware installation.

Hmmm… no mention of this on the Bell Website, or the pimply Bell Worlder. So I wrote back a nasty email complaining about this fact.

Next up was Partha Pratim Dasgupta. He/she wrote:

If I understood your reply correctly, you are concerned about the Nimiq 2 upgrade. We are thankful to you for writing to Bell TV and providing us the opportunity to assist you. I will definitely assist you with this concern.

and:

I would like to inform you that, this upgrade is absolutely free of charge (Customers are required to subscribe to and pay for a Nimiq 2 Programming package (i.e. HD, International) in order to be eligible for this free upgrade).

and in closing:

Hope I have been able to address your concern. 

Thank you for choosing Bell TV as your satellite provider, Ms. Gerrits.

You know, Partha, that didn’t really answer my questions. Nor am I a ‘Ms’… So I wrote another email. My language is getting quite… hmm… frustrated… basically I tell them where they can stick that $10 a month.

Back comes Anirvan Halder:

Please note that you can also subscribe to 1 HD theme pack for just $5.00 per month to avail the installation of the Nimiq 2 hardware free of cost.

Getting kind of tired of the process, I figured: fine, I’l sign up for the $5/month and then as soon as the installation goes through, I cancel that package. So I send them an email (remember, this is the online Booking Request) with my available times, and they can pick any of them to book the appointment.

Anirvan again:

I understand that you would like to add the HD Variety theme pack to install the Nimiq 2 free of cost. I will definitely assist you with this.

I cannot provide any specific information of your account because your PIN was not included with this reply. Please note that it is mandatory to provide the security PIN, if a customer replies after 7 or more than
7 days.

First of all, I would not LIKE to add the HD variety theme pack, I am FORCED TO. Secondly, NOW you want my PIN?

Fine. I send my PIN.

Aditi Roy this time:

I understand that you would like to book an appointment for your NIMIQ 2 installation. I will surely look into the matter.

You do that. Then the final straw:

In this regard you need to provide a suitable time for booking the order. Kindly speak to our technical department at 1-888-SKY-DISH for further help.

And there you go. Two weeks later and I am back to calling 1-888-SKY-DISH. I understand the problem, I am definitely getting tired of this and will surely shoot myself soon.

Two weeks, no HD yet. To be continued…

The Ottawa Citizen has been running a smear campaign aimed at the federal Conservatives called “Wish You Were Here“. This campaign is to highlight the federal prorogation and keep it in the eye of the public even though nobody else is talking about it anymore. Every day, it lists a number of area MPs and gives us their schedules to see what they are up to because they aren’t working on the hill.

However, today’s edition went horribly wrong: it seems the cons are working hard with many meetings and visits, the libs are either taking the day off or not saying where they are, the bloc did not respond, and the one NDPer is working:

John Baird (Cons.) Ottawa West-Nepean:

Three constituency meetings. Meeting with deputy minister on three issues. Infrastructure Canada briefing. Meeting with Department of Finance regarding budget Recommendations.

Mauril Belanger (Lib.) Ottawa-Vanier:

Declined to provide a copy of his schedule but says he is working every day.

Lawrence Cannon (Cons.) Pontiac:

Meetings and briefings.

Paul Dewar (NDP) Ottawa Centre:

Drop in to Dovercourt Recreation Centre for Family Day Free Swim. Attending CAS Foster a Snow Angel event on Parliament Hill. Reviewing constituent requests and follow-up. Official correspondence — foreign affairs and constituency matters. Research on foreign policy issues in preparation for diplomatic meetings. Speech preparation for remarks to Child Welfare League. Imagine Haiti Fundraiser at Arts Court.

Royal Galipeau (Cons.) Ottawa-Orléans:

YMCA. Heritage Canada Foundation. Meeting constituents about Canada Revenue Agency issues. Preparing ministerial memoranda about key economic development issues that impact on Ottawa-Orléans. Family Day Potluck Supper at Grace Presbyterian Church, Orléans. Evening activity in support of the victims of the recent Haiti Earthquake, Arts Court.

David McGuinty (Lib.) Ottawa South:

Spending Family Day with wife and four children.

Richard Nadeau (BQ) Gatineau:

Did not respond.

Gordon O’Connor (Cons.) Carleton-Mississippi Mills:

Declined to provide a copy of his schedule.

Pierre Poilievre (Cons.) Nepean-Carleton:

7:50 a.m.: Morning briefing. 9 a.m.: Reading correspondence. 10:30 a.m.: Travel to meeting. 11 a.m.: Meeting with PMO policy advisers. This meeting runs until 2 p.m. with possibility of extending to 4 p.m.

Marcel Proulx (Lib.) Hull-Aylmer:

Schedule details unavailable.

The same professional “protesters” who keep crashing the G8 and G20 summits everywhere. Organized, and bused in, carrying weapons and wearing ski masks, these are no ordinary protesters. These are anarchists. Most of the time, these idiots don’t even know what they are protesting. All they look for is clashing with local police to get them on the evening news crying about police brutality.

Go home and get a life, you bums.

… it better not be David Suzuki.

He is BC’s pride…

Toronto mayor Miller came to Giambrone’s aid today saying “The government has no business in the bedroom of the nation” (I know, highly original).

Excuse me, if I was living in Toronto, and was headed for the polls this fall, I’d say: “I would  like to know whether I am voting for a nice, upstanding man with integrity or a lying, cheating sleaze ball.”

But I don’t live in Toronto, so I won’t say that.