AMHERST – Larry LeBlanc is angry.
“I’ve been screwed over by two (big) companies,” said the Amherst man and owner of a home-based computer consulting and repair business.
LeBlanc wanted to switch his phone, Internet and cable to fibre op – a decision precipitated by a verbal altercation he had on the phone with an Eastlink representative.
He claimed he informed his phone service provider, Eastlink, of his intentions, and asked Bell-Aliant to sign him up. LeBlanc wanted his personal and business phone numbers (for his business, Larry the Computer Guy) to both become fibre op phone lines. But when the switch went through, only the personal line was converted, according to LeBlanc. His business line was disconnected but not re-established as a fibre op line.
A week of him trying to get the problem remedied, without success, culminated in him contacting this newspaper. Research for this article, which included contacting both companies, began Feb. 19. LeBlanc’s fibre op business line became operational at some point Feb. 19.
The Amherst entrepreneur said he had a paid ad in the Coffee News the same time his phone was out of commission. He said he’s lost revenue and has angry customers.
“They can’t do this to people,” said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc said he has recorded phone conversations and copies of emails that confirm his story. He’s spoken to a lawyer about his legal options. Bell Aliant won’t disclose any information, citing protection of customer privacy (Mr. LeBlanc gave verbal consent to this newspaper to make inquiries on his behalf).
Jill Laing at Eastlink emailed a statement that read, in part: “We received a phone port request from (LeBlanc’s) new provider to switch his residential phone number, which we completed at the time the request was made. We have since learned that the request should have included the ‘select ring’ feature, which Mr. LeBlanc had been using primarily for business purposes. It is my understanding that the customer’s ‘select ring’ has now been activated with his new provider.”
Customer interactions are taken very seriously, according to Laing. Eastlink works hard, she said, to ensure a prompt and satisfactory resolution to problems on the infrequent occasions customer requests are inaccurately processed.
“We apologize for any inconvenience,” said Laing at the end of her statement.
An email from the Bell Aliant representative, Sarah Levy MacLeod, said (in part): “Please forward my name and contact information to Mr. LeBlanc. If he reaches out to me directly, I can get the detail required to help resolve this issue.”
LeBlanc heard from a Bell Aliant agent after his phone number was forwarded to Levy MacLeod.
Twitter: @ADNsparling
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