While waiting in the checkout queue of our local grocery store, I was thumbing through a free copy of Monitor, a computer magazine and stumbled upon an advertisement for a VoIP local phone service from cia.com. CIA offers high-speed internet and local phone bundled together for a bargain price of $39.95 with the option of buying a cable modem. Here are the key features of the service:
- Local phone service using VoIP technology over cable. Caller ID and Call return features are included in the base price.
- Option of transferring your existing phone number to CIA local phone service.
- 6 Mbps high-speed internet.
Since I am currently paying $44.95 for high-speed internet and $23 for a local phone, switching to CIA would save me about $30 per month. Has anyone tried the phone and internet bundle from CIA? Is it reliable? If you are a customer, are you satisfied? I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.
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94 responses so far ↓
1 James // Jun 2, 2006 at 4:52 am
Sorry I’ve never tried it but I love the name. Will they be recording all of your conversations and internet traffic like their U.S namesake??
LOL
2 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 2, 2006 at 4:55 am
I couldn’t believe that the domain name was available. Now, if it was NSA.com, I’d be even more worried
3 adrian // Jun 2, 2006 at 9:32 am
I have been using TelnetPhone.ca in Vancouver for 6 months now. The voice quality isn’t as good as a regular home phone but 0.026 long distance in Canada sure makes up for it. Also, all of the calling features are included for $15.95/month fee (if you purchase the VoIP modem). I just signed up for their Naked ADSL service which is a similar offer as CIA.COM, it should be ready next week.
4 Joel // Jun 2, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I’ve had VoIP for a while with Primus Tel. You will notice a difference in quality. Sometimes people tell me “I’m choppy”. Others in major metropolitian centres don’t notice anything at all.
Primus costs $34.45 (gst/pst incl) + the cost of Internet ($48.26 from Bell) for UNLIMITED North America long distance. I like the freedom of calling anybody for any length of time at any hour of the day and not even think about long distance.
If you use less than 1148 minutes per month though, this is a better deal.
5 Bcool // Jun 5, 2006 at 9:47 am
WORST customer service EVER that you have to deal with. They are the same company as 3Web based in Calgary I believe. I signed up with 3Web and cancelled the next day without using the service and they charged me over $30 for nothing. I spent at least an hour waiting to talk to a customer service rep everytime trying to call them. Don’t believe me? Try calling the customer service. It’s cheap when you have no problem. When you do run into technical problem or billing related. You’ll be wasting your time calling them.
6 Bcool // Jun 5, 2006 at 9:49 am
Skype.com offers Long Distant calling for free to any NA phone number until the end of the year. Just use your computer to make the LD calls
7 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 5, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Bcool: A colleague at work is planning on trying out the service and if it works out well for him, I would give it a shot.
I am definitely going to try Skype now that LD calls are free.
8 trog // Jun 9, 2006 at 8:35 am
I hooked up the CIA VOIP and Internet this week. So far, no compliants.. except with their admin. I can only presume they are understaffed and overworked…
I’ll test the VOIP for a month and ten decide if I’ll cancel my land line. In any case, the CIA web speed is better then my telus connection.
Stay tuned
9 der // Jun 16, 2006 at 3:16 pm
worst customer service ever
10 Sheldon // Jul 6, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I signed up with CIA in Feburary & got service on Jun.20/06 I still have problems today. Someone will be talking on the phone & it cuts off. I live in Calgary & this happenned to me approximately 9:00pm when I called CIA they were closed so we had to do without service for the night. Any time you call during business hrs. there is a minimum of 20min wait (hard on the cell phone). please try it call 1.877.743.8242 (1.877.7get.cia)
11 Torey // Jul 14, 2006 at 5:57 pm
I’ve had CIA Local Phone now since Oct.2005, no complaints whatsoever!
12 Chewie // Aug 22, 2006 at 12:22 pm
DO NOT SIGN UP WITH CIA!
I’ve had them for 3 months now and I am looking for another provider now in the Montreal area.
CIA is the worst service I eveer had:
- intermittant service (1-3 hour service interruptions every 2-3 days)
- my latest service interruption = 3 DAYS!
(no phone no internet no way to call for service but to abuse my neighbour to lend me his phone)
- choppy connection
- THE SHEETIEST EVER customer service…they’ll flush you down if they don’t know what’s going on (which is 99% of the time)
STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AND WARN OTHERS
SAVE YOUR MONEY - DON’T SIGN UP
+ there ARE hidden costs !
13 Aron // Aug 23, 2006 at 4:02 pm
def
14 Aron // Aug 23, 2006 at 4:08 pm
CIA is definitely the worst option to go with.
They don’t provide the service, they elude providing answers regarding their technical problems and they disrespect the customer.
I would say the only consistent thing they do is charge your credit card (imagine - you pay for service you don’t get…)
AVOID THESE CROOKS
15 Eric // Aug 27, 2006 at 2:23 pm
I’ve tried to setup an account with this company which is the same company as 3web. They sent the modem but never came to install the service. They set a date and never showed up. I called every day for 2 weeks the technical support line and 3 way called the regular number from 6 until 12 pm and no one picked up.
I e-mailed about the install but no one replied. I did get some non- english as a first language person to try say the problem was with my computer although why would it be with my computer if NO ONE CAME TO INSTALL THE CABLE SERVICE TO MY HOUSE WTF! Anyway since I wasn’t able to get through to the tech support I was promised to be call me on a certain day and time and it never happened. He has never replied to me since! This company is a scam! I sent the modem back and signed up with Shaw and they were at my house in 2 days.
Don’t waste your time here. Especially with the VOIP phone if you want to have 911 on a consistant basics.
16 Nera // Aug 29, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Stay away, worst customer service, conversations are “choppy” Internet is down constantly
17 Canadian Capitalist // Aug 29, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Thanks for all your feedback. Looks like there are enough issues that the savings are not worth the hassle. I will probably just get a cheaper internet service and be happy with the $10/month savings.
18 Gervais // Aug 31, 2006 at 1:26 pm
No service whatsoever. They can’t care less about customer satisfaction. My brother subscribed, it was a problem to get it to work, worked for 3 or 4 weeks and is out of service for 7 days now and counting. Impossible to get someome to talk to on the phone except at the corporate office (Cybersurf
403-777-2000, 1144 29 Avenue NE, Calgary, AB T2E 7P1) where the receptionist contacted for us a tech. rep. in Ottawa who called half an hour later but could not tell us what was wrong, promised to call back within 4 hours and got lost…never called back.
Be your own tech or stay away from this company. The initial investment was over $200 (modem, voip module and a UPS) for 3 weeks of services. How to cancel? Virtualy impossible to reach them but in the meantime they continue to charge your credit card account, this is the only thing you can count on.
Regards,
G.P.
19 cecilia // Sep 6, 2006 at 2:25 am
I found this web site because I am researching - on behalf of my 84yr old father. He loves his computer and all the new technology – he has problems however and big ones with CIA. He saw the CIA ad, saw the difference in price and signed up. He thought it would help save money on telephone calls because I (and one brother) live in Switzerland. I am shocked at what he has been through - the end result being – 1) they’ve charged him a second time fort his modem, 2) they notified Rogers to disconnect the line - one month AFTER dad received confirmation that his ties with CIA were ended and all accounts settled 3) they have given him nothing but grief on the phone when he has tried to resolve the technical problems. Dad had all the same problems of bad customer service as other people who wrote in.
After reading some of the similar complaints above, I wonder if there is some way of contacting the better business bureau - or some such place - to notify them of this company. In a normal situation, dealing with companies like CIA is bad enough. In my dad’s case it is cause for alarm. Here’s the short version of the story. My mom (85) had a stroke two years ago. This year she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two days before the mastectomy she had a major heart attack. She is now waiting to go in for surgery again – and they have no phone because of what CIA did to them. I got dad to go on skype and to make sure his cel phone is always on but skype can be unstable which given my dad’s nerves at this point in time isn’t the best solution. I’m even getting nervous that if something happens in the home they will have no way to contact help. Mom is very non-technical and if she needed to call using a cel – it just wouldn’t happen.
Dad went to talk to Rogers to tell them what happened and to ask for his phone to be reconnected. They said that it was CIA’s problem and he should deal with them. If he wanted to use Rogers he would have to sign up for a new telephone number and wait a few weeks until they could hook it up.
Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do to help out my dad?
cya
20 Canadian Capitalist // Sep 6, 2006 at 11:21 am
Cecilia: If I were you, I would go ahead and order a new phone connection (and a new number) from Bell and deal with CIA later. Yes, a new number is a hassle, but at least they will be able to get help if needed.
21 cecilia // Sep 8, 2006 at 2:32 am
After leaving my message I got on Skype and called Rogers. The service person was absolutely wonderful. I explained that I was in Switzerland and calling on behalf of my parents in Vancouver. I asked her for a direct line because Skype cuts out once in a while. She gave it to me and took my landline number saying she would call back if we were disconnected. She followed through with this. After a lot of back and forths, she was able to get it set up so that my parents got their original number back (this was important to my parents). The line will be migrated back on the 11th. This woman was kind, patient, and professional. Although the whole thing took a few hours, not once did she stop trying to find a solution. She has assured me that she will follow-up on the 11th by making sure the line is connected and that there are no further problems.
As for 3Web, I wrote a lenghty letter explaining the situation and asked for a full refund since no service beyond 3 months of free email (means nothing) and regular billing. The reply was disgusting. The only thing written was to say my parents had to send the equipment back before anything could happen. I wrote back to ask how much they were going to refund before the equipment is returned.
It seems to me that the public should be notified about companies like this 3Web. I’ve also made my dad promise he wouldn’t sign up for any new technology until he checks with me so that I can research the company and the product. He’s now on Skype and it works well so he’s going to be happy for a while.
I’ve only recently started using Skype and I have to say that I am impressed with the quality. Why pay for any service when you get this one for free and for 2 cents a minute can call landlines in many countries around the world. Calling cel phones in Europe is normally very expensive (35-40 cents/minute) and with Skype it is 14 cents.
Cecilia
22 James // Nov 7, 2006 at 11:59 am
I’ve been trying to sign up with CIA since Oct 31 and there seems to be a problem with the billing. I bought my own modem because they had no reconditioned ones in stock and I wasn’t about to pay 115.00 for a new one when they are selling on ebay for 30-70. Anyway, I agree about the crappy customer service. I logged into the myaccount area to check it out and saw charges on my credit card. One says pending and the other says rejected. So I sent a few emails and I’m still waiting for a reply. The description or confirmation that I got states 3 cents per minute and a few days later the website states 4 cents per minute. The internet speed is advertised as 6Mbps but if you click help.cia.com for more information you go to 3web where internet speed is listed as 3Mbps. Talk about confusing, I’m having second thoughts about this company. I think they bit off more than they can chew. So now I am looking for another bundle so I can ditch Bell and Videotron. (thick as theives they are) I have free cable where I live so I only need internet and phone bundled together. If I find an option before I get hooked up with CIA then I will cancel my credit card payments and go with that otherwise I am willing to give CIA a try since I will be doing my own installation etc.
23 john // Nov 11, 2006 at 3:18 am
I’ve been on hold now for 2.5 hours… service is down… good thing i have free evenings and weekends on my cell phone… stay away
24 Joe // Nov 11, 2006 at 8:23 pm
WARNING to all propective subscribers: Don’t make your life miserable by dealing with this company!
Cecilia: I know exactly how you feel. My father was in the hospital when CIA created all our telephone problems. When my father died, we were left with no phone service. I canceled my account and was told to return the equipment which I promptly did. The tracking # from canadapost indicated that the equipment was delivered to the Ottawa CIA office and yet the accounting personnel denied having record of it. They don’t want to refund the money and that’s just it. They stopped replying to my emails. I got across this website in search of what you had inquired - how to report CIA/3web to the better business bureau. I want to report CIA/3WEB not only because of what I suffered from them but to prevent them from having more victims.
25 Joe // Nov 15, 2006 at 2:07 pm
I just found out that the Better Business Bureau revoked the membership of CIA.com/3web Corp on August 10, 2006 due to unresolved issues.(www.betterbusinessbureau.ca)
Cecilia: Try filing a complaint - I submitted mine today.
26 Canadian Capitalist // Nov 16, 2006 at 1:20 am
Joe: Thank you for your warning. As I mentioned earlier, there is enough badwill (?) with this business that I am not going to sign up for anything with them anytime soon.
27 Luis // Nov 16, 2006 at 7:08 am
I appreciate very much your comments guys. I was very close to get the service from CIA, but I did my homework and I see it is not worth to take it, even with the low cost that they offer us.
28 Trish // Nov 17, 2006 at 11:05 am
WOW is all I can say! I heard about this service last night and was interested. Now after reading all your postings, I will be staying FAR AWAY from this company.
Thank you for letting everyone know.
29 Laureen McMullan // Nov 28, 2006 at 4:55 pm
CIA has been ok for me in Calgary.
The biggest problem has been with SHAW whose lines they use, Shaw has had many technical problems and attends to CIA last which leaves the consumer without.
CIA has charged me less when Shaws services have been down. There are problems with any internet phone, but I still pay much less than telus and have a cell phone anyway.
There is more to this than what appears.
Calgary consumer
30 Dennis // Nov 29, 2006 at 12:40 pm
To anyone that is thinking about saying a buck on CIA services, DON”T! They will cause you more grief than good in the long run. Not worth the savings. Everyone I know that got CIA is VERY unsatified with thier service, as they really dont have any service. I can never get through to them on the phone from my home phone provided by them, sometomes on my cell. They rarely answer emails.
I will post some experinces I have had with them soon when I have time.
31 BIRD. Toronto // Dec 2, 2006 at 5:24 pm
There is pros and cons with everything that you do. I had the 3web internet service for 4 years now. It was rocky at 1st and Yes their customers service is sometimes a hell. But the problem was fixed. Now I’m going try VOIP phones service and I stand to save about 60 bucks a month that’s over 700 a year.
p.s do you know that Bell and those big companys are starting to invest is this VOIP service.
32 Tom // Dec 2, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I was a former CIA internet & phone customer. Their customer service is zero as everybody already knows.
If you want to waste your time and money go ahead and deal with them. Don’t even think to try and you will regret it.
If you are using their service, it is just unreliable. The phone stops working for no reasons and have to reset the modem.
How to cancel the service? Virtually impossible to reach anyone but in the meantime they continue to charge your credit card account. This is the only thing you can count on. Also, beware unauthorized charges into your credit card. I have an unauthorized charge just after the cancellation and take 2 months and long phone conversion to get the refund if you a lucky to get one to talk to and they allow to refund. I have another unauthorized charge months after canceling the service.
If you need to return the modem, VOIP modem and big heavy UPS unit, be prepare to pay for the high shipping cost with the heavy UPS and they need to receive by them within 30 days and don’t trust what the agent said that you can do it later. Otherwise, they will charge you the full price of the modem ($100 each) into your credit card without any notices. They will send you a separate automate email to state that but if you are lucky to received that junk.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AND WARN OTHERS SAVE YOUR MONEY - DON’T SIGN UP + there ARE hidden costs!
It is nothing but grief and won’t save you any money.
CIA is definitely the worst option to go with.
I would say the only consistent thing they do is charge your credit card (imagine - you pay for service you don’t get…)
Stay away from CIA/3Web. Don’t waste your time here.
33 vimonty // Dec 4, 2006 at 11:49 pm
I’m one of unfortunate Clint of the 3web company and my advise to any one thinking of using 3web or CIA try first call their tech support and see by yourself how humiliation will be waiting for hours to reach on of them .. I hate your tech support and your stupid message ” I’m sorry I can’t connect you… all of our idiots tech support are helping other costumers” please try next week… this is their recording message when you call web’s tech support..
34 Leon // Jan 13, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I was considering switching to CIA but not anymore after reading this. I currently have a Telus landline, Telehop long distance and Shaw cable and internet and I have never had problems with any of them. The only problem is I have 3 different bills to deal with which is why I would like to bundle it up some more.
35 Jack // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Was with CIA for three months last year. The worst three months in my life! Customer service is zero. Have to wait for hours till you get a chance to talk to someone. And their calling hours are like 4-5 hours business days only. If something goes wrong, which it did 60% of the time I was with them, you have no one to talk to. NO ONE.
After my experience, I even thought of suing SHAW was allowing such lousy service provider to operate through their connections (in Calgary).
36 Jerry // Jan 24, 2007 at 5:22 pm
I have been using 3web highspeed for a couple of years now. I had a few problems at startup but very few issues since then.
That’s why I decided to try their VoIP service. That’s when my troubles started.
I ordered the service in Spetember 27th 2006. I received an email on December 15th stating that my telephone number had been transfered but they forgot to send me my Voice Terminal! Therefore I had no phone service for about a week while they mailed me the hardware and got me activated. Once I finally got it all working it went down after 2 days. Its now been 2 weeks and I still don’t have access (Internet or Voice). I had a 3rd party technician in to check my line. There is no signal to my house.
I am trying to get my telephone number released and go back to Bell.
I have spent hundreds on cell phone bills. Once around 4hrs on a Friday night. I watched an entire Hockey game on hold. No one at CIA seems to care that you don’t have any service.
This ordeal has greatly increased the stress level of me and my family.
37 Fabienne // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I’m trying to cancel my contract with CIA, I have the same problems that you all discribed.
Any advice on cancellng? Do I need to contact my bank?
Thanks in advance!
38 CiaUser // Mar 1, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Just cancelled CIA local phone service and internet. Unreliable connection (down everyday), terrible customer sercice (waiting 40-60 min. before speaking to a real person, who cannot help at all)
39 CIAscams // Mar 2, 2007 at 2:32 pm
CIA.com has the worst service ever!!! Had cancelled their service and even notified the credit card company of the cancellation. They tried to put a charge through Calgary and MasterCard reversed the charge because we had already sent them the notice of cancellation. Then CIA.com put a charge through their Ottawa office and that went through so they kept charging. Now MasterCard is dealing with them. Had decided to call CIA.com and pressed the option for their concerns about accounts and billing, not surprisingly, it says “we cannot connect at this time, please call back” and then it hangs up on you. So I called again and pressed the option for ’sign up’ and of course they answered for that option. So i asked why we were being charged and they said that I cancelled their interent service but not phone service. They never even sent me their stuff to use the phone service!! I told that to the guy and he said it doesn’t matter. How does one use a service that they can’t even use without the equipment they never sent?? Anyway needless to say that guy was a jerk and I believe they were trained to piss people off. So I once again told him to cancel the service and he said fine and low and behold, they tried to put another charge though. NEVER use CIA.com, they are SCAMMERS!!!
40 stl // Mar 6, 2007 at 8:33 pm
i’m trying to cancel too because internet and phone is down for weeks, but cannot get trough a customer service, i wait too long on the line. any advice?
41 Gary // Mar 21, 2007 at 12:42 am
I have had there high speed internet since september 2006 and service has been incredibily reliable only on outage, unplugged modem and wash back in busines, signed up for there home phone and have been using for just under a week had one outage, unplugged voice terminal for 1 min. back in business, all phone features are free and work great, only thing you can’t dial their tech support from my phone, they are aware of issue, they say it is routing problem. If you a technically knowledgable and can trouble shoot things your self the service is great, once you are up and running you should need to talk to them unless the company who owns the lines are unreliable. There tech. support is hard to get a hold of but is recently getting better, don’t call during typical busy times or you will wait forever.
42 CIA Stinks // Apr 5, 2007 at 12:38 am
CIA is GARBAGE. Their customer service is abosolutly AWFUL. (I’ve been waiting for the line for than an hour already) They are compeltely CRAPPY!!! Our voice terminal broke down and it took them TWO WEEKS to get a replacement in. They are CRAP/GARBAGE/BULLSH*T/POOP/WASTE or anything else other than GOOD. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THEM, THEY WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY. THEY ARE TERRRRIIIBBBLLLEEE!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, have a nice day
43 monique // May 16, 2007 at 2:00 pm
i was thinking of switching too. i have rogers and they have crappy too you call up and they never send the info you haev and they say they will send it too you and they don’t
I was thinking after seeing the Stuff CIA sends around it sounds great. if you read it but after readin so many complients i am sticking with rogers until something better way better comes around
44 Bunjo // May 17, 2007 at 11:22 am
Its amazing as my friend was talking about CIA being too cheap but in accordance to coments related i think its not worthy joining the hussle.
45 Thunder Bay Girl // May 26, 2007 at 11:07 am
I heard about CIA lastnight after one of my girlfriends signed up. I thought it sounded to good to be true so I googled it before signing up. I want to thank everyone for putting in thier experiences and comments as you just saved me alot of time and money. Now I just hope its not to late for my girlfriend. ..but by the sounds of things it is.
46 Mzub007 // May 31, 2007 at 3:56 am
I have been using this ‘CIA’ service for the last one month. I should tell that I do a hell lot of downloads. b4 I used to use Rogers and they were charging me about $58 for my high-speed extreme internet. The worst part of Rogers they block torrent ports. At best I could get a speed of 20-30 kbps. With CIA I am getting about 400-500 kbps, sometimes it reaches 1 mbps. Now for the home phone, we already canceled the Bell phone service. And so far I have not found any kind of difficulties using their phone service. Well I should say their customer service is one of the worsts in Canada. One have to wait at least 20-30 mins upto an hr to get them. I think they are short of ppl ….Other than that I am VERY HAPPY with their service.
GREAT SERVICE
CIA ROCKS, ROGERS SUCKS.
47 Marlane // Jun 1, 2007 at 11:40 am
I’ve recently filed a complaint against 3Web/CIA with the Better Business Bureau. Despite the fact that I closed my long distance and internet accounts with them over a year and a half ago, they’re still taking unauthorized debits from my bank account. They’ve completely denied any wrongdoing, and have gotten contradictory responses from their customer service people. One email I received said my account was in fact closed and that the debits would stop. That was 8 months ago, and they still haven’t stopped (well, they will now because I ended up closing my bank account because of this!)
This is a horrible company to deal with - STAY AWAY!
48 Mike // Jul 23, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Stay away from CIA.com. the worst ISP, especially phone service ever. Tonight alone I have been on hold for over 3 hours and my call has been 1st in linbe since I called.
They suck don’t waste your money, PLEASE don’t waste your money. CIA is the most frustrating service ever. 3 months I have been calling only to be left on hold for hours.
STAY AWAY from CIA!!!!!!!
49 Linda // Aug 7, 2007 at 11:18 pm
These people are scammers!!! We signed up and realized it’s was a bad choice but now we don’t want the service and need to know how to reverse the charges on our credit card. They are so cheap they sent us a dusty used modem with BAD written in pen at the bottom. There has got to be a way to get your money back! We have spent a total of 3 days trying to get this done. If anyone has been successful at getting a refund for the equipment pleeeeease help!
50 dave // Aug 8, 2007 at 10:02 pm
so what about a class action suit? ..
my dns just went down thismorning.. i went out, thinking it would be back online when i got home.. still wasnt. =/ a whole day offline. =/ so i plugged in the rogers cablemodem which i havent sent back yet (i had a sneaking suspicion) and came online to get my mail. searched for “cia.com sucks” on a whim and found this page.
maybe ill have to cancel my service? you all have extreme horror stories. how can they still be allowed to operate?
51 Mike // Aug 30, 2007 at 8:37 am
I have two friends that have been with CIA for two years. They had some intermittent technical issues with the phone and support until about 6 months ago. Since then they both tell me that the service has been perfect.
I decided to sign up and found a used modem and phone ATA. I called the tech support when I couldn’t get the voice ata online. They called be back twice in 48 hours and they had fixed the glitch on their end.
So far we couldn’t be happier with it. We haven’t noticed choppy phone calls or drops at all. And the internet service is much faster than rogers so-called 7mbs service…no throttling, no port blocking, no service interruptions so far.
I believe they have ironed out the glitches in their service. Of course, the regular price of $40/month for phone, LD in canada and high speed cable internet is fantastic. We were paying over $80 for both services until now.
As far as the better business bureau….check out Rogers and Bell. They are also considered unreliable and have had plenty of unresolved complaints.
Honestly, I have experienced nothing but incompetence from rogers tech support for the last 3 years and am happy to be rid of them. Anyone who thinks things are better on those grounds with the bigger companies are dreaming.
I will try to remember to submit another post here after more time with the service.
52 Leon // Sep 20, 2007 at 7:04 pm
I think CIA solved their technical problems. Customer service is still bad in the sense you are on hold for at least 10 minutes and sometimes for over an hour. Simple solution though, call during their opening hours or just after lunch and you won’t be on hold for so long.
It took a while to set up, cause somone had messed around in my apatments e-box before moving in. So I went a while playing tag with the Bell techs to come service the phone lines. But, it finally got organized.
I set up the system with anADSL modem and a Linksys WRTP54G-NA combined router and voip modem. All I had to do was enter the MAC of the router at CIA then go to the XML file and retrieve my User ID, Password and Proxy and enter it into my router. Then I setup my wireless network and plugged in my phones.
Now it works great, service cuts out rarely and when it cuts it is usually back within 2-5 minutes. Downloads and uploads are faster then my fathers Bell Sympatico high speed connection. Mine runs at around 4mbps upload and 400kbps download. My fathers Bell Sympatico which costs a hell of a lot more is around 2.5mbps download and 200kbps upload. We both tested the connection using the same speed test software. Cia advertises 6mbps download and 800kbps upload, Bell Sympatico advertises 5mbps download and 800kbps upload. The other nice thing is it is unlimited downloads, other companies charge more for unlimited.
People don’t realize that companies say upto 6mbps download or upto 800kbps upload. ”Upto” being the keyword. But, in reality that is peak performance and you will only see that under the ideal circumstances. Kind of like peak power in a sound systems. Maybe it is an injustice, but CIA isn’t the only one guilty of it, Bell, Videotron, Rogers and the others are just as guilty. In fact CIA actually performs closer to their listed peak ratings it seems.
Anyways, free long distance to most major cities and their surrounding areas in Canada. 3 cents a minute almost anywhere else. Plus high speed internet with unlimited downloads and every calling service you could want for $45.00 per month tax in (I used my GF’s modem from Bell) is a great price and worth the little hassle required to ge things started. I mean all the services I have with CIA cost my father $97.00 per month and to be honest Bell customer service ain’t much better.
On a side note, the customer service is slow, but the reps are more knowledgable and polite it appears.
I would definetly recommend this sevice to someone who knows what they are doing with technology or has some help to setup. I have to admit the setup takes some time and work. But, once you are through that, it is pretty straight forward and easy to use.
53 Andre // Sep 23, 2007 at 1:17 pm
3WEB(CIA)
Pros:
The Cheapest High Speed Internet.
Cons:
Due to the demand… the service is cutting occasionally and the support is incredibly slow.
Recommended for people who want to save a bit of money and have time to spend when a problem occurred*.
* You might have occasionally to call their support and wait an average of 2 hours every time. You also need a phone line or a good cellphone plan otherwise…you will end out in a public phone. The online support is fake and not functional.
54 Do you know this? // Sep 24, 2007 at 10:57 am
I have a friend with bad exeperience that used CIA.com
55 Brennan // Oct 9, 2007 at 3:19 pm
This form started way back in June 2006, just about the time I signed up in Calgary.
Yes there was teething problem … I recall my line/net went out 3 times in the first 2 months with the longest period about 24 hours. Yes I was fuming, and trying to get technical support was a nightmare. After several Emails and Phone calls, they did reimburse me for my problems.
Over 1 year later, I do think things are better. No interuptions (that I know of) and everything seems to be OK.
Back in the summer of 2006, I did my own investiagtion on their “reliability” problems, and things did add up. Here in Calgary they rent their bandwidth on Shaw’s cable. The days my service was done, I called Shaw saying I was having problems with their service (even though I was not a real customer). Sure enough, they told me they had lines down here, lines down there, etc. so it did add up.
Knock on wood, I have no problems since suummer of 2006. I have recouped all my initial investmet and continue to save money. My wife phones Brazil every week, and at $0.07/minute, its 3-4 times cheaper than all other optios we tried in the past. Just this month, I finally used up my $100 long distance credit which would of cost me at least $400 if I continued with the long distance cards.
Hope that may help someone in the future. I don’t think their service is perfect, but here in Calgary, your lucky to find any place with any ammount of decent service! I seriously do think they have improved over the last year, so give it a try if your willing and capable of dealing with possible issues.
56 rocc // Oct 13, 2007 at 11:59 pm
southern Ontario should have less problems with this than the complaints that are being read here. This region is 100% digital unlike Ottawa and Calgary. I have a friend at work who uses 3web for the past 2 years and loving it. Voip is now becoming mainstream so you will see a great improvement soon. I work for a large company and we just switched our internal phones to Voip phones and they work great. CIA is as reliable as the carrier. If your carrier doesn’t offer Voip phones then don’t expect a flawless system, at least not yet.
What would be helpful if posters give there location, myself I am in Mississauga area which is in Ontario. At half the price for Internet and a phone I can’t resist. I will try this and reply back. Hopefully I wont have much issues with this and I will not have the need to call tech support - it probably does suck, but don’t they all.
57 Petrocelly // Oct 27, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I’ve been using this service for a such a long time, I have to admit that customer servis is very appaling, nor there is none. And the expertise of the person u talk with is also as good as cry. But what I noticed is that if you run with terminal Motorola, then you will get a lot of problems, the VOIP terminal is so bad, that I would love to exchange it for something different. If there would be something, i would be glad. The intrenet works fine, with no problems if there’s no terminal attached. Otherwise internet constantly drops. The quality of motorola terminal is reflecting also the voice quality. A lot of jitters with any traffic. so I guess the problem they have is with equipment that they use. And customer service is really not helping at all.
58 Lynk // Nov 17, 2007 at 1:39 am
I recently received my voice box and modem (2 days ago) at the time i installed it i was running a very very long telephone cord to the modem (and was naturally getting lots of disconnects (every few minutes)) and getting a new IP. After a bit of this i decided to fix my problem and move the computer to the bedroom, with a short cord (less then 10ft). Unfortunatly, this did not resolve the issue (to my horror).
My internet today has been worst of all, and my phone only intermitently works (not right now though). Unfortunatly, its Friday, and they dont have fuckall for tech support/ect till monday (supposedly). I also agree about the customer service. Although i have not managed to speak with one, nor have i waited on hold for one (I wasnt able, “We are sorry, no one is available, please call later *click*… wtf?)
If my service doesnt start performing like it should, ill be giving them a call on monday. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, I will be filing my own complaint with the BBB.
PS: My line shows as 3mbit line, however, when i signed up it told me 6mbit. It also took them 2 weeks to ship me my modem and box (and im next day delivery to them - they sent it expedited from less then 10km from my house)
59 YY // Nov 23, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Their customer service is the worst ever! I’ve installed my internet and home phone yesterday. The internet is working but the home phone is not working at all! I’ve tried to all them in the past three days and noone pick up the phone!! I’ve sent them an email if noone reply today, I will cancel it.
Not recommended at all.
60 Jen // Nov 30, 2007 at 3:51 pm
If you don’t plan on staying with 3web/cia FOREVER and don’t need consistent service/uptime and can deal with outages and never want to speak to anyone then this may be OK, otherwise stay FAR FAR AWAY.
They are by far the WORST company EVER. There is no easy way to cancel service with them and keep charging you even after cancellation (that’s probably why they require you to have automatic deductions from your credit card).
Please save yourself the time and money and don’t go with them. In the long run any money you would have saved with them will go out the window plus more.
61 Robin Ryan // Dec 6, 2007 at 12:04 pm
What hasn’t this company done?
They sent me the VOIP package, but it was the wrong stuff, and then they took another month to send me the right materials. All the while charging me for VOIP.
They cancelled my service one day by mistake, and I had to sit for an hour on hold before ever speaking to them and they said it was their mistake.
They overbilled me months in a row until I finally got through their horrid support and lines and threatened to sue.
They did not cancel my service when I requested. I left the country to begin volunteer work, and I got a bill from a collection agency 5 months later saying that CIA kept charging me and now they want money.
If any company was spawned out Satan’s darkest fantasies, 3web/CIA.com is it
62 Ric // Dec 12, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I had CIA service from February 2006 until June 2007. The first voice terminal they sent me was faulty. I promptly shipped it back and they sent out another one that actually worked. After nearly a year and a half of problems with service disruption (anything from an hour to a few days) we decided to switch to Shaw. I used to go over to my friends house here in Calgary to call them from his phone because the wait was usually about 45 minutes on a good day to speak with a customer service representative, and I didn’t want to eat up all my cell phone minutes. They would ask me if I was calling from home. I’d reply “how can I since my internet and phone service is out?” CIA reply was “well we can’t help you unless you’re at home in front of your computer”. to add to the misery I just discovered an unauthorized charge on my Visa for $105.95 (4 months after terminating service with them) for the faulty voice terminal they said I never returned to them back in February 2006. It was returned in exchange for the one that functioned. They were skeptical as I couldn’t remember my Canada Post Tracking number from nearly 2 years ago. I am skeptical because that can’t tell me the serial number of the voice terminal in question. Never mind filing a complaint with the BBB as it obviously won’t phase CIA one bit. I have filed a complaint with the CRCT (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission at http://www.crct.gc.ca Check out this website and click on “Complaints and Inquiries” and then click on “How to file a complaint about your telephone service”. Hopefully this will help out alot of you experiencing problems with CIA.com, especially those who were wrongfully charged on their credit cards. You can dispute the charge with your credit card company, but there is no guarantee they will rule in your favor. If you are thinking of becoming a CIA.com customer to save all those hundreds of dollars please think again. That’s why I changed from Shaw to CIA…TOO SAVE! I regreted it and switched back. I realize some customers have had no issues with CIA, but I think they are the lucky ones, and there is probably a greater chance of being in the group of dissatisfied customers. Take the risk if you must but….YOU WERE WARNED!!!!!!!!!
Ric in Calgary
63 Ric // Dec 12, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Sorry heres a correction to above. The website is http://www.crtc.gc.ca
Whoops!!
Ric in Calgary
64 disgusted in edmonton // Jan 1, 2008 at 7:01 am
i have had the cia voip phone and hi speed cable (over shaw)since june 2007 and have the same problems as others here -
frequent interruptions in internet service, even more frequent loss of phone service - several times a week. today dec 31 2007 was the record so far - no internet or phone from 10am to 3 am the next day! also beware if u have your alarm system connected. customer service is consistantly terrible. i never liked telus before but now wish that i had not switched to cia. any saving in money was wiped out by the cost of buying modems and increased use of cell phone during service interruptions so even that was a mistake. i dont recommend cia.
65 Terry Thibodeau // Jan 9, 2008 at 12:22 am
See my complaint here: http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2007/FEB/complaint12018.cfm
This is THE worst company in Canada.
66 Fabio // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:55 pm
On September 7, 2007 I contracted the services of high speed internet connection and phone service from CIA.COM (Cybersurf Corp.) through their website (www.cia.com)
A couple of days later while talking to one of their representatives over the phone I was told that there was something wrong with my account that this account was going to be canceled and a new one will be open. They told me not to worry that I was not going to be charged twice.
Anyhow, I was charged twice on my credit card.
I have call the company at their main number and the one they provide for the accounting department.
The people that answer the phone at the main number have told me that the only thing they can do is to open a ticket and forward it to the accounting department. I have asked to talk to a manager but they always refuse.
I have left several messages and sent hundreds of emails to the accounting department but have not yet heard from them.
After searching on the internet I have found that my case is not the only one; many people are experiencing similar issues.
This company should be stopped from robbing Canadian people.
If you have billing issues make sure you place a complain with the RCMP for fraud.
Here is the link: https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx
I have placed a complain, I believe that if many of us do it they will have not other choice but to take it seriously.
Take 10 minutes and file a complain!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone has to stop this company from ripping people off.
67 Fabio // Jan 23, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Make sure you also file a complain here : http://www.ripoffreport.com/
Here is my complain:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/301/RipOff0301364.htm
68 Voice Over IP - Information about VOIP » Comment on CIA.com VoIP Phone Service by Fabio // Jan 24, 2008 at 2:25 am
[...] on CIA.com VoIP Phone Service by Fabio Alec wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMake sure you also file a complain [...]
69 Terry Thibodeau // Jan 25, 2008 at 3:00 pm
CIA.COM has blocked my phone number from being able to call any support lines!!!! If I dial #67 to keep my number private, I can now get through to the CIA.COM support lines.
Check my updated complaint about CIA.COM here:
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2007/FEB/complaint12018.cfm
70 Sussing Options // Mar 10, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I am just about to cancel my CIA service FINALLY! I have taken more poor customer service and unexpected service charges on my credit card than any one person ought ever to deal with! The wait time - augh! but it seems like we’re in the midst of a plague - are we so complacent now that customer service does not factor into a business’ long term strategy for success? And I thought Bell Canada was bad! Where/Who/What do I try next? Is anyone wowed by both the deal and service that they’re getting?
71 jean // Mar 18, 2008 at 12:07 pm
DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have them right now and the service is down all the time. They tell you that someone is working on it but no one does and the keep charging me for the stuff.
They have poor internet service and really bad customer service . They over billed me 200 dollars and it took me hours to reach someone to talk to then they told me they would look into it and never did. 5 months later I finally got the money back. I would recommend anyone but this company. I you don’t believe me try them and see.
72 MikeG // Mar 19, 2008 at 10:30 am
Hi I’ll chime in and say that CIA has been inexpensive and rightly so. The internet is reliable enough for someone who doesn’t ~need~ to use the internet. If I can’t check my hotmail once a month cause the service is down, boo hoo. The service truly is the worst I’ve ever experienced. But I’m also a IT support person so I ca trouble shoot most of my own problems.. Its rarely been worse than just unplugging the modem for a minute and plugging it back in and wait 5 mins. A PITA but for the $250 ish a year in savings, I’ll deal with it.
If money isn’t your issue, I had 5 good years with shaw.
my .10c (inflation)
-MikeG
73 stupid // Apr 3, 2008 at 2:57 am
hidden fee, pirate policy, worst customer service, looting money, you have to mail the device at your cost if you cancel……
74 Nate // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I agree with the majority of comments - WORST SERVICE EVER! I finally had enough when we were without phone and internet for over a week. Before that I figured one day of outage was worth the savings, but a week!?!?! You suck CIA.
P.S. I am still getting billed… :@
75 Terry // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:53 pm
In regard to long distance telephone service, I don’t recall anyone mentioning Skype. We put a block on long distance calls on our phone, paid the annual subscription price for Skype out and find it a terrific saving.
76 George // Jun 13, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Aboslutely the worst service ever..
Zero resolution to services.
Stole $100 credit from me , they said it expired. first rep says it doesn’t expire..
Here is how it goes..
Hello , I noticed my $100 LD credit was missing from my account.. please clarify.
CIA: We could no longer hold the LD credit anymore ..
?? WTF ? what do you mean hold it , it was a credit for signing up , no expiry date was given.
CIA: Its in the terms and agreements we could refuse it at anytime.
Show me..
CIA: Click !!
Call back , WTF , where is the manager.
CIA: Absolutely no manager, supervisor , lead hand etc.. a rep will call you back within 72hrs if you have a complaint.
72hrs later no call..
OFF TO SMALL CLAIMS !!!!
Now here is the catch ? CIA Made sure LD did not work for the first year of my service.
Fucking fraud..
77 Glyn // Jun 17, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I am interested in steps to take to resolve problems, specifically stop the unauthorized billing after cancelling service. How have people gotten this to stop? So far, the CRTC and RECOL have been listed as avenues of formal complaint. How helpful has this been for those who have used them? Who should be contacted with regards to seeing whether Cybersurf should have its business license revoked? Anyone interested in a class action suit?
78 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 17, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Glyn: You might consider asking your credit card company to block billing transactions. I haven’t personally done this but know friends who called a company to cancel, obtained a file # and notified the credit card company not to approve billing requests. I’ve heard that worked.
79 Glyn // Jun 17, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Thank you CC. I’m still interested in hearing from others wrt other steps, what works, etc. What can be done formally to prevent these crooks from sending unauthorized billing charges to collections, etc. I definitely want to do a pre-emptive strike. We consumers should also be banding together to try and stop this company from doing any more business period.
80 john // Jun 26, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I came accross your site and was shocked by the posts. I reccommend the service to everyone. I guess I need to be more careful.
I’ve had the service since 2006 and its been mostly great. I’ve had occasional outages but no more or less than when I used Telus.
Internet isn’t as reliable as regular phone so you have to expect that I guess, but if you have a cell why pay for a home phone too?
I saw recently the offer a free home phone service with .03 long distance. Has anyone tried that?
81 Jay // Jun 26, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Ive had the service since May 07, over a year, and I havn’t had any problems. Ive recommended everyone I know, just like John has, and they havn’t had problems. I guess when they are the only 3rd party provider from coast to coast, an issue is bound to arise somewhere in between?
82 JR // Jun 26, 2008 at 7:06 pm
First. Full disclosure. I work for Cybersurf Internet Access. I am a Home Phone Customer using CIA’s Cable Service (5Meg).
A). Yes it is true that about 10% of our customers just cannot get the service to work with service as good as a land line. There are a variety of issues but mainly it’s because they just can’t achieve the upstream traffic required to guarantee enough bandwidth for a quality call. In most cases this is an issue that can be resolved with some tweaks at home but in some cases it’s just impossible due to issues such as the number of customers in your neighborhood sharing the Cable backbone or the distance you are from your CO. However 90% of our customers get on seamlessly and the service works well.
B). I believe these sites are invaluable when doing research however it should be noted, as it has been on different forums, that CIA’s competitors post here as well. If you want to test the support, call CIA for yourself. 1 877 743 8242. Test the pick up time and knowledge of the agents for yourself. If you still don’t think that’s enough, try the service. The company offers a 30 day money back guarantee if the service does not work for you. Also, a large percentage of our signups are because of recommendations. Our Referral program.
The CIA Home Phone service with Free High Speed Cable is growing at a rate of 25-30% a year and the Cybersurf has just expanded the service to 630 cities across Canada and the Help Desk in Thunder Bay has gone through several recent adjustments to improve our service. Despite my obvious bias (it is not intended to be so) I believe you are more likely to post when you are unhappy then when you are happy. I’m even saying; don’t take my word for it. The best way to test anything is to try it out for yourself. Not just CIA but any company.
I work for Cybersurf Internet Access. I am a Home Phone Customer using CIA’s Cable Service (5Meg).
83 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 27, 2008 at 6:58 am
JR: Thanks for your comment and thanks for expressing CIA.com’s view. For now, we are sticking to the plain old telephone system.
84 Baccaraty // Jul 15, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I’m one of the unfortunate Clint of that miserable company, no one will believe my suffering with this company ..I contact this company last month and the second day they collect their money from my credit card and I get the modem and voice terminal one week later and finally was able to get Internet service but not phone service and they said they have tech. problem and will be solve withen few hours and the few hours took 6 days and each time I contact their support line have to stay on line at least one hour and each time the talk ends with nothing other than say one higher of our support will contact you and No one call and finally today after 2:23Hrs the tech support did some test and said “sorry we send you a defective voice terminal” and they will send me another one plus I have to send the defective terminal on my expense. I don’t know what Mr.JR will say about his company. I really thinking of joint a group of people who have issues with that company and seek legal action against them . Does any company in Canada practice business like that ? I doubt it. I ‘m just warning people of my suffering.
85 Jay // Jul 16, 2008 at 11:45 am
I also am an employee of Cia.com who enjoys the service, I actually had it before I was employed here. Baccaraty, you do have a unique scenario, but let me clarify a few things for you that you might not fully understand. When you sign up for the service, your billed only the initial shipping charge to have your equipment sent to you, you dont receive any bills or make any payments until your service becomes active. So theres nothing strange about that, and you received your equipment in the 5 business days you were informed of. Im not sure what kind of tech problem you did have to take 6 days, I would have to review your account to understand that. As I’m sure your aware of tech issues arise, especially when just starting up with the service. In that time. I can assume they did some tests to make sure the lines and equipment were provisioned first. Along with that, if your internet is working, sometimes people fail to register your voice terminal, which is a short fix. In the end, they wound up sending you a New piece of equipment to rectify the problem. Please note, you would never have to pay to send your equipment back without being re-imbursed, you failed to mention that. What we try to do in order to make the process quicker, is we say ship it back to us, attach the receipt and we have a team which automatically refunds that to you. You’d have to agree, that is much faster than sending you a package, you putting it in, and than sending it back to us. If you would like help on your account, I’d be happy to work issues out with you. For privacy and security reasons, why dont you attach the email address you used for the initial signup, and I can look up your account accordingly. Id assume though that when you get this new Voice Terminal your phone service will be ready to go, just the same as your Internet which has worked all along. If your looking for addiotnal help, dont hesitate to use that, or you can always utilize our online email support at help@cia.com, if you don’t want to use the live tech support. Thanks
86 Baccaraty // Jul 16, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Jay, I’m glad you are an employee of CIA and I’m answering your points.. as far as the service, I don’t have phone service as I said yesterday I had to wait for some one to answer my call for almost 2:30 Hrs since I’m keep track of every call to CIA and I take the his name and his empl.number and I will have to send back and pay for the shipping and they may credit me.. which is not the main issue if they pay or not.. the main issue do I have a service or not ..which is beeing charge for it from day one and I’m sending you a print screen for the my Credit Card account because you doubt that and please tell me is it fair to be charge and ask for a credit ? by the way yesterday night I had to wait from 8:46 PM till 1130 PM to check with cust.support person to check if I want buy my own voice terminal since I contact linksys and ask them about support of this type of voice terminal and they told me this model “SPA2102 ” has NO support form them, that why I call CIA to check about another type and can I buy, but no body answer me. Today I got another call from another “higher level” tech support and we did several test and we reach nothing other than wait for another voice terminal .Please note your company needs a lot to improve the tech support department and also I have no interest to wast my time to set and write this if your service is working in better way.
87 Guy // Jul 17, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Watch out for this company’s business practices. I have been a customer for over a couple years and the phone service has been shoddy at best. The internet has been fairly reliable. I am an IT Prof and can deal with most issues on my own and will just patiently wait for a day if I have trouble with the connection. Not that acceptable for a phone but I mainly rely on my cell anyway. Now I found a similarly priced alternative and am trying to transfer my phone number. Transfer has failed over 3 times and it seems CIA will do anything to try to keep charging you. My wife got so frustrated she called and tech support and the agent lied to her telling her that she needs to cancel before it will be released. Well the fight goes on!!! Just beware! And I will be notifying my credit card company to deny any future charges.
88 JR // Jul 18, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Guy - a competitor - no such ticket exits so I won’t waste my time except to say to CIA’s competitors that CIA home phone has had 25% growth rate last year and is expected to grow by 35% this year. The FREE High Speed with home phone service is also offered on a Cable platform which is over twice the speed of the DSL service you provide and charge for.
Baccaraty. You can’t buy the linksys voice terminal from a third party. You have to buy it from CIA. The Linksys SPA2102s that CIA uses has specific setting already pre-configured int it. Besides, it’s only $60 which is pretty cheap. Google the SPA2102 and you’ll see they retail for $60 to $80.
As for your credit, tell the agent’s supervisor what happened to you.
Thanks
89 Baccaraty // Jul 18, 2008 at 5:30 pm
JR, the reason for buying to solve my connection problem “not only for the price” any way I got another VTr. and you may aware still have problem .I already spoke with a billing agent today and she said a credit will be apply when the phone connection will establish, so I’m waiting hopefully by next week will fix the problem .thanks
90 Tyler // Jul 21, 2008 at 3:16 pm
CIA service is ok as long as you don’t run into problem. i have had it over a year now. Now i move and decide to switch to Shaw because they are having promotion. Canceling CIA sucks, they ask me to send back voice modem and power backup to their Ottawa not Calgary location. Not sure how much this is going to cost me but it sucks anyway. I talked to customer representative and they told me that they will refund the shipping cost if i send them the original shipment receipt. Anyway, for 10 dollar extra I rather use Shaw because i think the phone connection is better and their support team is much much better. Today I call CIA and my wait time was like 1 hour.
Tyler
91 Alan // Jul 23, 2008 at 5:54 am
We’ve used CIA and 3WEB service for the past 2 years, it was a bit of a pain to setup initially, the internet speed was half what was promised and the quality of the phone line was pretty bad, we’ve had a few cases of overbilling for calls we never made and those issues will never be settled, we can almost never reach tech support on the phone, but some of our EMails were answered.
We’re relocating at the end of the month and am beginning to worry about cancelling the service and still be charged for it in the future. We purchased the equipment initially, not sure whether we can get any value for it now.
I have Emailed them yesterday, but did not get an answer yet. They say we can cancel the service at any time and we will be billed until the end of the month but I am not sure the phone line and interenet will remain active till end of July if I cancel now.
92 Baccaraty // Jul 23, 2008 at 7:03 am
It is been 2 weeks and still NO phone service and I’m with higher tech support and still can not solve the problem and each time I contact the tech support, they tell me someone senior tech will contact you “Today” and never happen and I’m just wondering if the tech support can handle this problem.Alan — I will be willing to buy your Modem if it is “cable modem” ” not DSL ” please email me at baccaraty@gmail.com.
93 Jay // Jul 23, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hey Alan, you can cancel your service at anytime and still will remain active until the last day of the month, but if you’ve been with CIA for 2 years, why dont you just move the service to your next city? CIA services 1300 cities, so Im sure you can at the very least get the High Speed there and save Money on that portion of your bill.
94 Phone Answering Service // Jul 27, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Sorry I’ve never tried it but I love the name. Will they be recording all of your conversations and internet traffic like their U.S namesake??
I’m with James on that
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