Winnipegger suffering heart attack uses payphone after Primus mix-up
A Winnipeg man says he had to walk to a payphone to call for help after having a heart attack because it took weeks to set up a home phone line.
Abd Miri Al Taai said he contacted Primus Canada on Feb. 2 to purchase internet and home service. He was told that someone would come to his South Osborne apartment to install both services within seven to 10 days.
But after 11 days passed and no one came, Al Taai said he called Primus again and was told a service technician would be dispatched. But again, no one came.
According to Al Taai, it wasn't till Feb. 19 that a technician did come to his home. But three days later, his phone stopped working.
Once again, Al Taai contacted Primus and was told someone would be sent to fix the problem.
"She told me, 'Someone is coming to you' and I waited. Waited until March 6 and no one come," Al Taai said.
Phone account cancelled
Fearing there was a language barrier, the Iraqi immigrant asked his friend to phone Primus on his behalf.
"[He] phone him he said, 'Yeah, the account cancelled,'" Al Taai said in disbelief, adding that he couldn't understand how that was possible given his internet service was still working.
According to Al Taai, Primus told him it would reopen the account if he paid $80. He did that on March 10, but he said he still had no phone line.
Three days later, Al Taai wasn't feeling well. He ended up in hospital with a heart attack.
Al Taai said he had knocked on neighbours' doors for help, but no one answered. So he walked to the 7-Eleven on Osborne Street to call his friend from the payphone.
"I said … 'I have so much pain, can you send me taxi?'" Al Taai recalled, adding he didn't want to call an ambulance because he couldn't afford the $500 ambulance fee.
Primus Canada responds
Primus Canada spokesperson Laura Ramsay told CBC News that Al Taai cancelled his service on Feb. 20, but she could not explain why he called back two weeks later to ask why his phone service wasn't working.
"I mean it is a distressing situation obviously and we, you know, our heart goes out to him. I can just tell you that at that point in time, he was not a customer of Primus," Ramsay said Wednesday.
The Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) says it's received 23 customer complaints against Primus so far this year. It forwarded them onto the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) for investigation.
Primus was among the 25 service providers in which the CCTS received the highest number of complaints in 2013-14. It ranked number 15 with 95 customer complaints.
Commissioner Howard Maker couldn't speak directly to the nature of the complaints against Primus because they are relatively small compared to a large company like Bell Canada, which had 3,651 complaints last year.
"The number one complaint that we see every year are complaints about the bill — complaints about wrong charges or incorrect charges," said Maker.
Maker wasn't familiar with Al Taai's case but said it sounds like it might be a communication issue between the customer and service provider.
"Generically that's a real real big issue that we see in a lot of complaints is — misunderstandings, miscommunications. Lack of full and clear disclosure about what people are getting or what they're getting into." he said.
As for Al Taai, he said his friend has given him a cellphone to use in emergencies while he waits for his phone and internet to be connected. Primus Canada says it's still working on the case.
