Last July, I posted A Worldline Review on this blog. Frankly, it was in response to a negative review that was posted online about us that we considered unfair. The basic point of the post was, for every negative review, we receive a ton more positive, yet it’s only ones trashing us that draw traffic. The old squeaky wheel thing.

Since then that particular post gets read a bunch of times every day from folks looking for a Worldline review.

And it still receives comments all the time. Like this morning for a fella named George:

You say 72% of viewers believe what they read?

I think in your case the viewers maybe right as for every good review I read there is at least 10 bad ones?

I have found over the past 10 yrs. online reviews I have scouted have been 90% accurate & for this reason will not pursue your company for our business!

Negative reviews are simply going to happen. Google “iPhone sucks” and you’re get 69-million responses. What we know is, if a company is not listening to its negative reviews, they’re shooting themselves in your foot.

Here’s my response to George:

Hey there George, thanks for the feedback. This Worldline Review column was posted almost 8 months ago, yet it still is read a bunch of times every single day by Canadians looking for an alternative to ISP’s like Bell or Rogers. That’s very cool because it’s proving that more and more Canadians are finally coming to the realization that they don’t have to take it anymore and are looking for alternatives – like Worldline.

That said, you can trust me on this one, we pay attention to all our reviews a lot closer that you do. Although your numbers are off, (our positive reviews far outnumber the negative ones), we actually appreciate our negative reviews.

Why? Not because we’re masochists, it’s because we learn from them. The feedback from our customers, especially the ones that are having issues, provides us with the information we need to make Worldline better, to improve our processes and as a result, provide better service to our customers.

That’s what we’re all about. Providing the best possible service we can, and we’re very proud of what we do, (and if I do say so myself, justifiably so).

There are a handful of negative reviews that stand out – some do for years  – however for a bunch of those cases, their anger was caused because we cut off their service. No need to get into the “why,” but they ranted and that’s just a part of doing business.

There are a number out there however that were completely justified. Those people had legitimate service complaints because we were letting them down in some way. Here’s the thing though George; we most likely fixed what was wrong when they posted their complaint and they are still with us (our churn rate is the best in the industry), or we were unable to provide them the service they were looking for because, well, we simply couldn’t.

It’s unfortunate when that happens, but, for example 99.9% of our Internet service tickets are due to legacy infrastructure issues, meaning some folks live in places where getting broadband Internet is a dodgy prospect at best and regardless of who their provider is, their service would still be, by most standards, sub-par.

(There’s good news for those people, the federal budget just allocated billions to broadband infrastructure so those cases will become rarer and rarer in the future.)

George, Worldline is growing at an almost exponential rate, and the reason for almost half of that amazing expansion is due to our existing customers referring their friends and family to us.

Ask yourself, would you refer a friend or a family member to a service that sucks?

Those are the reviews we treasure, and rely on most.

All that said, of course no company is perfect. We still screw up from time to time. How we’re trying to be different is, we’re dedicating ourselves to be the most customer-focused ISP in the country, period.

We are on a mission and that is to be the choice for Canadians for their telecom needs not just because we have Unlimited Internet and Long Distance at a fair price; but because we are single best company in the country to work with. We want them to ask themselves, “why would I be with anyone else?”

This “why” is what we’re all about in 2014.

George, if you have any questions, please give our customer service people a shout. They’ll be happy to hook you up with the Worldline service that best fits your needs, and we’ll do our very best to be the best Internet and home phone service provider you’ve ever had.

That’s one of our current goals; to be the single best company to work for in the country.

Are we there yet? Nope, but if we’re not in the Top 100, we’re pretty damned close. In 2014 we are rededicating ourselves to our working culture, and to providing the best products and services in the industry and by doing so, make us the single best choice for an educated business and residential telecom marketplace.

To get there we are looking for the right kind of people. We need highly motivated, happy, creative people who bring it every day.

If that’s you, want to help us out?

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER (Perl/C++/SOA)

The Role

We are seeking a Software Developer with strong technical and architectural abilities and teamwork skills. This role will involve technical management of projects throughout the entire development cycle.  You will design, code, maintain and support both new software and enhancements to existing software to meet product specifications. You will also develop procedures to solve complex technical problems, act as a lead on less complex projects and participate in planning to achieve prescribed objectives.

We are seeking a highly motivated individual with exceptional knowledge of Perl, C/C++, relevant industry experience, strong object-oriented design skills and thorough knowledge of SQL and database application design. Working knowledge of XML and related technologies like XSD, SOAP and WSDL is also required.

Applicants should also have experience with the operation of the Linux Operating System and software development on that platform using the GNU tool chain.

Technical Qualifications:

• 3 or more years previous experience in Software Development
• C++
• SQL
• Perl
• PHP
• HTML/CSS
• VoIP
• GNU/Linux Development
• OOD/Large Software Systems preferred
• Beneficial : XML, SOAP, MySQL, Java

To apply please forward your resume and cover letter to:

careers@fibernetics.ca

Service Delivery Coordinator (contract)

The Role:

The Service Delivery Coordinator is responsible for working closely with the other members of the Service Delivery  Team.  This role plays a key part in ensuring successful installations of our residential customers’ telecommunication services and requires excellent customer service and negotiation skills.  This role will also be responsible for the proactive identification of missing notifications, due dates, and or missedcustomer expectations and the rescheduling of confirmed dates where required.

Responsibilities

• Ensure confirmation of installation dates with customers
• Rescheduling of installation dates as required
• Effectively interact with all levels of employees within Fibernetics
• Participate in documentation of Departmental Process and Procedures as required
• Participate in meetings as assigned
• Develop good working relationships with Suppliers
• Direct customer communication as required
• Other duties and projects as assigned

Essential Knowledge and Skills

Bilingual in both oral and written English and Hindi

• Excellent internal and external oral communication skills at all organizational levels
• Excellent written communication including the ability to write clear and professional reports, process and procedures
• Self-motivated and results oriented
• Able to work independently and efficiently to meet deadlines
• Extremely professional with excellent interpersonal, relationship, and communication skills
• Ability to propel andmaintain cross functional resources and relationships with internal and external customers

 This is a contract role to cover a maternity leave.

To Apply please forward your resume and cover letter to:

careers@fibernetics.ca

Canadians know all about the consequences of having the just a few companies dominate the telecommunications marketplace. Limiting the options when it comes to who can provide national services and who can’t limits competition and innovation and leads to price gouging and unfair business practices.

As of last week, it looks like our friends south of the border are heading down the same path.

The New York Time’s Nobel Prize winning economics columnist, Paul Krugman wrote a scathing take-down on a proposed merger in the U.S. that would make Comcast, already the biggest telecommunications company in that country even larger with its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

Here’s the key points:

Last week’s big business news was the announcement that Comcast, a gigantic provider of cable TV and high-speed Internet service, has reached a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable, which is merely huge. If regulators approve the deal, Comcast will be an overwhelmingly dominant player in the business, with around 30 million subscribers.

So let me ask two questions about the proposed deal. First, why would we even think about letting it go through? Second, when and why did we stop worrying about monopoly power?

On the first question, broadband Internet and cable TV are already highly concentrated industries, with a handful of corporations accounting for most of the customers. Once upon a time antitrust authorities, looking at this situation, would probably have been trying to cut Comcast down to size. Letting it expand would have been unthinkable.

Interestingly, one cliché seems to be missing from the boilerplate arguments being deployed on behalf of this deal: I haven’t seen anyone arguing that the deal would promote innovation. Maybe that’s because anyone trying to make that argument would be met with snorts of derision. In fact, a number of experts — like Susan Crawford of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, whose recent book “Captive Audience” bears directly on this case — have argued that the power of giant telecommunication companies has stifled innovation, putting the United States increasingly behind other advanced countries.

Except for Canada of course. We are the poster child for how not to run a telecom industry. Due the concentration of customers in three mega-companies, practically every Canadian has a Big Telco story about how they were ripped off, and due to the restrictions in the marketplace, they have few places to turn.

Worldline is one of the few competitors out there who are throwing a wrench into the gears of Big Telco, forcing them to reign in their price gouging and unfair contracts. Yet, too few Canadians know that, a), they have an option in a service like ours, or b) too few have geographical issues that leaves them with only one provider.

The only way to beat these guys is first, government action to take the shackles off and let competition truly thrive. However, until that happens, what will really be a game changes is for more Canadians to simply just say “no” to Big Telco and take their business elsewhere.

Oh, by the way, our number is 1(855) 299-0025.