Spruce Woods residents frustrated over days-long internet outage

Bell Internet customers in the Spruce Woods area said they have spent about 10 days without service, leaving many relying on mobile data, borrowing equipment or simply going without.

While users claimed the problem is widespread, Bell said it has “not identified any network outages” in the area.

The outage began on Nov. 6 and has extended nine days or more — the second disruption in less than a month, education assistant Jodey Mason told the Sun.

“My household has been without Bell MTS satellite internet since Nov. 6, after a similar 24-hour outage two weeks earlier,” she said.

“You don’t realize how much you rely on the internet day to day, when you don’t have it anymore. My son with games, our TV, just even our phones — we’re using our data up because we don’t have Wi-Fi at home.”

Mason said she and other residents were repeatedly told the issue was inside their homes and that new modems were needed.

“Lots of people were told they needed a new modem, but it wasn’t anything on Bell MTS satellites,” she said. “How can it be a home issue with the number of people who have complained? It has to be on their end.”

She added that customers were frequently given technician appointment windows — some for the next morning, others for dates as far away as Nov. 18 or Nov. 25 — “but no one showed up.”

“I think it was a way to placate us,” she said. “Nine days is an outrageous amount of time to be out of the internet in this day and age.”

Mason said she has passed the time reading and puzzling because data usage is becoming too expensive. “It’s a community outage — not just me”

Retired resident Heather Dalgleish experienced nearly the same pattern: a previous outage lasting more than 24 hours two to three weeks ago, followed by the current multi-day blackout.

“This isn’t just a problem with me. It’s a problem in the community,” she said. “There are several homes without internet.”

Dalgleish told the Sun her recent call to Bell stretched 30 minutes as she was asked to unplug and reset equipment, despite insisting it was a neighbourhood-wide issue. She was told a call back would come “in three to five business days.”

She said Bell’s customer service has long been challenging.

“You’re never on the phone with them for less than 30 minutes,” she said. “Lots of times you’re transferred from one person to another, and then you start all over explaining everything.”

To get by, Dalgleish has been borrowing a small Rogers portable modem that picks up a local cell tower signal.

“It’s not mine, but it’s the only thing working,” she said. “I’m paying for a service I can’t get.”

For Christina Jensen, a home-care aide, the outage began just two hours after Bell installed a new modem on Nov. 6.

“It said we had Wi-Fi with no internet,” she said. “I spent almost three hours on the phone with them.”

Jensen was told the earliest available technician could come Nov. 18, and the next available appointment — if she couldn’t take the first — would be Nov. 25, with a wide window from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“It almost seems like in that area they only come out on Tuesdays,” she said.

After learning that neighbours were also without service, Jensen phoned again, but was told Bell was unaware of any outage.

“It doesn’t seem like they want to do anything about it,” she said. “I’m paying for a service that I can’t get.”

Jensen, who uses Bell for her mobile phone, has unlimited data — a rare bright spot, she said, because “if I didn’t have that, I would be at a loss.”

According to her, Bell told her customers would be prorated for the days without service, but she said she will not pay her bill until she sees it applied.

Regarding the ongoing complaints, Morgan Shipley, Bell’s senior communications manager for Westman and Northern Canada, said the company has not detected problems in the area.

“We have not identified any network outages in the Spruce Woods area,” Shipley said. “Any customers experiencing service issues should call us at 204-225-5687 so we can assist.”

Residents say they’ll keep calling — though many say they just want acknowledgment that the problem is bigger than a single home.

“I’m very disappointed with the service,” Mason said. “Something should have been fixed by now.”

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