Eastlink customer told it would be August before repair appointment

Cheryl Burbridge is used to slow download speeds at her home on the Bay of Fundy, but when her internet connection died unexpectedly Thursday morning, she was shocked to learn just how long she'd have to wait to get reconnected.

"They said yes, there was a problem with my internet," she said. "They looked up on their list and saw that they could come on the 15th of August."

Burbridge said she was told that was the next available date when an Eastlink technician would be in the area and free to make a service call. She lives in Hampton, Annapolis County.

Change of date after CBC inquiries

But the situation changed after CBC News contacted Eastlink about the seven-week wait.

"I called back [Friday] to inquire, to see was I still on the 15th of August," said Burbridge. "Miraculously, they said, 'No the 27th,' and I thought the 27th of August? And they said, 'No, no, Monday the 27th of June.'"

Jill Laing, a spokeswoman for Eastlink, called it a booking error.

"This situation does not reflect our standard level of response time," she wrote in an email to CBC News. "This was an error in appointment booking that we have since corrected with the customer to ensure her service issue is addressed within the next few days."

Burbridge was happy her latest internet problem will be looked after much sooner that initially thought.

Long service call wait not unusual  

But she remained generally unimpressed with the service, which she complained was slow and spotty. She's had service breakdowns before and has waited weeks to have it restored.

"It's been three to four weeks because they say they only come over the mountain to the Hampton area on Mondays. So you have to wait your turn."

She said a neighbour who has been having problems with his service has informed her he's scheduled to get that Aug. 15 service call.

Burbridge said she is connected via an antenna on her home and not by fibre optic cable.