vB Easy Archive - So the BB makes *EVERYONE* think I am Canadian?

Pages: 1

So the BB makes *EVERYONE* think I am Canadian?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: joako

So I call HP to see if they've fixed my laptop yet and I get a message "Thank you for calling HP Canadian customer care"

Also when I go to www.google.com I get "Google Canada"

What gives?

Posted by: aviationwiz

Since RIM is based in Canada, you've got a Canadian IP address which gets you to Google Canada. I take it your calls must also be routed through Canada as well.

Posted by: jase88

The IP address I can understand, as the RIM infrastructure is in Waterloo, Ontario. However I doubt all calls through Blackberries are routed through Canada. Could you imagine how much voice traffic that would generate from the U.S. alone?

My guess is the phone call is a fluke--or you got the wrong 800 number....

Posted by: roofus

It's a plot - we're everywhere!

Posted by: Hollywood Geek

Quote:

Originally Posted by joako

So I call HP to see if they've fixed my laptop yet and I get a message "Thank you for calling HP Canadian customer care"

Also when I go to www.google.com I get "Google Canada"

What gives?

Have you noticed not getting good service in bars and resturants? Everyone knows Canadians don't tip, and when they do it's very little or in their low value currency, so most tipped employees dislike Canadians. If you see this happening, it must be the Blackberry. Or maybe you're wearing a Maple leaf shirt?

Posted by: My.D0J0

If you are located in America, and your calls are saying they are routing through Canada, you may want to contact the FCC. It is illegal to route calls in this manner due to the Telecommunications Act 1996, unless of course those calls are actually bound for Canada.

What your carrier is doing is avoiding toll charges paid to long distance companies for carrying their calls. Qwest was recently embroiled in a lawsuit over this--they (notso)successfully routed calls to canada to avoid the interconnection fees to several long distance companies--millions of dollars worth.

Posted by: AlbertoM

Eh?

Posted by: roofus

Hoser!

Posted by: jase88

Take OFF, eh?

Posted by: roofus

Quote:

Originally Posted by My.D0J0

If you are located in America, and your calls are saying they are routing through Canada, you may want to contact the FCC. It is illegal to route calls in this manner due to the Telecommunications Act 1996, unless of course those calls are actually bound for Canada.

What your carrier is doing is avoiding toll charges paid to long distance companies for carrying their calls. Qwest was recently embroiled in a lawsuit over this--they (notso)successfully routed calls to canada to avoid the interconnection fees to several long distance companies--millions of dollars worth.

You must be a civil servant - or a civil servant wannabe!
:rolleyes2

Posted by: jase88

Quote:

Originally Posted by roofus

You must be a civil servant - or a civil servant wannabe!
:rolleyes2

Maybe IRS?

Posted by: My.D0J0

LOL! I guess it was too simple to guess that my living is earned at a company that sells long distance, and that i might be concerned that i was being criminally denied monies owed--you know, to feed or roof my family.

Posted by: aristoBrat

Quote:

Originally Posted by joako

So I call HP to see if they've fixed my laptop yet and I get a message "Thank you for calling HP Canadian customer care"

Also when I go to www.google.com I get "Google Canada"

What gives?

Google Canada probably sent you to the HP Canada site where I bet any 1-800 number listed would be for HP Cananda.

Posted by: spence

Canadian labour is well-educated (one of the least expensive places in the world to get a univesity degree) and cheap compared to US equivalent. Many companies are re-locating their support services to Canada -- not as cheap as India, but also not as "politically" charged. The HP office on the T-Can in Montreal handles all HP-UX support issues globally (99% sure). They may have expanded their skills/staffing to include hardware support as well. All this to say, HP Canada may in fact be the right number to call, no matter where you are calling from...

Posted by: CellTester

Florida? Isn't that the Canadian retirement state? Makes perfect sense to me...

Posted by: Corporate

Quote:

Originally Posted by jase88

Take OFF, eh?

I shamefully laughed at this one

Posted by: joako

Quote:

Originally Posted by CellTester

Florida? Isn't that the Canadian retirement state? Makes perfect sense to me...

Based on the intelligence of other Floridians (who cant even vote!! or know how to drive properly!!) I would have to say no.

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by My.D0J0

Why would you care if a carrier is routing your calls from a U.S. location to a U.S. location through Canada to avoid interconnect fees?

Posted by: NetGuyR

This thread title is pretty funny!

Posted by: kirbo20

Quote:

Originally Posted by joako

So I call HP to see if they've fixed my laptop yet and I get a message "Thank you for calling HP Canadian customer care"

Also when I go to www.google.com I get "Google Canada"

What gives?

Old thread I know but try this for google.com

72.14.207.99 as the URL and it will take you where you need to be.

Posted by: kidnplay

yup that does work.

Posted by: Seattle18

Quote:

Originally Posted by roofus

It's a plot - we're everywhere!

Except for on the battlefield... (did I say that?)

Posted by: grayglen

Actually, you need to check your history a little more carefully. The second world war started in Europe in September, 1939. Canada was at war against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy for more than two years before the U.S. entered WW II in December, 1941. The same thing happened in World War I.

On a population percentage basis, more Canadians died in World War I and II than Americans. It is, however, true that Canadians do tend to avoid unilaterial military adventures.

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by ocean18

Except for on the battlefield... (did I say that?)

I know you meant it is a friendly joke, but just don't tell that to Canadians that were maimed or who had family members die in the conflict in Afghanistan. Canada is participating in that.

for example:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...ery=afghanistan

Posted by: themonkeymafia

Quote:

Originally Posted by joako

So I call HP to see if they've fixed my laptop yet and I get a message "Thank you for calling HP Canadian customer care"

Also when I go to www.google.com I get "Google Canada"

What gives?

There are a number of HP call centres (and high tech call centres in general) in Canada.

MOst are in/around the London & Belleville Ontario areas

Posted by: mobile_pheen

so this thread went from a question.... to an eskimo/yankee battle??

this is sooooo wild!

Posted by: scaredpoet

Quote:

Originally Posted by mch

Why would you care if a carrier is routing your calls from a U.S. location to a U.S. location through Canada to avoid interconnect fees?

It's more a political issue than anything else, and also the concern is that the routing somehow forced other carriers (AT&T) to shoulder more of the burden on call tarriffs than they would have otherwise been required to.

Also, MCI was caught doing the same thing, and the big uproar there was that government communications (Defense Department, etc) were being routed through Canada, and such routing was a "threat to national security."

Of course, the funny thing about all of this is that government workers regularly use Blackberries, and ALL of that traffic gets routed through Canada, yet somehow that's okay, but the call routing wasn't.

Posted by: steva

In Nova Scotia, we have call centre's for HP, Cingular, Sprint/nextel, and I'm sure a number of other companies. I'm sure most of the people I talk to have no idea how often they're talking to canadians.

Posted by: nkewley

Email, PIN, and Carrier BIS is routed through Waterloo... no idea why they never put locations in other countrys... then again... I give props to RIM for staying Canadian owned.... most companies by this point would have been sold to someone in the US... or moved to the US...

As for support... geez... In Peterborough Ontario we have Apple, T-Mobile, a large collection agency for alot of automotive makers in the US,

Belleville ontario has hell... T-Mobile, HP, Roadrunner, Dell, and who knows what else...

And seeing most (not all) of the people that work at these places makes me wonder why they keep the contracts... ok.... moving on lol...

As for Google.. me having a Telus BB... I get Google.com no problem... only by typing in the www.google.com tho...

I am just rambling now...