Internet

Though this is not an issue with the Landlord, it helps place everything in perspective. I believe the following "deceit" falls under Promissory Estoppel.

At the end of December, 2013, during a social function, an acquaintance, Chris Richin, mentioned he has a friend who just got a job in Quebec and asked me if I am not interested in taking over his lease. I expressed interest and asked about Internet access, which was very important to me, and Chris told me that yes, it's available, but I should arrange it with his friend, Francois Deribere-Desgardes.

Internet access was foremost on my mind as for me it is a lifeline service. I use VoIP for voice communication, bypassing the expensive offers of my cell phone provider and I also get free SMS via my 3G or 4G Data (mobile Internet) connection - again, with no need to get it from my mobile telephony provider. (Also, I back up most of my data to the cloud.) At that time I was using an "Unlimited Browsing" (UMB) option from Speakout Wireless that cost $10/month and was being discontinued. When, months ago, I had started using the service, the speed (bandwidth) was good, but as the service was approaching its retirement date, the quality had decreased as the provider was trying to get its customers to move on to a far worse deal: 100 MB of data at full speed for the same $10/month. I did not mind temporarily switching to the new plan, as 100 MB per month would have probably been sufficient for VoIP, texting and Google Maps (directions), but only as long as I could rely on a full Internet connection when not on the go. Incidentally, Speakout Wireless also offers through its pay-per-use model unparalleled privacy and anonymity, which in this age of total surveillance is important to me, so I certainly did not mind using their service. When it worked, that is.

At the time, I was living in some inexpensive temporary accommodation smack in the middle of downtown, had relatively adequate, unlimited Internet service included, but the place was not conducive to intense work without distractions and was also quite far from where I was getting treatment for injuries sustained in an MVA. Things were not perfect, but despite all the friends and acquaintances dropping by and saying hi (which is always a good thing and hard to turn away from), I still could do some work. I thought that subletting or taking over a lease was a win-win across the board: my new acquaintance would reduce the losses resulting from having to break the lease while respecting the terms of his lease, the Landlord would gain a responsible Tenant and have his rent paid, while I could receive my treatment and go through the important projects that have been piling up and work on them intensely, without distractions. All I wanted was to finish at least my most pressing, time-sensitive project, with a fast approaching deadline, so that I can go in a trip overseas for a family emergency as soon as finished.

The first question I asked my new acquaintance, Francois Deribere-Desgardes (Chris's friend) -during the same social function where Chris approached me- was whether Internet was available. His answer was yes, via TekSavvy ADSL, and not only that, but it was fully paid until the 8th of January. He suggested I could try it until then and afterward I could take it over if I wanted it. That was perfect for me, as I needed a good, working Internet connection to find a better deal than what I was getting from Speakout Wireless - and that's not easy in Canada. Moreover, setting up service with existing providers is often a miss more than a hit. The major incumbent providers, Bell and Rogers, offer terrible service at very high prices. Their competition, TekSavvy and Distributel, offer good service at more reasonable prices (still quite high), but they use Bell and Rogers networks and depend on them to start service. Taking advantage of the weak regulatory regime, the latter seldom live up to their part of the agreement and sabotage their competition, resulting in delays and issues that the former (TekSavvy and Distributel) cannot always resolve in a timely manner for reasons outside their control (see OpenMedia.ca + Gatekeepers for more). Additionally, not long ago I ordered a "free trial" of Bell's "Fibe" service, but not only that I could never get the modem they sent me authorized, but I even ended up paying almost $30 while getting nothing in return. In short, it was simply better, easier and time-saving for me to take over an existing account than to open a new one.

When I arrived at the place, on January 2, I discovered that the Internet access was improvised and that Francois Deribere-Desgardes was connecting through a strange, basic and cheap contraption that was not even a router, but a Netis DL-4101 "modem" that relied on the computer to drive it, acting pretty much like a phone jack to network adapter. For us to complete the transaction I had to use my mobile Internet connection (which was not supposed to be working but was magically still on, rather unreliably so). At one point, as we kept switching his Netis bridge between us, he even connected through someone else's WiFi connection and suggested I do the same. He also had a real modem / router. According to him, it no longer worked but if I could fix it, it was mine to keep and use. He then supposedly attempted to set up his account on my computer, on at least two separate occasions, but failed repeatedly. Later on, he refused to provide me with the login and password so that I can try setting it up myself, claiming that it is the same as the one he used for his banking with ["Canada's most respected bank"]. He undertook to give me his account credentials as soon as he managed to change one of the passwords.

Seeing his struggles, I asked him what he programs in (he had listed himself as a "computer programmer" in his Lease) and he told me "this: I break into WiFi." It was quite obvious that his involvement with computers was mostly from a mere user perspective. I asked him why did he misrepresent facts in his application / Lease and he shared his belief that "in this country, you have to be aggressive; no one will give you work otherwise." For a moment, I thought he was paraphrasing Scarface and got lost in translation: "In this country, you gotta make the MONEY first. Then when you get the MONEY, you get the POWER. Then when you get the POWER, you get the WOMAN." :)

When I insisted on asking him what he does, he claimed he's an "insurer." I asked him to clarify - is he a broker, a sales agent or does he work in actuarial science? He was evasive. Later on, while doing further background checks as I realized I was in an undesirable situation, I discovered that to be false as well - "insurer" was his (ex?)-girlfriend's career, not his (he had been renting the place together with her).

On January 20 my Speakout UMB service irrevocably died. By then I had managed to find a replacement service and on January 21 I managed to order a SIM card from my new provider.

The SIM card cost me $20, I added $100 to the account once I received it more than a week later and I finally had working Data by the end of the month, at a total cost (for this last provider) of about $140, after taxes, etc.

(to be continued)