TELUS...need to rant

[TacoGrl]

Grrrr...can these people do anything right?

For those who don't know, TELUS is a phone company (I have been with them forever -phone, cell, internet).

Usually, things go awry and they ante up pretty well, but still the time spent getting them to correct things, one would think it would be easier for them (and me) to just do it right the first time!

This morning I had to deal with them over a couple of items I was charged for that I shouldn't have been...policy must have changed cuz it was like pulling teeth to get to the person who can fix it!

I would think from all the folks out of work, companies could be a tad more choosey in the folks they hire to represent them. I talked to a woman who had a chip on her shoulder the size of Norht America, then to a guy who was admittedly trying his best, but English was a struggle for him...finally I got through to customer retention and all was rectified, but what a frustrating ride to get there!

? Pls

[Love4himies]

They aren't as bad as Bell, I have dealt with both and Bell takes the cake for frustration.

[14+kitties]

Well, seeing as Telus is merged with Bell maybe it makes sense? They are worse than useless in most cases.
We had a telephone repair guy out here last week. Were actually amazed with the speed he showed up. Our business line was down. We realized it about 2:30 pm. Hubby went downtown to use his cell. We can't get reception up here and called them. The guy was here by 4:30! He told us there is a new president at Bell and since he came things have been changing for the good. We shall see.

[sugarcatmom]

Switch to Shaw!! They're awesome. I just moved and Telus wanted to charge me $35 to transfer my phone to the new address. Screw that, Shaw is giving me a month of digital phone for free. And I can move a gallizion times a year, they won't charge me for it.

[TacoGrl]

I did not know telus merged with bell...news sometimes doesn't get into my cave :sad: That would explain the changes though.

I have been thinking of SHAW, but too many people have my number and e-mail addy...it would be a nightmare for me to notify everyone! That ads to the frustration...

[Melinda]

they haven't merge with bell here, one of the women I keep for is the telus manager (she fixes all my problems).

[14+kitties]

Ooops, seems like they did have a discussion about merging but maybe never went through with it? My bad.
My biggest beef is that they can't seem to hire people who speak english well enough to understand your problem when you phone.

[TacoGrl]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

Ooops, seems like they did have a discussion about merging but maybe never went through with it? My bad.
My biggest beef is that they can't seem to hire people who speak english well enough to understand your problem when you phone.

The English comprehension thing is like that everywhere now it seems. :sad:

They try, but if they have low comprehension, only time will help that and I feel for them...but I need my bill fixed now!

What I really dislike are companies like Dell and AMEX who farm their call centres out to Pakistan...these CSRs are given scripts and dog help you if you have a question outside of their script! With so many out of work right now, I think these companies should be hiring here.

[Melinda]

their excuse is that if they hired here we wouldn't get the low rates or they'd end up bankrupt....geeeeesh, you can't win

[14+kitties]

Originally Posted by TacoGrl

The English comprehension thing is like that everywhere now it seems. :sad:

They try, but if they have low comprehension, only time will help that and I feel for them...but I need my bill fixed now!

What I really dislike are companies like Dell and AMEX who farm their call centres out to Pakistan...these CSRs are given scripts and dog help you if you have a question outside of their script! With so many out of work right now, I think these companies should be hiring here.

The biggest problem with that is that there is a large majority of us (Canadians) who won't work for a "call center". They have a bad rap. Some for good reason.

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Switch to Shaw!! They're awesome. I just moved and Telus wanted to charge me $35 to transfer my phone to the new address. Screw that, Shaw is giving me a month of digital phone for free. And I can move a gallizion times a year, they won't charge me for it.

I'm with Shaw, and have had lots of issues with them, one being that at certain times when I've tried to make a call, I get a recording saying all circuits are busy try your call again later. When you have to rely on your landline to call ohhh say 911, and can't cuz circuits are busy...well it's a piss off to say the least.

They are my provider for phone, internet and cable, and whenever I try to talk to anyone there to sort out issues I get the run around

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by Luvmypitgirls

They are my provider for phone, internet and cable, and whenever I try to talk to anyone there to sort out issues I get the run around

Sorry to hear that. I also use Shaw for internet and cable and have never had anything but wonderful customer service.

[JanM]

I can sure relate to your frustration with Telus - when I learned that they were selling pornography to "select" customers on their cell phones, I switched my land phone and Internet to Shaw - what a wonderful change!
When I phoned Telus to ask if they really were selling pornography, their standard reply was "we are doing it responsibly".

Unfortunately, Telus cell service is, as far as I can determine, the only reliable one here or I would have switched that too!

The very worst part of Telus is getting through their automated voice system - YUK!

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by TacoGrl

What I really dislike are companies like Dell and AMEX who farm their call centres out to Pakistan...these CSRs are given scripts and dog help you if you have a question outside of their script! With so many out of work right now, I think these companies should be hiring here.

I just have to jump in on this one......the times (only a couple) I had to call for Dell tech service I've gotten some awesome people in Eastern Canada who knew how to fix my issues instantly

[ancientgirl]

Sounds like my cable company. They are totally inept when it comes to solving an issue. Except solving the issue of being paid. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it. They are the only company that serves my area, and satellite is out of the question, because of the palm tree in front of my window, which is in the way of getting any kind of a signal.

[TacoGrl]

Originally Posted by growler

I just have to jump in on this one......the times (only a couple) I had to call for Dell tech service I've gotten some awesome people in Eastern Canada who knew how to fix my issues instantly

I have too, but I had to go through some not so pleasant service overseas first, but that was concerning a double dip they did on my MC.

Don't get me started on the automated voice system it was like out of a comedy act! I said "customr retention", it said "I heard you say e-mail", I say "no", it says "sorry, my mistake", I say "customer retention" again and it puts me through to billing?!? I did find out if you say "cancel", you will get right through to CR

[CearaQC]

We use Vonage for our phone. It runs off high speed internet. We use cable for internet. The only downfall is that if your internet goes down so does the phone. But we couldn't be happier with the service.

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by TacoGrl

I have too, but I had to go through some not so pleasant service overseas first, but that was concerning a double dip they did on my MC.

Mine was just tech support & I only ever got someone from Canada maybe I was just lucky

[Joeyjoejoe]

I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to Telcos... so let's see what I can answer

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

Ooops, seems like they did have a discussion about merging but maybe never went through with it? My bad.
My biggest beef is that they can't seem to hire people who speak english well enough to understand your problem when you phone.

You might be confusing what happened about 2-3 years ago. It was the Ontario Teachers Pension who made bid to buy Bell. Telus was part of the bidding war, but ultimately the Teachers won... then lost. At the 11th hour the deal got squashed. I still believe that there was a lot shady business going on with killing the deal, but I won't go into it.

Or you might be confusing it with the recent story of Bell purchasing Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile basically buys bulk air time from Bell and resells it to their consumers. Bell already owned 50% of the company, but recently bought the other 50%.

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

The biggest problem with that is that there is a large majority of us (Canadians) who won't work for a "call center". They have a bad rap. Some for good reason.

Money is a big issue, but one of the reasons why Bell moved their call centres to India was because of the turnover in employees. In Canada the average Rep lasts for only 3 months... but it takes at least 6 months of training for a Rep to be up to speed on all the products, services, policies, procedures, etc. This is why many Reps don't seems to know what they are doing.

In India, they don't have the problem with turnover, but the grossly under estimated the language barrier. Bell stated earlier this year that they will be moving some call centres back to Canada.

Originally Posted by JanM

I can sure relate to your frustration with Telus - when I learned that they were selling pornography to "select" customers on their cell phones, I switched my land phone and Internet to Shaw - what a wonderful change!
When I phoned Telus to ask if they really were selling pornography, their standard reply was "we are doing it responsibly".

Unfortunately, Telus cell service is, as far as I can determine, the only reliable one here or I would have switched that too!

The very worst part of Telus is getting through their automated voice system - YUK!

A few years back Telus got some heat for selling pornography on their mobile phones and stopped... for a while. But went back to it because it is such a huge revenue generator.

In fact, all major cell phone companies sell porn (wallpapers, themes, video, ring tones, apps, etc). I'm not stating whether they should or they shouldn't, but you can't escape it. It's like all cable and satellite companies selling porn PPVs.