On to round 5 now. Wind Mobiles, HTC is the absolute worst phone and service I've ever had. In 10 months we've had: HTC Maple #1, broken track ball within first 5 months. I happen to notice that there are a lot of postings on CraigsList offering to repair the trackball for an HTC. If this has become a cottage industry, it's pretty good sign, the phone is a piece of crap. HTC Maple #2, after 4 months a lovely Microsoft OS meltdown rendered the phone inoperable, for all intents and purposes. trip # 3 to downtown toronto to fix. HTC Maple #3 waited 20 minutes in the store to get my phone replaced. The replacement wouldn't read the SIM card. Started over. HTC Maple #4 - got home, the power cord/sync cord isn't recognized. Result - my work phone is dead. One more hour + our of the office to go down town to get phone #5. You'd think they (Wind) would say, yeah, ok, we fucked up on this, we'll give you a credit for a new phone. But no, they want their balance paid and are offering that up as a 'solution' and the dickhead CSR offering it as the "only" solution. Actually the solution is to get another phone and go to a carrier that works. Wind has great plans, and simple bills, I do laud them for that. But the service (more dropped calls in 10 months that the previous 10 years with 3 other carriers!) sucks, and the phones are cheap. That can only take you so far.......

Cogeco and their digital phone. Crapoloa so far

I switched my great aunt in southern Ontario from Bell Canada (for reasons outlined below) to Cogeco - where their bundle rates were well below what Bell was offering for something similar. If Bell didn't screw their customers (especially ones that have been with Bell since the 50s) then we wouldn't have switched to a cable TV provider muscling in to the phone space. But alas, Bell was overcharging for line insurance and phone insurance (my aunt didn't even have a bell phone) and in a real fuck you - Bell didn't refund that insurance for more than 3 months, but they were quite happy to charge if for 8 years. Anyway, we switched to Cogeco. I guess these guys should stick to digital cable TV. The phone service has been cacking out now for a while and totally down twice this week.

When we make a customer service call (it takes over a minute to get to phone service and the first fucking dumb question the recorded message asks you is 'do you still want to talk to a CSR' like no, i don't i just thought I'd call and waste my time, we ask to get the phone line fixed, we get a nice 8am-5pm window. Really? I'm mean effen really, are you sure 9 effen hours is tight enough for you to figure out when to come by??? My aunt, who's quite old, was originally told she'd have to wait 4 days before a technician could come out. Four days for a senior to wait to have phone service. Really. Have cable and phone companies gone fucking mad. They're making record profits but it just seems a never ending technical set of mess ups or ridiculous customer service experiences after another.

I think the only strategy here is to call Bell, tell them you're going to leave for another provider, get them to make you an offer so you're being screwed less, and then stick with Bell where at least you get reliable phone service. For Internet and TV sure, stick with cogeco, but just don't expect smart CSR's or a reliable technician : )

Wind Mobile - Blows

Oy! I'm really at a loss here. I know, I know, that old adage, you get what you pay for keeps coming back up. I have to state up front that I will give Wind Mobile a shout out for simplification of their service. I like that there is one fee - for a whole bevy of service, and when you get your bill, it's JUST THAT FEE plus the HST of course (up here in Canada). No other bullshit fees like all the other carriers. Even when you roam they only charge you a modest amount - Modest = less than what the other telco jerks charge if you go over you're monthly minute allotment. Canadians are royally screwed by their telcos. And the one company that doesn't suck, Wind, blows. I mean their service. This pains me, really. I like their plan, my plan. It's so cheap. BUT - it's only cheap when I can make a call, or receive one.

I've lost count of the times I've been 'on hold' with some customer support department (notice how it doesn't matter what the industry is, every time you call they're experiencing a larger than normal call volume. If each company's service sucks that bad they should fire the product development team or the CTO), and just as I get through to a CSR wind drops the call, but i digress. With Wind Mobile I get text messages - a day later. I get voicemail messages and a text messages, usually at the same time. I'm lucky when I get a call.

I've been in my house, on the front porch or in the back yard and have dialed out 5 times in a row before getting a signal or a number to go through. I've had my phone on the desk and had hours later a voicemail message show up. The phone didn't ring. I have more conversations that get cut off after 15 minutes than not. So, great plans, great consumer facing billing and messaging, but, uh, oh yeah, the underlying service - is crap!

This means, a) i'm going to have to find another provider because I can't afford to not get or make calls for work and b) i'm going to get screwed by the other telcos. Canadians pay an inordinately high amount for mobile services, and broadband for that matter.

I know all the big guys have their discount brands like fido, chattr, virgin, koodoo, but their model should really be "we screw you less", since they also take on fees, and nickel and dime you till your fucking phone bill is well north of $80 a month. Why, I ask, as a visitor here, do Canadians just take this????

So - if anyone has a suggestion for a Canadian mobile company that screws you less, let me know - morleybrown@gmail.com I'll check them out. Until then, I'm singing the telco blues up here in the great white north!!

Good explanation on how the big Cable & Telcos try to screw Canadians.

Like it's not bad enough they're protected oligopolies.

A great video explaining Usage Based Billing.





Sign the petition at http://stopthemeter.ca

By the way, if you watched 24 hours of TV on digital or HD, 7 days a week and 30 days a month, you wouldn't be charged anymore by the cable or Telco TV provider. Why? It doesn't really cost them more.

But funny when you use the Internet through them, where they (the cable and telco TV providers) don't have to share any subscriber fees with the TV companies, they say they have to charge you for more costs. Bullcookies. Greed. Sign the petition. Tell the big companies to shove it.

Some credit where credit is due: Bell and T-mobile.

In previous posts I've railed on Bell and T-mobile for either really ongoing screw ups, or a bad customer service experience. I mean, I'm surprise the VP who oversees Bell's billing still have a freakin job it's so bad. But I digress. I had two positive experiences, compliments not of senior management, but the people on the front lines, the CSRs.

Bell.

A CSR at Bell get's a "thanks" and a thumbs up for addressing a situation and being understanding. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had my aunt's Internet, Phone and TV shifted from Bell to Cogeco. I also had my aunt on Yak long distance. When the plan shifted over, Cogeco cut it off to early, and my aunt ended up paying Bell's normal long distance rates. Which, by the way, are friggin astronomical. Really? Why?
Anyway, nobody would own this. Bell blamed Cogeco, Cogeco blamed Yak, Yak blamed Cogeco and Bell. I went around the three of them about three times actually. Finally the guy at Bell took ownership and understood the situation, and kindly reversed the charges, even though it really was a Cogeco/Yak issue. So, thanks Mr. CSR from Bell, great to finally have a positive experience with the mothership of Telcos, and it was because of someone on the front lines, not a dink at head office.

T-mobile.

So, yes, I was really really ticked off at T-mobile for giving my number away after not being notified of a 0 balance while in Canada. Right before a conference I had all my business cards with the wrong number. Anyway, I ended up having to get another sim card and eventhough I really would have liked to have T-mobile kiss my ass goodbye, to get another number in time for the conference, it was indeed a T-mobile #. The kudos go out to a young woman working at a store in Austin, TX. I went to a conference in Austin, and forgot to bring my SIM card with me for the US.
I stopped in the store, she gave me a new sim, NO CHARGE, and had me up and running in no time. What great customer service. She made my day. I had to pay freaking $25 for a sim card in Canada and that was to become a client, ON TOP of buying a phone.
Southern charm to be sure. So, Thank You and a thumbs up to the sales associate in Austin, TX from T-mobile, who made me, the customer, a happy customer.

(see, I'm not always negative : )


Morley.

Some credit where credit is due: Bell and T-mobile.

In previous posts I've railed on Bell and T-mobile for either really ongoing screw ups, or a bad customer service experience. I mean really, I'm surprised the VP who oversees Bell's billing still has a freakin job their system is so bad. But I digress. I had two positive experiences, compliments not of senior management, but the people on the front lines, the CSRs.

Bell.

A CSR at Bell get's a "thanks" and a thumbs up for addressing a situation and being understanding. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had my aunt's Internet, Phone and TV shifted from Bell to Cogeco. I also had my aunt on Yak long distance. When the plan shifted over, Cogeco cut it off too early, and my aunt ended up paying Bell's normal long distance rates. Which, by the way, are friggin astronomical. Really? Why? Does it really cost most than when I 'sign up with a plan'?

Anyway, nobody would own this. Bell blamed Cogeco, Cogeco blamed Yak, Yak blamed Cogeco and Bell. I went around the three of them about three times actually. Finally the guy at Bell took ownership and understood the situation, and kindly reversed the charges, even though it really was a Cogeco/Yak issue. So, thanks Mr. CSR from Bell, great to finally have a positive experience with the mothership of Telcos, and it was because of someone on the front lines, not a dink at head office. As for Cogeco and Yak, you get the 'bird' for passing the buck.

T-mobile.

So, yes, I was really really ticked off at T-mobile for giving my number away after not being notified of a 0 balance while in Canada. Right before a conference I had all my business cards with the wrong number. Anyway, I ended up having to get another sim card and eventhough I really would have liked to have T-mobile kiss my ass goodbye, to get another number in time for the conference, it was indeed a T-mobile #. The kudos go out to a young woman working at a store in Austin, TX. I went to a conference in Austin, and forgot to bring my SIM card with me for the US.
I stopped in the store, she gave me a new sim, NO CHARGE, and had me up and running in no time. What great customer service. She made my day. I had to pay freaking $25 for a sim card in Canada and that was to become a client, ON TOP of buying a phone.
Southern charm to be sure. So, Thank You and a thumbs up to the sales associate in Austin, TX from T-mobile, who made me, the customer, a happy customer.

(see, I'm not always negative : )


Morley.

OMFG - Bell, What the hell. The horror never stops!!!

I have to say, I wouldn't wish Bell's billing and customer service on my worst enemy. Really, and I'm sure I have Bell shares in some international mutual fund some place, and that's even more disappointing. It's non stop f@#$ up a after f@#$ up after f@#$ up. How can a company run on such a messed up billing system? HOWWWWWW. Inquiring minds wanna know.

I called at the end of December to cancel Internet for my aunt in southern Ontario. I knew that there is this 30 day fine print bullshit that they make you cancel ahead of time. At least I knew cuz I got dinged by Rogers for that once. I thought when you're done a service you're done, but not in Canadian telco land. So, I gave 30 days noticed because I heard the local cable provider Cogeco finally had cable service where she lived.

Let me state first the reason for the switch was simple - for $35 we got low bandwidth and a cap of 2G. The only people that use is are my extended family when they visit my aunt. That's not competitive. And thank God the dipshits at Bell have some competition. For a better speed we get 7G of data at a better price. Great. So Bell could kiss my ass and I was happy to switch over. Not so easy, it's Bell remember. The worst F@#$%'n billing system the world has yes known. Naturally the call centre plebe didn't put the f'n order in, and it wasnt' cancelled. Even with my 30 days.

I knew, in advance, based on my experience living in Toronto, how f'd up Bell can and would be, so I called to follow up. A little too late though. Indeed no order went through. I went down for a visit and packed up the modem for my aunt. Bell also charges a rental for a wireless modem rather than letting you use your own. So, there was some data that went on, whether from my smart phone, or that her computer was still plugged in to the modem, but nominal, like next to nothing. I'll define nothing as less than a meg for the month of February.

So I call Bell, sure as shit the f@#$ it up, and because it showed the modem in use for Feb, the mothers count February, and now apply 3o days in advance, so in April, if they don't F@#$ it up again, it'll be over. BUT, Bell reaps an extra $75 in revenue for their F@#$ up and my aunt, a pensioner, is out another $75 because of the telco behemoth's lack of competence. I can't help but wonder, given the consistent nature of their f@#$up over and over if this is planned, at some level. So that the company can make more $$ from people leaving. It's appalling. Even if you get a mega deal from Bell and despite how much you may dislike your local cable provider, I have to say, I'm hard pressed to think of a telco, here or in the USA so fricked up and difficult to deal with as Bell. I would never use them again. I've wasted sooooooo much time on the phone with them. I'm aghast at what a clusterf@#$ of a billing system they have and that they continue to be in business. Gotta love Canada's telco oligopoly.

And, ok, so get this, the call center guy tells me he can't cancel the whole account. And he can't see notes from other departments. Funny, but my aunt get's one bill from Bell, but when you call in, you have to call each department separately to cancel. At least that's what the CSR said. Really?

I hope the cable guys clean Bell's clock and that maybe one day in the future, if they're around, they can get their shit together, and do it in a way where they don't screw the customer as strategy for staying in business.
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If you're a shareholder and concerned about the long term viability and profitability of Bell given the substandard product offering and unfreakin believably terrible billing and customer service systems, WRITE INVESTOR RELATIONS AND COMPLAIN. A company this bad can't be a good long term investment.

FOR INQUIRIES FROM INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS

Lyne Roy
1, Carrefour Alexander Graham Bell, Building A, 6th Floor
Verdun (Quebec), H3E 3B3

Telephone:
1 800 339-6353

Fax:
(514) 786-3970

Email:
investor.relations@bce.ca