So last week I got a call from Bell trying to lure me to their television and internet services. Usually I ignore these call and simply say no, but I thought I would hear them out and hear what they had to offer. They kindly informed me that I was one of their “preferred customers”
So they set a date for their ExpressVu installer to come, which was today between noon and 5pm. They called me on Saturday and left a voicemail saying they would need a letter from my landlord to install the dish, and if there was any problems I should call them back. Then they called on Sunday to ask if I had the letter. They told me they would freeze the order until I could confirm the letter. At this point I already booked the afternoon off work to be here at home. I then called the super and called them back to tell them I could not get a letter until Monday morning, but the operator told me that the previous operator cancelled my order. She then reinstated my order, for Tuesday, but escalated the order so it would still happen on Monday.
So this morning, I spoke to my super and he told me that he could not give me a letter because they did not want people drilling into the building. Apparently previous installations have caused leaks and such. I called Bell to let them know, but they informed me that I would not need a letter if it was installed on the balcony. So midway through the afternoon there was still no technician, I called to confirm my appointment was still valid. Bell informed me it was.
At 5:45, Bell called me to confirm an appoint for tomorrow. At this point, I told then that my appointment was for today and that I had been waiting at home all afternoon for them. I cancelled the order altogether and they transfer me over to Sympatico so I could cancel that as well. The only reason I was taking up the offer was for both services.
I just spent the last 45 minutes on hold and when I finally get an operator I get hung up on. There was then no attempt to call me back.
Needless to say I am extremely disappointed with Bell, Bell ExpressVu and Bell Sympatico. So much for being one of their preferred customers. It’s easy enough to sign up to all their services (residential service, mobility, cable and internet) but if you want to discuss any of their services, you would need to speak to 4 different customer service representatives. I guess I’m sticking with Rogers. Does anyone have Rogers Home phone? I’m very very very tempted to swtich.
PS: I hate Emily the automated Bell operator. I want to speak to a REAL person. I wonder if this is how they treat all their “Preferred Customers?”
UPDATE : So I called Bell back this morning. They answered the phone quickly enough (only on hold a couple of minutes). I explain to them my story and the service rep is very sympathetic. She then informs me that the modem is waiting at Canada Post and if I wanna try the service. I politely tell her that, NO I want to cancel the service. She then proceeds to put me on hold for another 10 minutes. After which she asks if I want to try the service since the modem has arrived. ( a: I have not received the modem b: I have not gotten a notice from Canada Post say that the modem is here). I tell her again, that if she can not cancel my service, I would like to speak to someone who can. She then says that she can do that for me and gives me a confirmation number.
Dear Bell… Why must you keep trying to push the service, when the person obviously wants to cancel. You are only making them more irritable. And Why must you put your customers on hold for 10 minutes (or more) at a time. This is unacceptable. The last excuse I want to hear from you is that all companies are like this. Yes it is sadly true, but that shouldn’t be the excuse for your own lack lustre Customer service experience.
A bit of extra insight. So I heard from someone that the reason why customer service reps at Bell are so reluctant to cancel any of your services is because the cancellation of service gets marked down on that reps record. I think that is lousy considering in many cases the cancellation is beyond that reps control and is probably due to someone elses lack of service.
Rogers is really no better. I have had several issues with my rogers digital cable not working for the past 4 weeks, after several calls and three no shows for the Techs I have sat home for 9 hours waiting for someone to show up. Everytime I call customer service they indicate that what I have been told in the past is not indicated on my file. I even had two techs call me in the same evening telling me they would be at my house in 5 minutes and two and a half hours later when I called Customer Service to find out where they were they told me there was a note on my file that indicated they had tried to call me and I wasn’t home. I think I have consumer rage!! I am fed up!! i just switched here from Bell as I had 5 accounts with Bell and also got the run around and had to deal with Customer service from every other country except our own.
I am a recent employee of Bell Expressvu or Bell TV or whatever they want to us to call it today. Now I am an experienced rep with years of experience in customer service and I am going to tell you what I think the major problems are.
First of all I think its ridiculous to outsource technical support to India and Manila where they talk so fast with such a heavy accent even I can’t understand what they are talking about. Guess what folks, we have to call them everyday! We don’t like it either. Cheaper?? Maybe, but absolutley horrible customer service. And hey I get hung up on by them at least once a day so don’t feel bad.
Second thing here two words “Outsourced Technitions” and the dispatching of these technitions, oh my goodness! I’ve never seen such a stupid system. At my old job I could call the technitions dispatcher and even the tech themselve to find out where they were at and when they would be at my customers home. Not with bell. I have to call a supervisor who has to call another department who has to find the company the job has been given to and then try to find the tech. No wonder so many appointments get missed. Nevermind that if there are notes on the job its in mysterious number and lettered coding the ends up meaning nothing in the end. Basically I can book the technition and cross my fingers they arrive.
I do my best but at the end of the day if you call and start yelling at me right off the bat then I really don’t want to be on the phone with you. Would you? Sometimes I think people forget that on the other end of the line is just a regular person trying to do their job the best they can. Trust me its not the job I wanted to have right now.
Bell certainly doesnt make the job easy for us with its maze of different departments and reps that can only do certain things. Part of our job is offering products to everyone that calls in, everyone, even if they’ve called in 10 times and never had thier problem resolved. It doesn’t make sense but it’s a huge corporation and they talk a big game about how the customer is important but they just want the money. Rogers is no better as I’ve had enough problems with them!
Yes I agree some people don’t do their job very well and they don’t care. But there are some good agents who do everything they can to help even when the customer is not pleasant or downright rude.
Dawn
Even calling bell to cancel a phone is a fucking problem with them. they have the absolute worst idea of how to opperate a buisness. It’s like talking to an ex girlfriend about why this didn’t work out. They have taking me fury to a new level. why would they need a fucking mounth notice to cancell my phone when I am paying 400 dollars to do so. You would think that the would just replace my broken phone. I give them 10 years till they go out of buisness.
Bell suckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkssssssssssssss. I knew the company blows but to see all these comments just confirms it more for me. I have had nothing but problems with them and in the past year I had to part with so much money just to get rid of these bastards. In this day and age I dont understand why companies still resist in fixing their customer service; after all if it wasn’t for us there would be no them.
I’m a well-experienced Rogers Wireless customer care rep (well, I usually do spot floor support work for new agents). Companies create the segregated departments to save money. Imagine how much it would actually cost these companies to consolidate these departments? I know none of you care, but your call to complain is costing the company more money than it would be to just be rid with you. That’s the unforunate truth. That’s the only reason why companies outsource. However, they just can’t have their revenue run off to the competition. I work for ROGERS and I have BELL SYMPATICO services. I was looking to upgrade to a 10 Mb package but apparently that offer is only for NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY. I brought it to their attention this is an unfair way to do business and strongly advised them to reconsider the way they respond to me, giving my mother has been with bell home phone for over 40 years. My mother would be so willing to axe her home phone services if I just tell her to go to Rogers Home Phone. However, the cable infastructure in my area is good, but not that great. You have to be in a downtown core to get good service nowadays, which isn’t a luxury for the majority of us. On the cellular phone side of things, Rogers does reimburse hazardous charges (ie. iphone data charges, insane voice usage, etc etc.). Bell has a serious problem with the way they do business.. and that is with home phone/internet/tv, they don’t do business credit checks. They have their own in-house credit system which is pretty crap IMHO. Rogers has the other thing. I understand all of your problems, but with me (even before I became a CSR for rogers wireless) I’ve had nothing but exceptional service from BOTH Bell and Rogers. Maybe it’s the way I talk to him or something that seems to have this oddly positive effect on them/me. Bell sympatico REMOVED my contract without ANY fees, and kept me on my 7Mb Total Internet Performance package, $49.95 a month with a $10 Monthly Service Fee credit! My charges are currently $42.09 every month after modem fees, taxes. For my package.. for my bill to stay like this every month without worries… that’s a company I can rely on! Bell has done nothing but good to me and I’m deeply sorry you folks have seen the other side of the “Bell Hell” fence.
In edit to my post, I decided to wait it out to see if Bell would offer a 10Mb package to me, though I’m an existing customer. Figuring I could always spin to get the package or just head off to Rogers… it really doesn’t matter which way I go because of the positive experiences I’ve had with both companies being greater than my negatives. Well, Bell Sympatico rentention would have to answer that inquiry of mine further as I’ve never spoken with them yet.
this is just my opinion but i feel 1 company is no better than the other,, i had rogers for everything (home phone tv internet and cell phones ) all my house services started to screw up and they wanted me to wait 5 weeks for a service call i could not make phone calls couldnt use internet and could not even watch tv
after many hours of complaining they told me that i hafto wait because i am already a customer and if i was a new customer ordering there service i would get installed the next day and if i was not happy waiting the 5 weeks then cancell,, so i did cancell every thing went back to bell and now rogers calls at least 4 times a day begging me to come back im sure i will end up having trouble with bell eventually but for now they are giving me a great deal
Thank you everyone who has posted their horror stories, reading them confirms that People who have been taken advantage of by “BIG BUSINESS” should realize that if enough people speak out and let the bigwigs know, something might get done.
My biggest problem started when I called to advise them of my moving date. When my plans changed, I called to say NOT to cancel right away and that I would call back. Ex vu, high speed and phone all stopped working on the day I was originally supposed to move but had cancelled.They assured me it was not of their doing!I said “all my services are out but you didn’t do it?”.WTF! They said they would send a techie at a cost of $76 if they found it was my phone. No one ever showed and they said they came and everything was supposed to be working. Nothing was.Meanwhile, I am forced to deal with the hassels of moving by using my cell.I recieved a call from someone after a month saying THEY made the mistake and that their people had activated my number at xxx adress.This was close to my adress but off by a number.I checked ,being in a small town, that adress was a few lots over and was a vacant lot!SO…obviously I was fed some bullshit story. I was pleased that they credited my account for 6 weeks of unused service but was told that they were only obliged to pay me $20 for my trouble of having to use my cell phones since they can’t be responsible for they way I have facilitated my calls! I have bell mobility!!!They say too bad, they are a separate company, you get $20 for being such a loyal customer for the last 10 years! More like a sucker!!! So I make arrangements for the extra $600 I am billed for over minutes.I come up a little short on the last amount”Having lots of extra payments at the beginning of a new house purchase, one has to choose beween feeding your kid or waiting till next pay”,they cut my phones for $134. When I called,I worked out with the guy that I would pay on payday and that my phone would be reactivated in 30 min. I called back after 2 hrs and was told that I needed to pay $134 to get service.He went and talked to someone(sure)and told all I would need is my confirmation # which my wife had but I couldn’t reach since the cells were cut. I called back with the # 30 mins later and was told by a third rep that I have to pay $134 plus $20 per phone to reactivate! I bloody lost it on the guy!!!! I had been as patient as I could but snapped when I recieved the “read out of the manual” bullshit from this ASS who couldn’t give a shit that I pay over $300 a month for all my services and have been with them since I was old enough to own my own place over a decade ago. His shift was over and he told me to “have a nice night” and he hung up! I called back and found the offices were closed being 1802 est. I am fucking done. If enough people realize that money talk and bullshit walks and can their ass, MAYBE someone uptop will pull their head away from the caviar and see that the competition is BLOATED with their disgruntled and mistreated customers. Up yours bell. I may have to pay penalties(which might take a while for you to recieve),,I may respond to a call after a few hang ups and few check that I, for sure, sent! Maybe I will hire someone Russian to talk to one of their people in India and get a good laugh.
I may be in for the same treatment, though I hope not, from another company but I cannot in good conscience kepp shelling out for such insanely terrible customer service. I await all the calls asking what can be done to get back such a valued long term customer. STAY AWAY FROM BELL!!!
I have always known that Bell sucks. Fortunately, I have had decent dealings in regards to moves (4 of them in the last 5 years and one out of province.) All of my negative experiences come from my dealings with Bell Express Vu or Bell TV as they are calling it now. The first time came when I tried to get me express vu account switched to my name. The dish was a gift from an ex girlfriend. Would you believe it took me over 18 months of arguing with inumerable “customer service reps” to get the account name switched over. They allowed me to move the account to 4 different adresses without the main account holders approval but would not change it to my name. When I finally told them I would cancel my service and switch, that is when they finally decided to change the account to my name.
2ND POST
The final straw came this week. All of a sudden me express vu started losing channels. It was at the rate of 12 a day. Twice I tried to call and waited over an hour on hold. I had to go. 10 days after starting to lose channels I finally get through. The Tech takes me through several steps trying to get the system to work. When it still doesn’t she tells me it is because of their mistake. They never sent me a new card to update my system and it would take 5-7 business days to get me a new card. Their mistake and I still have to wait over a week to get it resolved. Having had enough of Bell and their horrible customer service I decided to fight. She told me all she copuld do was a credit the days that were lost. Not good enough. I was passed to a supervisor. He actually started to argue with me. WTF. Customer service my ass. I work in restaurants. Basically customer service. If I ever treated a customer like that I would be fired. If one of my staff treated a customer like that I would fire them, yet here is Bell getting away with it time and again. It is time the “Little GuY” stood up and did something.
Why all the frustration with Bell, we all know they are a bunch of thieves (over billing) and they wouldn’t know customer service if it slapped them on the face.
Keep your chin up and don’t get frustrated just keep cancelling your Bell services (tell your friends) it will eventually show on their bottom line.
” They (Bell) should remember it is the customer that is their source of income”
So, my boyfriend and I had signed up for a 3 year plan with bell mobility on a couples plan. So we talk free to each other and we paid the extra to have free calling from 6pm instead of 9pm. Anyhow, after a few months I realized we hadn’t received a bill yet so we would call and the rep would say “sorry, i don’t know what to say, it says the bill has been sent”. In 3 years, I received maybe 3 bills, and I had to call every month, not to mention, I didn’t have a computer so I couldn’t do online billing, that’s besides the point, if a customer requests a bill, send it to them! So anyway, after our inital signing of our 3 year contract and after a few months when we finally got our bill which was for like 800 dollars, we realized they had us on 2 different couples plans, so i was on a couples plan by myself and so was my boyfriend, yet we’d bought the phones together. This went on for about 6 more months we would call to try and rectify the problem but no one would call us back. We were told to leave messages with numerous supervisors, but no calls back. Then, we check our account over the phone to find out that they went ahead and cancelled our planand charged us for both our phones, we now had a 1600 dollar bill. We went to a bell store and even the girl who worked for bell couldn’t get through to her own damn company. She was getting passed from department to department and getting the complete runaround.
Finally after another month or so, when we got calls from their collection, some guy from the ‘FRIENDLY’ department (I’m not kidding, that’s what it’s called) looked at our file and saw that it was their mistake all along and corrected everything, but this was after a year with no cell phone and trying to get a hold of them. Piss me off!
i just ran into a few problems with bell myself. i had a date scheduled with them to install some recievers and the tech never showed up but they are trying to tell me that the tech can knocked on the door, phoned me and left a note at the door stating they had came by, all 3 of which never happened. after they schedule me for another date a week away and when i told them i will end up losing almost $320 in wages they told me they could credit me with $15, what a joke. also in a a week period i have had 3 different reps hang up the phone on me and a few get into over arguments over what i was told by previous reps. also another rep tried to give me a $15 credit to hang up the phone and when i said can u credit me with the $15 and transfer me to your manager she told me that she can only do one. when i asked the manager she told me that no she can not apply a credit.
also i have question, does anyone know a way i can get out of my contract without having to pay these dumb fees for cancelling because i am not satisfied at all with the way they have dealt with me the last few weeks.
i have had many years of ongoing problems with bell on my business line as well a residential. i have had no or very little help but more than1000 promises that my line will be repaired but it never happens or it seems only for a day or so. now along with noise on the both lines im getting charged for and internet service i have never singed up for. lately every time i have call to get repair or to find out about additional charges to my account i get the reply they are unable to access my account. this is an ongoing issue for more than 12 years. i receive calls from customer satisfaction asking how or if i am satisfied with the service. i explain that the problem is ongoing but nothing ever gets done.
Bell SUCKS – I HATE BELL – NEVER GO WITH BELL – DO NOT SIGN UP WITH BELL NO MATTER WHAT
They have the worst customer service EVER!
I had been with them, but there service sucked so I left.
They sent me a letter telling me they would fix there mistakes and improve there service, in addition they offered me 20% off 1 year of internet service.
They couldn’t even get my internet to work. They had like 6 technicians at my house, I was on the phone as if it was my full time job, complaining to them, trying to get my internet WORKING!
So we switched away from Bell and went to Rogers.
They have the worst customer service, and there tech’s are (i’m looking for a nice word to use) not very intelligent (that was pretty nice).
NEVER EVER EVER GO WITH BELL
I promise you, you will be sorry!
Bell’s FOUR step escalation process suggests we contact the Senior vice president of customer service M. James Myers for top level escalation. His email address is here for all of your convenience. myers.james@bell.ca . I suspect it’s a bogus email address because I’ve not received any response to THIS email.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Mr. Myers,
My mother has been without phone service at 905 877 **** for three full days. She is 72. This is dangerous. We, and countless other seniors’ families RELY on phone service as a necessary link with essential services. I shudder to think what might happen if she were to fall, hurt herself or fall ill without any way to contact emergency services.
I am writing as I sit on hold (It’s been 20 minutes now on and off) for the THIRD day in a row with your abysmal customer service department.
I have called three times. My mother has called at least twice from neighbour’s homes and we have had three communications via email. Each time we have been promised a tech and each time no one has come. Today your computer says someone was at my mother’s home at 9am yesterday. I can assure you no one was. At 72 she is home full time and believe me, she’s been on the lookout for the technician.
I’ve spoken with three first line support techs, three repair department people, three supervisors and nothing has happened each day same story, we’ll get someone to you tomorrow. It was unacceptably slow on the first day it is negligent on day three. It is for this very reason that I personally left Bell and went to Rogers for all my communication needs. I am very close to counselling her to do the same thing.
In my last conversation with the final supervisor who has put me on hold for now 25 minutes I told him I’d just stay on the phone and chat with him until someone showed up at my mother’s door. There was no response. He hit the hold button and I’ve been listening to the same 45 seconds of music loop for 25 minutes.
Do you not have a check back in rule? I’d be delighted to give you his name and employee number as stated in your 4 step escalation instructions but HE WOULD NOT GIVE THEM TO ME.
Are you TRYING to drive yourselves out of business?
A friend of mine recently moved and was given 6 months FREE local phone service, internet and satellite Television. I wonder if you’d be willing to extend this offer to customers who have been with you for well over 45 years and who are left to languish unserviced and on hold with a looped muzak track for now THIRTY MINUTES.
Ridiculous.
This letter will be posted on as many blogs as I can find until this problem is resolved and suitable recompense is proposed.