Recently I got a cell phone with Telus. It was my first phone so I was really excited about it. I mainly got it to contact my parents for picking me up at sports e.t.c, but I would use it to commucaite with friends as well.
We got a “Pay As You Go” plan, where you buy the phone and get a $50 credit. It sounded great, because more money could be loaded on the next month and rolled over to the next month if I didn’t use it. We also got the second cheapest phone, but the final price didn’t turn out that way.
The first two phones we had picked weren’t available (out of stock), so we had to pay for a more expensive one that was “their best phone.” Which I didn’t really get because they also had $299 phones, but whatever. The lady started scanning a $29 memory card, then we looked at her, “Oh sorry this is a card to store your music, its very useful…” No thanks. I’ll use my iPod. Anyway, next was a $15.99 plastic case that weighed almost more than the phone itself. My mom gave into that one because she told us the warranty didn’t cover accidental damages.
Then we chose the features for the phone, which we from the started didn’t want to add because we wanted to use the phone strictly for phoning. As the lady at the store was reading the list of features she checked off each feature on the computer. Then we said, “No thanks.” And she click next.
Luckily, I had noticed that she didn’t uncheck each one and if I didn’t tell her I’d be billed an extra $70.99… No joke.
It doesn’t stop there.
I told everyone my number and the ended up texting me to chat. I didn’t really want to text, but my friends texted me and it cost me $0.15 per text I received. I wasn’t never offered a way to opt out or enable texting, but now I’ve got $2.50 or so on my bill from texting I never agreed to. I ended up purchasing the cheapest plan which gave me unlimited incoming, that was another $5.00.
So if you didn’t have an eagle eye and noticed all these little added prices, you’ll end up paying $238.33 instead of $110.55 which you expect to pay. (price of phone plus taxes)
What I find the worst out of all of it, it might have just been a bad employee, is that they charge you TO BROWSE A STORE. I was browsing the ringtone store on the phone, and I was charged $0.05 per page I visited…
I saw they had a free ringtone to download, which you could preview the entire ringtone. So it sounded awesome, get a free ringtone, awesome, eh (I’m Canadian)? But on the confirmation screen that it will cost me a 50 cents to download a free download! However, when you listen to the preview you’re downloading it already and I wasn’t charged to listen to the preview. So you charge me for something that doesn’t cost you anything… Not a good way to bring in a potential customer.
And if you didn’t pay attention to your bill then you’ll end up paying a lot of extra charges.
I said carriers in Canada, but I’ve only brushed on Telus. While I might be picking on the, it isn’t any different with Rogers or Bell (the other two leaders in the market) but I still find Telus the best. You may also notice I didn’t go into the awesome features they offer, mainly because there aren’t many… but also because you probably already know them.
Nicholas Montgomery is a 17 year-old technology blogger and entrepreneur in Toronto, Canada. He has been featured on CP24, CTV News, CityTV, and is the "Technology Expert for The Marilyn Denis Show on CTV 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
For some reason, cell phone carriers have the absolute worst customer service! I've been through the same issue's. Except for me its with Rogers. I have called them a total of 26 times (I've been counting). Each time I have to explain the situation that would get rapidly larger each time a spoke with someone. Tell me, how do these people manage to cancel one contract on another account holder's phone in my family, then also somehow deactivate the SIM card on my phone?
Plus, they treat you like you are a two year old that hasn't yet learned what a computer is yet! Here's what they told me (this is what I can remember) "Sir. Do you own an Electronic Computer?" (No, sorry I have a coal powered computer) "Please power on your computer, and I will walk you through the steps of connecting your cell phone with your computer via USB" Seriously this is what it was like. No joke. The problem was NOTHING to do with syncing! It had to do with their stupid service reps canceling two accounts!
So finally, I've got a new phone. That when I call someone else, it registers as a different account holder name! But what can you do, eh? (I'm also Canadian).
I also find that Telus has the best customer service, mainly why I picked them (I knew I would have tons of problems with no matter who I picked
)
I also went into the store to as how to use a sound file on my computer that I transfered over Bluetooth as a ringtone. Probably because I was a teenager, they told me that it can't be done. I called customer service and they said it could be done but you need to save it as a .wav, it had to be under 30 secs e.t.c
The reason they tell you useless information is because %90 of the time they read off a sheet of paper that goes threw all the typical problems. I know this because I've called Bell several times and different people told me the exact same thing…
I'd suggest you go into the store and explain to them what you're problem is, calmly and politely. If they can't fix it up front, freak out
Yeah Telus does seem to have the best customer service, and I just went with Rogers since they gave me the best deal. Oh and don't get me started on the wonderful Bell service! They told me it would take a week for them to send the faulty phone I had from them, two months later. I had my brand new phone from UPS (or FedEx, forgot which on)! To my surprise, I opened the box, and found a old half broken re-furbished phone. They told me they were going to send me a new phone!
And yes, I've done all that. Did the polite and calm act, then freaked out. To get, "Im sorry Sir, we are closing in a few minutes. Can you come back tomorrow?" (#1 calling me Sir is just annoying, and makes me feel old #2 You close at 8pm, not 7pm!
)
Gotta love Canadian Phone Carriers eh?
But I did finally get it all sorted out.
Current Customer Service Calls: 27 1/2 (the half is for the time, they hung up on me)
Bell is the worst for customer service. I could name a few other osscaisions, but you gave me one with Rogers, so maybe another blogs post.
I find it extremely rude and unprofessional that they would say that they're closing and to hang up on them. I went into Bell once to ask about their cell phone plans and they asked me if I was over 18.
A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER FOR LIFE, AND YOU TRY TO DEFER ME BECAUSE OF MY AGE.
It just pisses me off. I helped myself to learning what the plans were, but I had already made my decision not to go with them.
Yeah, guess thats the price you have to pay when you want a good phone service.. oh wait, its terrible phone service.
Heres a nice story, makes cell phone carriers look even better!
http://www.timesreporter.com/homepage/x862899385/…
wow man ur the coolest kid i know
Really clear website , thanks for this post.