Home >> Social Media >> Telus Mobility you need to work on your e-interfaces and communicate to customers better

Telus Mobility you need to work on your e-interfaces and communicate to customers better

July 27, 2008 By 4 Comments

On Friday I started the onerous task of dealing with the details of moving. Switching hydro, Shaw, etc. I also had a bit of a beef with Telus Mobility because when I tried a Telus Hotspot while at Pearson, I couldn’t connect for free. According to my plan I have unlimited use of all Telus Hotspots (which will rock with my Eee PC). I also wanted to figure out why my billing and account balance seemed to be wonky.

Well it turns out that first off I should have been checking the account labeled NA instead of one of the cell numbers to see the whole picture and I needed to create a separate Hotspot login just for the number tied to the EVDO card.

It took me more than a half an hour to get to this point. The first customer service person kept saying “I’m seeing what you should be seeing, and I’m seeing it.” to which I replied “I know what I’m doing and I’m not seeing it in Firefox or IE so something is wrong with your site…”. I got an outstanding balance taken care off and then was punted to client care. I told them I paid off the balance and then told them about the site. She replied that only their tech support people could help me. Okay, sure, but I also kept saying that I wanted this recorded and noted on my record (I’ve been told those are magic words), especially that I wouldn’t have past due amounts if I had known how to get to my balance.

Off to tech support. First we dealt with the magic account bit.

This is when I learned the NA bit. The tech guy, who was very helpful, polite, etc, agreed that they needed to make it clearer to people with multiple numbers tied to an account how to find the right info.

Now for the Hotspot problems.

Again a simple solution. Took < 5 mins but was not straightforward at all. The process involved choosing the EVDO card’s number, then getting an authentication code, then setting up a new hotspot account, and that was it.

The tech support person suggested (I could hear the “please, please tell them” in his voice) that I send in my feedback through the site. Great idea, but ran into a small problem: the form required a sub-category selection, but there were none to select!

So the form didn’t go through.

Here is my feedback that I wanted to send to Telus Mobility, but couldn’t. Perhaps they’re keeping an eye on things and will find this:

I am a long-time Telus customer and happen to be a long, long time web developer. I’m sorry to say you have SERIOUS problems with your site and its eBill system. I have two cell numbers (phone and data card), I was not told and it wasn’t noted that I needed to select the account labeled NA to see my entire bill including any balance owing. Because of this I was in arrears and didn’t know. I wasn’t called, emailed, or postal mailed about the problem either. After over 30 mins on the phone with your folks, I finally spoke with a technical support person who explained how I have check this "master account", labeled NA (Not applicable?)to see everything.

Further I was having trouble with using Telus HotSpots. My data plan gives me unlimited access, but it wasn’t showing up. Turns out I had to create a new username to connect to it. Also, not explained and not clear.

I’ve been developing websites for over 10 years. There are simple, simple things that you can do on both the site and through your CSRs to help you and your customers.

I am happy to talk to you more about this.

Tris Hussey

Now let’s see if they are listening.

Filed Under: Social Media, Web 2.0 Tagged With: , , , , , ,
  • http://www.todmaffin.com Tod

    The larger these companies get, the more likely they are to cut costs by reducing service.

    Telus is the worst of a very bad list of companies who spend way more money on hyped marketing campaigns to SELL their product, than they do on making that product an amazing experience after-sale.

    It’s a bait-and-switch and is exactly how companies get such a crappy reputation.

    Now toss in that to even really afford to HAVE a cell phone, you need to lock into a multi-year trap (Canada is the only country in the world with lock-ins more than two years), and you have to wonder why shareholders aren’t bailing out of Telus and others like flies.

    Oh, I know. Because this is an economy based on making the most possible PROFIT, not the highest level of happiness.

    You CAN do both, Telus. Check out Apple. Their Apple store, the Genius Bar and AppleCare support are absolutely stellar.

    Check out Sleep Country — Case in point, I went in yesterday to get an hypo-allergenic mattress top.

    – Walked in, No wait to ask someone a question.

    – Yes, they had several options in stock (!)

    – Sales dude knew what he was talking out, offered opinions, uses the products at home himself, and wasn’t rushing to get to another customer.

    To make a long-story short, I walked in to buy a $130 top, and walked out with $1700 in the bed-of-my-dreams I’ve been trying to get for about eight years.

    And at the end, we were both smiles and I joked “You have managed to make taking $1700 from me quite an enjoyable experience.” I laughed, he laughed, and I walked out of there, still a loyal and satisfied customer who will return again.

    That’s how this thing works, Telus, et al.

  • http://www.todmaffin.com Tod

    The larger these companies get, the more likely they are to cut costs by reducing service.

    Telus is the worst of a very bad list of companies who spend way more money on hyped marketing campaigns to SELL their product, than they do on making that product an amazing experience after-sale.

    It’s a bait-and-switch and is exactly how companies get such a crappy reputation.

    Now toss in that to even really afford to HAVE a cell phone, you need to lock into a multi-year trap (Canada is the only country in the world with lock-ins more than two years), and you have to wonder why shareholders aren’t bailing out of Telus and others like flies.

    Oh, I know. Because this is an economy based on making the most possible PROFIT, not the highest level of happiness.

    You CAN do both, Telus. Check out Apple. Their Apple store, the Genius Bar and AppleCare support are absolutely stellar.

    Check out Sleep Country — Case in point, I went in yesterday to get an hypo-allergenic mattress top.

    – Walked in, No wait to ask someone a question.

    – Yes, they had several options in stock (!)

    – Sales dude knew what he was talking out, offered opinions, uses the products at home himself, and wasn’t rushing to get to another customer.

    To make a long-story short, I walked in to buy a $130 top, and walked out with $1700 in the bed-of-my-dreams I’ve been trying to get for about eight years.

    And at the end, we were both smiles and I joked “You have managed to make taking $1700 from me quite an enjoyable experience.” I laughed, he laughed, and I walked out of there, still a loyal and satisfied customer who will return again.

    That’s how this thing works, Telus, et al.

  • http://www.trishussey.com Tris Hussey

    Tod I had the same experience at Sleep Country. Yes, more companies should realize that great customer service not only helps you keep customers, but get new ones as well.

    Sleep Country, gets my vote for a place to shop. Now readers will see your comment as well.

    They will also see to be wary of Telus. Now, who do you think will be getting more customers?

  • http://www.trishussey.com Tris Hussey

    Tod I had the same experience at Sleep Country. Yes, more companies should realize that great customer service not only helps you keep customers, but get new ones as well.

    Sleep Country, gets my vote for a place to shop. Now readers will see your comment as well.

    They will also see to be wary of Telus. Now, who do you think will be getting more customers?

TrisHusseyDotCom is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache