Getting Charged for local calls on an unlimited calling plan

[hshahi]

Hi, 

I want to start with that fact that I very disappointed with the Customer Service that TELUS provides under the name of premium service. Impossible to get a hold of a real person and the BOT keeps throwing around every question until it has no more questions and making you call again. I would rather get a no name service than having to go through this after paying too much for my wireless service.

Now the issue is that I am getting charged for calls made to a local number in Saskatchewan. I am on a unlimited calling and data plan. I haven't noticed the charges until today when I saw on my statements that my bill was over my regular bill. For few months there were also some charges for international messaging but I can't find the details about that so I ignored that.

Other bills showed charges for long distance calling and I was confused as I never call outside Canada. I checked the number and it was a local SK number. I never called the number from my phone when I checked the history. The number is 306-520-0625 which is a local number. I checked the web and it is a voicemail number for SaskTel. So if someone is not picking the phone, the call is getting forwarded to voicemail and the voicemail number is the one showing up on my bill.

I scheduled a callback as it is impossible to contact TELUS now ( horrible service). I thought it would be an easy fix but after getting transferred few times and on long holds ( aground 2 hours), I was told that I am charged because I don't have call forwarding which is just STUPID. She would credit some charges but not all long distance charges for that local call showing up on my bill as 'long distance call'. 
So I have to spend another hour teaching Call forwarding to TELUS specialists and that I don't have to pay for call forwarding feature to call someone locally. 
It is annoying that these specialists are not even taught to read the bill. I asked for a manager and she said that the said the same thing. I can understand that these specialists are not in Canada but they should have the basic knowledge of call forwarding and local calling charges. I can see the bill and know what the charges are for and it took me a while to find that it was a voicemail number. But still it is a local number and there should be no charges for me if the call is going to the voicemail of person I am calling.

 

I am currently waiting for my 3rd call and asking them to connect me to someone locally. I want my money back and then be done with Telus forever. don't want to waste my day again if I am calling someone and the call goes to voicemail which i don't have a control of. Below are my plan and charge example details if there is anyone at TELUS who can read bills. And I shouldn't be the one pointing billing errors every months. It was ongoing for a year and if I hadn't checked, I would have never realized TELUS is robbing me by having me subscribe to auto payments. 

 

[Syaoran]

I have heard of a practice similar to what you are describing ages ago on a US carrier forum, just missing one important detail. It sounds like Telus is picking up on the device of the person you are calling potentially being out of the country, even though it goes to their voicemail. So that would mean your call is being forwarded to a device that is roaming and then being bounced back to voicemail if they don't answer and registering as a billable call when it should not be.

Hopefully Customer Care can sort this out for you. If not, reach out to the Executive Office, leave a message, and someone should get back to you within a week at the longest.

[NFtoBC]

I’m wondering if your number is call forwarding incoming calls to a third party service? The fact that while most of the calls are 1 minute, one is 2 minutes, suggesting there was some sort of conversation or message left. I suggest checking your call forwarding options in settings to see. This might be call forward busy, call forward no answer, etc., depending on your phone.

[hshahi]

The numbers showing in the bill is the voicemail number that SaskTel use for its voicemail service. It is just like +1-647-637-7243 that is used by TELUS. I never called the number directly but the call is obviously getting forwarded to the voicemail if the person I am calling doesn't pick up the call. And it is a local number ( 306.520.6245) . I should not be charged if the call is going to the voicemail. 

I don't have any call forwarding on my plan. They only reason call forwarding was showing up on the bill was the calls i was calling were showing originating from call forwarding. 
If the call was being forwarded to an international number, I would have got a warning that I the call is being forwarded and there might be charges involved. I had no such warning as far as i can remember.

I tried explaining the same thing to the call Rep and she was unable to understand anything and telling me that i don't have Call forwarding on my plan, which makes no sense. They would provide no explanation besides that I am getting charged for a call that was forwarded. 
It is pathetic to have a poor service like this. I too work in the telecom sector and errors happen but they can be fixed and issues resolved quickly and not wasting time of the customer who is paying for a "SERVICE".  Should have been a quick fix or whatever TELUS what to do to make sure that it doesn't happen in the future but no I have to waste my whole day for this and then TELUS would only refund me $11 when the calls costed be $13+.