How do I talk to an agent when I can't receive calls or texts?

[CM1]

I just signed up for Telus prepaid. I'm currently roaming in Australia and am not receiving texts or calls.

How can I talk to someone about fixing this?

I called 1-855-251-2601, as instructed by the Telus prepaid setup, but a recorded message said that number is no longer current.

I called 1-866-558-2273 and a recorded message said I need to go through a virtual assistant before speaking to an agent. The virtual assistant would text me, I was told. Why would a virtual assistant text me about my phone not receiving texts?

I also tried the online virtual assistant, https://www.telus.com/en/mobility/prepaid?showOnLoad=true&INTCMP=VAN_prepaidsupport but the link to verify my account came up with this error: contact admin unable to authorize - certificate or key error. This error is usually due to the supplier (in this case Telus) having an expired/ invalid security key.

Instead of trouble-shooting, the virtual assistant scheduled an agent to call. Again, the problem is I can't receive texts or calls.

Please let me know how to speak to an actual person to fix my phone. I haven't made a single phone call and am already considering cancelling.

[Nighthawk]

Out of curiousity, what type and model of phone do you have? Australia does use different cellular frequencies so not all phones bought in Canada will be compatible.

[CM1]

Samsung A8. I've been traveling in Australia for the past few months with Freedom Mobile, receiving calls and texts no problem.

About 2 months ago Freedom said they were having issues with roaming in Australia and had no estimated resolution date, so I eventually switched to Telus hoping for more reliability.

Even though Freedom is a budget carrier I was able to speak to an agent and find out what was going on almost immediately. At Telus I have no idea if it's the same network/ roaming issue, or something I can actually fix. There is nothing but a robot repeating the same unhelpful answers.

Unsurprisingly the call from an agent, scheduled by the virtual assistant, never came through.

It was a good question. Thank you for asking. Sadly in this case I don't think it's a simple as changing my device.

[Syaoran]

Telus might have a different roaming partner in Australia than Freedom did. With Freedom now coming under Videotron. It can take some the to update their systems.

Have you checked your APN settings on your device to make sure they are setup for Telus? Have you tried manually connecting to networks to see if you can connect to any? With Freedom, you at least had the ability to use WiFi Calling internationally where Telus restricts this feature to within Canada only unless you use a decent VPN.

Edit:  Did you purchase your device from Telus or a Canadian carrier or did you purchase it from Australia or a third party retailer or online site, like EBay?  Telus does not allow devices they label as "Greg market devices", whether they are compatible with the Telus Network, roaming partner's, or not, to not use features like VoLTE, WiFi Calling, and blocks them from roaming internationally.  If this could be your reason for roaming not working.  You don't have any option but to buy a device from Telus or switch to another service.

[CM1]

Based on this article I assume that since I can access wifi mt APN is set up. https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/activate-data-on-your-android-device

This was my phone in Canada which was provided by Freedom Mobile when I signed up. I brought it to Australia with me.

When I go settings > network operators > select manually and select Telstra, the phone thinks for a while then says "your sim card does not allow connection to this network". When I select Optus it says "Unable to connect try later". I have an Australian phone/ phone number using Optus and it works fine. Just not my Canadian number.

These are all great ideas. What would be even greater is an agent from Telus looking at my account/ the network and confirming what's actually going on.

[CM1]

Ps. I tried a different phone and Vodafone AU showed up as a network. Again it said "registering on Vodafone AU" for a while then  "unable to connect try later"

[Nighthawk]

I am wondering if pre-paid doesn't allow roaming. Pre-paid plans and the add-ons don't list roaming anywhere. EasyRoam mentions that it works with a 'monthly rate plan'. EasyRoam in Australia is $16 per day.

@A-B Are you able to confirm if pre-paid supports roaming overseas? I can't find any mention that it does so far. 

[A-B]

As of now, no. Prepaid accounts don't support overseas roaming.

[CM1 · Accepted solution]

TL; DR

- Don't sign up for Telus. Koodo is the same company but cheaper and with better service. Freedom would probably be even better once they get their network sorted out.

- If you do sign up for Telus and have issues the only way to speak to a person is by saying you want to cancel

- The only way you'll get your money back is to ask to speak to a manager

- Prepaid does not work with roaming

Told the Telus Assist chatbot that I wanted to cancel and it gave me a phone number. Finally I was able to speak to a person.

Prepaid doesn't include roaming. I asked the agent for a refund since I hadn't been able to make a single call. I was told that I wasn't eligible for a refund because I hadn't spoken to an agent when I signed up. Seriously.

I said it seemed a bit unfair making it impossible to talk to a person, then penalising someone for going online. I have literally spent the past week trying to talk to a real person. The agent said there was nothing she could do.

After a bit of back and forth I asked to speak to a manager. Within a couple of minutes the refund was approved.

The agent also said that for $35 a month I could switch to post-paid Telus plan that included roaming.
Easy Roam would be $15 per day on top of the $35.

I asked about a Koodo plan offering $15 per month including Easy Roam. Koodo is owned by Telus. She asked if I wanted to be transferred to a Koodo agent, and suggested it would be easier if I sign up online.

Spoke to a Koodo agent within minutes. I am now with Koodo - $15 per month and my plan includes roaming.

[Nighthawk]

Koodo will allow roaming but EasyRoam there is still $16 per day in Australia. The $15/mo plan only covers 100 Canada wide minutes and 250mb of data at 3G speed.

https://www.koodomobile.com/en/easyroam

[CM1]

Sorry you're right I'm on pay per use roaming - not Easy Roam. For me would work out just a couple of bucks a month since I'm only using my phone for the occasional text while traveling