Sold eSecuritel by telus agent with false information

[ktaylor]

I signed up for a three year contract with Telus ~14 months ago. I had never purchased a smart phone prior due to the very high cost of replacing them. For this reason the telus agent sold me the eSecuritel insurance whereby I pay a monthly fee and my phone is replaced free of charge if it is damaged or lost. I asked several questions about the insurance, and the agent informed me several times that there are no other costs associated with this insurance. 

14 months later, I shattered my phone screne rendering the touch screen unusable. I go to Telus who sends me to eSecuritel where I discover that I also have to pay a "replacement fee" which is more costly if you are replacing a more costly phone. It turns out I need to pay an additional $150 on top of what has accumulated in my monthly fees. This cost would be a lot lower if I had bought a cheaper phone. If I hadn't been mislead with false information I wouldn't have bought the insurance and I would have bought a much cheaper phone, as I was initially intending.

I would like Telus to change its practice on how it sells insurance from outside providers because it strongly impacts the choices customers make. Telus agents selling insurance with false information needs to be held accountable, especially when the false information is used by the Telus agent to make the customer more at ease purchasing a more expensive phone than they were initially considering. 

I trusted the Telus agent to help me make an informed decion based on my budget and needs. I am now left with no phone and a very large replacement bill, and a deep mistrust in Telus.

[Nighthawk]

All the big cell carriers try to sell you overpriced phone insurance. That'll never change. You should have asked if you had to buy it up front or if you could think about it for a few days, then explored other options. I assume they sent you paperwork confirming what was covered and the costs involved including if making a claim?

Most people don't realize you can insure your phone under your home insurance more completely and for much a lower cost (may vary by home insurance provider / province).

Since Telus supposedly records all their calls, you could always call and see if a manager can review the call to see what the salesperson told you and if you were misled, what they can do about it. Might work.

[Artemis]

Depending on the type of phone and your personal situation device insurance may be a good idea. As with most insurance policies there would have to be some sort of deductible paid to redeem. 

But I agree with you 100%. That info is important and should be communicated!

The best thing is to contact the social media team through Facebook or on Twitter(@TELUSsupport).

They won't be able to find the recorded phone call from that far back but they should be able to find the notes and information about who you dealt with and send feedback.

[Psychoj]

I am also stuck in a similar position to yours.
What I was told by the employee of Telus about the insurance was no where close to what I have to deal with at the moment.
I was also debating on taking a phone that was worth that much based on the fact that I was not willing to have remaining balance of a few hundred dollars in case the phone broke or got lost.

I was then offered that protection policy where I was told that it would be replaced by an identical phone or a superior one if ever it was discontinued. I was never told that they were not providing the insurance service per se and that it was an other company that would be adressing my reclamation if I had to. Well... the contract regarding the insurance was never joined to the copy I signed. The only thing that was refering to it was a line in my bill saying 7,00 for protection plan. I was told that it would be a 80$ fee to replace my phone in case it was broken, lost, stolen with which I was ok.

I had to do a reclamation recently because a part broke making the device useless. When I called I got told I had to pay 150$ which is the double of what I was originally told. Not only do I have to pay but I have to pay for a phone that has less features than mine and that is actually sold 150$ on the market while  the price of my device is 530$.

To make it simple, this is a total scam and I am considering adressing demand letters to both parties to redeem the money that I consider was "stolen" from me.

[Tgreencorn]

Not sure of the name of the people dealing with the device protection plan that I purchased here in Nova Scotia but they were an absolute pleasure to deal with. My girlfriend had an S3 that was almost 12 months old that she dropped and totalled the screen on and I called up and told them on a Wednesday morning .They informed me that it would be $150 to replace. (I was told this at point of sale) and that unfortunately they had no more Galaxy s3's in Stock so they would upgrade me to a Galaxy S4. I know it says that these phones can also be pre owned or refurbished but this phone was brand new in the box and it arrived the very next day.

One note to make is that they also told me if I wasn't satisfied with the s4 that I could return it for a same value replacement. If s3 was worth $650 then they would replace with same dollar amount phone of which they had in Stock.

Always ask questions when getting a new phone and now u can even take advantage of the free 45 minute learning session at a Telus mobility store. Read the fine print of your contract as well so there is no hidden surprises if something does happen.