Telus going down the Drain!

[Mikeciocca]

I cant believe the conversation I just had with Telus Loyality! I am blown away!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to upgrade my device and renew   a contract. I was told if I wanted to renew I could not carry over my exsisting plan and would have to get a new one. The new plan was HALF my Data for 5 Dollars more!!!!!!!!!!

So if I wanted to keep my current plan I will have to go month to month.

I have been a Client for 12 years and have 2 phones on my bill, my wife and I. Where is the LOYALTY in treating long time customers with zero appreciation for many years of paying service!!!!!!!! I am not even asking for my Plan to be dropped in price just simply continue on with what I got!

I have been with Telus for 12 years for the very simple facts, always satisfying my needs and being treated with customer appreciation. This is has all gone away and I am very dissapointed.

My good friend was a 14 year client and has switched to Rogers. I have been offered a  plan with rogers that is the exact same but 5 dollars less. 

Telus why would you be willing to loose Two more clients ( My Wife and I) for a couple Gigs of Data?????

What kind of business is a business with no Clients?????

[Nighthawk]

Loyalty is just a name. Can you actually name one large company that actually rewards users for loyalty? I sure can't. I'm guessing you haven't read any of the previous posts here regarding loyalty before posting yours. Also if you don't act nicely or respectfully towards the loyalty people, you'll likely get zero out of them.

It's not just Telus that makes you get a new plan when changing to a new device. When I went to trade up my old iPhone, I was told If I paid for my new phone entirely, they'd let me keep the old plan. My friend is on Bell and had the same issue when trying to trade up. Rogers I will never go back to after their business practices that screw over customers. If you do switch to Rogers, whenever you call in to make any changes or ask questions, make sure they don't re-start your contract from day 1 or change it on you. They tried that twice with me when I was with them.

[Mikeciocca]

I am always nice with Loyalty customer service. I spend 2500 a year with Telus for 12 years that has to count for something.

I am fine going month to month as having the freedom to cancell is great. But on a renew contract to tell me that " We Apreciate your Buisness Mike, so we will give you half the data you already have and raise your bill 5.00"  Wow thanks Telus for that very special deal!

I dont care if every company is like that.  Good Business is Good Business, Its us people that have been with them for a decade plus that have put them where they are today. Treat me well and I will spread the word, Treat us like a new customer and we will be new customers else where. I am seeing it more and more people leaving Telus. 

Rogers may not be the best in CS, but for a good rate I can have one bill for all my services which in my books is a big advantage!

[Nighthawk]

You're still not getting it. Loyalty to any large company means NOTHING these days. If it was a little mom and pop shop, sure I could see them showing gratitude for your continued patronage. For a multibillion dollar company? Your $2500 a year is a mere drop in the bucket.

[Mikeciocca]

I know what you Mean and your right to an extent. Why 2 years ago did they accomadate me very very well, No arguing or anything. What has changed in two years? You dont get it! ITS STILL A BUSINESS!!!!! 

Rogers and Bell are there competetors. Telus did not get where they are Today by saying " Ha your 2500 a year is nothing, go on your way hahaha" to any customer that did not want to pay what they Telus wanted them to/

Every client counts maybe not today but it will tomorrow. People that think like you only help these companies get away with this. 

like I said I am very curious to know why 2 years ago they were more then happy to lower my bill in order to keep me as a client???

If there Path has changed I dont see it going the right way!

[NFtoBC]

If each of the incumbents has similar offerings, and it makes little sense getting into a pricing race to the bottom, it actually makes sense to stand firm on pricing (see Telus doesn't treat everyone equally thread) and differentiate on customer service. Telus has been working diligently on their customer service, and it shows in approval ratings, and in their subscription levels; they are close to Bell in subscriptions, even though their home territory has a smaller population.

If you live in BC or Alberta, you can bundle your services as well.

[xl]

BTW... don't expect Rogers and Bell to offer better service.  They have many more client complaints than Telus...  shame...

http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/bell-rogers-top-wireless-users-complaint-list/86452

[ET]

The market did changed considerably since the CRTC forced to have 2 years contacts only. Let's make a simple example. Let imagine a device cost $700. The carrier make you pay $100 for it. The rest is subsidized by them over a 3 years contract. Let now imagine the same phone, same price, you still pay only 100$ for it. The only difference is that the carrier subsidize that $600 over 2 years instead of 3. Therefore, it is normal that the price plans are more expensive then they use to be. The interesting point as someone else did mentioned is that if you decide to purchase the device yourself and not have TELUS subsidize it for you, then you may save up to $20/month.

There are also many other things that did changed. Before, you could not renew your contract before the last 6 months. Now, at any moment you can pay the device balance and get a deal on a new phone.

Also, TELUS now offers a Trade in program where you can get a extra rebate on your new device by trading in the old one.

The market reality changed, you can't ignore this. The deals have changed as

[Rancwr]

Okay @ET, let's follow through on your example.

Now, in previous times, when we were the only developed country in the world to have to take out a 3 year mortgage to get a phone subsidy, you say they sold a $700 phone for $100 but had 3 years to gain back a profit.  Now they only have two.

So here's the 3 year model on the popular 6GB/month plan:

Monthly tarriff:  $65 x 36 mos = $2,340 gross profit over 36 months.

Profit less subsidy: $2,340 - $600 = $1,740 over 36 months

Profit per year: $580

Now TELUS' current 2 year model on a 6GB/month plan:

Monthly tarriff: $125 x 24 mos = $3,000 gross profit over 24 months

Profit less subsidy: $3,000 - $600 = $2,400 over 24 months

Profit per year: $1,200

Yes, now plans include unlimited talk & text but in today's world, we all know those are red herrrings, thown in to make plans look more attractive than they are.  There are many easy alternatives that customers can use for voice and text so those are nothing more than window dressing.

I could go on.  Like, why have data rates gone up considerably on non-contract tablet plans?  They haven't been affected by the 2 year contract law.  Why have data overages gone up considerably as well?  The contract terms take care of (and then some) covering the reduction in the time-frame for recouping the subsidy, so why do overages have to be more expensive as well?

TELUS is not the only company that's done this, I know.  In Canada, we all know that all 3 players charge the same prices for the same plans at the same time... coincidentally.  But please don't go trying to tell us that these outrageous price increases are necessary and justified.

[Dark_Knight]

Some interesting points @Rancwr but you have definitely over simplified the equations a bit too much. You aren't taking into account that cost of aquisition has gone up, data consumption has skyrocketed and these providers are constantly investing back into the business to bolster it's network performance - TELUS especially so. 

I agree, the added 'value' of unlimited voice/sms is neglibible, especially for the gen X/Y subscribers, but it is a nice-to-have. 

I don't want to go down a rabbit hole, but as a person who travels outside of Canada on a very regular basis, I can honestly say that the network experience we have with all of the 'Big 3' is leaps and bounds above the majority of foreign carriers. 

I wish that BYOD and tablet plan pricing would go down, but that won't happen unless consumers stop buying subsidized phones OR you submit the idea on telus.com/ideas and it gets a lot of votes. Haha 

[tsizzle]

In addition to Dark Knight's comments, you've also picked an extremely rich plan they offered for a very short period of time but gets overhyped on internet forums against a regular non-promotional plan (most people do not have $65 6GB plans, more like 1GB).

Just some things to consider: Telus is a business with shareholders who demand constant revenue growth, everything is now unlimited in the plans domestically except data. Is it reasonable to expect data prices to go down or up? Why do AT&T and Verizon no longer offer the unlimited data plans they did in 2010?

From a customer point of view, of course we want prices to go down but monthly service on a smartphone is not a right, its a luxury and one you should expect to pay for. The whole argument that prices have gone up is also oversimplified, prices may have been $40-50/month a few years ago vs. the $70-80/month now but think about all the crazy stuff you can do on Galaxy S5 that your trackball BB Curve couldn't do.

[Rancwr]

Sorry tsizzle, though it was called a "promotional" plan, it was offered for months on end, year after year after year.  In fact, prior to the last time it was offered at $65, it was actually only $60 per month; definitely not a "very short period of time".  I'm old enough to remeber and am not relying on internet forums.

As for the other points you make, as I said, unlimited talk & text is the only thing that's unlimited but neither of those costs the carriers much and there are very easily accessed alternatives.  Who said anything about unlimited data?  And what does the technological advances in hardware technology have to do with the cost of a monthly plan, especially if I pay for and bring my own device?  Data is data whether I'm using it on a 2 year old phone or one released last week.

I understand we have very good networks here, but what we don't have here is choice.  The profits of the big 3 don't lie, nor do the ARPU's.  Rogers just upped the cost of BYOD plans by $10/month; how quickly will the other two follow suit?  The only place in the world nearly as messed up as us with regard to wireless is the US and that's the only place where we compare any kind of favourably and even that's changing now as their pricing is on the downward trend and ours is on the (very steep) upward.

And one final point, a wireless device is only a "luxury" if you're fine with Canada becoming the technological backwater that we are quickly becoming.  Pricing is getting to the point that it is out of reach of many consumers and that makes us dumber as a nation as new technologies and innovations  aren't in common use and we are less and less able to innovate because of it.

[Dark_Knight]

@Rancwr to call Canada the technilogical backwater is hilarious. Next to Norway, we have the fastest mobile data speeds in the world. Our cellular networks are leaps and bounds ahead of almost every other G20 nation. In fact, the Vice President of the EU Commision recently said "The EU is teetering on the edge of network collapse. Global mobile traffic is predicted to grow 66% a year, smart devices are everywhere and people want to watch video on those devices. Without more spectrum being made available the whole thing falls apart." Here's more info http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-742_en.htm 

If you've ever travelled to Europe, you have experienced this first hand. Their networks are inconsistent and slow. 

Based on all the studies, from the OECD to the EU Commision, one can comfortably say that we have amongst the best mobile networks in the world.

You want the best, you pay the price.

[Tgreencorn]

Mike I have had nothing but the best customer service from TELUS over the past 10 years, yes gone are the days of unlimited everything at low rates but i also understand the business aspect of why as well. when i first signed up data was slower than a turtle and everything was running on a cdma network with most of the phones being available being the flip to open type for little to no money on 3 year contracts . Go forward to todays times and networks are mostly LTE with phones costing up to $750 outright on 2 year contracts with lots of heavy data use.

I myself have been told by Telus in advance that my girlfriends $70 a month 6gb plan will be unavailable if i choose to renew her contract and get her a new phone, but i am confident that i will be able to get something that suits her needs for not much more money a month, if you are using all of your data alloted every month then i understand paying a little more for sure. if not then it is a great opportunity to review your needs. Talking to loyalty has never been a problem for me, you just need to be polite and see what they can arrange for you. thinking outside of the box helps too sometimes they will honour promotions that are exclusive to other provinces or if you are self employed suggest setting up a business account that offers a whole new set of options. One call is sometimes not all it takes to get the right plan for you but one thing is for sure is that the grass is not any greener on the other side and i have had lines with both Rogers and Bell in the past.

Give it another shot Mike and remember to think outside of the box.

[Mikeciocca]

Tgreen, I hear ya, I also have always been treated very well from loyality. Even this past conversation was great. I might have worded it wrongly in my OP. Yes I have an 80.00 6g unlim everything. Which took me a long while of every year chipping the great reps to give a little more. 🙂 The new plan I was offered was 85.00 for 3g lol not a step up. So the one reason all these years (12) I have stayed with telus, even with bad signal in my little town north of Toronto which finally has imptoved, is because they always seemed to meet me more then half way. I understand that may not be the case any more because of the device prices are incorporated in to rate plans. 

Im still a believer that repeat customers will always be.the back bone of a company and Telus should definitely take this into consideration!

In the just of.things I am really happy with my plan and with the great nexus phones or even full priced phones paying upfront all at once or little by little, I have no problems not being tied to a contract and havong the.freedom to buy and sell any phone I want!

[Dark_Knight]

@Mikeciocca I think @Tgreencorn made some good points.

If you are polite and ask for what you need, then they are usually able to work something out. That said, I find a lot of people want unlimited everything but most definintely don't need it. Carefully choosing your language when you speak with them is important. 😉

[river]

Hey Mike

I jusy went through the same  thing I was always treated great by the so called loyality team  over lhe last 8 years
 untill now WHAT happend to the customer service it apears they do not care anymore  ?????

had a plan ready to activte Then they took it away wtf ???  how can you do that after it has been offered ???

the new plan i was offered is 3 times the rate 

you dont loose customer you push they away   and there doing a pretty good job at that !! 

or maby thats there angle ? who knows  !!!!   all in all it not good customer service

[NFtoBC]

@river
If you don't act on an offer it will expire. Cellphone, car, house, vacation trip, etc. none will be offered at the same price forever. Unless you have entered into a contract, you'll be outta luck.

[xl]

Oh wow... it appears Telus continues to thrive with good customer service while the competition continues to go down.

http://www.cknw.com/2014/05/08/telus-is-making-more-money/

[xl]

A warning to Rogers customers and getting an extended warranty....

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/smartphone-warranty-leaves-frustrated-customers-without-their-phones-1.1814785