Why I Hate(d) Bell Mobility

My account of terrible customer service

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Case Closed! I feel a bit better

I spoke to 2 nice people from Bell today.

Angela called me from Customer Care. She has been looking into dropped calls and ran a report for me. If I have issues again I can send back my phone. She also did detailed follow up on some of my issues, including incorrect hours of operation on bellmobility.ca. She was very nice and extremely understanding.

Vanja also called me from the Exec office. Bell Mobility won't allow me to break my contract but they are giving me a credit for my new phone. With my 2 year contract that amounts to $129. I feel like that is pretty fair. They know my troubles are worth more that $129, but hey I guess they have to make a profit... perhaps I have mixed emotions about it.

I explained that I hope Bell Mobility will resolve some of the issues I have so no one else has the same experience. I think all the follow up today, along with the credit has been fair, which is why I am posting this update.

I feel like this is finally over and really hope it is done with.

Thanks to everyone who contacted me with all the support and suggestions. I sure do know a great group of people!

I am getting some movement

A nice friend at work has helped me by passing along my story to her friend at Bell Mobility. Today some one called me back. She seemed very helpful. I have a direct contact who is supposed to call me back today with some resolution. I have my fingers crossed...

Sunday, June 24, 2007

I tried again yesterday to set up my voice mail. After finally getting through to customer service, I learned they had failed to add voice mail to my features. Although they were able to set it up for me, I was again disappointed at yet another error.

They described a feature package for $25 with all these things I didn't want. I said no thanks. They explained that those features would be more if I just got the ones I wanted. They ended up giving it to me for $20.

My voice mail is set up. Another painful call with Bell Mobility.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Thanks for all the support!

Wow - so many people have sent me such support and a lot of great ideas. One friend in particular sent some very good ideas for possibilities to get out of my contract. In fairness to Bell Mobility, I'm going to wait to see what they say (they promised a reply in 2 business days).

One friend had a great suggestion for gathering feedback because we're tired of these "crooks".

So, I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions around these questions from my friend:

1. Where’s the cheapest place to buy a cell-phone?

2. What’s the best phone out there?

3. Who is the best provider? (Telus, Rogers, Bell, Fido, etc)

4. A lot of new phones are not provided in Canada, is there a way I can still acquire and use them?

5. Which is better, Pre-paid cards with no-contract or contracts?

6. What is the most cost effective short-term and long-term solutions for cell phones users?

7. Where can I recycle my old phone?

Automated Reply From Bell

Thank you for emailing Bell Canada’s Executive Care Solution Centre.
We value your comments, and your concerns are important to us.
Your matter will be reviewed and someone will get back to you within 2 business days.
Thank you for your loyalty to Bell.

Bell Canada’s Executive Care Solution Centre


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Merci d’avoir contacté le Centre de solutions à la haute direction de Bell Canada.
Vos commentaires ainsi que vos préoccupations sont des plus importants pour nous.
Votre situation sera étudiée et nous vous contacterons d’ici les 2 prochains jours ouvrables.
Merci de votre loyauté envers Bell.

Le Centre de solutions à la haute direction de Bell Canada

Why I Hate Bell Mobility

I suppose I should have started logging this sooner. This is the abbreviated version of my nightmare with Bell Mobility. I just sent them a long letter summarized here. I'll keep this updated if anything else happens...

Dear Bell Customer Service:

I have been a customer for over 2 years now. I just renewed my contract (2 years) and got a new LG Chocolate. I regret my choice. Ever since I started talking to you about renewing I have had nothing but problems and TERRIBLE service. Beyond terrible actually. So bad I can't put it into words. You should be ASHAMED. Here is a summary of my NIGHTMARE:

1) First - you offer me this shitty little email form with this ultra small form field for typing this message. You don't make it easy for me to do this. Thanks Bell!

2) Your website says *611 customer service is open today (Sat) starting at 9 ET. Well it is 9 ET and I called and your ANNOYING Emily system says you're closed.

3) EMILY = HELL.

4) Bell called me to renew. They explained plans over the phone. The info I got didn't match what was on your site. I asked the rep to email me or mail me info. She said you don't do that. So you pressured me into agreeing to something over the phone without letting me see anything in writing.

5) When I got to the store to pick up my new phone, I learned the price was different that what I understood when you called me. Too bad for me I guess! I decided to shop the competition. Really nice that you give new customers the lower price, but shitty old customers like me get to pay more money!

6) I called Bell back explaining a better deal I got from Rogers. The rep said too bad! I had a verbal agreement over the phone and if I broke it I would be charged $400. I didn't even know I had agreed to anything! I felt threatened. When I explained the Rogers deal the rep said I should have got it from Rogers in writing. But when I asked Bell to do the same the rep said, sorry, we don't do that!

7) You only care about getting new customers not keeping existing customers. I feel CHEATED and USED.

8) I reluctantly ordered one of your crappy phones from your crappy rep (LG Chocolate). They sent me a black one when I ordered a white one.

9) You wouldn't send me the new phone to my office unless I changed my billing address. So I changed it and then I had to change it back. This is ECOMMERCE. People should be allowed to have different billing and shipping addresses.

10) I returned the black phone. The rep said they would send me the white one right away. I waited a week. No phone. I called back. The rep said I they couldn’t ship the white phone until they got the black phone. NOT what the other rep told me. Every time I call it is a different story. Everyone LIES.

11) I finally get the white phone. I have to call back to change my billing address. How fun!

12) I read the enclosed letter and called the number to activate my phone. I can hardly understand the rep. I ask her how I can transfer all my contacts. She says it happens automatically when I activate. I've never done this before - how should I know? She puts me on hold. She comes back. She tells me that my old phone has been deactivated.

13) My new phone hasn't been charged yet so I can't do a test call. So now I have NO phone. Neither the letter nor the rep told me the phone had to be charged first. How would I know that? I get attitude from the rep. I ask to speak to some one else. I get put on hold. Then I get DISCONNECTED!

14) I charge the phone and figure out how to activate myself. Hmmm. I don't see my contacts. I call back AGAIN. This rep tells me I have to do it manually or go to a store and PAY $15 to get it done. Completely different than what the other rep said. I explain. Too bad! There is nothing Bell can do!

15) I asked for voicemail on my new phone. Your support section of the site doesn’t help me set it up and I have had no voicemail for a week. I try to call today. Your site says *611 is open. I call. It isn't. Too bad for me AGAIN!

Oh and another thing. The rep at the Bell store said I shouldn't bother shopping around because I would have to change my phone number if I picked some one else. LIE. Do you think I am stupid? I know about Local Number Portability. Sneaky tactics like that don't do much for trust.

I would be entirely satisfied if I could just cancel my contract with no charge. It is the least you could do after putting me through this hell. But I'm sure you won't do that because you'll wave your shitty legalities in my face. After all, it is better for you to be "right" than provide good customer service.

I want to know why I should ever consider Bell again. I am locked in to a shitty 2 year contract. I want to know why your service is so terrible and why I get a different story every time I phone. I want to know why I have been treated like CRAP and I want to know what Bell is going to do for ME as a customer.


I also emailed this summary to almost everyone I know. I cc'd 2 Bell corporate email addresses on the email. I have little faith that they will do anything to appease me.