Telus Mobility

There was a Telus Mobility promotion during the month of March - you could get a new iPhone 4S for free with a new contract. I spoke with them at the end of March and indicated that I was interested in the deal but wanted to actually see the phone before I committed to another 3 year contract (btw I have been a client of Telus since it was called Clearnet!). It took me 4 days to get to the store and by the time I did get there the deal had expired. information that would have been helpful when I spoke with the rep.

Here is what should have happened:

Me: "Hi Telus Mobility, I am a goof and missed the $0 iPhone 4S which was advertised last week. You can probably see that I called in last week to talk about it as my contract is expiring soon and I have an iPhone 3 which is on its last legs. Is there anyway you can turn back time for me and get me the phone for $0? Maybe we could do a credit for $79 (the new price)"

Telus Mobility Rep: "I am so sorry you missed the deal. We should have mentioned that it was expiring when you called last week. I can see here that you have been a loyal Telus customer for 13 years. To be totally honest you are one of our longest lasting customers and we want to do whatever we can to keep your business. I see that this would be only your third phone with us over that time period! And I see that you consistently go over your rate plan every month in a way that no matter what plan you are on - we are able to find a way to charge you extra air time / data usage. Let me give you a $79 credit, we can order your new phone right now on the phone. Thank you Tassi for returning to us time after time."

Me: 'Wow - thank you so much! I knew you guys would value me as a customer and find a way to comp me the phone. Phew - I thought that I was going to have to leave you and go to Rogers like everyone else."

Here is what DID happen:

Me: as noted above.

Telus Mobility Rep: 'Why are you so goofy? The deal is over and it is your loss. There is no way I can help you. Maybe you should check your calender more often and prioritise getting to a telus store between parenting three small kids and working full time at a shift work job. Slacker" *

* I should clarify that this is what I heard - she was speaking PR speak and essentially this summed up the sentiment.

Me: "Really? You are telling me to pound sand? Unbelievable! I have been with you guys since Clearnet! Are you sure you can't find a way to make this work?"

Telus Mobility Rep: "I will bump this up to the next guy on the ladder - but trust me you are screwed. We don't value you."

On hold for THIRTY minutes waiting for 'up the ladder guy".

Telus Mobility Rep: " We can't help you. Stop being so lazy... Oh I see you've been with us for 13 years... well how about we split the difference? We will comp you $40"

Me: "Nope - I have now lost 30 minutes of my life trying to get Telus to keep me as a customer! I always thought that you guys were in the business of getting new contracts not making life difficult for your customers!"

In the end, after another call to upper management I got my phone with the $79 credit on my account. Really Telus? I expected more and in the end I think that I wasted more than $79 in staff and management time... why can't you just do the math up front instead of driving your clients mad trying to get some acknowledgement that they are valued????

Provincial Budget 2013 (British Columbia)

hmmm... I must confess that I used to have a Girl Crush on Christy Clark. I enjoyed her as a radio personality. I liked her honesty and candor. I decided that I would vote for her in the next Provincial Election. That was in 2012... it is now 2013 and I have falled out of Gurl Love with Ms Clark.

She did so many things in the beginning that made me believe that she going to change BC and make this a better province. I couldn't even pin the Integrated Case Management cluster f8ck on her as that was Mr Campbell's dream. Ms Clark did her part and 86'd the old guard from MCFD (all those lovely folks from South Africa of all places who wanted to decontruct our system of child welfare... because they are such a healthy country and all). Good riddence.

But then things slowly started to fall apart for Ms Clark. She failed to place an engaged MLA in the position of Minister of Children and Family Development. She started losing cabinet members. She started saying stupid crap.

And now it appears that she has cut funding to a vulnerable population in the 2013 budget. I am not going to get my panties in a knot as I don't think that the Liberals will form government after the election in May... but serriously?? You had to cut funding from adults with autism and FAS? Who is vetting your paperwor? Who told you this would be a great idea? I know that adults with FAS and Autism aren't a cute and cuddly population. They require intensive supervision and assistance. They have few advocates.

So while we are at it - why don't you take more money away from poor kids? From disabled seniors? How about you cut funding to drug and alcohol treatment facilities? After all those folks are vulnerable and often hard to advocate for....

Asshat Award: BC Budget 2013.