I have been with Rogers Wireless for a few years now and it seems every time I contact them their service falls to a new low. Weekend data service is terrible, I can go hours without being able to check my email or use the Internet. I have called in a few times but each call takes 15 minutes to get through to someone and then they just tell me everything seems to be working fine. I also get tons of dropped calls, at least 4-5 per week. I am not sure if it is the iPhone 4 or Rogers but they are the ones that sold me the phone so I guess it does not matter.
I spent three miserable hours dealing with Rogers employees today. First I went into a Rogers Wireless store to ask about upgrading the hardware on one of my phones (for my son). First I was told I could not upgrade to a smart phone without data. Then I was told that yes I could upgrade to a smart phone that requires lite service. I was given a few choices and when my son said he wanted the Blackberry Curve as his choice we were told they did not have it in stock and they could get it next week, or I should go to another Rogers store. Next we went to another Rogers store and were told they have it in stock but I should call and find out if they can add BBM to my plan. They said if I had unlimited texting they should be able to just add ‘the BBM code’ and they have done it before. I have a grandfathered plan that Rogers gave me a few years ago when they wanted me to commit to a 3 year plan after mine expired. They were very generous and gave me a plan with a bunch of credits. These days it is not looking that great compared with the competition but at the time I felt it was a good value.
I called and spoke to a representative that said I needed to get a data plan or a social networking plan to use BBM, this would be an additional $15 a month which would basically double the cost of my $20 base plan. I asked to speak with a manager and was put in a cue for about 15 minutes till I gave up. Then the store sales person called and tried to explain what I was looking for and she tried to add BBM but needed to re-activate my Internet for that account. That did not work so I was told to use their customer service phone to call in. I called in again and this rep said I don’t have data…..over and over again. I asked to speak to a manager and he said he would need to get permission, I waited on the line for about 10 minutes while I heard typing in the background and was still not connected. I asked how much longer and he said he did not have permission to transfer me yet. I asked to be put to the cancellation department instead, he proceeded to type for another 3 to 5 minutes and then I was transferred to Byron.
I explain that I had been on the phone or spoke to many Rogers employees and was getting a bunch of different information. All I wanted to do was get my hardware upgrade and be able to have BBM working on that account without spending an additional significant amount each month. I explained that if there was no way to add it to my plan affordably perhaps they could give me a new plan and apply some of the existing credit amounts to bring it as close to the current amount as possible. Again, he kept repeating himself, saying - your want a new feature you have to pay the full amount of $15 per month for a 50meg data plan. I told him I had heard different from two in-store reps and he just kept saying he could give me BBM for an additional $15 per month. I told him that I didn’t feel like he was being flexible and explained how friendly and helpful Rogers appeared when they wanted to lock me in to a contract but now that level of service seemed to have evaporated.
So three hours and 6 Rogers employees later I still have not had this settled and had to get a refund on the phone. I am now thinking of suing Rogers in small claims court so I can break the contract without penalty. If any of you have had similar experiences or if there is any lawyer out there that wants to help me take Rogers to court them please respond via comments.
I am going to forward this on to Rogers head office and see if I can get anyone there to help me out and will update this post.
December 13, 2011 update: A couple of days ago I got a NO REPLY response from Rogers saying I did not escalate my complaint properly and I should contact customer service! I responded to the ombudsman saying that I was told the only option I had for escalation was the Office of the President from the last person, Byron I spoke with at Rogers. I also said it was very convenient that the email they sent can not be reply to.
On Monday morning I got an email from the ombudsman saying he would forward my complain to the Office of the President. I received a phone call this morning from Sam, he was fairly nice but pointed out that I never started any service tickets (I was never offered that option) and I did sign a contract and receive discounted hardware. I told him that I felt Rogers is not honoring its side of the agreement by providing me with poor cellular and customer service. He did offer me a $5 per month discount from any data I have to add to get BBM service and he told me a level 2 technician would contact me about my poor data service and dropped calls. I asked if he would be able to waive any of the service fees from the early hardware upgrade and he said they don’t do that anymore. He went on to tell me how he actually cares about customer service and part of his job was to help figure out these problems from a more global standpoint. He seemed somewhat sincere but I also got the feeling he was jaded from having to deal with so many complaints. I have to admit I have on occasion lost my temper with Rogers but I truly believe customer service should always be about the customer.
