Telus → Please Help - TELUS says that I have a "super old" plan.

I just got off the phone with a TELUS rep and was left confused. Apparently, I need to “signup/upgrade” my HS since my plan is "super old"?! My old record shows "home networking" but TELUS has since changed it to something else that I have no idea what it is. (I'd be happy to provide my home# to someone who knows what s/he's doing!) My current contract isn't up til 2008.

Here's my super-old plan: $29.95 ($41.95 HS- $5 LD- $6 one year term- $1 term). Speed is 1.5Mbps, 5 emails, 20GB webspace, 30GB upload/download usage. I currently use my own Linksys 802.11b wireless network router/modem.

I’m trying to figure out the "pros & cons" for switching over to the new HS? Do I get a new wireless gateway? I was told only with a new 3yr contract. Is this true? On the website it seems that a min 1yr would do.

As well, am I eligible to switch to Home Connections Canada »promo.telus.com/ldbundles/ plan at $65.95 if I’m already a HS customer?

Bottom line, if there are no benefits in upgrading/switching, I can just leave my "super old" plan the way it is, no?!

Many thanks!

Forgot to add that my wireless network connection speed is 11.0Mbps, as indicated at the bottom right of my desktop by the clock. Thanks.

if you're on the "home networking" plan you're not on 1.5 you're on 2.5
you're also not paying 29.95 you're paying 39.95.... chances are they said home networking when you're not on it.

you're plan is perfectly fine no need to change it... I don't know how you could be on a 1 year term and have it ending next year. Especially not if you're paying 29.95. It's been 30.95 since feb 2006 and 31.95 since this feb.

You're account is completely messed up... you have some deals for 1.5 and some for 2.5
for example:
5 e-mails, 20mb webspace is for 2.5/3.0 (old version plan)
30 GB up/down is for 1.5 plan

Call back in and get a rep to fix it for you.

Home networking was the old 2.5 plan, it's been changed to 3.0
you can definately change to a home connection bdl at any time... just make sure you're speaking to a knowledgable rep and make sure they fix your entire account as well..

your not going to get any promotions, such as free computer, ect, unless you off telus for 3 months.
You can get 1 month free for each year of a contract.

Thanks JammerMan79. I've been reading some of your other posts. You sure know what you're talking about! I guess my account is somewhat messed up, but it seems to work in my favour to keep it.

The funny thing is that my 1yr @29.95 was up earlier this year, but I never got a notice of renewal or anything. The next thing I know, I'm automatically signed up for another year til 2008 at the same rate. No complaints here. 29.95 is pretty good for HS 1.5!

You're right, my account is so messed up that even the TELUS rep I spoke to earlier was confused. She couldn't even tell me what internet plan I was on. At first she said HN 2.5, so she was going to upg me to HS Enhanced 3.0 if I sign a one year with ending date in 2009, not 2008?!?!

Then she said "wait, you're 1.5.. oh that's a super old plan"?!?!?!?! So she got rid of me. She told me to call 18773104638 after reviewing all the "current" TELUS plans, then pick one.

No one wants to touch my account with a 10 foot pole! So I better leave my HS account the way it is for mutual benefits.

As long as I'm paying a semi-decent rate for my HS, I'm happy. I've been with TELUS forever. I have landline/LD/multiple mobility accts/ADSL with them for as long as I can remember. Now I just have to do more research on TELUS TV, so I can switch my SHAW Digital over.

Some times it's just easier that way. But when you do get the really good agents such as Jammerman and a few other who are around you can get some pretty good deals. I would recommend calling back and seeing if you get lucky and get some one who can fix it all up for you.

From what you said I think you better call back anyways and make sure your not signed up on 2 different plans 1.5 and home networking. It does happen and can lead to some real frustrations.

A little secret for you if when your talking to the agent you find you can hear lots of other agents in the background hang up. It's an outsourced call center. And yes they probably wouldn't touch it. Frankly most of them don't care and will shrug you off some how when they see they have something complex to deal with. Give it 30 minutes and call back. When you get a nice quite call center you than have some-one in BC most likely and those are the agents who in your case are going to be able to straightened it out and get you the deal you deserve. Remember you are the paying customer and you do deserve to get the best service possible. Don't hesitate to hang up and call back until you get some-one you feel comfortable with.

When I signed up for TelusTV, I signed up after my initial internet contract was up, but the telus rep said I was already on a contract to which I kinda went hmm.

Coming from a background in customer service and contracts, lemme tell you one thing.

Do NOT EVER let a representative change something for you. Always get them to email/fax/snailmail you something that describes what you are getting.

Reason,

Sales reps, or when customer service reps are pushed into upselling, often lie, intentionally or not to get you into a new contract. The reason being that they get more money out of you if/when you cancel. There will always be an extra push if the company is being bought out or spun off, because the parent company gets to keep a pile of money and the new company gets stuck with the contracts the previous company signed.

Some customer service people, are actually forced into upselling and have to meet a quota or they will not get certain bonuses or will be given less overtime or whatever. It does turn into a parent-company-does-not-give-a-crap-about-customer-service situation.

My personal beef is that such old plans are usually a good deal for some reason and the company has told the CSR to try and get you off that plan by any means except canceling you. CellCo's do this all the time to people who roam on other carrier networks.

Luckily most of the (actual)telus call centres that you reach are not like that. I've seen that kind of centre myself when I worked for another company ("sweatshop call centre") and they're horrible.
Most error's you'll find with telus are done without malice and it's usually attributed to a poor understanding or poor training.

just so you know most old plans with Telus are NOT better.. they're similar or worse.

The issue with yvrwebby is a bit different.. it's NOT an old plan (it's current) but a WHOLE wack of errors that are working to his/her benefit.

I'm actually quite happy with my Telus service, so it's not a direct poke at Telus, rather customer-service-as-sales issue. However I know people that really hate Telus for no reason that is Telus' fault.

But the call center sweatshop thing is one reason to be wary of feature/contract arrangements. The other thing to be wary about is representatives that can't answer questions (due to lack of training or experience.) Before hanging up, have them tell you what your account has, because if what they say isn't what you want, make sure they make the changes before you hang up. Once you get someone new, they may have no idea what the previous representative was setting up, even if they leave notes.

I had a similar situation on my hands a couple months ago. It seems it's almost impossible to get it fixed without closing the account and opening a new one if it a major change. Which is what I landed having to do after cancelling a hole whack of services.

I think from people I know and have spoken to over the phone that right with this system change over your better to leave things as is instead of changing things. Hopefully in a couple months when Telus figures out the new system and gets everything under control a lot of these issues will go away.

When you ever you do a mass WAN roll out your always going to have issues and servers and hardware can start taking on a life of it's own they normally wouldn't have. I can't tell you how times over the years I have seen Telus own network out smart it's creators. Telus network is very smart at times it works for us and at other times like right now it works against us. It's just the way life is on a planet as networked as ours is. I can this I know staff members at Telus who are just as frustrated as we the end clients are right now.

I pretty much agree with all of this.. I'd actually go one further. At the beginning of the call (after they verify your identity) ask the rep to tell you exactly what services you have. If they're not sure, can't tell you, or tell you something completely different from what you know you have, be very wary...

Funny thing is, I did ask the rep what internet service I had at the very beginning of the phone call. She calmly told me "HN 2.5". Then 5min into explaining the benefits in upg to 3.0, she then apologized and said "1.5".

Throughout the call, there was a lot of noise.. echoey at times. The rep was struggling reading off a script. Sometimes she'd pause to find what she should say next. Oh well, it could be her first day.. poor girl.

So yeah, next time I phone in, I'll listen for that 'quiet' call centre and hope for someone who knows what s/he's doing. You guys have been great! The information so far has been very valuable. Much appreciated.

I would not suggest doing this but if you get to the point of last resort and you can't get anything done at all. Everything is just frozen as far as dealing with customer service ask to them to pass you to retention. They are specialist in solving issues and prevention loss. They do at times have some very neat tricks up there sleeves to get things done.

Only do it as a last resort but they do tend to get things fixed.

I would not recommend getting passed on to retention. They have no special training or systems to deal with this type of problem. You'll actually have a harder time finding an experienced rep as that dept is located in AB and as everyone already knows, they have a much higher employee churn rate.

Okay, point taken,

But at least you know your getting some one in north America who you know can understand what you are trying to tell them. With the out sources call centers half the time they can't understand what you telling them so they can't even help in the first place. As I said it's an absolute last resort!!

LOL... that would be true..

At this point I will take anyone in western canada and even Quebec if they speak fluent English. I am that sick of all the problems. I will even pay extra to keep my calls in canada at this point. And yes I see all the angry replies about 2 tier support coming.