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sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook to zacron

Mod

to zacron

Re: Teksavvy Installation Nightmare - Letter to CEO

It's all very well to say grow slowly, but the very fact that they were so good at CS and at providing the product drew people to them.

Look at how pissed off people get when they put a stop sell on the cable product, or have Bell say "nope can't transfer home phone to them at your address".

It's one of the differences between a "service" and a "product". A company only makes "n" of a product and distributes them, the shops sell them, and then they're largely forgotten until the next batch appears, with no ill feeling. But with a service, the inability to supply is a problem because it's in one's face all the time. They can get X, but I can't and I live next door. etc etc. It does create ill will especially when the alternative is the incumbents.

One also has to remember the incumbents screw up like this each and every day. We expect it of them. We ignore it. We didn't expect it of TSI, so now when it happens we get really pissed.

Growth had to happen ... and keeping it under control is difficult.
Dunlop
join:2011-07-13

Dunlop

Member

said by sbrook:

Bell say "nope can't transfer home phone to them at your address".

They acknowledged on this forum that the inability to transfer your phone number to a Teksavvy POTS line is on their end, not Bell's. Tinfoil hat theory is to push more people to sign up to Tektalk with much higher profit margins. Real reason: who knows :P

There was no way that Teksavvy could maintain their old support model as they grew exponentially in a short period time. Yes, the good old days are gone but it doesn't mean they are the next Bell shown by the fact Marc has posted multiple times in this thread.

My time with them was good and the few times I needed to call my issue was resolved in a speedy manor.

If I hadn't been so annoyed with the complete and utter mishandling of the Quebec market around the time of the new cable tariffs I wouldn't have left and I would still recommend them to anyone who asked me about my experience
mlord
join:2006-11-05
Kanata, ON

mlord to sbrook

Member

to sbrook
said by sbrook:

One also has to remember the incumbents screw up like this each and every day.

Bell, yeah. Rogers, maybe.

When my TSI cable was out for 11 days recently, reasons unknown(*), the Rogers Cable guy who eventually showed up to verify that the line was fine (which we had already proven by borrowing neighbours' modems), he said "nothing I can do -- it's Teksavvy's issue. But.. he also said, that had I been a Rogers customer, he would not have been allowed to leave until everything was working again. Possibly including a modem swap on the spot.

That's the kind of service I expect, and Teksavvy fails to even attempt to deliver.

Cheers

(*) Issue eventually written off as out of date 02.08 firmware on DCM-475, despite neighbour's having exact same modem/version, and this unit working fine in other neighbourhoods. I think some datafill got messed up somewhere, but purchasing and datafilling a new modem fixed it, whatever the issue was.

TSI Marc
Premium Member
join:2006-06-23
Chatham, ON

TSI Marc to Dunlop

Premium Member

to Dunlop
said by Dunlop:

said by sbrook:

Bell say "nope can't transfer home phone to them at your address".

They acknowledged on this forum that the inability to transfer your phone number to a Teksavvy POTS line is on their end, not Bell's. Tinfoil hat theory is to push more people to sign up to Tektalk with much higher profit margins. Real reason: who knows :P

There was no way that Teksavvy could maintain their old support model as they grew exponentially in a short period time. Yes, the good old days are gone but it doesn't mean they are the next Bell shown by the fact Marc has posted multiple times in this thread.

My time with them was good and the few times I needed to call my issue was resolved in a speedy manor.

If I hadn't been so annoyed with the complete and utter mishandling of the Quebec market around the time of the new cable tariffs I wouldn't have left and I would still recommend them to anyone who asked me about my experience

Hum, I dont understand what you're saying here. I don't at all agree that somehow the good times have past. I don't think the old model has changed or that it's not achievable today or that we're that far off. I'll explain more once I post my full review.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

1 recommendation

sbrook

Mod

Really the issues of installs and support come down to the fact that we are dealing with a faulty relationship between the incumbents and TPIAs, and the TPIA's being the people we talk with bear the brunt of the heat.

All this because the CRTC didn't choose to implement tougher standards for the response procedures and times for the incumbent - TPIA relationship.

Let's face it, the incumbents really would rather have all the TPIA customers themselves, so why would they want to service TPIAs? So, they prioritize TPIA clients below their own. Now granted the relationship between for example Bell and TekSavvy is generally better than Rogers - Teksavvy, because Bell have long had similar business relationships selling at a wholesale and commercial level. This was a new and very reluctant business for Cable. They were strong armed into it by the CRTC and thought they could get away with doing all interaction through the existing customer email support team with a similar 48 hour response window (who incidentally were pretty bad for their own customers). There was never a proper escalation process for cable TPIA problems ... and so the TPIA customer gets no priority when things go wrong from the incumbent.

This all puts a crazy strain on TPIA support. It's easy to say "TekSavvy support isn't doing anything to push this along", but the reality is that in many cases, particularly cable, there IS nothing they can do to push things along except occasionally rely on the goodwill of some particular employee, since there is no real business process to push things along!

The overall result is that if you choose to have a TPIA, then when things go wrong, they can readily go VERY VERY wrong and the TPIA's hands are tied.

The reality is that if the incumbents treated TPIAs as important commercial customers and gave them the priority they deserved, TPIA support staff wouldn't be spending so long answering irate customers and trying to coax incumbents to get off their duffs and actually resolve problems in a timely and efficient manner. Then TPIA support staff would be far better able to help and less likely to panic and leave. Support is a tough job and a lot of people just can't do it without burning out quickly.

Yes, I'm blaming the incumbents again, but I'm also blaming the CRTC for allowing the incumbents to put TPIA providers in this position.

QuantumPimp
join:2012-02-19

QuantumPimp

Member

said by sbrook:

Really the issues of installs and support come down to the fact that we are dealing with a faulty relationship between the incumbents and TPIAs, and the TPIA's being the people we talk with bear the brunt of the heat.

Yes, that is certainly a big part of the environment. I expect TPIAs and consumer groups to organize and provide leadership to effect change. Not really what this thread is about AFAIK. I am far more concerned about CSR behavior .... something for which TekSavvy has 100% control.

zacron
Premium Member
join:2008-11-26
Frozen Hoth

zacron

Premium Member

We need the R0CKY model back. Simple.

Quake110
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON

Quake110

Premium Member

said by zacron:

We need the R0CKY model back. Simple.

I don't think it will do any good. As sbrook said, TekSavvy's hands are tied because Rogers TPIA clients are prioritized below their own. So right now, they can't really push things other than reimburse their clients. If they had their own techs and equipment, that would be a different story.

zacron
Premium Member
join:2008-11-26
Frozen Hoth

zacron

Premium Member

That isn't what I was getting at.

What I'm attempting to communicate is that when R0CKY was the CEO, he seemed to present problems and solutions in a more "customer friendly" manner... He was still a bit of a bush dancer however, he did have the Je ne sais quoi jeoune sais quos (Could a french gent/lady spell that properly for me?).

Rocky was a people person, I don't really get the feeling based on past employees and current employees that Marc is such a people person.

Just stating that a more people person would be good for client communications and what not.

ekster
Hi there
Premium Member
join:2010-07-16
Sainte-Anne-De-Bellevue, QC

ekster

Premium Member

said by zacron:

he did have the jeoune sais quos (Could a french gent/lady spell that properly for me?).

Je ne sais quoi.

one liners
@videotron.ca

one liners to zacron

Anon

to zacron
said by zacron:

What I'm attempting to communicate is that when R0CKY was the CEO, he seemed to present problems and solutions in a more "customer friendly" manner...

One word:
perception.

End Result:
Same

zacron
Premium Member
join:2008-11-26
Frozen Hoth

zacron to ekster

Premium Member

to ekster
said by ekster:

said by zacron:

he did have the jeoune sais quos (Could a french gent/lady spell that properly for me?).

Je ne sais quoi.

Merci!

TwiztedZero
Nine Zero Burp Nine Six
Premium Member
join:2011-03-31
Toronto, ON

TwiztedZero to Quake110

Premium Member

to Quake110
said by Quake110:

said by zacron:

We need the R0CKY model back. Simple.

I don't think it will do any good. As sbrook said, TekSavvy's hands are tied because Rogers TPIA clients are prioritized below their own. So right now, they can't really push things other than reimburse their clients. If they had their own techs and equipment, that would be a different story.

I know this will NEVER happen, ever. But it would be really sweet if TekSavvy bought out all the 3rd party Contractors like Link-On that rogers usually contracts out to do cable installs. Though from what I saw Link-On themselves are fairly big or at least give that impression. That would've given TekSavvy nearly instant overnight "techs & equipment", that could be rolled.
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs to zacron

Premium Member

to zacron
said by zacron:

We need the R0CKY model back. Simple.

Rocky who?
Rocky isn't the face of TSI anymore (even if he's back in some official capacity.....is he?)

Tx
bronx cheers from cheap seats
Premium Member
join:2008-11-19
Mississauga, ON

Tx

Premium Member

said by MaynardKrebs:

said by zacron:

We need the R0CKY model back. Simple.

Rocky who?
Rocky isn't the face of TSI anymore (even if he's back in some official capacity.....is he?)

in response to zacron - I was going to say, Rocky is no longer there. Marc is just as good as Rocky and Marc took care of massive growth the company went through. Rocky = great guy but Marc is the trooper who is the face of TSI.

TSI Marc
Premium Member
join:2006-06-23
Chatham, ON

TSI Marc to MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

to MaynardKrebs
Thanks guys I appreciate that. It's been a long road.