Look....I get it!
Companies want to save money. It's getting expensive out there to provide for customers and there really isn't much benefit for continuing to support customers you've had over the past decade...
Or maybe there is?
Sit back, relax, grab your favorite hot beverage and get ready for a Jongo rant!
I'm in Canada.
In Canada, we don't have many options for cellular service. And yeah, this is first world problems I'm going over here, but I truly believe it's a lesson for anyone in business. So yeah, we have basically two big options for cell service here.
Rogers.
Telus.
Bell.
And even the 'discount brands' are owned by these behemoths. And yeah, there are smaller options, but reliable cell service here....You can pick one of three.
I have been with Telus for well over a decade. In fact, I'd even say I was with them for almost 20 years now. And overall, the service has been good. I pay my bill, they give me service. Pretty straight forward.
About three months ago, I started looking around for better prices with Telus. After being with them for so long, I assumed they would try to cater to my needs a bit and give me a better price.
So I started the process of shopping around.
Chat bots.
AI responses.
Absolutely got me nowhere. And this is of course, there was of cutting costs. Hiring and staffing full time customer support agents can be pricey, so on one hand I understand them trying to cut costs and funnel as many customer service issues through the software.
As a customer, it's awful. Like the worst customer experience ever. And I'm not picking on Telus here because with any of the major telecom companies in Canada, it's all the same.
Billion dollar companies, treating people like cattle.
Anyways, I finally got through to a human (I think) and we set up a deal that I thought was fair. Everything was fine, got my bill last month and things looked good...
Then I got my bill this month and the prices shot back up. And they took away my 'deal' that we agreed too. No rhyme or reason they just did.
I took to X to try to private message them and get the prices they agreed to back and nothing...Absolutely no movement on price, in fact they even said it would cost more.
After a few days of trying to send in support requests and more silly I chat bots...I was fed up.
So I decided to go with their competition, and now I'm paying about a third of what I was with Telus. Better deal, better prices, and I actually spoke to a human being today....
Now look, I get it. Like I mentioned, companies don't become billion dollar companies for making super bad decisions over and over again. But I can't help to think...
What if they treated customers, with respect?
And don't get me wrong, even the company I'm with now, I had to fight with silly AI and chat bots to finally speak to a human...But there has to be a moment when these companies start to realize...
People like dealing with people.
That's something we always did with the customer service we had. We had a full customer service staff, a 1-800 phone number...And yeah it cost a lot...But it was wroth it.
And I hope, my customers felt valued too.
I know I sure would like to be these days....
