Fido Canada Customer Service Call Center Treats Good Customers Badly
It seems that lousy customer service has become the defacto standard with Fido in Canada. I am incensed by the increasingly bad customer service by call centers and I was reading Rick Spence's post about Business 2.0, Customers Zero – he makes a valid point about the slight of hand that magazines pull on their paying subscribers.
It really is bad business but these big businesses are so badly disorganized, using poorly conceived strategies, and providing consistently lousy experiences when you can their 'call centers' – it is really a very sad state of affairs. Buyer beware was never more appropriate.
As a small business owner I am used to 'trusting' the people I do business with and have come to expect outstanding customer service. Unfortunately, whenever I do business with a large, public company I am consistently disappointed. Every company has problems but my latest experience with Fido caused me waste five (5) hours of my time talking with more than seven different people! Yet my problem still has not been resolved.
All I was trying to do was show them that I paid them twice once by a money order (for a new phone that the idiots sent COD) plus they processed a payment on my credit card for the same amount. Nice eh!?
Finally, today I was able to get a 'customer relations' person on the phone that actually understood that I had paid twice. I have now sent them (for the second time) a copy of the money order for them to trace. We will see if it ever gets resolved. Part of me wonders if I should have just forgot about getting the credit deserved as it would have been a lot cheaper and a lot less aggravating.
Did Business 2.0 Do It To Me?
As a Business 2.0 subscriber I was shocked to learn that I had overpaid my renewal, see below:
Today I got a note informing me that they're about to renew my subscription "at the guaranteed low rate of 27% off the newsstand price" – $39.95 for 11 issues.
Hold it right there. That's four times my original rate of $10 a year.
On the newsstand this week, their current issue contains an insert card (you know, the ones that fall to the floor as soon as you pick up the issue) offering two years for $11.60 – Canadian. That's about one-seventh the "guaranteed low rate" they're offering me.
Yet on the back of my renewal notice, Business 2.0 promises me that "Your price is one of the lowest rates available to anyone, anywhere." Via Canadian Entrepreneur
I renewed Business 2.0 on my credit card about four months ago. I guess I could have subscribed using the insert card from inside the magazine. Another example, of getting the shaft by a large company out of control and who does not care about their customers – only their customers money!
So how do you feel being seen as a 'walking wallet'?
November 26th, 2006 at 10:34 am
This might make you feel better:
http://www.ihatecallcenters.com
November 26th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Funny, a T-Shirt store dedicated to call centers for people tired of the formula approach to customer service. Who said there was no such thing as niche marketing online. lol
December 22nd, 2006 at 3:46 am
I had to comment when I got to the part in which you wondered if you should have just let it go and saved yourself the aggravation. No, never let it go!
Some companies thrive on these “mistakes” and make a huge profit on them. In fact, you need compensation from them for the time you have wasted. You need to insist on it because they won’t be offering, that’s for sure.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:52 am
I worked at a Call Center and i can tell you it’s a low job that’s for sure. Hard annoying boring what ever you want ..
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Fido service reps & supervisors are rude, incompetent and def. not helpful… it took TWO YEARS to get confirmation that they had issued us a wrong phone number, and now i’ve wasted two weeks trying to get compensated for long distance charges… I know that each one is their own great person just trying to make a living, but it seems like FIDO is training them to be jerks. I also know that call center reps are not known to be great anywhere, but FIDO is the WORST. Feel ripped off of my time and money…
April 15th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Dear
Greg Balanko-Dickson,
As the current time is changing too fast, the needs and the demands of customers are also changing constantly. The good organizations are also changing their strategy to fulfill the customer’s expectations and to prove their organization as a customer oriented. Most customer service centers are giving the best service to be best suited on the customers needs and working speedily to increase the level of satisfaction of their potential customers. The important Question comes that “What should be measured and how?” As contact centers have become more sophisticated, there are significant opportunities to transform the customer experience, add value and multiply returns.
Vaibhav Pandey
http://www.vcarecallcenter.com
India’s one and only end to end CISCO based IP network.
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
The problem with big companies is that they have too many customers to care about them.
Small companies always care about their customers, as per my experience. May be bigger companies have too many customers and they are really dont care is they lose some.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I am disappointed because according to Fido promotion I was suppose to be getting 10% discount on my services because of my 2 services with Rogers (according to what the staff told me in order to convince me). In March I was eligible for 15 discount because I increased my services from 2 to 3 (cable, internet and home phone plus the three Fido lines) I havent yet received any discount.
I have called Fido and they told me I had to ask for it, why should I have to run around and ask for a promotion. They tried to resolve this situation by starting the discount this month, and I tried to contact a super visor, they refused and they offer a 15.0$ credit. This is not satisfactory.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I am completely exasperated with Fido. For years, they have sent me correspondence addressed to a “Rajwant Bhangu.” Rajwant Bhangu has never lived at my address and most certainly does not do so at this time. I recently tried to phone Fido – the recorded message told me to enter my Fido number(I don’t have a Fido number) or to press a certain key. Every time I pressed that key a voice told me that this was an invalid response. When I go to Fido customer service online, they tell you to fill out a form. However, when you try to fill out the form, you cannot type the information onto it. This is a great way of choking off criticism and complaints! I wish to express my public exasperation with Fido. Rajwant Bhangu does not live at the Cameron residence in Surrey, British Columbia. He has never lived there. I will regard future correspondence from Fido as harassment. I’ll simply mark ‘return to sender’ in the future. If this is how Fido does business, I’m very glad I don’t do business with them. Greg Cameron, BA(Simon Fraser), MA(Western Washington), Surrey, B.C.
January 10th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
The problem with these cell phone companies is that they don’t have enough competition and thus provide mediocre service to their clients. We renewed our contract with Fido, spoke to both the kiosk sales person and customer service rep who gave a price that was paid for. Then when we got the bill and it was something totally different. So you think “hey I’ll just call the call centre to fix this” and then you are stuck with a rude person who sounds like a robot stating yes that is a new charge and nope there is nothing we can and too bad one of our employee made a mistake. And the worst part is because they have you on a contract, the think they can treat you any way they like. I would never again go with Fido though I have a feeling that Bell and Telus aren’t that much better.
February 12th, 2011 at 4:43 am
Oh I understand harrasment perfectly well. I have a fido account. I am 1 week late in making my 60.00 payment. I will pay the bill on payday. In the mean time they call my cell and then my home phone twice per day and hang up. I will use their phone till my contract is up and them I will tell them why I will not renew with them. I will also make it my hobby to tell everyone that I know about their harrasing policy. And then I will get on facebook and twitter and tell all of my firends, friends and they will tell their friends and you know what? Fido will have a very hard time getting anyone to take their service. This is Canada and I can fight back legally. This is goin to be fun. Would any one like to join me?