My Rogers Rant

Explain to me how one of the largest multi-media companies in Canada can be so completely and utterly useless when it comes to customer service.

Of course, I'm talking about Rogers. A Rogers rant is nothing new in the blogging world, but here's my two cents.

In mid-July, I called customer service to cancel Ryan's phone and put my phone on a pay-as-you-go plan. Ryan had recently received a Blackberry from work, so we no longer needed his phone. Which meant, because we had already finished the terms of our contract, we could cancel our family plan and I could drop my phone to the bare minimum of usage -- knowing full well that I rarely use my phone and making this switch would save us about $50 a month.

After getting a few attempts to pursuade me to keep both phones and the plan that I had, the customer service woman cancelled Ryan's phone. But then offered to put me on a plan that cost only $5 a month (for 40 minutes), and, if I agree to it for a year, she'd wave the system access fee for the first year. I thought about it for a minute and then figured, why not, it's cheaper than pay-as-you-go, and honestly, no one but Ryan ever calls my cell.

So, I was told, effective July 31, Ryan's phone would be no more, and my phone would cost $5 a month.

On Monday, we got our first Rogers bill since the switch. Ryan's phone was no more, and mine cost $20 plus the system access fee. Hmmmm, curious.

So I called and complained and was told although my plan had already switched over to the new one, I had to pay for the old one on the Aug. 1 bill and then it would be credited back to me next month. Heh? So what you're telling me then is I have to pay $20 now to receive a service that only costs $5. This after the first woman told me the plan couldn't change at the time of my original call because it was mid-month.

It's not about the $20 that I have to pay today to only have put back in my pocket on Labour Day. It's about the fact that in the five or six years I've been a Rogers customer, I've never been able to make one change, or add one new service, without having to call back at least three times to complain. A few other small rants:

• When we moved in, we signed up for a digital cable promotion that gave us four extra cable outlets in the house for free (avoids having to splice your cable). When the guy showed up to do this, his workorder only indicated he was to set up one cable outlet. Despite the fact that he 'called the office' to confirm what I was telling him, he wouldn't do it. Which meant I had to waste another afternoon a week later to wait for another cable guy to show up to hook up the service I was paying for.
• When we bought our cellphones, we were already Internet and Cable subscribers. We filled out an extra form at the store to get the bundle discount on our phones. It was three months before I realized that our phones weren't being bundled with our other services, and we weren't getting the discount. The switch was made, but not even an apology, or a cent in refund, was offered.

So, I've now called twice regarding the cellphones -- once to cancel, once to complain. One more call next month and by October, I should be receiving and paying for the service I wanted in July.