Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Swedish Jewellers, I Have Not Forgotten.
Remember over a year ago when I blogged about my hatred for local Edmonton store, Swedish Jewellers? They came up in conversation yesterday and not for a good reason. I was watching TV and noticed a weird noise when I was playing with my rings. It almost sounded like a "clink". I look down and decided to check my diamond and of course, it's so loose that I can almost rotate it a quarter circle. I've never owned rings with stones set in them before so I really have no idea how normal it is for a diamond to get that loose, but come on! I had it checked last winter by Independent Jewellers and the gentleman assured me that the diamond was fine. I'm not saying that Swedish did a crappy job. I just want to share the fact that they were indeed, the last ones to do any work on the ring. You can bet your bottom dollar that I am not returning to them to get this issue fixed, even if they do offer lifetime replating with every ring purchase. Screw you Swedish Jewellers. I. Still. Hate. You.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Novelle Bridal Experience
I'm spending a quiet Sunday morning with my puppy, eating breakfast and watching Say Yes to the Dress. It brought back all these wonderful and not so wonderful emotions about my own wedding dress. Remember when I put in my wedding dress order back in January? I fell in love with the very first dress that I put on. It was a Priscilla of Boston Vineyard collection dress full of beautiful lace with absolutely zero glitz or sparkle, exactly what I was looking for. It made me feel so beautiful the moment my consultant zipped it up that it brought tears to eyes. I committed the cardinal sin of trying on a dress that was out of my budget, but after working out a great deal with Novelle Bridal, I took the $2500 plunge. Deposit was put down and the dress was ordered 8 1/2 months before my wedding.
Fast forward to August. I get a message from the store owner, asking me to call her. When I called back, the owner wasn't going to be back till the following Monday and I was going to be in Mexico for that entire week. I end up getting in touch with her after my Mexico trip in mid-August. She tells me that there is an issue with my dress order and that Priscilla of Boston was on a trunk show when my order was put in so my order was somehow missed. She reassured me that they put a rush on the order and it would arrive by September 5th. She also gave me the # for the Priscilla of Boston rep in case I wanted to call and check up on things. So I call the rep the next day and try to get more information as to how the dress order was missed and the girl was no help. She said the original girl that was dealing with my file is no longer with them so she doesn't have any information to provide to me. I asked if there would be compensation and she said no because I am Novelle's customer and Novelle is their customer so any compensation would be through Novelle. She also confirmed that the dress wasn't going to actually arrive on September 5, but rather it was going to be shipped out of their warehouse in the States on the 5th. I requested to get the name and # of the rep's supervisor and she said she would get back to me.
A few hours later, I get a message from the rep. She tells me that the supervisor and Novelle worked out a deal and that I should call Novelle to discuss it. So I call Novelle and the owner tells me that she feels really bad this situation happened and it shouldn't happen to any bride so she's offering me $100 store credit towards accessories. She tells me this is out of their own pocket. Novelle knew I had my eye on one of their $300 lace veils, but they must've been insane to think that I was willing to drop another cent in their store. I tell the owner again and again I'm nervous about the dress coming in so late and that I've lost all faith in them especially when she couldn't even get the ship date correct. She reassured me that she received a confirmation email about the Sept 5 date but another phone call later, she re-confirms that it is indeed the ship date and not the arrival date that she was reassuring me about. The deal from the rep ended up being another minor credit on the dress. I don't remember exactly what it was anymore, but it was along the lines of another $100.
It's a Friday and after a long phone call with the owner, yet again, we come up with several solutions.
1. I wait and hope the dress comes in on time and Novelle will cover all costs of my alterations.
2. I buy the sample dress for $2000 so I have time to find an independent seamstress to alter it for me.
3. I cancel my order.
I ended the call with the understanding that I would get the weekend to think about my options. That evening, however, I get a call from the owner's husband. He starts off the conversation with saying how he heard that I was very upset and if I had any other questions for him. I told him that I just wanted to take the weekend to think through my options to which he responded, "What options do you think you have?" I tell him and he quickly corrects me saying that cancelling the order is not an option. The phone call went downhill from there. He informs me that my only options right now are to wait until the dress gets here or walk away from my deposit. I'm absolutely livid at this point and I will always remember the hot angry tears as I slam the phone down and cry out to Jamie my tears of frustration.
Meanwhile, I'm telling everyone at work about my situation and my coworker tells me she also bought her dress from Novelle. She ended up purchasing a lace dress from them and although her dress was just over $1000, alterations were $700. She had it taken in and straps added. The seamstress told her that the straps were simple to add and it would be done quickly. After not hearing from them, she calls Novelle and they tell her the alterations aren't complete yet. Something that should have taken a couple hours is now taking over a week. She ends up getting her dress Friday afternoon right before she needs to leave town for her destination wedding. I brought this up to Novelle as another reason my confidence in their store has dwindled. Their response, "She never told us she was leaving town on Friday." ...
On the following Monday, Jamie decides to go into Novelle to get everything in writing because their promises mean nothing now. He calls me from the store and tells me the owner is telling him the store is guaranteeing the dress to arrive no later than September 16th. If it doesn't arrive by then, I get a full refund of my deposit. The $200 credit will not be available if I choose to get the alterations covered. The owner also quoted Jamie a higher price for the sample dress than what was told to me before. I'm again very frustrated that Novelle is changing their word again especially when a part of that credit was apparently offered by Priscilla of Boston. My friend and I drive down to Novelle to meet Jamie. He tells me that the owner's husband is coming as well. He also tells me that he had yelled at the owner for the dress being late, in front of all the customers.
When the owner's husband arrives, we all sit down to try and discuss the situation. It started off with Jamie and her husband arguing about whether the dress was late or not. The owner refused to admit the dress was late. "Late by what definition? I consider the dress late if it doesn't arrive in time for your wedding." Novelle originally told me the dress should arrive by mid-July. Now they're saying it should arrive by Sept 16 for my wedding date of October 1. The conversation quickly escalates to yelling and both men are so visibly upset that both their hands are shaking. I think because they were both upset, I actually managed to stay calm. I told them why we were upset and they kept asking what I wanted. My friend finally stepped in and said what I want is my deposit back, that I don't want the dress anymore because it no longer has good memories associated with it and it doesn't mean the same to me anymore. The husband's response, "I'm not a psychologist so I really don't know what to tell you to make you like the dress again." ... What. The. Eff.
I gave my closing argument. I told them that what I want is peace of mind. I want to get a refund of my deposit and I don't care what I get married in anymore. All I want is a dress, physically in my hands so that I can get started on my alterations. I reasoned with them that once the dress does come in, they can still sell the dress as a sample dress for a price that is almost identical to the price they were going to sell it to me for. (They had given me a 15% discount because of the Priscilla of Boston sale.) The loss to them would be very little, if any. I also asked them to disregard the business aspect for a moment and just think about me as a stressed out bride. They listened and told me they would think about the options and get back to me the next day.
The next day, I get a call from Novelle asking me to go in. The owner tells me that they have decided to give me a full refund of my $1500. I'm ecstatic and relieved. After I leave the store, I call Urban Bride Delivered, which I've contacted prior, and ask her if I can swing by to try on some dresses. I end up finding a lace dress that has sparkle and beading. Not my first love, but like I said before, I just need a dress at this point. For $500, I jumped and bought the consigned dress.
The Priscilla of Boston Vineyard dress ($2675) and the Alfred Angelo consignment dress ($500)
What I learnt from this experience: Bridal stores get a confirmation fax/email once the order is submitted and they do not generally follow up or check in on your dress till close to the estimated ship date. I never did see the confirmation that Novelle claims they got. I'll never know if a confirmation was ever generated if Priscilla of Boston is saying an order was never placed. For all the brides out there, be diligent in checking up on your dress status. I was busy with my friend's wedding and just never got around to calling Novelle when mid-July came and went. I figured they would call me and when they did, instead of hearing that my dress was in, I heard that my dress wasn't even ordered. I definitely do not want this to happen to anyone else.
A week later, I hear on the news that Priscilla of Boston is announcing that they are closing all their US stores to focus more on David's Bridal. They were going to fill all the orders that have been placed, but will not be taking any new dress orders. Wow.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Amazon Ridiculousness
Live agent, Taylor, was way more helpful. Perhaps it's because I typed a lot of CAPS in my complaint. Either way, Taylor was helpful and had the courtesy to ask if there was anything else I needed and did the decent thing of signing off with "Take care!"
Amazon Annoyance
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Swedish Jewellers=Jerks
I have to write about this because my blood boils when I think about it. When Jamie was hunting for my engagement ring, he found a specific designer that he thought I would like. Only a few jewelry stores carried this designer, one of them being Swedish Jewellers. He ended up buying the ring and matching band there but not the diamond. Although he knew my left ring finger fit smaller than my right, he didn't realize just how much smaller. Despite buying the ring in a 1/4 size smaller, it was still slipping off. I ended up bringing it into Independent Jewellers to get it resized down to a 5. It cost $35 and took a few days. Now after wearing it for a couple months, I realized that it is still too big. I called up Swedish Jewellers and asked if they do free resizing since Jamie bought the ring and band there. The person I spoke with said, "Sure, bring them in and we'll work something out." Since it was Christmas time and they said it'd take a week or so to resize, I opted to wait until after the holidays.
So come January and I bring the rings in to Swedish Jewellers. I dealt with Kim and David. I told them I had called asking about free resizing since both rings were purchased there. David took a look and had me try them on. Sure enough, he agreed they were both too big. He asked why the rings were ordered so big and I explained how my left fingers were smaller than my right. He still didn't understand why they didn't fit because "we order to size". After a few attempts he goes, "Oh, so we've never had you in the store to measure you!" Hmmm, does every man bring his future wife in to get her ring size measured? Has David ever heard of surprise engagements? Anyways, I drop off both rings.
After 2 1/2 weeks of not hearing from them, I called. The sales associate on the phone wasn't friendly. I said I had dropped off rings for resizing and was wondering if they were ready. "There's nothing in the ready box." So I asked if she could give me an idea of when they would be ready. She tells me she will look and call me back. Does she call me back? Of course not. I call back the next day and they say the rings should be ready by the end of the day or the next day. I get a call at the end of the day telling me the rings can be picked up tomorrow. So I go in the next morning to pick them up.
It's Thursday and Kim is working. He hands me my ring. I tell him there were two rings so he digs in the envelope a bit more and finds it. After putting them both on, I'm satisfied enough and am ready to leave since I parked in the loading zone. Kim then says, "That'll be $200". What. The. F&*#. I calmly tell him I was under the impression they were going to get resized for free. He asks who I was dealing with and I tell him "You were here the night I dropped them off." So he goes to the back to find David because he does the pricing. David comes out and asks what the problem with the price is. I tell him the same thing I told Kim. David tells me that he spoke with the "Al" and because they ordered the ring in the size Jamie wanted, it wasn't the store's fault the rings don't fit so resizing wouldn't be free. I tell him I don't understand why the cost is $200 and he raises his voice at me saying, "Do you have any idea how much work it is to resize rings like those?" I tell him I've had them resized before for $35. So then David brings up that the rings were re-plated with rhodium and that future re-plating is complimentary with ring purchases. So I ask again, how much would it cost to resize without the plating. $50. So now I'm upset and confused. Why $200? Because of the plating. But I thought re-plating was complimentary? It's because I got the ring resized. So I tell him I'm upset because it was supposed to be done free of charge, to which he yells back at me, "You can't go through life expecting everything for free." He storms off into the back leaving myself, Kim and the 2 other employees in shock. David comes back out and says that even though he doesn't have authority to change prices, that he'll take off $50. What else can I say at this point? I pay the stupid $150 and leave the store crying.
I cry for an hour straight. Why so long? Because I was livid. I was so mad I felt like turning my car around and driving it through their store front. So I tell Jamie what happened and Jamie's mad. He plans on going into the store the next day to talk to Al, the store owner. Is he in the store that day though? No. So we spend the whole weekend calling to see when Al will be in and we get nowhere. Finally Monday comes and Jamie goes in to the store to talk to Al. Jamie has given them a lot of business and he dealt with Al for the ring purchase. Jamie is calm and collected. He tries to get Al to see where we are coming from. Al's argument: He agrees that the store should have called us to confirm that we still wanted the work done with the estimated cost, "...but most of the clients we deal with just want the work done." So he recognizes they are wrong but "...I can't refund your money because she still agreed to pay it." How does this make any sense? So after 45 minutes of trying to get Al to see all the things the store did wrong, he agrees to only give us a store credit. Is that what I want? No! They still have the $150 that I wasn't wanting to spend there in the first place. Had I known it was going to cost, I would have brought it anywhere else and it would have been done better, faster and cheaper. I feel taken advantage of, belittled, bullied, scammed.
So that night, Jamie comes home to tell me that's all he was able to do. He also asked me if I had checked to see if my diamond was secure because making a ring smaller will cause the claws on the diamond to pull away. Makes perfect sense. So we check and we find a loose diamond. Are you freaking kidding me?!? It takes them 2 1/2 weeks and they do a crappy job??? Unbelievable! So Jamie takes it in the next day for them to fix their crappy work and they assure us it will be done free of charge. "We'll put a rush order on it." 8 days later, it's finally ready. 8 days to tighten the claws!!!
Now what happens yesterday while I'm at work? I am in the washroom and I look down at my ring and what do I see?
A MISSING DIAMOND!!! How ridiculous is this? I never ever EVER want to deal with Swedish Jewellers again. I will not recommend them to anybody and I will do everything I humanly can to share my awful experience with them. They are shady, have terrible customer service and take a long time to do crappy work. So now we're stuck replacing a lost diamond when I've only had this ring for 5 months. I. Hate. Swedish. Jewellers.
So come January and I bring the rings in to Swedish Jewellers. I dealt with Kim and David. I told them I had called asking about free resizing since both rings were purchased there. David took a look and had me try them on. Sure enough, he agreed they were both too big. He asked why the rings were ordered so big and I explained how my left fingers were smaller than my right. He still didn't understand why they didn't fit because "we order to size". After a few attempts he goes, "Oh, so we've never had you in the store to measure you!" Hmmm, does every man bring his future wife in to get her ring size measured? Has David ever heard of surprise engagements? Anyways, I drop off both rings.
After 2 1/2 weeks of not hearing from them, I called. The sales associate on the phone wasn't friendly. I said I had dropped off rings for resizing and was wondering if they were ready. "There's nothing in the ready box." So I asked if she could give me an idea of when they would be ready. She tells me she will look and call me back. Does she call me back? Of course not. I call back the next day and they say the rings should be ready by the end of the day or the next day. I get a call at the end of the day telling me the rings can be picked up tomorrow. So I go in the next morning to pick them up.
It's Thursday and Kim is working. He hands me my ring. I tell him there were two rings so he digs in the envelope a bit more and finds it. After putting them both on, I'm satisfied enough and am ready to leave since I parked in the loading zone. Kim then says, "That'll be $200". What. The. F&*#. I calmly tell him I was under the impression they were going to get resized for free. He asks who I was dealing with and I tell him "You were here the night I dropped them off." So he goes to the back to find David because he does the pricing. David comes out and asks what the problem with the price is. I tell him the same thing I told Kim. David tells me that he spoke with the "Al" and because they ordered the ring in the size Jamie wanted, it wasn't the store's fault the rings don't fit so resizing wouldn't be free. I tell him I don't understand why the cost is $200 and he raises his voice at me saying, "Do you have any idea how much work it is to resize rings like those?" I tell him I've had them resized before for $35. So then David brings up that the rings were re-plated with rhodium and that future re-plating is complimentary with ring purchases. So I ask again, how much would it cost to resize without the plating. $50. So now I'm upset and confused. Why $200? Because of the plating. But I thought re-plating was complimentary? It's because I got the ring resized. So I tell him I'm upset because it was supposed to be done free of charge, to which he yells back at me, "You can't go through life expecting everything for free." He storms off into the back leaving myself, Kim and the 2 other employees in shock. David comes back out and says that even though he doesn't have authority to change prices, that he'll take off $50. What else can I say at this point? I pay the stupid $150 and leave the store crying.
I cry for an hour straight. Why so long? Because I was livid. I was so mad I felt like turning my car around and driving it through their store front. So I tell Jamie what happened and Jamie's mad. He plans on going into the store the next day to talk to Al, the store owner. Is he in the store that day though? No. So we spend the whole weekend calling to see when Al will be in and we get nowhere. Finally Monday comes and Jamie goes in to the store to talk to Al. Jamie has given them a lot of business and he dealt with Al for the ring purchase. Jamie is calm and collected. He tries to get Al to see where we are coming from. Al's argument: He agrees that the store should have called us to confirm that we still wanted the work done with the estimated cost, "...but most of the clients we deal with just want the work done." So he recognizes they are wrong but "...I can't refund your money because she still agreed to pay it." How does this make any sense? So after 45 minutes of trying to get Al to see all the things the store did wrong, he agrees to only give us a store credit. Is that what I want? No! They still have the $150 that I wasn't wanting to spend there in the first place. Had I known it was going to cost, I would have brought it anywhere else and it would have been done better, faster and cheaper. I feel taken advantage of, belittled, bullied, scammed.
So that night, Jamie comes home to tell me that's all he was able to do. He also asked me if I had checked to see if my diamond was secure because making a ring smaller will cause the claws on the diamond to pull away. Makes perfect sense. So we check and we find a loose diamond. Are you freaking kidding me?!? It takes them 2 1/2 weeks and they do a crappy job??? Unbelievable! So Jamie takes it in the next day for them to fix their crappy work and they assure us it will be done free of charge. "We'll put a rush order on it." 8 days later, it's finally ready. 8 days to tighten the claws!!!
Now what happens yesterday while I'm at work? I am in the washroom and I look down at my ring and what do I see?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
My Epic Battle with Bell Mobility
Here is the tale of my epic battle with Bell Mobility. It's going to be a lengthy post so feel free to skim. Lets start at the very beginning.
December 2, 2007
Jamie and I are roaming West Edmonton Mall and we happen to stroll into a Wireless Wave etc. Both our cell phone contracts were done and a couple friends of mine from work at the time had negotiated sweet deals because we were part of our union. The salesman was Adam. He was super smooth and sold both Jamie and I a phone. Jamie got the HTC Touch with a sweet internet data plan. It would only cost him $10 for unlimited while he was paying like $30 on Telus. I got suckered into a Motorola Rokr. The plan for me was $30 which included 200 daytime minutes, unlimited evenings/weekends starting at 6 pm, texting, voicemail, call display and all that other calling jazz. We also both decided to buy the Phone Protection Plan. It was explained to us by Adam that it costs $70 and if we don't use it within 3 years, we get our money back. Sounds like a good deal. Fast forward now...
December 2009
Jamie buys me a new phone for Christmas because the Rokr is absolute CRAP. And I've tried getting it fixed several times and called Bell many many times but nothing has helped. Wireless Wave finally said they need to send the phone in but they don't have any loaner phones for me to borrow and they don't know how long it'd take for the phone to be fixed because it was a software issue. The new phone is a Nokia N97 in white, which he ordered from the States because Canada doesn't carry white. I was excited but also a bit upset that he had spent $400 on a new phone when I was still stuck on contract with Bell. He was clever though and got my # onto a sim card which we stuck into my new phone. Within the first week of using it, it was already glitchy. It got to the point where we couldn't even turn it on. We called Nokia about the manufacturers warranty but they said because we purchased it across the border, the warranty is void. GAYNESS. We finally got the phone working again and I was able to live with it until about 2 months ago. It would drop every single phone call I made and say "Connection Error". My phone calls with friends became, "Just to warn you, my phone is going to disconnect so talk f....BEEP Connection Error". $*#()*@FJDKS*()#& So upsetting! Fast forward again...
December 28, 2010
We're heading over to Jamie's parents for supper and had left the house early. I knew it had been 3 years and I wanted to get our money back for the Protection Plan that we bought in 2007. There happened to be a Wireless Wave at Millwoods Town Center so we stopped in there. The salesman told us that we can only get the money back as credit to use in store and he wasn't able to authorize it because only his manager knew how. If we were to put the credit towards a new phone, however, then he could do it for us. He told us what plans were offered and the best rate was Virgin Mobile. The plan was still more than what I wanted to pay, considering Wind Mobile had an awesome deal for $40. So I decided to hold off and call Bell to negotiate a better deal. That night I get on the phone with Bell and here's our conversation.
Bell: For service in English, please say English.
Sandy: English... Hahah I won't go through all of that but I just hate the voice system...
Sandy: My contract has expired and I'd like to see what data plans Bell has to offer.
Bell: (Outsourced to India I'm sure because this person had an accent) Our cheapest data plan is $50.
Sandy: I've been a customer with Bell for 3 years and I'm looking for a cheaper plan than that.
Bell: There is nothing I can do for you. You'll have to talk to Cancellations.
I get transferred to the Cancellations/Retention department.
Bell: What are you looking for in your plan.
Sandy: Early start unlimited evenings/weekends, texting, data.
Bell: We have a promotion right now for $50.
Sandy: I'm looking to pay no more than $40.
Bell: There are no plans out there for $40 that includes data.
Sandy: There is. Wind Mobile has one.
Bell: Wind Mobile does not have the coverage that Bell does. They have dropped calls all the time.
Sandy: I get dropped calls on Bell and my fiance has Wind. The coverage he gets is fine. I'm not concerned with coverage because I don't travel often. I'm concerned with the price of the plan.
Bell: The best I can offer you is $45 for 350 daytime minutes, early unlimited evenings/weekends, unlimited texting, voicemail, call display and 500 mb of data.
Sandy: I don't need 350 daytime minutes. Can you cut that down to 200 and lower the price?
Bell: *Sigh of irritation* Let me put you on hold.
Bell: I can do $40.50 a month.
Sandy: That's with a 3 year contract on a new phone?
Bell: Yes. Just go to any Bell store or kiosk and they will see the note on your file.
Sandy: Perfect. Thank you.
Bell: Have a good day CLICK.
December 29, 2010
The next day we're heading to Jamie's relatives for supper which is close to Millwoods Town Center so we stop by again. The same salesman is working.
Sandy: I got a better rate so I'd like to use my credit towards a new phone. He said you can see the rate plan on my file.
Salesman: I don't actually see anything on your file. Only Bell stores can access that information.
Sandy: So how do I use my credit if I need to go to a Bell store.
Salesman: Hmm... You're right... Actually you the credit can only be used on accessories.
Sandy: You said I can apply it towards a new phone.
Salesman: Let me check... Yes you're right. You can use it for a phone but only my manager can do that and he's out of the country till early January. Oh wait, maybe the assistant manager knows how to do it.
So we wait while the assistant manager finishes up his phone call.
Salesman: You know what? Actually the protection plan you bought 3 years ago, it's a 3+1. It's only in the last 2 years that the plans are 2+1.
Sandy: What do you mean 3+1?
Salesman: Well that means your protection plan is 3+1 years, so you can't use the credit for another year.
Sandy: No where on this contract (Yes I had the original contract, receipt and Adam's card stapled to it) does it say 3+1. The salesman told me if I don't use it within 3 years, I get my money back.
Salesman: Well Adam is now the sales manager at the West Edmonton location so you can talk to him if you'd like.
Sandy: Oh you can be sure I will.
December 30, 2010
So we drive all the way from home (east) to West Edmonton Mall. I'm so ready to have a good yelling at Adam and I'm hoping he's working. Sure enough, Mr. Adam is working. Unfortunately he's busy with a customer so I deal with the other salesman. I told Jamie I was going to play the nice card first and pretend it was my first time trying to get the credit back. We all know being mean doesn't get you far.
Sandy: We bought phone protection plans 3 years ago and we'd like to use the credit towards a new phone.
Salesman: Yup no problem. Do you have a phone in mind.
Sandy: Yes, the iPhone4.
Salesman: Yup no problem.
Sandy: I'd like to apply both credits towards one phone.
Salesman: You can apply one or both. Whatever you'd like.
Sandy: I negotiated a plan with Bell and you guys can't see it on my file. How do I activate the plan?
Adam: We just add on a data plan so that we can activate your phone and you just need to call Bell afterwards and they can switch it over for you. Here, take these Tim Horton's gift cards and get yourselves some coffee. We'll get the paperwork ready for you. We're out of stock for the iPhone but can order it for you from Millwoods or you can pick it up.
So we get our coffee and I'm telling Jamie I can't even be mad at Adam because he's so fricking slick.
Adam: So I've called Millwoods and they have a phone ready for you. Just stop by and show them the receipt. Because you're doing a hardware upgrade, there's a one time $35 fee.
Sandy: No one mentioned this fee.
Adam: Well if you want, you can try calling Bell to see if they can waive it. There's nothing we can do about it in store.
So we drive all the way from the west back to southeast Edmonton and the same dang salesman is working at Wireless Wave.
Salesman: So did you talk to Adam?
Sandy: Yup.
Salesman: Was he able to do anything.
Sandy: Yup, no questions asked. We're here to pick up a phone.
Salesman: Oh the phone is for you?
So later that night, I call Bell. I sit on hold for 15 minutes and talk to the representative. I tell him that when I had negotiated the plan, they said there would be nothing else to pay. He looks over my file and says there's no note on this fee being waived and I'll need to get transferred to the department that I negotiated with. So I sit on hold for another 3 minutes and he comes back to tell me the department is closed and to call back tomorrow. Until I give the "ok" for this fee, they can't switch my plan over.
December 31, 2010
I call Bell Mobility and sit on hold for 20 minutes. TWENTY!!! Finally get through to a representative and I have to explain the whole situation to this outsourced representative in India. After she looks through my file, she comes back to tell me she doesn't see any notes on the file and tells me I need to be transferred. So another 3 minutes on hold and she comes back to tell me the department is closed for New Years. WTF. It's 9 am!!! So I'm left with nothing else to do but call back later.
January 3, 2011
I call Bell Mobility (starting to sound redundant yet?) and do the same routine all over again. Except this time I'm speaking to someone with no accent. Same story explained, nothing noted on my file, transferred to the department that is finally open!
Representative: How can I help you today?
Sandy: I just got a new phone a few days ago and negotiated a new plan but there's been some conflict about the hardware upgrade fee.
Representative: What is the conflict?
Sandy: When I was negotiating the plan, I was told that the hardware upgrade fee would be waived and there's nothing noted on my file.
Representative: Let me take a look...Do you remember what plan you negotiated?
Sandy: I spew out the plan.
Representative: Yup, that's all it shows on here. Looks like you spoke with someone on the 29th and they tried to transfer you but the department was closed.
Sandy: I was debating between getting the Samsung Galaxy or the iPhone4 and the guy said if I signed for 3 years with the iPhone4, he would waive the fee because the phone is more expensive.
Representative: Ok. I also see here that you're still on your corporate plan. Did you want me to activate your new plan?
Sandy: Well they didn't activate it because I had to talk to you guys about the upgrade fee.
Representative: Let me put you on hold.
And so he goes on to tell me how he has to do all this work to swap plans out and I'll be on hold for 5 minutes but to not hang up the phone. 3 minutes later, he comes back to make sure I'm still on the phone. 2 minutes later he comes back and tells me he'll waive the fee and the plan is good to go. Overall, Frank did a great job. He was fast, to the point and even helped me out with a few other things.
So at the end of this battle, what happened?
Days spent:5
Trips to Millwoods Town Center:3
Drives to WEM:1
Tanks of gas guzzled: likely 2
Calls to Bell: 4
Lies told: 1
Fees waived: 1
Minutes of my life wasted on hold:immeasurable.
What did I win?
An iPhone4 that cost $28.09 (plus the $139.90 that we paid for the Phone Protection Plan 3 years ago) and a monthly plan of $40.50 which includes data that I'll need to pay for the next 3 years.
Maybe I didn't actually win...
December 2, 2007
Jamie and I are roaming West Edmonton Mall and we happen to stroll into a Wireless Wave etc. Both our cell phone contracts were done and a couple friends of mine from work at the time had negotiated sweet deals because we were part of our union. The salesman was Adam. He was super smooth and sold both Jamie and I a phone. Jamie got the HTC Touch with a sweet internet data plan. It would only cost him $10 for unlimited while he was paying like $30 on Telus. I got suckered into a Motorola Rokr. The plan for me was $30 which included 200 daytime minutes, unlimited evenings/weekends starting at 6 pm, texting, voicemail, call display and all that other calling jazz. We also both decided to buy the Phone Protection Plan. It was explained to us by Adam that it costs $70 and if we don't use it within 3 years, we get our money back. Sounds like a good deal. Fast forward now...
December 2009
Jamie buys me a new phone for Christmas because the Rokr is absolute CRAP. And I've tried getting it fixed several times and called Bell many many times but nothing has helped. Wireless Wave finally said they need to send the phone in but they don't have any loaner phones for me to borrow and they don't know how long it'd take for the phone to be fixed because it was a software issue. The new phone is a Nokia N97 in white, which he ordered from the States because Canada doesn't carry white. I was excited but also a bit upset that he had spent $400 on a new phone when I was still stuck on contract with Bell. He was clever though and got my # onto a sim card which we stuck into my new phone. Within the first week of using it, it was already glitchy. It got to the point where we couldn't even turn it on. We called Nokia about the manufacturers warranty but they said because we purchased it across the border, the warranty is void. GAYNESS. We finally got the phone working again and I was able to live with it until about 2 months ago. It would drop every single phone call I made and say "Connection Error". My phone calls with friends became, "Just to warn you, my phone is going to disconnect so talk f....BEEP Connection Error". $*#()*@FJDKS*()#& So upsetting! Fast forward again...
December 28, 2010
We're heading over to Jamie's parents for supper and had left the house early. I knew it had been 3 years and I wanted to get our money back for the Protection Plan that we bought in 2007. There happened to be a Wireless Wave at Millwoods Town Center so we stopped in there. The salesman told us that we can only get the money back as credit to use in store and he wasn't able to authorize it because only his manager knew how. If we were to put the credit towards a new phone, however, then he could do it for us. He told us what plans were offered and the best rate was Virgin Mobile. The plan was still more than what I wanted to pay, considering Wind Mobile had an awesome deal for $40. So I decided to hold off and call Bell to negotiate a better deal. That night I get on the phone with Bell and here's our conversation.
Bell: For service in English, please say English.
Sandy: English... Hahah I won't go through all of that but I just hate the voice system...
Sandy: My contract has expired and I'd like to see what data plans Bell has to offer.
Bell: (Outsourced to India I'm sure because this person had an accent) Our cheapest data plan is $50.
Sandy: I've been a customer with Bell for 3 years and I'm looking for a cheaper plan than that.
Bell: There is nothing I can do for you. You'll have to talk to Cancellations.
I get transferred to the Cancellations/Retention department.
Bell: What are you looking for in your plan.
Sandy: Early start unlimited evenings/weekends, texting, data.
Bell: We have a promotion right now for $50.
Sandy: I'm looking to pay no more than $40.
Bell: There are no plans out there for $40 that includes data.
Sandy: There is. Wind Mobile has one.
Bell: Wind Mobile does not have the coverage that Bell does. They have dropped calls all the time.
Sandy: I get dropped calls on Bell and my fiance has Wind. The coverage he gets is fine. I'm not concerned with coverage because I don't travel often. I'm concerned with the price of the plan.
Bell: The best I can offer you is $45 for 350 daytime minutes, early unlimited evenings/weekends, unlimited texting, voicemail, call display and 500 mb of data.
Sandy: I don't need 350 daytime minutes. Can you cut that down to 200 and lower the price?
Bell: *Sigh of irritation* Let me put you on hold.
Bell: I can do $40.50 a month.
Sandy: That's with a 3 year contract on a new phone?
Bell: Yes. Just go to any Bell store or kiosk and they will see the note on your file.
Sandy: Perfect. Thank you.
Bell: Have a good day CLICK.
December 29, 2010
The next day we're heading to Jamie's relatives for supper which is close to Millwoods Town Center so we stop by again. The same salesman is working.
Sandy: I got a better rate so I'd like to use my credit towards a new phone. He said you can see the rate plan on my file.
Salesman: I don't actually see anything on your file. Only Bell stores can access that information.
Sandy: So how do I use my credit if I need to go to a Bell store.
Salesman: Hmm... You're right... Actually you the credit can only be used on accessories.
Sandy: You said I can apply it towards a new phone.
Salesman: Let me check... Yes you're right. You can use it for a phone but only my manager can do that and he's out of the country till early January. Oh wait, maybe the assistant manager knows how to do it.
So we wait while the assistant manager finishes up his phone call.
Salesman: You know what? Actually the protection plan you bought 3 years ago, it's a 3+1. It's only in the last 2 years that the plans are 2+1.
Sandy: What do you mean 3+1?
Salesman: Well that means your protection plan is 3+1 years, so you can't use the credit for another year.
Sandy: No where on this contract (Yes I had the original contract, receipt and Adam's card stapled to it) does it say 3+1. The salesman told me if I don't use it within 3 years, I get my money back.
Salesman: Well Adam is now the sales manager at the West Edmonton location so you can talk to him if you'd like.
Sandy: Oh you can be sure I will.
December 30, 2010
So we drive all the way from home (east) to West Edmonton Mall. I'm so ready to have a good yelling at Adam and I'm hoping he's working. Sure enough, Mr. Adam is working. Unfortunately he's busy with a customer so I deal with the other salesman. I told Jamie I was going to play the nice card first and pretend it was my first time trying to get the credit back. We all know being mean doesn't get you far.
Sandy: We bought phone protection plans 3 years ago and we'd like to use the credit towards a new phone.
Salesman: Yup no problem. Do you have a phone in mind.
Sandy: Yes, the iPhone4.
Salesman: Yup no problem.
Sandy: I'd like to apply both credits towards one phone.
Salesman: You can apply one or both. Whatever you'd like.
Sandy: I negotiated a plan with Bell and you guys can't see it on my file. How do I activate the plan?
Adam: We just add on a data plan so that we can activate your phone and you just need to call Bell afterwards and they can switch it over for you. Here, take these Tim Horton's gift cards and get yourselves some coffee. We'll get the paperwork ready for you. We're out of stock for the iPhone but can order it for you from Millwoods or you can pick it up.
So we get our coffee and I'm telling Jamie I can't even be mad at Adam because he's so fricking slick.
Adam: So I've called Millwoods and they have a phone ready for you. Just stop by and show them the receipt. Because you're doing a hardware upgrade, there's a one time $35 fee.
Sandy: No one mentioned this fee.
Adam: Well if you want, you can try calling Bell to see if they can waive it. There's nothing we can do about it in store.
So we drive all the way from the west back to southeast Edmonton and the same dang salesman is working at Wireless Wave.
Salesman: So did you talk to Adam?
Sandy: Yup.
Salesman: Was he able to do anything.
Sandy: Yup, no questions asked. We're here to pick up a phone.
Salesman: Oh the phone is for you?
So later that night, I call Bell. I sit on hold for 15 minutes and talk to the representative. I tell him that when I had negotiated the plan, they said there would be nothing else to pay. He looks over my file and says there's no note on this fee being waived and I'll need to get transferred to the department that I negotiated with. So I sit on hold for another 3 minutes and he comes back to tell me the department is closed and to call back tomorrow. Until I give the "ok" for this fee, they can't switch my plan over.
December 31, 2010
I call Bell Mobility and sit on hold for 20 minutes. TWENTY!!! Finally get through to a representative and I have to explain the whole situation to this outsourced representative in India. After she looks through my file, she comes back to tell me she doesn't see any notes on the file and tells me I need to be transferred. So another 3 minutes on hold and she comes back to tell me the department is closed for New Years. WTF. It's 9 am!!! So I'm left with nothing else to do but call back later.
January 3, 2011
I call Bell Mobility (starting to sound redundant yet?) and do the same routine all over again. Except this time I'm speaking to someone with no accent. Same story explained, nothing noted on my file, transferred to the department that is finally open!
Representative: How can I help you today?
Sandy: I just got a new phone a few days ago and negotiated a new plan but there's been some conflict about the hardware upgrade fee.
Representative: What is the conflict?
Sandy: When I was negotiating the plan, I was told that the hardware upgrade fee would be waived and there's nothing noted on my file.
Representative: Let me take a look...Do you remember what plan you negotiated?
Sandy: I spew out the plan.
Representative: Yup, that's all it shows on here. Looks like you spoke with someone on the 29th and they tried to transfer you but the department was closed.
Sandy: I was debating between getting the Samsung Galaxy or the iPhone4 and the guy said if I signed for 3 years with the iPhone4, he would waive the fee because the phone is more expensive.
Representative: Ok. I also see here that you're still on your corporate plan. Did you want me to activate your new plan?
Sandy: Well they didn't activate it because I had to talk to you guys about the upgrade fee.
Representative: Let me put you on hold.
And so he goes on to tell me how he has to do all this work to swap plans out and I'll be on hold for 5 minutes but to not hang up the phone. 3 minutes later, he comes back to make sure I'm still on the phone. 2 minutes later he comes back and tells me he'll waive the fee and the plan is good to go. Overall, Frank did a great job. He was fast, to the point and even helped me out with a few other things.
So at the end of this battle, what happened?
Days spent:5
Trips to Millwoods Town Center:3
Drives to WEM:1
Tanks of gas guzzled: likely 2
Calls to Bell: 4
Lies told: 1
Fees waived: 1
Minutes of my life wasted on hold:immeasurable.
What did I win?
An iPhone4 that cost $28.09 (plus the $139.90 that we paid for the Phone Protection Plan 3 years ago) and a monthly plan of $40.50 which includes data that I'll need to pay for the next 3 years.
Maybe I didn't actually win...
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