Telus

Don’t use Telus for your phones or cable — use Shaw. Shaw cares so much more than Telus does.
We moved offices two weeks ago and I am STILL dealing with Telus daily as they messed our phones up and have yet to fix them.
To start — the technician appointment I had booked was changed when I called to ask for his ETA — I was told that the appointment was for the FOLLOWING day. The following day I phoned and was told the same thing. Finally two days later the tech. shows up but he is there to install Wifi only, not the phones. I called Telus numerous times and was put on hold or passed around. Customer Service was unprofessionally critical of the technician, making inappropriate comments about him to me. In the end, the technician was AWESOME as he just called his dispatch and got someone out to install the Wifi so HE could install the phones. He bent over backwards to get things done.
I was promised we could forward our Vancouver numbers so our clients could reach us without having to let everyone know our new numbers. I was told it would be done through thier central office and it would be as if nothing had changed on our end. This was not correct as we have yet to resolve issues surrounding the phones being forwarded. Voicemails were not activated and took two days to activate. Caller ID (so our name shows up when we call people) was also not activated as it should have been. I called Telus about 4 times and got hung up on, disconnected and one man, named Lap Tram (spell?) Promised to call me back after placing me on hold for 3 hours and HE NEVER DID. I was close to tears I was so frustrated. Just as I was ready to pull the plug on Telus, literally, and move to Shaw as we should have done to begin with, I got a hold of someone named Rodney Valencia who voiced that he was sorry, concerned and willing to help — and he did and is still working on the issue. If it weren’t for him showing an effort, I would have cancelled our account as I was fed up with the lack of care. The only issue now is, our caller ID shows our name spelled incorrectly. That is being fixed and then hopefully that will be it.
One of the biggest let downs is that all of this could have been avoided had a Manager called me back and took initiative in getting this sorted or finding «a Rodney» for me… but I received no response from Stephanie Bartel via email and when I selected to have a manager call me back when I called the main number, I got a call back from Customer Service and they put me on hold for 11 minutes (what is the point of selecting a call back if you get placed on hold right away for a long time).
I recommend using Shaw if you are looking to change your account or if you are moving. I hear they are way better than Telus, I should have listened as what I heard was probably correct!

I just cancelled my Telus Satellite TV, Phone and Internet. The internet was spotty at best, and the Satellite TV always went off when there was a gust of wind
Telus doesn’t really care.
I got a much better deal from Shaw and the internet is far superior. (I live in a rural area.)
They sent out boxes for me to return the PVR and the Satellite TV receiver, but what do I do with the Wifi Router? I cannot get thru on their phone line or their chat line.
Glad to see the back of them.

Not much point in writing a review about Telus, pretty much everyone in Canada knows their service is terrible and their prices are really high.
Over the last five years, my basic phone and extremely slow internet have gone from around $ 65 up to $ 85. My internet connection speed is so slow (5 megabit/​sec) it isn’t even listed on the Telus website. The only reason I put up with this is because from everything I’ve heard, Shaw is just as bad.
But lately, my internet has gone from bad to worse, I frequently can’t connect. In the past the service I’ve received from Telus is horrible.
Only in Canada — high prices and horrible service.

The cheap, single band modem/​router that Telus provides with its internet service is out-​dated and cannot maintain reliable Wifi connectivity. Those devices worked fine 5 years ago when most homes simply had one computer and cell phone. Nowadays, however, many more appliances are connected to the WiFi network and there is interference not only between those devices, but also from neighbours’ systems. Where you’ll probably notice this interference is with Netflix and Airplay on Mac devices. The movie or music will stop at random and with Apple TV you’ll get an error message saying that the WiFi connection has been lost.
Telus sent a serviceman to my home when I complained. He updated the outdoor wiring box, checked my indoor wiring and modem, switched my internet channel from 11 to 9, increased my internet speed from 6 to 15 (at an additional cost), and declared that my system was working perfectly. He did admit that interference between WiFi using devices in my home and neighbourhood could be a problem but said he wasn’t able to do anything else.
None of these Telus «fixes» worked; the problem with WiFi stability remained unchanged. That’s when I asked my son, who is an installer for Shaw, to look at my system. He said that my problem would be solved if I attached a dual band router (which Shaw provides as standard equipment with their systems) to my Telus modem. I then obtained a Netgear 600 router and hooked it up. Immediately my WiFi system was stable and I experienced no further crashes with Netflix or Airplay.
You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just switch to Shaw as my internet provider. Simple reason: when I threatened doing just that to Telus, they reduced my monthly payments by 40%, which was well below the price Shaw would have charged for similar service. So I’m happy with my internet connection but annoyed that I had to install my own dual band router to update Telus’ cheap equipment. They need to think about providing decent dual band modem/​routers to their customers, just as Shaw now does.

Over the years Telus has helped our family wean ourselves away from the so-​called necessities, or make do through other means. Why? Because they are not reliable and have the worse customer service. You may get suckered in by all those cute animals and «bundling» offers, but what you are getting is a garbage product at a premium price.
How do you measure good customer service? Try getting your problem resolved when things go wrong. Is it too much to ask for a real life CSR who speaks English and understands what is wrong? Is it too much to ask for timely service when the system is down and they have to send a technician over 48 hours later? Is it too much too ask for actually functioning equipment that you are paying for? Or perhaps they would actually care when you start cancelling?
The sad thing is most telecommunications companies are the same. Luckily we have an alternate fibre optic internet provider for only $ 10/​month, and luckily home phones are no obsolete. Rogers has a better corporate cell phone plan, and I’m now looking at shaw for TV (or perhaps will cancel altogether). Thank you, Telus, for helping us realize what we can live without.

As a service provider I’d them 5 Stars for a service provider.
For The troubleshooting and repair, I’d give them 5
As the previous customer service I received I’d give them –5 because of one experience.
Here’s the customer service experience.
What happened was that someone else’s name was on the bill as they were deceased. I was requesting switching over the name. This was during when I was doing a online course and had a project due and it was near the end of term. I had been paying the bill for years and it wasn’t overdue. I explained it to him.
The CSR told me after he had done the transition that it would take days or a week and service was now disconnected.
The CSR explained that there was no way to reverse it or speed it up so I chewed him out over the phone and explained the situation to him.
He asked if I’d like to speak to the manager.
I said no and proceeded to chewed him out and get really angry at him more as I already concluded and confirmed that there was no way to speed up the transition and that he screwed me and in the hopes that this would make me feel better.
What would have made this situation better was if he had offered me 3 months of free service or said I apologize. Then again, me chewing him out for inconveniencing me made us even.
This happened a while a ago.

Frustrated with not being able to get an answer! I called to ask about their new wireless cable box. I have a wall mounted TV with a shelf installed underneath. Ideally I’d like to get rid of the shelf, mount the wireless box to the back of the TV and have a nice, clean installation of of just a TV. You’d think I was the very first person ever to call Telus to ask this question. All I kept getting was «I don’t know» over and over. Was transferred several times and ended up asking to speak with a manager or supervisor. Apparently they’re all ‘too busy” (probably taking other complaint calls)
I can’t wait for my contract to be up.

I really want to give Telus minus star if I can.
For the people who are thinking about having any services from Telus, Here are some tips I would like to provide:
1. If you want to have a Telus customer service to talk without waiting for hours, call them and say you’re gonna discontinue their service. Their CS will pick up the phone as soon as if you’re burning their house.
2. Don’t trust their words, make a record as possible as you can. They can change what ever they say to you. The date you ordered, the date the service got activated and the date you are going to receive your modem, cell phone or anything else. They don’t take any record about their promise in the conversation, and always insist they didn’t make any mistakes, sometimes even deny you had called them before. The only thing they do exactly on time and never forget is charging you monthly.
3. They might send the bill to the wrong address, or never send it at all, but Telus won’t forget to charge you for delay fee next month, because every mistake is from the stupid decision you made to use their service.
4. If there is any mistakes on your bill, it will be always more than you should pay, and never be less. Never use authorized payment unless you really want to find some trouble to yourself. If you call for any problem about your bill, their CS will let you feel like you’re calling for charity.
5. If you think your life is a little bit too awesome, people around you treat you too kind and you really hate that there are too much money in you wallet. JUST GIVE TELUS A SHOT AND THEY WILL MAKE YOUR DAY!

We have had Telus Optik TV and internet for many years now and have generally been satisfied with the overall package. We have found the internet speed very consistent and does not slow down during busy times. The channel offering is very competitively priced.
We would like to ideally have the options of recording more than 2 HD shows at one time but we should probably be watching less TV anyways.
We recently had to call them because there was no signal going to the flat panel TV that we just installed to our wall. Apparently, if you unplug the box, it resets and sometimes fails to initialize properly.
We called Telus on their 24 hour service line and was able to talk to a support person within 5 minutes and they helped reset the box and we were back in business in about 15 minutes.
Well done Telus!
Alan

i’ve dealt with telus for over 10 years, mostly b/​c every time my contract ends I fall in with their too good to be true deals that end up costing more than their claims for various reasons:
the first time, i wanted to add my wife to my pcs plan, which telus assured me would be no problem. I wouldn’t be charged a fee, and qualify for a credit.
Get to the store, they told me they couldn’t put my wife on, b/​c the plan was no longer offered– and they couldn’t figure out how I even GOT the deal that even they could never get for themselves.
long story short, they charged me to close my plan and a new fee to open a new plan.
Then there was the credit for my wife’s new phone…
now come the endless sales calls offering ridiculous deals on internet, long distance, tv, etc…
and then comes a second contract ‘deal’ too good to be true.
Sales man calls me, offering my wife and I each a Samsung Galaxy for free, I can keep my old pcs plan etc. and no data plan would be nec., etc.
Turns out was b/​s; the first month I got my new phones, telus called and told me I needed to upgrade my plan.
After haranguing the rep. for a good 20 minutes, they finally relented, agreeing to a similar plan for the same cost, but on a smart phone network.
Enter cell phone suddenly mysteriously trying to communicate w/​internet– even when supposedly shut down and behind password, with wifi, gps AND internet services, etc. disabled…
When our contract ends, we will be more aware of other networks and what deals they have, but from where I stand now, they’ve already fooled me (at least) twice.

so all you people complaining about Telus service and your bill being too high, you realize that it’s YOUR responsibility to monitor your usage right? In the end, Telus is still a business and is not responsible for YOUR bills being high because:
1– you do not pay your bills on time or in full
2– you go over your cell phone minutes/​data/​text
3– you don’t look at your bill every month
4– you incur hefty roaming charges because you are ignorant
in my 10 + years in customer service, customers ARE NOT always right. You use it, you pay for it. Do you go to a restaurant, order and eat a lot of food, end up w/​a large bill, and ask for the food for free (or discount) because you realized you can’t afford it? NO. Also, the people you talk to on the other end of the phone, not all of them are offshore agents (yes quite a bit of them are), but they’re people too, just like you or me. If someone yells at you when it’s not your fault, do you want to help them? I don’t think so.

A year and a half ago we were having trouble with Netflix dropping, so I called Telus. I was told to move to a higher tier. We still had the old modem, so they sent us a new one. It was glitchy, and when I called they told me I didn’t need it and I should go back to my old one.
I tried moving things and putting some DLink Powerline adapters into the network. That helped a little.
I switched everything to wireless N and tried the updated router again, and it worked — but Netflix was still glitchy. All of this took a year.
So I upgraded to the top tier a few months ago, and a tech came by to change the plug to a split jack. He also upgraded the line to the house — which was 25 years old. He couldn’t imagine why I would need the 25 meg service for what I do. Suddenly Netflix was ten times better.
I called Telus and worked my way to a retention manager, who admitted that the higher tiers aren’t faster — they just have a higher ‘soft cap’ (yes, he said, Telus DOES cap). He switched me back to the lowest tier, and that has a fast enough ping to do everything I want. He credited our account with 14 months of overcharges and offered NOTHING as a compensation for over a year of inconvenience, up-​sell, and non-​service. It amounts to three months of free service, so I haven’t canceled yet.

Do you get those too good to be true offers from Telus in the mail?
The ones that promise $ 15 per TV, Internet, and home phone for six month type of deals?
Here is my Telus experience.
At $ 45 per month for six months with «no strings attached» I was game to try.
I called Telus and the nice lady helped me get everything rolling. She offered free 3 month movie channels, free recording box… things I had no idea about but sounded good. In moments she had my account up, and a technician scheduled.
Then came the email… «You have signed up for blah blah blah 3 YEAR service contract, with free high optic box and PVR (I don’t even know what PVR is)…
**In the event you cancel this contract you will agree to pay $ 10 per month for the entire term…
Wha???
I looked over the flier I received in the mail… it said nothing of this.
I called Telus and the next nice lady said, «yeah I have heard many times people tell me it’s not on the mailer, but the lady who signed you up should have told you.»
I told her «no…actually she didn’t»
Her response: «well okay then, if you don’t accept this, you will have to pay $ 10 extra a month for the rental of the PVR… (again that PVR thing I have no idea about)
We went back and forth and I told her to cancel the whole thing. She said «hold on let me talk to my manager»…
After 15 mins of being on hold, and being subjected to fuzzy crappy 80’s music… she came back with «okay we will do this just for you, and just this one time only» lol Against my better judgment, I said «okay» meekly…
Next day the TELUS tech guy comes. Super friendly guy. He comes in without any of the 2 boxes or gear… Does a quick look around, prods at the cable and telephone jacks… and says «hmmm can’t install our service here… blame Novus»… and basically left.
What a gargantuan waste of time. I am just glad I did not get sucked into the crappy TELUS ECOsystem…
before you attempt to switch to TELUS ask many questions… they are a sneaky company… I forgot how much I hated dealing with Telus…

Okay, it has been about 9 months since I first installed Telus so I thought I would write another update.
The TV quality continues to be immaculate. The only item that bother me from time to time is a lag in response between my remote control and the satellite box but heck, that could easily be some tiring batteries.
The internet quality continues to be immaculate. Quality is strong, no problems with the router, and I can’t recall any service interruptions at all.
The phone continues to be fine, although I do get a lot of telemarker calls. I’ll have to look into getting my number unlisted or put on the Do Not Call List.
The pricing continues to be good– my home phone is still discounted, my internet is still discounted for another three months, and my tv package has now moved to full price but I still feel the pricing is competitive and the product is worthy.
I had one hiccup– I put a cancellation order in place for my home phone a month in advance, and a week later cancelled it. A month later my phone doesn’t work– turns out that the original rep had set a calender reminder for themself and put it in place after my call to cancel it. They got it hooked up the following business day (a pain that it wasn’t same day) but they gave gave me two months of free phone for the inconvenience.
I am moving at the end of this month and have made the necessary arrangements on my end to move the service, between notifying them, getting the landlord’s information at destination to Telus, as well as scheduling an appointment for the installer to access the TV room there. I hope it goes smoothly!

Thanks Cee-​Lo Green for letting me vent!
See, I ‘d been wandering ’round Portland town
With the Unilocal app I love and I’m like,
Yahooooooo!
Oo, oo, ooo
I got home to see my heinous bill
Was waaaaaay too much, I’m like,
Fuck you!
And Fuck Telus too!
I said to *611, WTF I ain’t payin,
Ha, now ain’t that some shit? (ain’t that some shit?)
And although there’s $ 20 credit for May 1^st,
I still wish you the worst with a…
Fuck you!
Oo, oo, ooo
Yeah I’m sorry, I can’t afford this bill,
But that don’t mean I’m forced to drink this swill.
I guess you’re an Apple and I’m more Android,
But the way you play your game ain’t fair.
I pity the fool that falls for another 3 years with you
Ooooooh
I’ve got some news for you…
FUCK YOU… and uh… FUCK TELUS toooooo!

Honestly, I’m not sure why I’m even writing this review. Does Telus even care about making sure their customers are happy? I don’t think they do.
Sigh. where to begin? It’s just too long to write all the details and revisiting this is actually making me mad again, so I will put this in note form.
Background (Been with Telus for 14 years for Mobility and been with Telus for TV 4 years)
TV nightmare
1.) Moved into a new home and need cable
2.) Telus had a promotion for our building so we decided to go with them
3.) Made appointment for Telus to come over and install
4.) Appointment came and went and nothing happened
5.) Called again and Telus said sorry, they will make it out again
6.) Made sure someone was home again and Telus made it over
7.) First bill comes and it’s wrong
8.) Called Telus and told them we signed up because of promo rates
9.) Puts us on hold for don’t know how long
10.) Finally agent comes back and says she fixed it
11.) Next month bill comes and price is not fixed
12.) Call Telus again
**This happens for 4 consecutive months
13.) Telus apologizes again and said they will credit us $ 50
14.) Next bill comes and we were «charged» $ 50 instead of a credit
**Problems for another 2 months
15.) In the end, a lot of minutes were wasted on our cell phone, but I guess that doesn’t matter because Telus gets paid for that… Ooooh I think I understand how they make money now! Also the bills aren’t always correct even last month. SIGH…
Cell Phone
There’s something wrong with my cell phone. I asked if I can sign a new contract with them so I can get a new phone. The short answer is no. I have to pay $ 300 for the new phone (same model) or pay $ 150 to break my contract. Thanks for being so awesome after 14 years of loyalty. (GRRR!)
I have just updated my Calendar with the day my contract with them expires. Just counting down the days…

I just moved, so in celebration of finally having internet again, i am updating my review to include my lovely little experience with setting up a new Telus account! This is for internet and home phone, from calling the sales people to set up an appointment to my installation fiasco…
First off, i was having difficulty using their online services ordering form, so i decided to just save some time by calling a real person to get everything set up and an installation date booked. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you phone a real person, for goodness sakes, read up on all your options first, decide what you want, then call. I had already decided to get regular high speed internet and the simplest phone plan with only one calling feature, so imagine how discomforting this phone conversation was to have:
Me: ‘I’d like to sign up for internet and home phone please.‘
Telus: ‘Great! So for your internet, would you like High Speed Turbo or High Speed Optic?“
Me: ‘… Er, isn’t there just high speed?‘
Telus: ‘Oh, well Optic is the best. You want a better connection, right?‘
Me: ‘No, i just want regular high speed.‘
Telus: ‘But Optic is only 20 dollars a month! It’s cheaper!‘
Me: ‘Isn’t that only for the first 3 months? After that it’s more expensive.‘
Telus: ‘… Okay, so regular high speed.‘
She also asked me if i wanted a home phone with 5 calling features or 10. After i said i just wanted the basic one with 1 feature she sounded less perky and i was put on hold for a long time while she dealt with another caller. Well, it wasn’t really put on hold, it was more like she put the receiver down and took another call because i could hear her signing up another client. It was really weird.
As for installation… It was supposed to be yesterday evening between 6 and 8 pm. I was informed that they would call me 20 minutes prior to their arrival at my place to get everything set up. No one showed up and i called Telus to set up another appointment. I called today to confirm and… found out they had in fact been over last night to set up. Turns out they could do it without entering my suite. I don’t know why the hell they wouldn’t have a) phoned anyway to say it was done or b) have been able to tell me over the phone i wouldn’t have to be home.
You know what that cost me? Valuable drinking time. I could have gone out right after work, gotten my drink on and made a toast to the Telus people who were at that moment setting up my internet, and then maybe drank some more. The way i see it, Telus owes me a martini.

Thanks to Cindy and Larry’s reviews I was finally reminded (after calming down) to do my Telus review. ****NOTE this is only on the Mobility product, not landline, TV or internet****
I was a Telus Mobility customer for almost 4 years. I mean, they were okay. I had an awesome data plan (thanks to their inability to activate my old BB for a two week time frame). But new entrants in the market enticed me…
The final straw was about 3 weeks ago. I received another $ 100+ phone bill (my base plan is $ 25 btw). They’ve increased all my long distance and international text to ridiculous levels. They refused to drop my service fees in lieu of me signing a contract… and I spotted a sexy little deal for $ 40 unlimited North American call and text PLUS international test AND unlimited data. I rang Telus to find out my cancellation details.
Rep: «Do you want an iPhone4?»
Me: «No. And I won’t sign a contract»
Rep: «We will just give you one.»
Me: «I don’t want an iPhone4» (reminds me of that youtube video)
Of course I was put through to loyalty and retention.
I was blunt, I told the rep I was intending to quit, the reasons why, and I understood I would be making some coverage concessions but the plan was just not matchable by them. She was snarky. «Oh you’re going with a discount carrier *snuff*»
She demands I stay on the line (by not answering my question) to «counteroffer.» I wasnt negotiating. She tried to argue how much I need things (ie: unlimited North American calling… 3200 minutes the month prior were on the line with a QC phone number, international text which cost me $ 20 for 40 texts to Ireland, etc…) Basically this chick was just a bitch.
«Oh that’s going to be expensive» she remarks to everything I need. *Insert insanely profane word I know would get me flagged*
She rings up my total for 250 international texts (not unlimited), 1GB data (not unlimited), and North American anytime calling and text. Before taxes and fees… $ 125,
I laugh. Like burst out laughing. «You’re kidding me. I ring because I’m pissed about spending more than $ 100 per month on a phone bill and you are proposing my base be $ 125.»
«But it will be unlimited» she says.
This process took one full hour of my life. And you know what happened when I got off the line? I got in my car, drove to the mall and ported my umber to a new carrier.
Eff telus. If it wasn’t for the adorable adverts this would be negative stars.

Another sad review. I’ve been accused of writing glowing and raving reviews too oft and I just ended a bad relationship that never got off to a good start after many many years since 1994.
Too bad, so sad.
I’m writing about the Telus mobility service, but come to think about it, neither was my service with my home phone any better. I mean the service of the phones themselves is great, but the customer service or just trying to get things done wasn’t.
Even when I used to get letters from Telus about great deals on new stuff or better hardware or new features, they were simply not competitive.
They said I was a valued customer and yet could not do anything for me.
In fairness, I have friends that work there and they are terrific, but maybe it’s the corporate culture or the rift between the employees from Alberta and BC.
Who knows, but the biggest thing I dislike is that it’s still hard to talk to someone there. Press one for this and 2 for that and # to go here and 6 for there.

Dear Telus
I’m sorry, but after 11 years, it’s time for me to move on. We’ve had our rocky times, but I’ve stayed faithful to you from 1999 until now. I even considered staying after the last frustrating episode of being stood up at the altar… [cut to altar scene]
After weeks of waiting for the iphone 4, I received the call from the Telus dealer that it had arrived, but I would need to pick it up soon, lest I lose it to another. I scurried down to the Telus store to sign up for a 3 year contract. To make sure that my agreed-​upon contract (I negotiated it in the summer) was good to go. It was. Yay!
The bummer? Once the dealer tried to hook up my phone, it seemed that any notes there were about our agreement were not available to the him (and the Telus rep he called) who admitted that this is a longstanding problem: client records and dealer records not being meshed. How handy for me. I then called Telus personally from my phone and the rep who answered also could not find the agreement, even though just an hour earlier it was. Bahhh.
As a result (and after over an hour of waiting) the dealer needed to close shop and I was not able to get my shiny iphone 4. A waste of time and a frustrating experience. I was not going to lock myself into a 3 year generic contract (and give up my grandfathered plan) just to have my iphone 4 that day… as much as I wanted it.
A few days later a snooty Telus representative called me to ask how I felt about their service. I explained my frustration and then asked why the situation had occurred. She did not know (that’s ok… we’re human), but confirmed that my negotiated contract was in the system. I then asked if there was any way to reduce the price of my current plan (even though it is grandfathered, I am still paying $ 120/​monthly with add-​ons). She told me in a snarky tone that I was getting a great deal and that if I wanted to know more I should look on the website and «read the fine print.» Excuse me? Who’s the expert here?
Being treated like that put a bad taste in my mouth for Telus. I mean, mistakes happen, but treating a client rudely after a mishap is uncalled for.
After that experience I decided not to renew my contract and switched carriers. I now have a cheaper plan, better features and no contract.. . but I’m still open to switching for something better.
Telus has turned me into a commitment-​phobe, lol.