Worse than Bell?

I used to think Bell Canada was the worst customer service company out there. But lately Rogers has been challenging them in the ineptitude department. Let me explain.

With the move to Blackburn, I’ve been exploring different options for cable, internet and phone service and finally decided that the potential savings of unbundling to new suppliers weren’t worth the effort. For sheer simplicity it would be best to just bundle up those services with a new Rogers account.

So I tried signing up for these new accounts online. But since I already have a Rogers account number for cable and internet, the online form kept trying to lead me toward transferring my services or updating my current services which I don’t want to do.

Calling their toll free number on two occasions brought no relief either. Just an hour-long wait in a call queue and two customer reps who transferred me to further voicemail oblivion.

So I tried visiting one of their sales centres figuring their staffers would have better access to their internal systems and be able to set this up. So there I am sitting with a rep explaining what I need done . . . and he proceeds to dial 1 800 ROGERS1 to get a billing rep to do this! Incredible. So we wait patiently with him for 45 minutes getting passed around various departments . . . before he finally tells us the Rogers call center just crashed and no one can do anything and that we should try again from home.

I gave up and walked out.

Then I get a call from a Rogers rep later that same evening wanting to sell me services!

Good luck? Or Bad luck? Read on . . .

So I tell him that I want new services at the Blackburn address set up as soon as possible. He dutifully arranges to get me NEW cable, internet and phone service for Sept. 28 because I don’t want anything cancelled at the old address until we leave later this month.

The next night we come home and our internet doesn’t work. So I have to call 1 800 ROGERS1 to find out what they’ve screwed up now and discover they’ve somehow cancelled our current internet service and activated it at the new house. And because I haven’t returned the cable modem they’re charging me an extra $100 on my internet bill.

Boneheads.

So I patiently waste another hour going through various reps and finally come across Marcus. Sweet, sweet, Marcus. The one guy who actually seems to be able to manipulate their system and fix things.

End result: Apparently everything is set up correctly now . . . I hope.