REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

JD¹³ · 09-22-2009, 09:22 PM

Not sure if this is where to post this but oh well.

So my contract expired this month, I only had a 1-year because I was in and out of the country for 6 months or so previously and didn't want to have a locked in contract. I actually canceled the last 2 months of my 3-year contract before I went away because I lost the phone and didn't feel like paying for a phone I didn't have and wouldn't be replacing (since I was going away).

Anyways back to the present. Quite a few of my friends have gotten either free or heavily discounted phones if they have wanted to upgrade through Bell and Telus. So I figured since I'm now planted for a while again and needed a new contract anyways, I'd inquire as to whether or not Rogers really wanted to continue collecting money from me!

So I call up Customer Service and say I've been a customer for just under 4 years and want to know what kind of deal Rogers is willing to give me on a phone. I wanted to go for the iPhone 3Gs, worth $199 if you sign a 3-year contract right? Turns out because I canceled my 3-year before it was complete all that 'revenue' was GONE from their records. So according to them I've only been a paying customer of theirs for a year! They also just upgraded their policy so that noone can get an upgrade until they've been a customer for 2 full years.

Here comes the kicker! The women proceeds to tell me that based on my 'revenue' (yes, they refer to you by how much they make off you and nothing else) to Rogers I'm a Tier 1 customer and should actually PAY MORE FOR ANY PHONE ROGERS SELLS THAN A CUSTOMER THAT WALKS IN OFF THE STREET!! Getting new customers (suckers) is apparently more important than taking care of current ones, unbelievable. So I say OK whatever, I'll just pay $199 they advertise with a new 3-year contract and get the phone cause it's what I want.

Walk into my local dealer, he hears the story and looks up all my info and SHABAYUM guess what? Not only am I not entitled to any discount, this new policy change means that if I want an iPhone I have to pay for the FULL PRICE OF THE PHONE AND BUY IT OUTRIGHT! You got it people, a current Rogers customer that wants to upgrade his/her phone has to pay $699 for an iPhone 3Gs - $500 more than some Joe that walks in off the street. He recommended calling up Customer Relations which is in charge of making people happy and tell them the situation, saying he's very sure they'll take care of me given the circumstances because they have the power to see canceled records which Customer Service does not. I do that, I talk to a guy there, and he says no outright. Absolutely no movement on $699 for an iPhone 3Gs despite being a longtime Rogers customer. Is it just me or is this completely ass-fucking-backwards?

So that's how much Rogers appreciates its customers, they clearly want my business. Awesome customer loyalty, go Rogers Wireless!

So Bell and Telus users....... what's a good phone to get using those service providers?

JesseBlue · 09-22-2009, 09:24 PM

try and try until you succeed

Jassanova · 09-22-2009, 09:29 PM

Don't talk to Customer Service.. talk to Customer Relations.

MWR34 · 09-22-2009, 09:29 PM

if your contract is ending, get a fido pay as you go, transfer your number to fido. then since you canceled your rogers account, get a new rogers account and transfer the number back, get your new plan with 3gs for cheap.

roastpuff · 09-22-2009, 09:33 PM

If you want to go Bell, go with the Palm Pre or BB Storm, I guess. Storm2 might be out soon.

I'm on the HTC Diamond, and I like it quite well.

Presto · 09-22-2009, 09:37 PM

Do you have shitty credit?

cunninglinguist · 09-22-2009, 09:41 PM

That sucks. You should email the Consumerist.com your story. They can really do damage if they post your story.

JD¹³ · 09-22-2009, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presto

Do you have shitty credit?

Perfect credit, though I have had quite a few disputes with them over bullshit charges. For instance near the water in Victoria my phone would pick up Cingular from the US and even though I wouldn't even be talking on the phone I was being charged roaming simply for picking up the network and then being charged long distance for local calls. A $400 bill one month for 200 mins of talk time with unlimited eve/weekends.

Also unless I plan on getting a new plan with a new birthday, address, and postal code Rogers is gonna flag it and deny the deal. The dealer was totally sympathetic and really wanted to help me out but he basically said unless Customer Relations approves it I'm screwed. So far, I'm flat out denied after spending thousands with Rogers over the past 4 years.

falcon · 09-22-2009, 09:44 PM

when you call them and someone picks up the phone... IMMEDIATELY ask to be transferred to customer relations.

That's the "oh, shit" section.

Just bitch them out for a LONG time and you will get whatever you want. Airtime to them is almost free... they would rather keep a customer than loose one.

That's how I got my wicked plan on my 3G right now. 6gigs a month, unlimited incoming, unlimited eve and weekends after 5, 600 anytime minutes, voicemail, unlimited text, caller ID and all for under 70$/mo

Don't even waste your time talking to anyone other than customer relations.

eddoe · 09-22-2009, 10:27 PM

Yes, just keep talking to the customer relations (aka retention people) until they give in. Worked for me, got the exact same plan as the person above me except 200 minutes and after 7 for $48 a month on Fido though.

getalove · 09-22-2009, 10:51 PM

Canada.

jtanner_ · 09-22-2009, 10:56 PM

^ Lol what?

As the above people have said... once you get to retentions it's usually smooth sailing from there if you get a polite representative...

smoothie. · 09-22-2009, 10:57 PM

if you want the 199

cancel your contract then go to rogers and create a new account

was that so hard?

ntan · 09-22-2009, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddoe

Yes, just keep talking to the customer relations (aka retention people) until they give in. Worked for me, got the exact same plan as the person above me except 200 minutes and after 7 for $48 a month on Fido though.

$48 a month with the 6gb and unlimited text!? damn thats a good plan

simsimi1004 · 09-22-2009, 11:18 PM

when u called in to rogers, did u then say, ur gonna cancel with rogers?
then they usually put u thourgh to retentions which might be able to get u iphone.

danizer · 09-23-2009, 12:00 AM

whiteys working at phone companies hate us chinese (unless ur not chinese...then i take it back)
thats why i like CSL...New World...Orange...Vodaphone and Peoples

i hope ppl get what im saying lol

!Aznboi128 · 09-23-2009, 12:19 AM

HUP is always more then a brand new customer. It never made sense but it's been like that for the longest tme

TOS'd · 09-23-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falcon

That's how I got my wicked plan on my 3G right now. 6gigs a month, unlimited incoming, unlimited eve and weekends after 5, 600 anytime minutes, voicemail, unlimited text, caller ID and all for under 70$/mo

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddoe

Worked for me, got the exact same plan as the person above me except 200 minutes and after 7 for $48 a month on Fido though.

Holy crap those are nice plans. Maybe I should try my luck at Fido. I think mine is like $50, 250 txt, unlimited weekends and evenings (9pm =[ ), 500mb data, caller ID, voicemail, unlimited incoming, unlimited network calling, 200 mins.

On a plus side though, the unlimited network calling covers most of my minutes. Cause it's for Rogers, Fido, and even Rogers home phones.

Noir · 09-23-2009, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothie.

if you want the 199

cancel your contract then go to rogers and create a new account

was that so hard?

Isn't it that when you cancel your contract midterm, you're either on the hook for the remaining monthly payments, or a hefty fee (depending on how far along the contract one is)?

Orion · 09-23-2009, 09:48 AM

I've worked in the cellular industry for a few years when I moved here so I'll shed some light... Rogers did not fail but its rather how they do things, same with most cellphone companies.

The reason you're not getting any discount from Rogers AND you have to pay more is because of 2 things, you haven't been a customer long enough and you're already a customer. Cellphone companies give lots of perks to gain NEW customers because retaining a current customer is usually easier. Now you're thinking that they're not doing a good job retaining you in this case. Rogers unfortunately does have this tier system where your annual spending and total spending helps classify you for discounts and perks. Fair? Of course... if there was a Wal-Mart of car dealership, I probably shouldn't be expecting the same service if I bought a Kia vs somebody who bought a lexus, h3, lambo.

Summary? Its a working policy and its like most things in life. When you first get hired to a company you shouldn't expect a raise and promotion first month in front of many who was there before you.

ikki · 09-23-2009, 09:49 AM

if u don't want to pay 699 for upgrading ur phone, you have to stick with ur old phone man..

isl_cruiser · 09-23-2009, 10:02 AM

They deffantly decided to start screwin everyone over just recently. I broke my iphone, and there isnt shit all I can do other then buy a new phone out right. I bitched and bitched but it wasnt getting me anywhere. I decided I was being to nice. So while talking to customer service via broken Iphone, I ended up having the closest thing to a mental break down I have ever had. I was switched to someone more important then moron I was originaly talking to, the new rep was very helpfull. Altough they didnt give me a new phone, they gave me a good discount on the Iphone (still to much, ended up buying a not so cold BB) as well as 4 months free data. So my bill is only like 50 bucks.

The way I looked at that is, I paying 110 every month still. Within the 4 months I will have 200+ saved up and Ill just call back and have antoher freakout. Then see what I can get the Iphone for

CRS · 09-23-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isl_cruiser

They deffantly decided to start screwin everyone over just recently. I broke my iphone, and there isnt shit all I can do other then buy a new phone out right. I bitched and bitched but it wasnt getting me anywhere. I decided I was being to nice. So while talking to customer service via broken Iphone, I ended up having the closest thing to a mental break down I have ever had. I was switched to someone more important then moron I was originaly talking to, the new rep was very helpfull. Altough they didnt give me a new phone, they gave me a good discount on the Iphone (still to much, ended up buying a not so cold BB) as well as 4 months free data. So my bill is only like 50 bucks.

The way I looked at that is, I paying 110 every month still. Within the 4 months I will have 200+ saved up and Ill just call back and have antoher freakout. Then see what I can get the Iphone for

Hmmm I'm pretty sure Apple would cover this.

jnesss · 09-23-2009, 12:47 PM

what the op is saying is true!

i went into apple to get hte 16gig 3gs as a hardware upgrade (my plan was up for renewal). the price i was supposed to pay was $299! the rogers rep said that because i've previously received a hardware upgrade 3 yrs ago, i'd have to pay $299. we talked to a lot of different reps and in the end, they finally gave it to me for $199.

most of the time, i think those reps are just making sht up to waste your time.

oh - on a separate occasion, i also talked to an actual rogers rep. she said that the upgrade price depends on how long you've been with rogers etc. there were tiers from 1-5?

!MiKrofT · 09-23-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 604racer

Holy crap those are nice plans. Maybe I should try my luck at Fido. I think mine is like $50, 250 txt, unlimited weekends and evenings (9pm =[ ), 500mb data, caller ID, voicemail, unlimited incoming, unlimited network calling, 200 mins.

On a plus side though, the unlimited network calling covers most of my minutes. Cause it's for Rogers, Fido, and even Rogers home phones.

These plans are fairly easy to come by with retentions

I have: 6GB, unlimited eve and weekends after 6, 200 anytime minutes, voicemail, 2500text, caller ID, $59