Telus 3 year contracts

[hillmar]

Well I tried to cancel my 3 year contract with Telus today ( mobilicity plans are so much better) with 2 years remaining and they wanted 600 dollars to buy it out. What I don't understand is how they can charge 600 dollars for a contract that they only put out 400 dollars for( phone credit). Are there seriously charging 200+ dollars to sign up for a 3 year contract when you can go to mobilicity and sign up for free??!
The CSR also said if I would have canceled a month after I signed up, it would have been over 700 dollars to cancel.
It really gave me a negative perspective on Telus completely and once my contract expires it looks like I'm going to be finally leaving them after 10 years with them.
Still can't believe they wanted 600 dollars for a 400 dollar phone credit that was a year ago.

[nabs]

a contract is a contract.. there are terms to early termination. read the print.

[hillmar]

Originally Posted by nabs

a contract is a contract.. there are terms to early termination. read the print.

I completely understand that but my venting is how is Telus even going to survive when people start realizing that good phone plans are free with no contract while they charge 300 dollars for a phone plan! I'm not even talking about the phone, they literally charge 300 dollars for a phone plan.
I really didn't realize this till I tried to cancel

[Not really racist!]

Well you really have 4 options.. contracts are contracts, you signed.. probably didn't read carefully enough

1) Cancel and pay
2) Stay with Telus till contract ends
3) Get some idiot to take over (depending how expensive your contract is)
4) Somehow call into retentions and get a cheaper plan

Good luck.

[hillmar]

Thanks for the options.... Actually when I was inquiring about canceling my phone plan at metrotown. Both telus store employee couldn't even give me a definite answer on the cancellation fee. One told me 20 dollars a month on the remaining and the other one told me 11 dollars a month on the remaining. I mean for people that signed my contract a year ago they are clueless to the cancellation terms! So I went to the Telus store next to superstore in metrotown and they told me to call in to find out too. I mean for people that sign up contracts daily, you would think they know what the cancellation fee's are!

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by hillmar

I completely understand that but my venting is how is Telus even going to survive when people start realizing that good phone plans are free with no contract while they charge 300 dollars for a phone plan!

Because it will cost them a heck of a lot more in capital in order to keep you as a customer. The same goes for any provider. Mobilicity is offering cheap plans for the short term in order to create a user base and will eventually level off with every provider. The same can be said about Wind Mobile and whichever startup provider decides to pop up.

[vitaminG]

As per your contractual agreement that YOU signed and apparently didnt read its $20 a month for each month remaining on your contract.

[TheNewGirl]

You also got a 500-600 discount on your handset that Telus has had to pay to the dealer who sold you your phone and THAT is what they're trying to re-coop from you now.

Most people have NO clue how expensive the things are to buy out right.

[hillmar]

It was a 400 dollar off the handset, I had to pay out of my own pocket 150 dollars. If Telus asked for the 400 dollars back after I used the phone and their service for one year I would say no problem, here's the money. I would call that fair!
They are charging me 110 dollars for 1 G data... 200 weekday minutes...unlimited text, voicemail, early evenings and weekends. It seems like I am doing them a favor by paying that monthly for a year now.
I completely agree that a contract is a contract, but when have you ever heard of the sales Rep who signed you up for the contract even mention the cancellation fee's. Heck even If i did the math at 20 dollars a month for 24 months it would only come to 480. So there is also a extra 100 dollar on top of 20 dollars to cancel. But apparently, alot of sales reps that sign 100's of contracts a month don't even know the cancellation fee's let alone the customer that signed it. So if Telus really wanted they can slip into their fine print any amount they want.
I really hope mobilicity, wind, etc is the future of our mobile phone trend. I company that has no contracts yet have competitive plans means they have to work extra hard to keep their customers!!!

I just looked up Rogers cancellation fee's and it makes complete more sense then what Telus is charging!
An Early Cancellation Fee (EECF) applies if, for any reason, your service is terminated prior to the end of the service agreement. The ECF is the greater of (ii) $100 or (iii) $20 per month remaining in the service agreement, to a maximum of $400 (plus applicable taxes), and applies on each line in the plan that is terminated.

[vitaminG]

Well you also have to consider that telus incurred costs in acquiring you as a customer, such as commision to the person who sold you the phone.

Second your paying a $100 data cancellation fee, rogers has that as well so its no different.

thirdly your plan is shit, what you need to do is threaten to cancel then they will transfer you to retentions. Then tell them wind has better plans and you want to switch, in my experience telus is very accomadating and will likely be able to get you something comparable.

[hillmar]

Whatever loss Telus incurred during my last renewal, they made by charging me probly the most expensive data plan for what you get for the past 12 months. Let alone, I've been paying over 100 dollars a month the past 3 year term I had with them. I've tried calling their retention office and all they have brought up to the table is a plan that only matched Bell's current promo plan of 65 a month. I mean its better then nothing but I'm really starting to get more dissapointed with them. If I didn't accept their offer they say I'll get billed the 600 + tax and loose my number immediately. I feel like they are using the high cost of cancellation as almost a dare for me to cancel their service. So I'll stick it through till the contract ends but I'm definitely not going to renew with them after the term. I'll even go to rogers or bell then even consider resigning with them. Too bad though, Like I said I've been with them since my first cell phone( Motorola Microtac Elite) and they went by BC Tel .

[Gh0stRider]

$20 per months remaining is pretty standard with all carriers.

[hillmar]

Originally Posted by Gh0stRider

$20 per months remaining is pretty standard with all carriers.

But at least put a cap on it like rogers. Its almost insane to pay about 800 dollars on a newly activated phone. They gave only a 400 dollar discount on, and probly paid 40 dollars commission to the rep for a line that is not going to be used anymore. Like I said, Rogers make sense
An Early Cancellation Fee (EECF) applies if, for any reason, your service is terminated prior to the end of the service agreement. The ECF is the greater of (ii) $100 or (iii) $20 per month remaining in the service agreement, to a maximum of $400 (plus applicable taxes), and applies on each line in the plan that is terminated.

[Gh0stRider]

Ya, Rogers has the cap. I figured Telus would have one too.

[!MiKrofT]

It's capped. At max $400 for voice only and an extra $200 if you have data. You really can't complain as this was all in the contract you signed.

[TheNewGirl]

Originally Posted by hillmar

It was a 400 dollar off the handset, I had to pay out of my own pocket 150 dollars. If Telus asked for the 400 dollars back after I used the phone and their service for one year I would say no problem, here's the money. I would call that fair!
They are charging me 110 dollars for 1 G data... 200 weekday minutes...unlimited text, voicemail, early evenings and weekends. It seems like I am doing them a favor by paying that monthly for a year now.
I completely agree that a contract is a contract, but when have you ever heard of the sales Rep who signed you up for the contract even mention the cancellation fee's. Heck even If i did the math at 20 dollars a month for 24 months it would only come to 480. So there is also a extra 100 dollar on top of 20 dollars to cancel. But apparently, alot of sales reps that sign 100's of contracts a month don't even know the cancellation fee's let alone the customer that signed it. So if Telus really wanted they can slip into their fine print any amount they want.
I really hope mobilicity, wind, etc is the future of our mobile phone trend. I company that has no contracts yet have competitive plans means they have to work extra hard to keep their customers!!!

I just looked up Rogers cancellation fee's and it makes complete more sense then what Telus is charging!
An Early Cancellation Fee (EECF) applies if, for any reason, your service is terminated prior to the end of the service agreement. The ECF is the greater of (ii) $100 or (iii) $20 per month remaining in the service agreement, to a maximum of $400 (plus applicable taxes), and applies on each line in the plan that is terminated.

Do you have a smart phone? Because if you do I am 100% sure your phone is more than $400 (though that may not be readily apparent to the consumer) and if you signed up for a three year contract there were additional commissions paid to the dealership who sold it to you, they also got extra commissions for your data plan... all based on you having the contract for three years.

[hillmar]

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl

Do you have a smart phone? Because if you do I am 100% sure your phone is more than $400 (though that may not be readily apparent to the consumer) and if you signed up for a three year contract there were additional commissions paid to the dealership who sold it to you, they also got extra commissions for your data plan... all based on you having the contract for three years.

Yeah the phone cost 599 without contract, But I paid 199 + tax out of my own pocket so Telus put out 400 even. I didn't even know they made that much commission on renewals, always thought the big money was on new activations!

[TheNewGirl]

Originally Posted by hillmar

Yeah the phone cost 599 without contract, But I paid 199 + tax out of my own pocket so Telus put out 400 even. I didn't even know they made that much commission on renewals, always thought the big money was on new activations!

Because the phone costs the CONSUMER $599 without a contract does not mean the phone is worth $599. It may very well have cost the dealership $750 or $800, meaning your total hardware credit was actually about $600 or more. Depending on the type of phone it is. Month to month cost on a phone doesn't always reflect list price and is still based off the notion that you will stick around and pay your phone bill for some period of time.

The heavier commissions are in new activations, for certain, but there's still commissions paid per plan, particularly if you have data all of which would have been paid based on the premise that you would be maintaining the plan for 36 months.

But I assure you, while the fees seem extreme they represent Telus (and the dealership who sold you the phone)'s investment in you. And you DID sign a contract essentially promising to be giving them $X a month for the next 36 months.

Their requests of you are not unreasonable keeping that in mind.

Instead what I would suggest you do is continue with your plan and pay your bill ON TIME every month until you get within 6 months of your renewal date. THEN call Telus or go to a dealership, tell them you're unsatisfied with what ever is irritating you, aim to get escalated to retentions and loyalties. If they see you've been with them for an extended period of time and reliably paid your bill they'll work with you to create a plan you are satisfied with (and maybe get you extra credit on a new phone).

This is what you should do every time your contract is up and if you're not sure if the market is going to change, you always have the option of keeping your current hand set and going month to month when your contract expires, or just resigning for 1 year instead of three if you want a new phone.

[hillmar]

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl

Because the phone costs the CONSUMER $599 without a contract does not mean the phone is worth $599. It may very well have cost the dealership $750 or $800, meaning your total hardware credit was actually about $600 or more. Depending on the type of phone it is. Month to month cost on a phone doesn't always reflect list price and is still based off the notion that you will stick around and pay your phone bill for some period of time.

The heavier commissions are in new activations, for certain, but there's still commissions paid per plan, particularly if you have data all of which would have been paid based on the premise that you would be maintaining the plan for 36 months.

But I assure you, while the fees seem extreme they represent Telus (and the dealership who sold you the phone)'s investment in you. And you DID sign a contract essentially promising to be giving them $X a month for the next 36 months.

Their requests of you are not unreasonable keeping that in mind.

Instead what I would suggest you do is continue with your plan and pay your bill ON TIME every month until you get within 6 months of your renewal date. THEN call Telus or go to a dealership, tell them you're unsatisfied with what ever is irritating you, aim to get escalated to retentions and loyalties. If they see you've been with them for an extended period of time and reliably paid your bill they'll work with you to create a plan you are satisfied with (and maybe get you extra credit on a new phone).

This is what you should do every time your contract is up and if you're not sure if the market is going to change, you always have the option of keeping your current hand set and going month to month when your contract expires, or just resigning for 1 year instead of three if you want a new phone.

So the dealership( say Telus) is getting no discount from the phone manufacturer for buying huge quantities of their phones?? I mean If I was Telus and I put out a order for say 500,000 Iphone4, I'd expect to get them for at least 500 dollars each if not less??!!! But, I could be wrong, and they are paying $750.00+ for their data phones.
As for waiting till my contract is 6 months before my renewal date to start negotiating for a better deal....I think I'm going to pass. I got some real negative vibes from them now, especially when they used the" take this offer or we will just bill you $600 immediately, and cancel your phone number as of now." I made platinum perks last year, and never missed a phone bill payment for the 10+ years I've been with them. If this is how they want to treat a long time customer that has stayed with them for that long, I'd rather take my loyalty somewhere else.

[!MiKrofT]

Doesn't matter how many years you've been with them. They will still charge you for cancelling the contract early. What are you gonna do when they bill you the ECF? You make it sound like you can just ignore it and cancel anyways. You won't be able to ignore the collections and the negative future credit rating.

[hillmar]

Originally Posted by !MiKrofT

Doesn't matter how many years you've been with them. They will still charge you for cancelling the contract early. What are you gonna do when they bill you the ECF? You make it sound like you can just ignore it and cancel anyways. You won't be able to ignore the collections and the negative future credit rating.

My intentions was for Telus to treat my like a loyal customer and offer me I plan not equal but better then its competition. But instead you get a do or die circumstance, not even caring if I was happy with it even after I've been with them for over 10 years. Its like if you are having reception problems with your phone after a year, but instead of them trying to help you out... they say your on your own. I'm working in customer service currently , and my company will bend its back to help out loyal customers and to reassure everything is to their liking! That's what I expect from Telus, not a threat of giving me a huge bill and terminating my number. If you work in retentions in a company, you do what it takes to keep a high paying customer.

[goo3]

Originally Posted by hillmar

My intentions was for Telus to treat my like a loyal customer

I've been on their ADSL since it came out. They really don't give two shits about you, only your money. Now you know.

[skyxx]

^ You sure, I was able to negotiate my internet and home phone for a pretty good price.

Anyway, Telus Mobility is separate from Telus home.

[suzuka84]

Originally Posted by skyxx

^ You sure, I was able to negotiate my internet and home phone for a pretty good price.

Anyway, Telus Mobility is separate from Telus home.

if only telus mobility was run like telus home, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Get this, the monthly penalty for telus home is only $10/month (all inclusive for all three services-home telephone, tv and internet). The amount they charge to cancel the mobility side is ridiculous but all the carriers do it and will continue to do it as long as we the consumer continue to turn a blind eye. My contract expires with Telus Mobility in a few months and I'm jumping to Mobilicity/Wind right away as they need our support.

[bcrdukes]

The cost margins to retain a wireless client over a landline client are significantly higher hence the tougher penalties.