Bell fails customer relations 101 yet again!

[roofus]

Everyone who has ever dealt with BCE, Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, Bell World; or any of its other iterations knows how painful it can be.

This latest episode shows what I mean:

I was planning to upgrade to an 8830 from my 8703e in the near future, but I was in no panic to do so. Yesterday, the scroll wheel on the 8703e broke, so I trotted off to my local Bell store to see if the 8830 had arrived yet.

Yes, replied the clerk we have some in stock but I can't sell you one because you are an existing customer and these are only for new customers!

"But my 8703e is broken, I need a new one and you have new ones to sell" I replied.

"Sorry", said the clerk "I can't help you"

I went to another store which was sold out of 8830's but the clerk there did confirm the crazy Bell policy that if you are an existing Bell customer you are "pond scum" but if you are not, you are a potential new customer and treated slightly better than dog crap. He checked on their computer and they had some in another store which he directed me to where, after waiting 20 minutes to get served, I was able to give them an excessive amount of money!

Apparently this policy of restricting sales of high demand items applies primarily in "high-volume" stores.

I would have changed carriers long ago, but I live in an rural area of poor service and only Bell has a reliable signal here.:x

[JSanders]

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I hear ya roofus--same deal with TMo this past spring when I wanted to purchase the 8800.

[mike.hutton@rogers.com]

I had a similar experience 2 days ago. My cell was up for renewal and Bell was going to give me a $250 credit to stay with them so I went to look for a BB 8830. They told me that with the $250 credit I get the same deal as if I was a new customer; so the $250 to stay with Bell means absolutely nothing! I said No Thanks! and said I'd go to Rogers; and I did. I now have a BB 8300. Good Bye Bell.

[roofus]

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I hear ya roofus--same deal with TMo this past spring when I wanted to purchase the 8800.

I feel better now after venting - and hearing I am not the only one who gets treated like crap!

[roofus]

I had a similar experience 2 days ago. My cell was up for renewal and Bell was going to give me a $250 credit to stay with them so I went to look for a BB 8830. They told me that with the $250 credit I get the same deal as if I was a new customer; so the $250 to stay with Bell means absolutely nothing! I said No Thanks! and said I'd go to Rogers; and I did. I now have a BB 8300. Good Bye Bell.

There was a Rogers store in the same mall as the Bell World store and I was sorely tempted to do what you did but there's very poor Rogers coverage where I live; so I will have to put up with thier abuse a little longer.

I was hoping Telus would buy out Bell but that deal never happened. Imagine the thought of a telecommunications company running Bell!

[eppey]

If it makes you feel any better I was told the same thing only we are upgrading 40 BB's. Not that many in the grand scheme of things but you would think that they might be a little more kind on the business side of things but no. So we have to wait the three weeks for the next shipment to come in.

[nez]

the rep makes the most commission on a new activation, so they avoid the upgrades for other people...specially since its a high demand item like the 8830.

yes avoid Bell at all costs.

[archer6]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

The unfortunate reality is one could remove Bell's name & insert any other carriers name & the situation would be the same. The wireless industry has an unacceptable record of horrible customer service. It's right up there with the insurance companies. Greed & disregard for the customer are the norm.

[stevew]

Exactly

[midknight]

with bell world it really helps to go to the corporate stores instead of the private franchises... those private stores have no incentive to do anything good for you.

[jonsam]

I wanted to be able to use my bb overseas, and can't do that with the 7350 I had. So I called Bell about upgrading to the new 8830. Although only 1 year into a 3 year contract, they said I have to pay full price. I told them for full price, I could break my contract, walk over to Rogers and get a new phone for cheaper. They transferred me to some department dealing with offering me a deal to stay. They offered me 5% off my phone plan for the next 3months (at 40/month, that is a $4/month savings). I told them if they couldn't do better than that, I would walk. They said thats it, and next day I walked into Rogers and moved over.

It cost me $750 to switch. A brand new phone at Bell was $799 plus tax (over $900).

They are idiots over at Bell.