Your View

My girlfriend and I booked a flight months ago through Expedia.ca. Recently an email was sent from them saying one of our flights was canceled, and that we were to get in touch with them as soon as possible.

Ha! Easier said than done. After the first attempt, they were reached after about 10 mins on hold. The Expedia representative then passed us on to an Expedia Flight Coordinator to get the issue dealt with. Fine. 5 mins... 10 mins... 45 mins go by and then my girlfriend hung up in frustration. No message saying how long you'd have to wait for, no Expedia operator cutting in to say they'd be with us shortly, etc.

Upon calling back, my girlfriend mentioned the ridiculous wait and to speak to the supervisor. A dull silence on the phone... Stunned, the Expedia representative simply clicked a button and on hold my girlfriend went again.

Next day, I thought I'd take a crack at it. I have the use of an office phone which I can put aside while on hold so I can do my work without a phone stuck to my head. Same deal, except the holding this time lasted 2 hours!! It was expected, half comical and fully pathetic.

I hung up and called back, demanding to speak to the supervisor right away. When I calmly but sternly told her it was ludicrous to have customers on hold for that long, she gave a generic: We're working to solve the problem.

Sure you are. I then gave some constructive feedback: 1) Have a call-back system 2) Be told how long the expected wait was going to be 3) Have the transferer cut in after 5 or 10 mins 4) Get more staff. Any one of these would help.

While talking to her, she said to get my flight issue resolved, I had to do was call the airline in question. Once I did that, my flight was rescheduled and all was well. So, why the hell would I have to wait 2 hours with Expedia to find that out? What a joke.

I will NOT be recommending Expedia to anyone :)

I have read all your comments. I used to work for bell sympatico internet service. I will agree with all your statements. We had a talk time of 10 minutes. If you went over the 10 minutes there was a supervisor behind you telling you to get the customer off the phone. I can't tell you what outsourcer I worked for. If you were able to get the customer off the phone in 6 or 7 minutes consistently then you were rewarded even made a supervisor.

That person you were talking to that solved your problem after making 4 to 10 calls was more than likely reprimanded for taking to long on the phone. Seems to be the way the outsourcers work. The next time you call just be aware you are probably talking to an outsourcer that is only interested in getting you off the phone as quick as possible.

If you ever need to use a company as an example for BAD customer service and practices, Air Canada is your only best bet. They truly excel, right from the top to the bottom line staff, and they do it with a passion. An experience with Air Canada is an experience with the devil himself!

Try customer service at Expedia Canada. You will hold on in excess of four hours to try and change a flight

Years ago I had some free time and was reading the Bell phonebook... it stated as per the CRTC that they (Bell) had only to satisfy 90% of their customers... I contacted Bell to confirm and this was indeed true and told the spokesperson if I was in business and only satisfied 90% of my customers I'd be out of business in one week.

I had occasion last year to order some electronic parts on-line from Digi-Key, an American parts supplier. It was ten pm when I sent the order via internet. Imagine my surprise when fifteen minutes later I had a call from a CSR who suggested a small change in my order that would save me a small bit of money.

The rep then said that they would process the order and ship it right out. What did "right out" mean? I received the order from them the next afternoon. (This from a company across the border) With service like that, its no wonder they claim to have grown their business by taking good care of customers. If only one company of the big three (Telus, Bell, Rogers) would figure this out, they would smash the competition.

My vote for worst customer service of all time goes to Rogers. I had set up cable TV for my elderly father, who is in a nursing home. When he was moved from an out-of-town facility to a local one, I went about arranging for Rogers to connect the cable at the new location. (Incidentally, Persona, the cable provider at the old location, was always helpful and efficient, even though I had never been a customer of theirs.)

On the other hand, I have been a customer of Rogers for approximately 25 years, and I'm paying for Dad's cable, so you would think it would be a simple matter to just set up another account. But no, first they had to do a credit check, and the phone connection (on their end) was so bad that I had to virtually yell my personal information into the phone for the "service" rep to hear. When I was finally approved, I asked them to set Dad up with the same cable package that I have in my own home.

The next time I visited, I discovered that he could not get one of his favourite sports channels (although I can). So, back to Rogers, who told me (after 45 minutes on hold), that to get that channel, he would have to subscribe to a different, more expensive package. But, good news--there's an introductory special on that package that would save me about $10 a month for the first year. Now for the bad news--switching to that package is considered an upgrade, not a new subscription. The special is only available to new subscribers. My dad, having had cable service in his room for all of 3 days, was no longer a new subscriber!

At that point, I gave up and told the rep just to leave everything as is, as we were still hoping to move him to his first choice of facilities, and that home has satellite TV available at less than half the price of cable. After all that, the rep had the nerve to ask (as required by her script, I suppose) if she had satisfactorily resolved my problem that day!

As someone who has worked in a job that has to deal with alot of customers, I think alot of this disatisfaction with companies and their customer service goes back to the customers themselves.

Customers are often rude, ignorant, and want everything for nothing. Alot of people figure if they argue long and hard enough they can get anything they want for free. This attitude ruins it for customers who have real complaints, as companies often have to draw a hard line or risk losing alot of unnecessary money.

People! Look in the mirror and see what abusing the "customer is always right" motto has brought you!

To say that Sears tops your list for customer service shows how bad things really are - I've had more than one awful experience with them plus the usual "you have 5 choices etc...".

Good customer service is a thing of the past-I'm afraid we live in a world where the only thing that matters in these cases is the bottom line i.e.-the profit margin.

I've had really bad experiences with Telus for customer service, mostly in terms of billing. I've been overbilled based on the regular monthly rate vs. the "promotional" rate that I was promised when signing up for their services more than once. I've had multiple cell phones over the years and with Telus it had happened twice. It's not a big deal but staightening it out takes up my time and the agents are only so-so when it comes to knowing what they are doing.

The first thing you need to understand is that in-house customer support is a rarity. The vast majority of companies outsource their telephone customer support to private call centers, where hundreds of university students work in cubicle farms answering calls on behalf of companies as diverse as banks and barbeque manufacturers. I myself handle calls for a manufacturer of pressure washers, a manufacturer of barbeques, a private career college, an on-line hockey channel, the Nova Scotia government, and a grocery delivery service in New York City. All at the same time.

The call center I work at is also a rarity, in that it treats it's employees pretty well by industry standards. As a result, employees perform better, and provide you, the customer, with better service.

I suggest that the quality of service assessed by this survey sometimes has more to do with the call center that is handling the calls for a particular company, than with the company itself.

Wow....show me the list!! (not the money ....tee hee)....I do believe Shaw cable should be near the top, for me every time I have ever, ever called, they are superb in answering...and responding...any time day or night. And I make sure I tell them each and every time how much I appreciate their customer service.

What about the essential services like hydro & gas ....they cut people off, without so much as personal contact, and do you think they are easy to get a hold of? NOT!

I take customer service very seriously, but worry about our dear seniors who are not being considered, don't or can't push all the buttons requested etc. have dementia, or other personal problems that can't allow them to be "on hold" for hours, yet have complaints, that they can't voice.

I really would like to see the list, and throw my business behind those that really do have customer service. Thank you.

Dell has the absolute worst customer service I've ever experienced (and that is saying something, having dealt with Bell and Rogers over the years as well). I ordered a new computer in mid-August. The system wasn't delivered until mid-September, although I was assured it would take about 2 weeks. I wasn't able to get the colour I wanted either, even though their latest ad campaigns promote their new colour options.

I was promised a rebate because I had to wait so long, and when that long time became even longer, I called again to see what else I could get out of them for my inconvenience... a separate call on a separate issue. I managed to get an extended warranty and a small pittance in compensation, having nothing to do with what I was originally promised.

I then find out that because of this I would not be receiving the rebate originally promised to me. Even after I received the system, I had endless problems and wound up on the phone to Dell more times than I care to remember, getting bounced from department to department to department... It took an average of 4 different departments before I managed to get to whom I was actually supposed to speak with.

I will never buy a Dell again, and I hope others won't either. They have the most incompetent and dishonest customer service I've ever experienced.

Just about every automated service stinks. I think the big question is; with the change to service from a living person to a machine, why have no prices gone down. I remember years ago when I called Sears wharehouse about an order I had and they put me on hold.

After an hour or so I left my phone connected with their elevator music and went to the wharehouse. I was only the second person in line and when I got to the counter I said "I notice your phone is blinking, go ahead and take the call I will wait". He did. He said that nobody was on the other end and claimed that was rude. I told him that was me and I had called quite some time ago and also that I thought not answering me was rude.

All of the sudden it was "we're short staffed; we do the best we can; people kept coming in, etc". Bottom line for me right then and there was to go look someone in the eye and demand service.

However, it seems that companies think of it as a waste of money to help a guy who has already given (or will be required)money. It is all about greed. Thousands have been fired, costs should have went down. The corporations snowed us when they sold us on the idea of going automated to benefit the consumer. I wonder how many CEO's and major shareholders are laughing at us on the way to the bank?

I was surprised to see Aliant in the number three spot. Maybe their standard of service is different in other provinces. Or maybe they've improved dramatically in the 7 years since I kicked them to the curb, when they lost a huge chunk of their market share to Eastlink.

I switched to Eastlink, as I mentioned, about 7 years ago. I currently have landline, cable, and internet with Eastlink, and I would purchase cellphone service from them were it not for the fact that they have teamed up with Rogers to provide it. I have never had anything less than superlative service from this homegrown company, from the telephone customer service to the technician who comes to my house.

I'm amazed that Aliant got such a high score! You must not have been calling them about their Internet service.

The story I'd like to share, however, is not about Aliant - it's about the US Consulate in Halifax. Four years ago I needed to go there to do some business. As going to Halifax is an overnight trip for me, I wanted to make an appointment to ensure that I would be seen. I went to their website and found no e-mail address, only a phone number and a fax number.

I called the phone number. The automated system presented me with an array of choices, none of which matched my case. There was NO option to connect to a real, live human being. After listening to the list of choices enough times to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I hung up and tried to come up with a Plan B.

Aha! I opened up MS Word on my computer and typed out my request, along with my phone number and an explanation of my difficulties with the consulate's phone system. Then I FAXED the document to the consulate.

A consulate staffer called me within an hour, helpful, courteous - and quite apologetic regarding their phone system.

I've used Telus as an internet provider for years. I would of dumped them years ago if I could have found a better provider.

Sometimes they were off for days, but still charged the same rate.

I used to work for a telecommunications company in their Customer Service department. In my training I was told by the trainers that "customers always lie". So we were basically trained from day one to presume that everyone who calls in is going to lie to us about something. They also used this as justification for us to lie to the customers for the company.

I never felt so used or sickened in my life.

I'm surprised that Telus wasn't at the bottom of your list -- maybe they've improved it lately. My experience is all with Telus land line service requests and is almost universally bad -- especially since that voice-based system was put in.

The very worst happened about a year ago. We had a problem with our office phone not hanging up properly. We determined that it was a line problem because we had the same problem even after we changed the set to another one. I called service, and had to go through their convoluted voice system which often didn't understand what I wanted, plus what I really needed was to talk to an actual person.

Eventually, after some time and explaining the problem to a machine, I got to where I could request to talk to a person. The phone rang and rang, and I finally got "I'm sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and dial again." I went through the system three times -- and presumably reported that I had a problem three times -- and gave up trying to talk to a person.

Telus NEVER responded in any way, and I have no idea if they ever logged my call. Eventually we determined that the problem only happened after a phone attached to a particular phone jack had been used, so we bought a handset with a remote cordless set that is now used by the person with the useless phone jack -- presumably it is a problem in our building, but you'd think Telus could have told us that.

As a Telus Mobility employee I can tell you with 100% confidence that you contacted Telus landline and not Telus Mobility. Telus Mobility is different division of Telus to landline. As a national broadcaster you should check your facts more carefully. I also read your report on Telus Landline, you reporters standards are pretty clear when you realise he uses the word 'muzak' instead of music. I guess you don't need a high standard of English at the CBC anymore either.

I think that one of the main causes for the lack of service is the importance that corporations and institutions place on statistics. In my former jobs everywhere I found that my co-workers ignored the public as much as they could so they could have favourable statisics and then receive favourable appraisals from their supervisors because of these statistics. I would constantly hear these employees transfer a call to the phone tree and then I would often later receive a call from that same frustrated caller.

I like to do qualilty work regardless of what my statistics show so I would spend time with the client despite the fact that I was then sometimes spoken to by the supervisior since I did not have the "high" statistics of my lazy co-workers. Whan I pointed out this problem to my supervisors they did not want to hear the problem. They seemed to know about it, but didn't want to hear about it. I believe that they were happy with the situation which gave them high statistics for their unit and praise from their supervisor.

Once we had a cut-back of employees when we truly needed them. We were told that statistics did not prove our need for those employees. As long as numbers are the only focus we will never have quality service!

Almost all businesses out-source their phone customer service to other countries, most of the time in Asia. This goes for Bell, Dell etc. And those reps are often impossible to understand with their thick foreign accents.

Inadvertently, I asked to speak to a French customer rep when I called Bell the other day, and was instantly connected with a French person from Montreal, who confirmed my suspicions, that all requests for French service are automatically routed to Montreal.

I tried the same thing afterwards with Dell, and got another local rep. Even if you don't speak French, ask for French customer phone service anyway, when you call any business. Almost all French reps speak English also. And you won't have to worry about deciphering foreign accents!

I have just finished a gruelling few hours with Rogers trying to get my Internet turned back on. I have worked in the IT field for years (going on 30 soon) and know a thing or two about computers. I was told that my service was disabled because of serious virus activity coming from my system. The trouble is that I run a complete Apple household - Mac's don't get viruses.

The tech-support gentleman who answered (and very surly right off the bat) kept telling me I was wrong, that Mac's get viruses just like PC's and then went on to name a few like Melissa - which a simple google shows that in no way shape or form can it infect a Mac - but I was the idiot who didn't understand. Now I admit I got a little perturbed by his attitude and said some things about his mental agility, which I regret, but constantly being told I was wrong when all evidence proves otherwise tends to tick one off.

When asked if I could have more information about what was happening this same gentlemen told me that he had nothing that could help and that when I have fixed the problem to call back. When I called back (almost immediately) the next gentleman went on to be helpful (then again I might have triggered a red flag on the account - sometimes being aggressive can help) and gave me all the information that the other gentleman said that I could not have. He even went so far as to get another tech on the line so we could trouble shoot the problem. Very helpful (it only took 6 calls - must be a record of some kind)

This all goes to show that it depends on who you get when you call, and that not all CSRs are created equal

A lot of these posts deal with the frustrations of dealing with huge mega-lopolies, that due to their size and market share can do pretty much as they please.

And as much as you can't patronize a mom and pop shop for communication services, we do have choices about many other consumer activities.

Remember that we blow a lot of our disposable cash on "disposable" products (electronics chief among them) and that our buying patterns are predicated on saving a coupla per cent here and there. But providing good service costs money and it is not in the business models of the Costco's and Walmarts... hey folks you get what you pay for. If you want to buy some plastic crap from China and crow about how cheap it was (despite it's short usage life) - you get what you pay for... product-wise and sociologically.

Our manufacturing sector is being knee-capped by our own desire for cheaper and cheaper disposable junk being manufactured in Asia. Remember buying a Maytag in 1965 and having it run reliably for 30 years? (chances are it was made at a facility within several hours drive and supported your local economy in some way).

There is no doubt in my mind (and past experiences) that ROGERS has a terrible customer service. It took me over 9 months and probably over 10 differente representatives to get them to fix issues with my bill.

I cancelled bell. They now send me notes saying they miss me. They are morons.

BELL and BELL EXPRESSVU is the worst company that I have ever had to deal with for Customer Service.

I cancelled a BELL EXPRESSVU high definition TV service on June 30th and have been waiting for them to deliver a box or labels for return shipment of the THE BELL OWNED unit for over 5 months.

Despite many phone calls / emails they have provided no way for me to return their rental unit, and no other options. I had retained the original box and could ship it within hours given an address and Return Authorization Number.

They are eager to bill and get paid two ways ($10 monthly rental for 30 months and full purchase price $250).

BUYERs of any of their services (Expressvu, Symaptico) should be wary of BELLS business practises / policies for return of rental equipment.

Staples photocopy has to be up there with Bell.

I went to Staples for an employee purchase plan/folder for 10 departments. I left my digital pictures and was told I can pick up my order the next day.

I work at 4PM so I called around 2PM, I was told that my order was done and I can pick it up, I live 20-30 minutes out of town so I had to run in, get my order and come home and get ready for work ( I work 3 minutes from home). I arrived only to be told by the same clerk that took my oder that it wasn't ready and that she tried to call me in the morning only to be told by the operator that my phone was a long distance call ( I live 26 KM's from toon town - no long distance needed) and then told me my phone was disconnected!

Well I called my home phone with my cell phone right in front of her, let it ring the 5x for my message manager to kick in and....guess what?? my phone was working,was working all day, and it wasn't a long distance call,...she stood there with a smile on her face and went "huh, I just don't know...."

Anyway, the order was completed 3 days later and the discount I got from staples customer service??? a whole 15%, which amounted to same amount I was quoted 3 days earlier!!! I will NEVER use staples again.

I had a Bell cellular service and experienced tremendous challenges getting the company to honour the written agreement. I contacted Bell customer service and had to wait long period of time.

I even have a picture of my handset while waiting for customer service to answer for over 2 hours and 12 minutes! The line cut off after 10 minutes. The average wait time was 45 minutes to one hour.

As this was not enough, I had to deal with customer representative that did not want to assist. I was even told that my free weekend airtime was charged because of the long distance calls that I have made.

And when I asked why is there a separate charge for long distance the rep placed me on hold for 10 minutes then hung-up.

I had to fax three times my contract to a team leader in the Vancouver Call Center to get my invoices rectified but nothing happened. I kept track of faxes and conversations.

Finally, when I requested to cancel the service the rep shoed interest and wanted to help. He said that he would adjust my last three-month rule due to the 90-day rule. I informed him that I have been trying to correct my bills for the last year, he called me a liar!!!

I spoke with a Team Leader who was sceptical as well. I had to send my proof of purchase agreement, previous faxes and summary of phone calls made to get 6 months worth of adjustments.

My experience with Bell has truly been Hell

I found the trick for dealing with Telus Mobility - becoame a Pay and Talk Customer. My calls have always been routed to a person within a few minutes (they claim to give you airtime if they don't give you a human within a designated time, but I have never had to wait that long).

They never upsell and even bent over backwards when Bell refused to let me port my landline number to my cell phone (gave me a temporary number after the first atempt to port caused me to lose my original cell number and kept calling Bell to give it up).

They admitted that this was a common problem and thanked me for my patience. They always had a record of my previous calls.

When I would call Bell to find out was wrong, they told em that what I wanted was impossible (CRTC said otherwise) and tried to offer me better packages to keep me (which would cost me more in the long run).

I pointed out that this poor attitude towards customers was the exact reason I was happily moving all my business to Telus Mobility.

First, congratulations on running this feature. This issue is so much larger than most people realize. Second I would like to suggest that you think about running a feature on Industry Standards and there promotions by companies who actually fail to live up to the standards and just how common is it.

Next, I am pleaed to see that your survey found as I do that the Phone Companies are by far the worst when it comes to customer service, especaially Rogers but Bell is not far behind.

Last but not least I would like to recommend that you add The Astral Medial Company to your list of National Companies to be investigated in the future. Try and find someone there to receive your complaint!!! Good luck to you!!!!

It is obvios to me that Astral is like so many others today that firmly believe that Customer Service must be someone else's responsibility. Thanks!

Customer service is non-existant.Nothing seems to get accomplished even when you ask a straight forward question.They just go into a topic unrelated to the question and avoid doing anything for you .

The examples are too numerous to list here.It is a reflection of a our narcisstic society in general.Everybody is a genius or superstar without any talent,intellect or valid credentials to support their ineptitude.

Seems like we are living in a nightmare that never ends.Thank-you very much for the simple lily livered service that is useless to society at ALL levels!

In my opinion, Bell is by far the worst customer service out there. I moved in March of 2006, I called several weeks in advance to set up the appointment to get all 3 of my Bell services (Home phone, internet, satellite) switched over as I was going to be out of the country the week before I moved.

I arrived home to find a message from a service technician, saying that his schedule had cleared up and he came by early to hook up my satellite. With him coming early, and me not being in the country, the satellite wasn't hooked up as he had no access to inside of my house to hook up the receiver. He also took the liberty of marking down that I had "missed" my appointment because he came early without notifying me.

After fighting with Bell Services Reps (who claim this has nothing to do with Bell because they hire contract workers for hookups) it took an additional 3 weeks to get my television hooked up, and I had to take a day off work to be available for the technician between 9am and 5pm.

The time spent on the phone was horrendous, bouncing from one rep to another with nobody able to grasp that if a customer isn't home on a date that wasn't scheduled for an appointment, it can't be held against them.

The ONLY thing that keeps me with Bell Canada is the fact that they have more HD programming than any other provider. Bell is the most pitiful company in all aspects of customer service and should be ashamed at what they have become.

TELUS wins the worst award in our books,

We recently had to phone Telus to correct credits that did not appear on our monthly statements (again). At the end of our conversation, the agent mentioned that we may be eligible for a rate reduction for our combined phone/internet package.

When I asked if they could forward the information in print, the agent said it was only available online. I hung up and checked their website. After a fairly lengthy time searching on their site, I finally located (buried under several page levels) the Home Connection Bundles page. I've worked in User Interface design and this website would fail the grade miserably.

The information on this site was very general and I required more information regarding international rates, etc. I phoned TELUS and the agent who answered my call not only had great difficulty with the English language, but could not explain most of the features of the different bundles and options.

I requested to speak with a supervisor (surprise, they were all too busy to address my concerns), I asked if there was anyway to meet at a Customer Service Centre and speak with an agent face-to-face regarding our account and having the options explained to us. TELUS has no service centres where a client can speak to a customer rep.

I went down to the main office in Calgary only to have to speak on a hall phone to field rep in BC (who finally had some answers but admitted that the feature and rate structures where somewhat confusing for her, too).

After the whole process was said and done, the next day I went to Telus' main competitor, was able to meet with a service rep face-to-face. She clearly explained the company’s product, what our options were and when we could expect installation.

The whole process took less than 20 minutes and we are getting more services for less cost. After 17 years as a customer with TELUS, we said our goodbyes.

"Please do not shoot the messenger," once you do stick handle your way through the automated system to a "live" person.

Customer Service Representatives are at the mercy of the adequacy of the training, the stability of the computer software in use and management's expectation of wanting it every which way; answering 80% of all calls within 20 seconds with as few bodies as possible.

Talking, troubleshooting and typing in 350 seconds or less per call, 10 calls per hour, 70 calls per day, with every aspect of call quality micro-managed, is not easy.

Call centres are driven from the top down; those who are closest to the work and who usually know the answers have the least amount of influence. Given that the working environment is synonymous with a white collar factory job, it is no wonder that the annual attrition rate is 20% or greater.

Please consider the aforementioned when you next call "customer service." It might very well be me who you speak to. Please know that I will do my best to help you but please also remember that I will be handicapped by a significant amount of pressure while trying to do so.

Thank you for listening.

My story has to do with changing modems on High Speed internet with Telus. This saga took over 6 days during which time I was out of service on my internet, partially due, I am sure, to the fact that the original customer service agent was obviously paid to up-sell customers on Telus' system.

His answer to my problem was to change modems. Today I wonder if I really needed to change it at all.

The whole story is too long to relate here but as a former employee of B.C. Telephone I am very sorry to see the decline in customer relations that used to exist before this huge shift in their business model.

Telus has a virtual monopoly in this part of the country and, in any event, their competition isn't any better! I wonder where the pride that used to be taken in giving good service actually went.

None of these communication companies appear to care and, if you have a problem, the more they can put you off, the better they seem to like it.

Maybe all these stories need to be relayed to the CRTC.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent!!

Worst customer service ever is Rogers. I have never had anyone correct my problems the first time, the second time or the third time.

They are unknowledgable about their products, what they offer, and which department does what. Everytime I call I get transferred three or four times. One time I asked to talk to a supervisor and the rep actually said to me that "A supervisor won't be able to fix your problem either".

All I want was to cancel my cable. It took 3 months and numerous hours, but it was finally cancelled.

Best customer service RBC. Always polite and prompt with whatever you want done.

Home Depot, no matter how I dealt with them, did not provide the customer service that I expected.

I spent $2000.00-$3000.00 this past summer purchasing materials for a new deck, new ceiling fans and outdoor lighting. After making all my purchases, I discovered that a promotion on ceiling fans was in progress, but there was no signage in the area where the ceiling fans are kept, and the fans that were on promotion were located in an other area of the store.

When I inquired about the promotion, indicating that the salesperson who assisted me did not suggest that I look at the fans on promotion, the department manager said that he could not possibly know my conversation with the salesperson was because he had not been present.

After repeating my complaint, he repeated his answer. I told him that I would take my complaint to someone else who could help me. I went to the Customer Service desk, was asking about an 800 number, when the store manager came by.

I repeated my story again, he responded by saying that he could not possibly comment because he wasn't present at the time of my purchase and did not know what my conversation with the sales person could have been. I did not waste any further time dealing with the manager, requested the 800 number from a cashier who understood exactly what my complaint was, but did not have authority to do anything about it.

Later, I got on the phone and attempted to contact Home Depot. I spent over 1 hour on the phone, playing phone tag with automated answering machines, to no avail. I never did get a real person. I sent my complaint by e-mail, and have never received a response. I challenge anyone to get a real response from a real person. Good luck.

I will do absolutely anything to avoid having to deal with Sympatico customer service. Every so often, for no reason apparent to me, I am not recognized by my dial up service; so call them I must. (Dial up is all that is available in this rural area)

As a senior, my hearing is slightly diminished and the frequently heavily accented English of the service providers is often difficult for me to understand. Also, I am not as familiar with computer terminology as constant users are.

Par for the course is 3 phone calls often over 3-4 hours. Recently the first service provider was so rude and abusive that I had to hang up after several unproductive rounds with him.

The next provider tried to be helpful, but his advice did not work. Finally I contacted a women who stuck with me until she was certain the problem was fixed. Thank God for her, but you are just lucky when you stumble on such a treasure!

Bell Canada itself is almost, but not quite, as difficult to deal with.

I have been surprised and pleased at the improved service now being provided by TD Visa when booking vacations using their Travel Point. That used to take half a day. A recent booking by phone took just 10 minutes.

I achieved a small victory today with Primus. I needed to call Customer Service to try and resolve a billing issue, and decided to follow the advice of a few CSR's that posted here.

Where I normally would have expressed frustration and tried to escalate the situation immediately, I decided to give "Christopher" a shot. It took 35 minutes, a few instances of being put on hold where I thought he'd never come back, but in the end we reached a compromise.

This is not to say that I believe every issue should be dealt with in the same manner; sometimes we are treated unfairly as consumers and need to express anger and frustration in order to reach a satisfactory result.

Occasionally, we will reach someone who cannot and/or does not want to help-I've also been through nightmare scenarios will Bell & Rogers, the usual suspects. In this particular situation, I found the combination of doing my best to stay calm, listening to what I was being told (taking notes helps) and offering suggestions worked.

The victory for me was not having to call back again.

Bell is the absolute WORST! I have had problems with my Internet service. I am supposed to have DSL High Speed but it is slower than dial-up. I wait on the phone for at least 45 minutes to get a technical "Specialist" who claims I need better security service so I get it and what happens to the speed NOTHING.

I had a hard time understanding the man on the phone his accent was so thick. I am locked into a plan with them that affects my home long distance rates or I would switch.

Bell has truly the worst customer service of all time. I once had all my telcom services with them, and a sales person called me to offer me a 'better' deal on my long distance plan.

When I received my new bill lo and behold it was about $50 more!!! When I called to get the explanation for this, I spoke to someone so rude it was unbelievable that she was hired for customer service.

Not having learned a lesson from this, when I got a call from another agent several months later offering a deal on a cell phone with 3 months free, I decided to get one for a family member as a Christmas gift.

I told the sales guy that I only wanted the phone for Christmas (this was in October), and the phone plan to start then as well (obviously, you'd think). I immediately started receiving bills for the phone plan (no phone to appear yet)and by the time the phone appeared (sometime in JANUARY!) the 3 month plan was up and I felt like I had spent 3 months trying to sort it out with the inept 'customer service' people at Bell.

I am now happy with Rogers but unfortunately still have Bell internet(not wanting to give up my email address) and have endured hours (and I really mean hours) with totally useless 'customer service' people from India who have yet to solve ONE problem that I presented to them.

It will be a cold day in you-know-where before I switch back to them for my phone services.

Could not pass up the opportunity to join the chorus of people fed up with Bell Canada's poor customer service. I bought a computer and there was a price reduction if you signed up with Bell.

I was moving anyway, so I cancelled my internet service and intended to switch from Rogers to Bell. I tried for several weeks to get Bell Sympatico High Speed Service. My next door neighbour had it and I even provided his account number.

However, I was repeatedly told that it was 'not available' in my area. I finally gave up and went back to Rogers. A few weeks later I started getting billed for the Sympatico High Speed service that I was repeatedly told was not available.

I haven't received an account statement, just a charge to my credit card! I don't mind returning the discount I received, but it takes real nerve for Bell to bill me without explanation for a service that they are not providing and in fact cannot provide! I am now looking to switching my home phone.

My absolute favourite customer service story has to do with Telus. When I moved into my new apartment a few years ago, there were all sorts of problems with the phone.

I was getting calls that were supposed to go to different numbers. My calls randomly disconnected, or the phone only rang once, even though the person on the other end heard five or six rings. The phone was almost unusable.

Repeated calls to customer support (when I got through, about a third of the time) garnered claims that it was the building's fault, even though no one else in the building had these problems, and my DSL connection, which ran on the same line, worked just fine.

I don't know much about the system, but it was pretty clear, and should have been clear to anyone, that the problem was on their end (and someone much later told me it was).

The only good part of the whole scenario was one attempt to get through to customer support. I had to call from work, because my home phone would disconnect long before the 45 minutes of required time on hold would elapse.

The CSR wanted to confirm my identity, so I answered a couple of questions. He went away for a few minutes, and came back on the phone. Apparently that was not good enough. Apparently, in order to get service on my line, I needed to call from the line itself.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "In order to get my phone line working, I need to call you... from the non-working phone."

"Yes," came the apologetic reply.

JVC Canada. A most frustrating experience for me and JVC call center, in which I had to rehash my storied situation each time.

They seem to have little tracking ability. Eventually someone with authority did return my call when I was in a meeting, but they left no message, which seemed rather unprofessional.

From my caller ID, I attempted to call them back within the hour. But the number reached the call centre and they had no knowledge of someone trying to call me. This happened twice and again no message.

How futile. I gave up and sent the 48" TV to the landfill. I don't believe they really cared. So no more JVC for me!

Bell: Sympatico. Their DSL modems vanish upon affixing that self addresed paid postage sticker. Thus Bell get's your $50 Buck deposit if you do not get a tracking number from the Post office. This is a cool trick to pad their bottom line.
SympatidOOOh!

You call 310-surf, and speak to a CSR.
Same thing no sir we do not have the modem do you have the modem sir please return it, and we will credit your account.
Yup. Great gimmick.

Don't get me started on poor customer service in this country.

What urks me the most is those damn automated dialing/calling machines that call my house at all hours with no one on the other end!

Frustrating to no end!

I'll go along with the Wal-Mart comment. They provide the worst customer service possible. Line ups 45 minutes long, a quarter of the cashes open, and they couldn't care less.

Many times I've left leaving a full kart. What makes it so much worse is I live in the North and they are the only game in town for many articles which of course Wal-Mart realises.

Zellers left when Wal-Mart arrived. They know we have no where else to get this stuff so make NO attempt to give good customer service.

I've come to HATE the store and when I move away from here in the near future, will never shop in one again. In the meantime I've found many great internet shopping sites that provide the same merchandise as they do.

Bell is truly the worst of all time. I had Bell service phone/internet etc. for both home and my business, and have switched away in both locations after the worst 'keystone cops' of customer service I have ever witnessed.

And to top it all off, canceling was almost (!) as bad, as they apparently had lost the modem I had carefully packed and sent back to them according to their instructions, and then was treated to bills for 300 bucks every month that accumulated interest, and no amount of phone calls could solve it.

Even after having the confirmation from the post office that I sent it, nasty calls from their collection centers, being bounced from idiot to idiot with what appeared to me to be no intention to solve the problem, it appeared Bell thinks I have nothing better to do with my time than to waste it on hold for hours with their unhelpful staff.

Finally someone figured it out and solved it. I would rather use tin cans tied together with string than give one cent to Bell.

I recently took advantage of a Bell Canaduh time-limited offer for Federal Government employees. Most customer service reps had no knowledge of this offer, couldn't call it up, and couldn't find any record of the phone in the offer.

It took over a month to resolve this, and even then, I had to email the CEO, and spent another week emailing and calling repeatedly a Customer Relations Exec.

Do you think they really care? There's nothing the customers can do about it.

I have read a good number of comments about service, or lack of it, and I can agree with most. The very best service company on the phone, is Lee Valley Tools. (and in any other way they are contacted)

The worst is by far Bell Express Vu. I gave up on the phone and the inter-net (their web site is a mess) and then I kept records of the problems for six or seven months.

Then I sent a regestered letter to the President, and this got their attention. However it did not resolve more than one of the four issues , because the "asst to the VP" who called me did not have the power nor the basic knowledge to correct very much.

I noticed that in coments from Roblyn/Winnipeg, being a service agent, admits that many times he cant fix the problem so I expect it is true that these agents do not have the knowledge nor the power to make things change. This is sad, very sad indeed.The executive and management is responsible, but they focus on their bottom line and " what's in it for them"

I have used Shaw for a number of years, great service on line and in person. Sears is also very good, on line and in person.

The Bay (whoever they are nowadays) is just awful both on line and in person (when I say on line, I do mean on the phone).

The ABSOLUTE WORST is TD Banking. I gave up Telus years ago along with a few thousands others who filed complaints to the CRTC against the wait times and non responses by Telus.

Royal Bank is great. If I experience problems on the phone with ANY systems I IMMEDIATELY complain. LOUDLY. And when I have good service, I TELL THEM.

Before my older brother and I moved to Calgary we did the normal moving to a new city things; found an apartment, threw resume's out to employers, and set up internet, cable, and phone.

This was 8 years ago, when Telus was the only way to go for a home phone. A Telus rep was to hook us up before we got our place so that we'd be set when we got in. The day we moved in we plugged in the phone and had no dial tone.

We just figured that maybe it would take a day or two so we just left it and started to unpack. Shaw showed on time and hooked up the internet and cable the next day but still we had no phone. We went over to the 711 by our new place and called them, told them the situation, and the CSR looked into it, only to 15 min later inform us they hooked the phone up in the wrong apartment.

When we asked when we could expect a tech out to hook us up we were told we would have to wait a week to 10 days. When we informed them that this was their mistake not ours we were told that it wasn't their problem and someone would be out in a week to 10 days, unless an apointment canclled and in that case they would phone us.

Phone us how, I don't know. 12 days later we had a home phone. We also decided to switch internet over to telus about 6 months later, just to see if there was a difference between shaw and telus.

The internet would go down for a week, and when we would phone to find out what the problem was they would tell us it was on our side and to download an anit-virus program. Again, download how with no internet, I don't know.

Smart people they employ with that company. I will never give Telus my business again. Worst company ever.

Bell has the worst customer service ever. In fact, I was recently phoned by a Bell rep asking me what they needed to do in order to get me back as a customer, and I replied that there was nothing on this green earth that could EVER convince me to go back. As short as possible, here is the story:

During the last Bell strike, my phone mysteriously went down for a period of about 3 weeks. First, Bell told me there was a problem at my house and they had to send a repair tech "sometime between 9am-5pm" (convenient, eh?).

Well, I had to take the day off work and, lo and behold, no one showed up the whole day, apparently because they were too busy. Two similar attempts to make appts later, Bell tells me that the problem is actually at the switching station and it will be fixed by the weekend.

When that doesn't happen, they said it would be a few days after that, and so on and so forth for another week or so. Well finally I had had enough and asked at one time to speak to a manager - you know what the gal on the other end had the gall to tell me? "why would you want to do that, they can't help you". Even the official Bell complaints line was no better - as they promised to help but then returned none of my calls.

Mysteriously, 3 weeks later the phone turned back on. Although the Bell employee my hubby spoke to would not readily admit it, he implied that the phone had literally been shut off as a sabotage tactic relating to the strike somehow.

Nice. I've since switched to Rogers and never looked back.

With the (dis)honourable exception of Air Canada, I have never received anything but the best of service anywhere in Canada.

You should try living in the UK, where the business attitude is "Give the customer the absolute minimum you can get away with - and charge the maximum you can get away with".

About half of all companies in the UK now use a low premium rate phone number, so you actually have to pay them for the privelege of calling them! It's our own fault for putting up with it. Don't fall into the same trap as us Brits!

I'm taking the approach that if I want to keep money in my own pocket, I have to fight for every penny.

Last night I thought about what my hourly wage is, against how much time it would take to get through to Telus's billing department to have my bill fixed. In the end I "earned" $25 a month by "working" for about 45 minutes on the problem. I hate that it's come to this, but it's become a self-serve world.

One exception: if you call or come into the dealership where I work, you get genuine smile, friendly service and a "have a great day". I still believe in that.

I worked at Sears...and hearing they had the best customer service caused me to laugh so hard I had hiccups.

The credit card is owned by JP Morgan Chase, and the counter staff are Sears employees, the catalogue are Sears staff, and their Home services yet another department. None are connected.

Address changes were problematical as when a customer changed it at the store, it wasn't changed at the catalog OR the credit card. Stores routinely put charges on cards belonging to other people by using a look up for name or phone number and not verifying it properly.

The complaints came in non-stop for service. It was unbelievable. The BC call center would constantly cause problems by doing things incorrectly...it was scary. And they got a high rating? I'm shocked.

Frankly, the fact that the Sears credit card has a 28.8% interest rate should be enough for people to walk away...and quickly.

As for Rogers? Painful...Bell Technical in India? Oh WOW...excruciating...sigh...

Shaw is horrible. We recently moved and utilized their "easy move" service, went online and filled out the form.

Someone called from Shaw a few hours later & left a voicemail to call them to confirm online request and scheduled an appointment. Which we did a few days later, however they had no record of such request. Hmmmm, how come we got a phone call then?

So we booked our appointment & day before Shaw was to show up, husband called to confirm, CSR said no problems, see you tomorrow between 10 and 5. Next day, 5:30 no Shaw.

Husband phoned to inquire and politely asked if the technician was delayed in anyway. The CSR said "Oh, you're not going to like this, your appointment was cancelled".

My husband asked who cancelled it, and why? The CSR went quiet a few seconds and then said "Look it, phone us on Sunday to see if there's any cancellations for the coming week. Thank you for choosing Shaw." CLICK. The CSR hung up.

At this point, we were fuming. It was a Thursday so we bought a satellite dish & receiver from Bell, who came next day to install. I really wanted to switch phone & internet as well, but Shaw has such a monopoly in our area we had no choice.

After a few days, husband phoned back to Shaw and calmly explained our dilemma. CSR immediately investigated the issue & sent a tech that day to installed phone & internet. Had the first CSR done that, maybe Shaw would be getting our $100+ a month for TV instead of Bell.

I worked many years as a CSR, was always helpful, respectful and courteous to everyone no matter what they said or yelled at me. I knew it wasn't MY fault.

I was paid to do a job and I went above and beyond my "job description" a lot of the time to help people. Unfortunately, there are too many CSR's who don't even want to do their job at all - the sooner companies realize this, the better off EVERYONE is.

An interesting thing I've heard about Telus' IVR is that it seems to be capable of recognizing swear words and responds by transferring to a customer service agent without further prompts.

I have never tested this myself, but a friend of mine said he stumbled across it on a particularly frustrating day.

P. Cameron:

"I worked for a bank (ASB Bank) in New Zealand prior to immigrating to Canada.

They took away all the open/closed signs in all the branches and advised all staff, managers included, that the #1 priority was to serve clients/customers.

Needless to say, the bank had a 30%+ market share."

Was this before or after Kiwibank had been introduced? Before Kiwibank came along, all NZ banks were run/owned by Australian corporations, and my wife (a Kiwi) said they had gotten pretty complacent, arrogant, and sloppy.

Kiwibank came in, and with a New Zealand option for customers choose, it shook up the industry. The customer all of a sudden mattered! Like I said previously, time to get a similar shake-up in the Canadian telco industry.

My Rogers wireless experience has been nothing but deliberate confusion on the part of the company.

They 'rope' you in with all of these promises and then decide that these were either limited time offers or they simple do not honour the contracts they have promised.

After i found out that i was a statistic, they admitted they made a mistake in promising a service they could not fulfill. I asked them to cancel my service to which they had the audacity to want to charge me for not "honouring" my contract. WHAT???? And, they would charge me the difference to which i paid on a new phone. How is it that the pertinent government agencies allow for such behaviour?

It's dishonest and fraudulent. I'm now stuck with a fraudulent contract.

I recently swiched cell carrier's from TELUS to ROGERS in order to accomidate a phone that is only supported by ROGERS.

As a result of this, I have made 7 calls in a month in order to confirm my rate plan which was different each time I called. The final discussion I had where I was pleading for them to give me the rate plan that someone else agreed to I had the agent text msg me the details of the plan. He did.

In 7 yrs with TELUS I never encountered any bad service. In fact they have treated me like gold. Now I am stuck with three yrs of rogers wireless. Big mistake. Even my new phone isn't worth that.

Also a positive shout out to Parts Source stores where every location employs the knowledgeable people.

That communication companies like Telus, Rogers and Aliant provided the worst customer service in a recent study of large companies is worth a smirk for the irony of it but that’s as far as it goes.

Last week the process to listen to messages on my cell phone changed. It took a week of calling, being on hold for 10 to 30 minutes, and giving up to finally get a real person and find out how to get my messages.

Given that Aliant provides my phone and internet it wouldn’t seem too much of a stretch for them to be able to communicate these changes to me. As a result of this I missed the message telling me my father was having an early birthday dinner not to mention the other messages I couldn’t get for a week.

The largest inconvenience of late is that we decided to get rid of our house phone but keep internet. I was assured that all I had to do was install a disk and enter in a password.

Sounded simple and I was game. Almost three weeks later I don’t have internet. I have had two appointments for tech people to come by, which as you know require you to stay at home for large amounts of time, with no one showing up. They did show up once when I didn’t have an appointment. Because I wasn’t there I got bumped forward another week and even treated with attitude by a tech person for not being home at the time.

When services such as the internet and cell phones become so integral to individuals and the economy overall their proper delivery is fundamental. If these companies can’t provide or abuse the services we need to function than it is time to open the market up more to competition and regulate a minimum level of service.

I have learnt that the term “industry standard” when used by a large company who exists in a pseudo monopoly of just a few competitors is really saying “suck it up because we have you by the balls.”

I work for a large high tech company that has a policy of having a real person answer the main telephone line at all times during business hours.

We get lots of positive feedback from both clients and vendors, stating their appreciation of an immediate response and the ability to reach the relevant person or department without delay.

Bell Express Vu,

I am focusing my commments on Bell Express Vu as i have had numerous problems with this company since i've signed up with them.

Had them come to my home to set up the dish. Dish wasn't set up properly, so it was cutting out at lease every half hour for 15 minutes at a time. I called the company and they told me they could not send someone out for 21 days.

Had to fight with them to not bill me for the month, even though i couldn't access tv. Of course i got my next few bills and the charges weren't taken off. I had to call 4 times to get it corrected with an average of 45 minutes per call.

Can't cancel for 2 years or i will get charged a very large penalty. As soon as the contract is done, i'm finding a new provider.

Also, don't get me started with Hydro One or Enbridge Consumers gas....

I developed an intense hatred for EMILI Bell's automated system, when trying to deal with cancelling my mother's phone service on a long distance basis from BC.

When I actually managed to get a person they were very nice, but I told EMILI more than once that I hated her and that I wanted to speak to a human.

She on the other hand was invariably cheerful as she told me that she didn't 'get' my last comment and that I had the following five options none of which were what I wanted.

I think when Canadians can walk with their wallet for better service and support, they do.

The problem is that Canada has so many major corporations in monopolistic or oligopolistic positions. Why worry about customer service when you own the market?

Companies like Bell, Rogers, Air Canada, the Federal Government, all starve customer support because frankly, where is the consumer to go?

It is especially bad in telecom both wireless and wireline. Unfortunately, we have a Federal Government that panders to large businesses.

The comments about Bell/Expressview are interesting.

I was a long time Bell customer but it finally just got to be too much, and I switched to Star Choice.

I still find it hard to believe that a company like Bell can be that stupid?

They really need to fire some people!

But yes, they are stupid, and have proven it many times, so I guess they get what they deserve!
Maybe they just don't care?

We recently dumped Bell (high prices, bad service) for Primus.

Since joining Primus, we've had cronic internet problems and now, residential phone line problems. My wife called them this morning, and the Customer Service Rep HUNG UP on her.

Nice.
The problem with these companies is that they lock you in for at least a year by hanging a cancellation fee over your head. A hostage-taking.

And so the rage builds, no matter which crappy telco you're with...

After reading, perhaps, a quarter of the posts, I was struck by the number of complaints involving Bell and"Emily", not my favourite customer service experience, either, although I did once speak to a real-life Emily, who was very pleasant and helpful, but she was with Sympatico.

My method of reducing my frustration level when dealing with her computerised doppel-ganger is simply to remain mute while she tries to comprehend why no answers are forthcoming to her annoying list of queries.

In fairly short order, she gives up the attempt to "communicate" with me and forwards my call to a live customer service rep.

I've found that by maintaining my cool to this point, that I am better able to sustain it through the rest of the patience-straining process and generally results in fairly positive outcome, with "thank-you"s and "you're welcome"s from both ends of the line.

Believe me folks, the customer service in the states is just as bad, if not worse than what you guy's experience in Canada.

Time Warner Cable & AT&T; phone are about the worst in.....UN-CUSTOMER-SERVICE!!!! Here's what I've starting doing:

MAKE DETAILED NOTES,
1) Get the names of the CSR's you talk with, also there ID# or extention#.(let them know your making notes)

2) Date & Time all conversations.(make notes)

3) Date & Time all your down time,(phone not working, Cable out)

4) When you get the Bill at the end of the month, PRORATE all down time and time you spent trying to get the problem's straightened out off the bill.

Include with your payment a letter, IN DETAIL from start to finish, and why your deducting from their bill....

Bell Expressvu is the all-time worst. They have a superior product yet people are leaving in drives.

If I were a shareholder, I would be furious at the mindboggling incompetence and borderline criminal customer service department. Heads should roll there.

In my two years contract, only 5 bills arrived with the correct amounts. Of course all of them were higher than should be. This isn't incompetence, it is criminal. Not one of the times was the issue resolved on the first phone call or next bill.

It is inconcievable that the management of a company would allow the volume of customers to gather such a deep gutteral hate for their company.

I will go way out of my way to stop anyone from becoming a bell expressvu customer. If I see a person in the Satellite section at futureshop I will tell them my story and encourage them to google the many sites telling similar stories.

I tell everyone I know about Bell. I have convinced friends who have no issues with Bell to cancel after I invite them over to listen to a typical customer support call.

Once Bell has you, you can do nothing about it. They will bill you for something and threaten you with wrecking your credit rating and you have no recourse as the credit bureau will only take the one side of the story.

Blame the government of the last thirty years.

I have to ask, who sets the tone? The answer if indeed the tone is of benefit to the people, is the government.

Look at the corruption, lies and crime perpetrated by the relations between government and business.

This is emulated and ultimately trickles down to the consumer.

Perry,

Like yourself, I'm very surprised with Aliant's rating.

I moved into a new home 18 months ago, and as a result had a lot of dealings with Aliant. Due to having absolutely no choice in the matter (there was NO competitor) I purchased internet, home phone, and celluar service from them.

Twice, I've had to threaten to go to the media to avoid being charged for services that were supposed to have been already included. Their rhetoric is misleading at best, lies at worst.

Then, just when I thought it was over, I received a bill for over $400 for charges that were supposed to have been included in my bill all along, but were "overlooked".

The bills are so confusing to begin with, that I had no idea what was included and what wasn't.

Not only that, but they wanted to charge me interest on the charges that they forgot to bill me. I had no choice but to pay for services rendered, but managed to get them to waive the interest.

At least now Roger's is finally bringing full service here, so that they'll have some competition. Can't wait for my contract to run out, so I can go elsewhere.

A few people have noted that some stores only have 2 or 3 counters open where there are 10 or more counters.

One simple solution to this, is to take away the open/closed signs.

I worked for a bank (ASB Bank) in New Zealand prior to immigrating to Canada.

They took away all the open/closed signs in all the branches and advised all staff, managers included, that the #1 priority was to serve clients/customers.

Needless to say, the bank had a 30%+ market share.

I would like to illustrate the progress some of the call centers have made in my view.

I would like to start by saying I inherently dislike talking to a machine, doing any sort of financial interaction online, and also harbour a strong dislike for most "technological advancements" as they seem more like "technological laziness enhancers" (I'm only 27).

In the past couple of months there are two occasions where I was extremely happy with the service provided over the phone.

1) Rogers - I received a call, and it went something like this: "Hello. You're a new Rogers customer, did you have any questions we can help you with?" -"No." -"Do you have any changes you would like to make?" -"No." -"Okay, thank you sir, have a nice day." -"You too."

No extra chatter, no extra sales pitches, nothing but them checking to see if I was happy. I was happy, and it made me happier when they kept it short and sweet. After all it was the abhorrent Bell and Telus call systems that pushed me to change service providers.

2) TD - I called to see about changing a service. Not only did I get to talk to an operator quickly, but he also notified me that my savings plan wasn't geared to how I was using it and would be saving more money if I switched to a different level of savings plan.

Not only did we switch it, but he was able to return credits to me for the "excess" charges I payed for a couple months in arears. It wasn't much, but a bank giving money back to its customer as well, fantastic.

I think a lot of people make good points here, about how some people just expect too much, especially from large companies.

I think the lack of good customer service in these larger companies is mainly a symptom of the large issues in our society as a whole.

People in North America are mostly out to make a quick buck, and a lot of people have this horrendeous sense of entitlement.

I used to work in CS and I would often find that my co-workers would complain about being yelled at and then go and do the exact same things themselves.

People seem to be lacking the ability to put themselves in other peoples' shoes these days. If you want really good customer service, despite not having to tip for anything ever, go to Japan. No society is perfect though! You have to pick your evils....

Immediately upon being connected with "Bionic Betty" at Telus my blood pressure hits critical levels.

My dealings with this automated system has more often than not left me more frustrated and punching any button in order to be connected with "Live" person or to be quickly and mercifully put out of my misery....

If given any other choice I would select another service provider.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite get that, did you say".....
Uggghhh

Re: Lawrence James and Anne's 'horrible attitude'
My point was missed by Mr. James entirely!
We work in a Multicultural society, with many young visitors from all over the world here in NS.

Would you, as a customer in a store say to someone's face: 'I demand to speak to someone who can speak better English? (even tho' that person only has a slight accent but is obviously from, say, India).

Probably not, as that would not only be rude but pretty ignorant given Canada's culture.

But, on the phone we are disembodied voices, and that gives rise to liberties with language from customers that they would probably not say to someone face to face.

Respect for the Customer is (almost) always there for me.(sometimes, no matter how hard we try to understand an issue, customers just want to be rude and we lose respect for them, yes, I said it).

I take pride in my work and have often been complimented on being able to calm customers down, and to resolve their problems.

Last point, also missed, was that sometimes people called up more because they were generally stressed out - apart from the cellphone bill (that was just the last straw), and as a result, I supposed could be more rude, ie yelling, incoherent, etc. Therefore, they needed some extra TLC as well.

CBC asked for our experiences on either side of the phone - I gave mine - as did many other reps and customers, in order to come to a better understanding of the issue.

Please respect other people's comments, Mr. James - character judgement of another poster is not a very nice way to behave on this site.

There's lots of customer service going on, too much in fact. Unfortunately most of it is very poor.

The efforts of companies to be efficient often has the exact opposite effect for consumers as most posts have identified.

Seems a bit silly for communications giants like bell, Telus, Rogers etc to be some of the worst communicators with their customers.

In sales environments there should be a standard that requires a salesperson to be fired immediately if they lie to a customer and there should be a penalty for companies not enforcing the standard.

Canadian companies and businesses seem to think it is a customers privelage to buy from them rather than showing their interest and respect for the customer who chose to do business with them.

Guess when you are the only show in toen like Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco in their closed cable markets, you don't really have to woory about customer service, we have no choice but to deal with them as there are no cable competitors in the same catchment areas.

Personally, I like doing business in the US where I get treated like a somebody unless I demonstrate that I shouldn't be.

Worst by a long chalk - Rogers.

So much so that I think John Tory's choosing (during the recent Ontario election campaign) to play up the fact that he'd led this widely reviled entity probably did more to damage his prospects than the religious-based school funding issue!

Rogers hasn't been helped by their decision to outsource a lot of their in-home visits/installation to smaller outfits - some of whom seem remarkably sketchy!

The intimidating looking guy who arrived to install my internet responded to my polite request to remove his (dirty) boots before walking across my newly fitted carpets with: "I don't take these off for anyone."

But worse than this is the experience of trying to speak to a real person at their Customer "Service" call-centres. Unbelievably bad and frustrating!

Although I found the customer service survey interesting, I was very surprised by the rating received by Aliant.

I believe there is a certain factor missing from your survey scoring which if taken in to account would drastically reduce Aliant's score.

For example, although you had success getting through to a customer service rep for Aliant to discuss your account issues, what if you had to call them back 3 more times and eventually had to make an appearance at their nearest office to get the account mess finally fixed? We went through this exact same process each time we added/removed a new mobility contract.

It's great to get someone to help you, but it would be even better if they could do it right the first time!

I believe the problem is that most people have become accustomed to top of the line service and chew out whoever does not meet that expectation.

Now, of course there are always bad customer service experiences, but some people expect the world.

Last August I was in an electronics store in the West Edmonton Mall when a man became so irrate with a young salesgirl when she could not get him his TV delivered within three days that he yelled at her until she cried.

This young lady's career is not some sales job in the mall for the rest of her life, in fact it was a students job. The customer expected so much from this girl and he surely mad an ass of himself.

We all possess the power to reinforce good service. But it means spending an extra few dollars on our expenditures and dealing locally and with smaller service/product suppliers.

Don't wanna be treated like a can o' beans - then stop going to the same old beanery.

Small and medium sized enterprises want your business and most often will back it up with great service - but kvetching about bad service and then cueing up for the same old big box experience makes no sense.

The problem with CRA's call sites is that they are the new sweat shop. I work their and believe me the phones ring all day I'm surrounded by agents talking about taxes and benefits and the people they talk to aren't happy.

Day in Day out its the same old thing stats are all that matters giving the right answer only happens half the time and only if they client asks the right question but no one cares as long as we abide by the national scheduler everythings cool.

If you work for CRA and your job becomes obsolete this is where you end up. Morale here is Brutal...The belief is is that we're the only game in town and it is what it is. Everyday I listen to people whine "you people" and I tell them the same thing.

Tell it to your locale MP, because I really could'nt care less what you think. If I had any empathy this job would drive you nuts...you end up coming across as someone callous but it is what it is....

Telus has been one big nightmare for me, As of yesterday, Nov 22,2007 I was still having problems. I moved in order to get service in my house I had to pay $560, for that amount I should have had service next day but no they had to wait until he had more calls from that area. This started in August.

I got internet from someplace else and I told them. They are still calling about when they are going to hook me up. Every agent that came on had to be reinformed, you have to give your security stuff. Well enough said Telus needs to take care of their coustomers better, they've quit caring about their consumers.

Oh - I forgot to mention....
You have to recognize the good along with the bad, so here's my contribution.

Yesterday I called Alliant (formerly NB Tel) to make some changes to my service package at my NB residence. The menu was easy to understand, didn't have excessive options, and the options that were there were appropriate.

After only a couple of touch tones I was speaking to a real person. She was pleasant, professional, polite and knowledgable. She answered all of my questions directly, explained my options clearly and made my requested changes immediately.

That service was so good I almost wanted to call back just to thank her. Amazing how just a little bit of good service stands out so clearly.

Bell Canada and Bell Sympatico rate 25/100 on my scale of Customer Service this year! We purchased an HP PC in August. I have spent a total of six hours during eight phone calls trying to find out exactly what I owe, and to get my new internet account on Bell's "One Bill" (we were already a One Bill customer for the phone).

Not only have I not succeeded in getting the information I need to pay my bill, I've been getting threating letters from Sympatico telling me that they are going to send my account out for collection if I don't pay up. This despite the fact that they received a cheque last month to stave off the creditors.

And to infuriate me just a little bit more, I've noticed that the price and quality of the HP deal changes on a regular basis. Most recently I asked Bell to reduce my monthly payments to match this week's offer (which is $10 less per month for 3 years), they told me that it's no different than buying a computer at a store - this week HP gave them a good deal so that's that.

Sounds to me like they are ripping off existing customers. I can't wait to finish paying off this PC so I can terminate all of my services with them.

Walmart wins the booby prize for consistently having too few checkouts open. With 15 or 20 checkout stations, they'll only have 3 or 4 open, each with a long line. (Sometimes Zellers is just as bad, but not as consistently.)

I refuse to play their game: if they want my hard-earned money they'd better be quick about it. If checkout lines are longer than I like, I abandon my cart and walk out, even if it contains frozen or refrigerated goods.

Overly long checkout lines are an abuse of customers' good natures and I for one won't put up with such abuse.

We have had difficulties with incorrect billing from the gas company. Try to talk to someone in authority or anyone who even knows how to fix it.

After waiting on the phone for as much as 30-40 minutes, we can never get a straight answer and keep getting passed on to someone else who also has no answers.

It seems there is no accountability with monopolies and my husband wishes we could switch to wind power.

Anyone have Rogers pay as you go? Try getting away from "Melanie" and talking to a CSR? GOOD LUCK!

0 doesn't work, there is no voice or command prompts, when you say "help" it disconnects you. Last time I called wait time was over 50 minutes and problem not resolved.

The phone rang one day, it was a BMO Mastercard representative. He asked to speak to one of my young adult daughters. I asked to take a message and explained I do not give out cell phone numbers without permission.

The rep began to explain why he was calling but I asked him not to as it is none of my business.

He got angry and said, in part, "I am warning you!" in an angry voice.

"What?? Why are you warning me? I have the same address as that person but I have my own accounts." I gave him my name, age and BMO M/C & chequing account numbers (ya, I do have 'em memorized, go figure!).

Now any idiot could have realized I speak in the voice of a 54-year-old woman ... while the account belonged to someone 1/2 my age ... and I told him so.

He continued to "warn me" without considering the info I'd supplied and then hung up.

I called back immediately ... told the rep who answered of the problem & asked to speak to a supervisor. I was transferred. The fellow listened while I asked for an official apology. His response was so cold and non-committal, I nearly got frostbite on my ear.

I've never heard anything back. The young adult resolved their part of the problem, thank goodness.

I've had a Bank of Montreal account since I turned 5 years old. If I could switch banks without ruining my credit rating, gawd knows I would!

Thanks for the opportunity to b-l-a-s-t off!!
Rose Raphael

I think the problem is that there is no money to be made in customer service...or so most companies think.

Government agencies (CRA, Services Canada, etc.) are once again facing cutbacks and the first thing that is cut is what doesn't generate revenue. They started with the walk-in client services department.

Now you have to 'make an appointment'! While there are still some around, they have generally been scaled back, told to direct the public to phones or kiosks and in some cases, the offices have been closed all together.

Now, while there's nothing we can do about government agencies (all decisions are made in Ottawa), there is something we can do about retailers. The beauty of competition is that there's always someone else willing to take your business.

Customer service has certainly changed since I was younger. Telus is so bad I took up a free virus program despite fact I can't cancel telus because I signed up for another year.

After talking to a lot of different agents at telus and waiting for hours in the end my telus virus/spyware agents cost me $200.00 to repair puter after wasting about five hours talking and waiting for agents.

And one telus agent told me 'let me talk', that no virus program is perfect and one hung up then had to start the process over again.

And the phone person drives me to a state of unbelieveable rage.

I see Rogers is no better.Thanks for doing the survey.

Although I can understand people's frustration with customer service - or lack thereof - I feel that there are those people out there who think that everyone is at their beck and call and take advantage of others.

I have had my own share of irate customers and in my own experience, I know that I can become unhelpful in the face of belligerence.

I have had people swear at me, throw things at me, insult my heritage and claim that I am prejudice against them for whatever reason.

On the other hand, I have gone out of my way to help those who show even the slightest courtesy; it is then that my response of "you're welcome" is genuine.

People need to be calmer and those providing customer service need to be more attentive. This is a good middle ground and would certainly create a better environment for getting the problem solved.

MY FAVORITE TOPIC!
Having been Management in the corporate Customer Service world for over 25 years a decline in customer service over the years is due to many changes.

Technology plays a huge part, by replacing humans to answer the phone. Did you know that the unfortunate people who do eventually answer the phone, are monitored every second on "their" performance.

Standards such as:
Talk time
Average Speed of Answer
Log in time
Log out time etc etc
Individual performance reports are incorporated into hourly/daily/weekly.quarterly and annual reports.

The solution is that companies need to stop thinking of Customer Service as an operating "expense". They need to view service as a "marketing tool", and ensure that they are staffed properly and with knowledgable well trained, well paid staff. They need to realize that customers like me will walk away from their business for unprofessional service.

It's not just the telephone service that is lacking in this country! The retail industry is very poor also. Take Walmart for example. What happened to "only 3 people in line, and we'll open another check out"? That didn't last long did it?

I have to say that my preference is ZELLERS because they are making an effort to improve service and the stores have been transformed to be more clean and modern.
In closing, I feel we the public are partially to blame. We are too tolorent and don't like to complain.

To be honest, I will praise 100% for good (rare)service by writing letters to the executives of a company. I complain less now about poor service because it happens so often and it's rare I get any sort of satisfaction. So, "they" just lose my business!
Maybe CBC should do an ongoing survey and post results. Maybe have an annual award to the best companies in a few different catagories!

We bought an LCD Projector from Future Shop earlier this year and were assured by the sales person that replacement bulbs were avalable when we needed them.

This month we thought it prudent to get a spare bulb for our kit in-case the bulb gave up during a presentation.

We phoned over to the Future Shop and were told that the bulbs were very expensive and took up to five weeks to get the part - and added to that we were told that it was store policy that we had to leave the projector with the store's maintenace Department while the bulb was ordered - five weekes without our projector which we use in our consultant practice! An interesting way to discourage customers from coming back to their store.

Upon more investigations we found that the bulb was avalable in the USA for $370 + USD - but that there were restrictions on shipping to Canada - so we looked into several Canadian suppliers and were told that the cost of the bulb with middlmen fees would now climb to almost $600.00 CDN EACH!

Why does Future Shop Sell merchendise in Canada that cannot be serviced in Canada for a resonable price?

That's some customer service - what a deal we got buying from Future Shop!

rob

Katiedee.
There are far too many posts here for me to read them all, but I think you might be missing the point.

I do not envy you your job - not in the least. I have no doubt that dealing with the public, and especially as a csr, is a very stressful and thankless job. But my opinion here is not that you as a csr are doing a poor job, but that the companies who use your services are.

If customer service, quality products, and commitment to stand behind the services or products offered were actually important to these companies the wouldn't be relying so heavily on inadequate automated and remotely staffed call centers. They would be getting it right in the first place, and if they didn't, they'd be tripping over themselves to fix it.

Instead what we see is companies charging inflated prices for inferior products and services and then hiding away from the customers by throwing up layers of automated voices and touch tone puzzles to be negotiated before the customer can even have a shot at expressing their displeasure.

Under the circumstances, I don't find it that surprising that customers are pi#*ed off by the time they actually get to talk to someone.

Sears has the best customer service? Had I been asked I would have rated them in worst 5. I had to change my address with them upwards of 10 times (and they even managed to change my father's address instead of mine once).

I have received extended warranty offers by phone from them for other people (there are only 3 people with my last name in their system in the country, my father and I are 2 of those).

They screwed up our wedding registry massively, and anytime you talked to someone the answer was always a shrug of the shoulders and a simple "It is all the computer's fault".

Last night I ordered the Senators Pay-Per-View game at home. The feed was interupted and for a while there was a blue screen of death with a "PLEASE STAND BY" message.

When the feed came back it was the Pittsburgh feed with a message saying the pay-per-view feed was having technical difficulties. The same thing happened last year during the New Jersey pay-per-view game.

I called Rogers this morning around 10:30 a.m. and let them know this wasn't the service I paid for and I would like a minimum 1/3 off the price because I paid to watch this game without commercials, and with the Senators bias.

The person on the phone (after a near infinite hold session) tried to tell me that I hit the SAP button on my TV. My TV doesn't have an SAP button and I doubt it would create an apology to appear on my screen.

The representative then tried to convince me that it wasn't their fault because I was the first person to complain. So if anyone has called before I did - we couldn't get through last night - please let me know.

I did get my bill credited but only because I managed to keep my cool while I was being blamed for the loss of signal. I simply treat calling customer service lines like an improvisational exercise where I cannot use the word "yes" or anything that can be recorded as an affirmation, in case their recording for quality assurance is accidentally edited.

Air Canada heads our list of totally NON customer support services. In fact, their Customer Support service, supposedly based in Calgary, does not even have a phone number! In trying to reach them, you are advised to send either a facsimile or an email. My reaction was: they must get so many calls, that they gave up having a phone number.

One of the best Customer Support systems is VIA Rail. You can reach an operator very quickly and they are most helpful. They seem to have been given the OK to do whatever it takes to make a traveller happy without having to "discuss with my supervisor" routine.

I agree that Bell Canada - all areas: mobility, ExpressVu and residential service -has no idea what it's left hand is doing. All these sections live [I don't believe they "work"] in their own ivory towers and never talk to each other. It's all vertical integration with Bell.

Those businesses which have real people answering phone calls from real customers will continue to get our business.
Thank you.

Another horrible company to deal with is Petro-Canada. I was filling up my tank, and saw their ad for their "credit card" and by using it you save 4 cents a litre or something, with no annual charge. So I figure why not. Fill out they form and mail it in. I get a letter back a week later, to verify my information. Since I don't have a landline there is a few more steps.

I am expected to send them a photocopy of my Drivers Licence, my Hydro bill, a copy of my mastercard, proof of employment.

As I had just paid my Hydro bill and shredded it, and only get them every two months, I decided this card was not worth my time.

A month down the line, I get a call.
They are wondering if I am still interested.
I tell them I decided not to, because all the requirements weren't really worth the effort.

How I didn't even have a copy of my hydro bill, and didn't want to have to fax so much information in for a gas card.
I am told not to worry, I have been approved, and all that other stuff isn't needed.

She just needs to confirm the other information on my application. So I fall for it, she goes through each line of the form I filled out, takes about 20 minutes.

I am then told its all set up. I am then told I need to be transferred to her supervisor for final verification. Once transferred I am told by the supervisor, that I will need to fax in my hydro bill to verify my address, and a letter from my employer to verify my income...FOR A GAS CARD. I finally gave up.

I do get called and mailed weekly from them still.

If I were to write out all of my complaints towards Bell and their "customer service" it would take at least 3 pages.

They made a few errors when I asked to disconnect their services because I was moving last year. Mistakes happen, I just wanted them resolved I didn't think it would be an issue. It took about 6 months to resolve the problems not only that, I can't beleive how I was treated by some of their customer serivice representatives, I was actually disconnected by a custmer service representative because I said I wanted to complain.

I have vowed never to use their services again. They should be ashamed, really ashamed, at how they treat their customers. The thing is that I have never had a complaint about the phone or internet service they provide, it is their poor customer service that has driven me to their competition.

This story couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for me. I have just spent hours cancelling and trying to re-book a flight on Expedia.ca.

To cancel my trip I called several times and was on hold for times ranging from 30 to 60 minutes before getting tired and hanging up. Eventually after a 40 minute wait early one morning I got through.

To rebook a new trip, I decided to hang on as long as it took. It took over 2.5 hours to get someone. Expedia.COM is fine, this problem seems to be limited to Expedia.CA. I will NEVER use them again.

I've had good experiences with Toshiba Canada and Air Canada.

Customer Service is a thing of the past, especially with phone and cable companies.

I agree with many of the postings about the horrible service that Rogers provides. I have had nothing but terrible service from them, both with cable and their video outlest (they have a monopoly on that too in my area).

They do not care about customer service because they know very well that you cannot switch to another cable company, thanks to their monopoly.

I waited and wasted many Saturdays in a row for them to show up and provide digital cable. The mistakes on the order were on their side as a result of being transferred to one rep after another who would then claim the previous rep had made the mistake.

Mr. Rogers cried to the CRTC to get into the phone game claiming Bell had an unfair business advantage by its monopoly but Mr Rogers makes sure there are no players who can get into the cable game.

One glaring ommission on the list of poor service is the Government of Canada!! Especially if you ever have to deal with Canada Revenue Agency. No, they aren't a private company but they are eqaully as incompetent and arrogant in the way they treat their clients.

It's amazing how hard it is to communicate with a communications company. IVR hell is aptly named.

My recent experience was that even after I reached a real person (over 1 hour wait), the first thing they said was "I'm going to transfer you to another department, OK?" I said "Not OK", because that's their way of putting you back into another wait queue. We never did resolve the minor issue. I gave up the phone. They lost a long-standing customer.

I understand bad and poor customer service. I just recieved some from Rogers no ten minutes ago.

I had a complaint about a magazine I had just ordered online and the pricing was wrong. I was told call back we can't help you. Thank you very much. What this person did not know is I am also a customer Service Rep. and I know how this works, and he could have helped me if he had wanted and stopped talking to the person beside him. I could hear the conversation and it wasn"t about me and my problem.

I know how hard it is to be in a call center, I know we get dumped on daily. But I also pride myself in giving the best service to everyone I speak to. I treat them the way I wan to be treated. I go to the ends of the earth to solve the biggest and the pettiest of troubles.

I empathize I sympathise, I listen to things not related to my job. And in the end if it takes me 7 days to get a customer a 7 dollar credit then so be it. I did it and I am proud. I got him back his 7 bucks. Or if he wants his darn penny back then why not its his penny. no different than if it were mine.

If they yell I can take it, I have kids.. they have done worse to me after a rotten day at school. I understand. everybody blows, What they don't know is while they are yelling I am not listening. I am just waiting. I am patient, it will end and when I speak quietly they will have no choice but to listen or they cant hear me..

I love what I do. eveybody needs help. so yell at me if you have to, when you re done you will tell me what I need to know to help you. The best part is I go home laugh at your foolishness and know I did a good job today because I did a good thing and helped someone.

Ok let me start off by saying that I work in a call centre and I can honestly say that before I started where I am today I would get soooo frustrated with csr's and waiting on hold.

I now have a new resepect for the agents answering the calls, this is not an easy job like some of you may think. The stress is huge, I even turn no phone off when I get home for the thought of talking on the phone again aggervates me (I have the choice at home to answer or not).

People I understand the frustration of waiting but if you would just get to the point of your call and let people help you, instead of Bi*ching for 20 min about the wait time, music and how sucky customer service is maybe we would be able to resolve your issue. Have a great day :)

when you're dealing with large companies it is almost certain that you will get the run-around to find an answer, have a technician repair something, that's if you actually speak with someone.

Most of todays companies are all automated. Working retail in a small business allows me to interact with customers, not only in the store but on the phone.

Try a small business in your area for any type of service and see how quick or how resourceful they can be.

I think the comment from Anne from N.S says it all. Here is someone who should not be in the customer service industry. What a horrible attitude!

Complaining about lack of respect of others? Where is your respect for the customer? Shame on you. The problem is not the big companies, it's us.

Reading through all the complaints about telco companies, it strikes me that we can and should lay the blame directly at the feet of the government.

After all it is the CRTC that regulates these companies, and allows them to maintain virtual monopolies on service. (For example, I live in Hamilton, and the city is divided into 5 major zones, and a different cable company services each zone. Don't like your cable company? Too bad, you have no alternative competitor to switch to.)

So, if we really want to stir the pot, get the CRTC to open up the cell phone, land line, and cable companies to the free market. Let the American companies come in and show these apathetic Canadian dinosaurs exactly why they need to give good customer service.

I worked in the Customer Service industry for over ten years ranging from small boutiques to larger corporations. There is one thing that stays the same between all sizes of business. Customers.

Anybody who has worked in retail/CSR can tell you, for every three good transactions (where both parties are satisfied) there is one jack-ass customer who thinks that he or she is entitled to be rude, inconsiderate and outright abusive as they see fit (I could tell you some stories).

It is this sense of entitlement by the customer that makes our jobs a living hell sometimes. So yes, many managers are instructing their staff to take a stand. Do not take abusive crap from customers, no business needs the money that bad.

So next time you're in a bad mood and about to take it out on the person behind the till... think twice. That could just as easily be your kid, niece or whatever standing there, and if you are pleasant and patient, you will be rewarded.

Presidents Choice appeared last on your list. However I have only once waited a long period to connect with them, at which point I drove to the nearest store (in my case not far) and the problem was corrected, and I did some shopping.

As for Bell, never any problem I have express vue and internet. They have patiently walked me through my problems and I have been able to correct any faults.. This was some time ago, maybe things have changed. I find being polite and thanking people who help me is not on.y the right thing to do but pays off.

I think that anyone who's dealt with Rogers would agree that their customer service is the
WORST by far.

Every time I've called I get
transferred to at least 3 different people all
because of a simple mistake(on their part) that
should have been taken care of over a year ago.
I'm looking forward to the day that I never have
to give another penny to Rogers...EVER.

Why is there no customer service? The answer is quiet simple. They don't have to give any.

When your internet or e-mail does not work or your telephone service is down do you get a refund? If your cable service goes out for any length of time do you pay less at the end of the month?

Does waiting in line at your local grocer's only open cashier reduce the price of groceries? Do we pay less for gas today than we did when all service stations were full serv?

Do we pay less for stamps now that most mail is delivered to a central mail box? They do it because they can get away with it without any reprecusions from our politicians and more importantly from us.

Stop whinning here and do something like demand refunds, leave a full shopping cart at the cashier, use only full serv gas stations etc...

I have to rave about Canada Post's customer service here in Nova Scotia.

My mailbox is in an odd location and if my regular mail carrier is off I don't receive my mail. I wrote to Canada Post about this problem and within a day I was contacted by CP and steps were put into place to resolve the problem.

The representative I spoke to even gave me his direct phone number to contact him if I have problems in the future! This level of service is so rare these days that it left me flabbergasted.

I would like to compliment Star Choice for their excellent customer service. If you cannot reach anyone at first they give you the option of leaving your telephone number with them and they promise that you will not lose your place in line.

They also tell you just how long you will wait, and the wait is never longer than ten minutes before they call back with a real pleasant and courteous person.

It was not always this way. A few years ago it was impossible to even get their phone to ring but I am happy to say that things changed dramatically for the better.
Star Choice should be at the head of the list of excellence in customer service.

I appreciate that Air Canada is relatively low on the list but your survey should have tried to book a spot for a pet on Air Canada Cargo Live. (I suspect they would have finished last.)

I spent more time than I will admit in public trying to book a flight for our pet and finally got so frustrated I phoned the president's office. (FYI that does work). If Air Canada doesn't want to fly pets then why don't they just say it and not make the customer jump through the seven firey hoops of hell?

Oh, did I forget to mention, unless you have the size of the kennel you are sending the animal in you get to start the process all over again - 'cause unless you have that magic size you are in trouble.

Needless to say "Fluffy" will not be flying with our dear friends at Air Canada anytime soon.

I am famous among my friends for my hatred of Bell. too many stories...

Lately however I have my hate on for Enbridge. An ex-land lord had my name placed on a bill against my will. When I called up Enbridge to complain (I was one of 6 six roomates) I was told I had no choice in the matter. okay, weird but fine.

Fast forward 8 months. I'm living in a new house and get a massive gas bill for nearly $1000.00. I call them up to explain I had moved 4 MONTHS prior and they've been charging me for those months. I'm told it is a landlord/tenant dispute and Enbridge doesn't get involved. BS.

Then I find out most of the charges are from a third party company calld Direct Energy, who is billing me a contract cancellation fee (well over $400). Contract? What contract?

Call them up to see what the problem is and they have no record of me, only my old landlord. They promise to look into it. I get a call back saying 'no problem, everything is okay'. GREAT! only, the dude lied to me.

The bill goes to collection in my name for an amount I don't owe. literally about 15 hours on the phone trying to fix the problem, get told by Direct Energy (on a phone message, left on a different number than I specifically inststructed them to call) that they don't get involved in landloard/tenant disputes. WTF??!! I

speak to a supervisor yet again and ask them to provide my signature on a contract and say that if this goes on any longer I'm suing for obstruction to my peace of mind or some BS like that. 5 minutes later, all eroneous charges recalled.

CSRs are just lazy. that is all there is to it.

For those Manitobans out there... I know someone who works at MTS and it is routine there to punish callers who come across as rude.

My friend says that if a caller is nice, they'll be offered promotions (3 months free internet...) but if the caller demands something then they'll just say they are sorry but there's nothing they can do. I think attitude also comes from being unionized.

Presidents Choice appeared last on your list. However I have only once waited a long period to connect with them, at which point I drove to the nearest store (in my case not far) and the problem was corrected, and I did some shopping

I also am truly amazed that Sears came out on top. Is it just that they suck, but suck just a bit less than everyone else?

My experience is that they are really bad, talking to reps that don't understand the products and so you get different answers from two different people, or just plain bad answers.

The worst part was when I finally was transferred to someone who did know something, who told me that since my warranty had expired during the weeks I had been trying to get some help, they would not help me.

If I wanted, they would send me a complaint form, but upon further questioning, it turned out that the person I had been talking to would be the person who would decide whether my complaint had merit!!!! All in all, a fine Kafkaesque mix of incompetence and dishonesty.

After 15 years with Rogers Cable they ticked me off by overcharging me $10 dollars!

I spent two months being passed around multiple CSR's trying to get the issue resolved without success.

Mad as hell I just paid the bill and cancelled my cable. I was determined to never go back and focused on researching my options.

I have been enjoying "grey market" satellite T.V. since 2004 – LOL!

I have a furnace maintenance contract with Sears and when I phone them in Montreal, they tell me that they know nothing about furnaces and last time I called, they told me that the repair person "should be" getting back to me in 2 days.

I worked in a large Halifax call centre which prides itself on Diversity, so we worked along side kids from India, Asia, Jordan, Africa - you name it - most being students at local universities trying to pay their outlandish student bills while in this country.

One caller I remember, got really MAD as she thought she had reached India. The rep was sitting right next to us. So the customer then demanded 'let me speak to your supervisor', ie someone 'who can at least speak English'. Her supervisor, also was from India, but 2 rows away, so was promptly transferred to her, and we all had a good laugh (at the customer's expense, of course)

Thankfully these young visitors to our province have learned to be patient with customer's ignorance, and rise above rudeness about their accents while trying to make a better life here.

Also the number of times you as a customer call in about any issue costs the company money - in rep time, etc, - so if you call in enough times, and only spend say, 20.00 a month on service, sooner or later there will be no profit in having you as a customer. Want to cancel? OK.

Also, how much is your time worth. I have had customers complain about being on hold for 'x' mins, then complain I do not see their number even tho' they punched it in (-I'm not blind - the system is not working -) then dispute $1.00-2.00 on a bill.

I often had a sneaking suspicion that people had a rotten day at work, then an awful drive home, and first thing they did when they got home was to call and yell at a disembodied voice in customer care to get frustrations out - not so much to do with our company at all - needed a bit of TLC!

Also, often call centre training is extremely technical, with steep learning curve, so young grade 12 and post secondary kids tend to learn it faster, where-as true 'customer service' takes a pile of maturity, and patience which tends to develop later in life. So there in lies a dilema in the industry.

Judging by the number of posters with bad experiences in customer service,it would seem that it is about time we started fighting back!

We are the ones spending the bucks, and these outfits are toast without us!

So how the hell did they manage to turn it around so that WE are kissing THEIR butts??
I declare war on bad service and bad help/info lines...now they will have to earn my business or else!!!
No more pressing buttons!

When I call,I want a real person or I will hang up!
If we all did that, they would change things quickly!
Why do we put up with this crap??

I was very glad to see you had included National Student Loan Centre on this list. They are by far top of my list of "worst customer service" (although I have never dealt with Rogers, Bell, or many of the other companies mentioned above).

I have rarely had any issues resolved with just one call to NLSC, the menu's seem to change each time I call, and the customer service rep. rarely is all that helpful, and have received calls from them in which the CSR has been quite rude.

I also have to say I hate when companies tell you to go and check on their website for information. I live in rural NB, the only internet access I have is dial-up, and I would rather stick forks in my eyes covered in hot sauce than waste time (tying up my phone line) searching for information tucked away in the links of a companies web page (that takes about 7 mins to load because it's built for everyone with high bandwidth).

I found it quite extraordinairy that Sears came out on top. I bought and renewed an extended warranty and maintainance agreement on a very pricey lawn mower.

When I took it in for a regular yearly servicing I was told it no longer covered that. I phoned the store manager, the service centre, the service centre manager (who refused to talk to me) This took days to get accomplished.

I was lucky in that I kept the agreement that was sent to me, it said anytime they couldn't live up to the agreement, they would refund 100% of the purchase price.

I tried to reach The Personal insurance company, concerning a policy that I'd had when I lived in Quebec. The Quebec portion of their website listed a toll-free contact number, so I dutifully called it and waited.

When I eventually got a person, they asked for my policy number and I read it from my cheque stub - they said it wasn't a valid number. After 10 minutes of this back & forth, they asked if my policy had been in Quebec. I said, well, yes it was. They said their systems don't recognize Quebec policy numbers, and I have to call a different number.

Now my question to them is (and I'm still waiting for an answer), why would they list, on their Quebec website, a contact number for people who can't access Quebec-based policies?

It's not a serious problem, but yet another illustration of how companies just don't get the basics sometimes.

Perhaps what management needs is to put their own spouses through their own telephone system routine as kind of a test run to see if it actually works, and listen to their tales of frustration afterwards - perhaps then they'll be more motivated to fix the problem, and design customer-friendly telephone service.

I don't have one company in particular to moan about but I do have a question for all of the large companies with call centres and automated customer service.

What is the point of making me key in my phone number when the very first thing I'm asked by an actual human being after waiting an hour on hold is "what is your phone number please?"

Three cheers for StarChoice Satellite service. We live in an area where you cannot get cable television so we opted for satellite. After many, many frustrating hours with ExpressVu, I called Starchoice. What a difference!

As for on-going customer service, I am pleasantly surprised every time I call. Normally, I get an ACTUAL person right away. If the queue is going to be long - the system offers a 'callback' service.

If I do opt for that, the callback is often sooner than what StarChoice estimates.

Now, if I could find a way to get rid of Bell Canada - I would! I cannot stand Emily and everytime I have an issue with my telephone, I dread dealing with Bell repair service.

Ah Customer "service"! Ever wonder why there isn't truth in advertising: "due to high call volumes you may experience longer wait times" should actually be, "due to management not wanting to pay more for additional customer service workers, we're making you wait"?

Best service ever for customer help: Dell!
Worst service ever: Dell (after they moved most of their help lines to India)

There is no substitute for "you get what you pay for". Good service costs the service provider a little more and shows a commitment to the client. Poor service disrespects the customer... and ultimately the "service" provider themselves!

In terms of customer service, the worst experiences I've had have been with telephone companies (i. e. Rogers and Bell).

I find it amusing/disturbing that 'communication' giants are the worst at 'communicating' with their own customers.

Call centres for alot of companies are horrible. I had some dealings (address change/interest billed when it shouldn't have) with the Brick and as you could imagine, the run around I received from multiple call agents was unbelievable.

Everytime you asked to speak to a supervisor, you are told you cannot. The best thing one can do is go to their respective websites and contact the regional manager(s). Once I did this, my problem with them was resolved. But after that experience, I will NEVER deal with them again.

Lets give it a shot of truth. GOOD customer service costs MONEY. No corporation,be it,Telus,Rogers,Shaw,whoever,wants to have GOOD customer service because,in the end it costs them major dollars to fix screw ups and keep customers happy.

This is all part of becoming a huge corporation. The bigger the customer base,the more complaints they willhave.
Poor service exists not only at the phone level,but,also,at consumer contact level in the stores.

Especially the big box stores. I have found that Rona and Home Depo,also Walmart,have a very poor customer relationship.

Trying to find product in these huge stores can be like the old needle in the haystack. There is no ryhme or reason to the methods employed in lay out. This is the beginning of customer frustration.

Most customers expect to find what they need/want quickly. When confronted with huge line-ups at service desks that have 4 or 5 stations with only one open and serving customers is the second big turnoff. The third big turn off is being told that the product displayed will take two to three weeks to arrive as it is not in stock is the third big turn off.

By then,most coustomers have had it. All this along with an attitude from the service employee culltivate one bad experience for shopping.
You would think that corporations would use some of thier massive rake in to ensure that service and policy are met and the customer has had a good experience and will return simply because of that.

No,not so. Strange that in this consumer driven country,the consumer is last for service.

In response to Chantelle Rose:
“…It would be great if for once when I press 1 for English I could get a native English speaking person. After all English is our nations 1st language. …The bottom line is companies need to hire unilingual employees... “

Actually English AND French is the official languages of Canada. (And if you know a little bit of history you’ll see that French was the 1st language…as you put it). Your request to have companies hired only “unilingual” is ridiculous.

I work for the government, in a call centre, and I answer the phone in both official languages. Being bilingual is definitely an asset. At lease we are all located in Canada and can understand the clients request.

SO it does not have anything to do with being unilingual and speaking the NATIVE English. (That is quite close-minded on your part). When I call RBC and speak to a rep in french, and it is quite obviously that french is their second language, I don’t mind that the agent has an accent..and does not speak NATIVE french, as long as he/she can provide efficient customer service and resolve whatever issues I have, all is well.

I worked as a Customer Service Rep for a cellular company. I have too many awards for great service to count - I guess it depends on your work ethic how you treat customers, also I myself expect the highest level of service and when I don't get it, let the company know and then go elsewhere!

Oh yes, the cell company I worked for was American - they hire Canadian operators because we are far more polite than our US counterparts!

Quinn: DHL is the interlining carrier for UPS. That means that when UPS picks up a full load, it's taken to DHL's dock for sorting and local delivery. It's standard in the trucking industry.

Bell absolutely has the worst customer service, whether it be phone or internet service followed closly by Rogers. When I cancelled Sympatico and went to cable internet, they not only took $500 out of my bank account (they had pre-authorized payments at the time - NEVER again!) but then left it up to me to prove not only that I hadn't signed a two-year contract (one of their reps signed me up "by accident") but put me thru to "Investigations" to make sure that I'd returned the modem!

MTS, are by far the worest for service. unable to get a live person, when you do get a live person they are rude and place all the blame for the problem on the customer the service is scetchy maybe spent less on ads and more on customer service. Manitoba Telephone service is the worest in Canada

I invite CBC to come to our home immediately to see this travesty in action; you may bring a film crew.

We have a 40 gallon hot water tank in our basement that burst between 7 and 8 this morning. It is now 9:20 a.m. We have caller "Reliance" - what an irony is a misnomer! We have gone from some call centre voice through a "customer relations representative", to ...... They have even suggested that there might be a service call tomorrow! - Saturday.

We have just come off a horrendous episode with this company relating to our furnace. The record of another travesty is here for public viewing.

We await some semblance of service. No pulse yet!!!

I was pleased to see PC Financial at the bottom of the list - it is a position I feel is well deserved.

Their phone system is a nightmare. I had called to inform them of a change of address and that went smoothly enough... too smooth. After a month at my new address I was starting to wonder why I hadn't received at PC Mastercard statement. I wasn't initially concerned since I had paid off my balance before I moved... at least I thought I did.

Apparently I had a $30 purchase that wasn't included on the last statement I had received and even though I informed them of my new address (and even confirmed my new address with them) I wasn't receiving any new statements.

When I called (and actually managed to talk to a person) they informed me that I had switched to online billing rather than paper billing - which surprised the heck out of me, considering I hadn't even received any e-bills from them either. At this point I had missed about 2 statements, was in bad standing and had interest charges.

Since I had only got the card to use at Superstore (so I could collect those damn PC points - which are a rip off) and since I no longer lived near a Superstore, I just paid the balance (including the interest charges that they wouldn't remove) I just cancelled the card. The CSR at PC (who was actually Canadian suprisingly) was also very rude.

By contrast BMO Mosaik Mastercard's service was excellent. Their phone system was easy to navigate and the CSR I talked to was very friendly (also Canadian), very helpful and they did what I wanted them to do and did it right the first time. I hope that call was taped because she did a superb job and I even told her so, and she deserved to be recognised for making a customer service experience pleasant for once.

I had an experience with Bell Canada that was eventually resolved by switching to VOIP and vowing to never return.

The experience led to a 4 page (as yet unanswered) letter to the President of Bell Canada detailing the no less than 10 phone calls to the “service” line, 6 visits from technicians (all of which occurred spontaneously, with no relation to my scheduled appointments), 4 missed appointments, and 6 weeks of interrupted service.

My letter also sought advice as to how one might negotiate the maze of customer service representatives – each of whom was less able to assist a customer than the last.

Without repeating the entire saga, the overall experience and level of professionalism exhibited by the service representatives can best be described by the fact that my neighbour stumbled upon a technician urinating in our yard.

Having dealt with the nightmare that is customer service for Bell Canada in Ontario and Telus in B.C., I dreaded having to call Sasktel when we moved to Saskatchewan two weeks ago.

I was more than pleasantly surprised. The Sasltel automated attendant was simple and easy to navigate. Once I made my selections, my calls were promptly answered and the customer service representatives were respectful, professional and extremely helpful.

Most companies use a disingenuous phrase like "your business is important to us," on their recorded message, then put you on hold for extended periods of time, make you feel like you are imposing on them and treat you like an idiot when they eventually do get around to answering.

For the first time dealing with a telecom company, I felt like my business was truly important to Sasktel. Congratulations.

How's this for wonderful customer service. In 2001 I placed an order online for a coat from Avoca in Ireland. I could not enter my address as they only took US Zip Codes so I put the details in "Special Instructions" and hoped for the best.

The next day I got a call from the VP of Avoca in Ireland who not only apoligzed to me for the problem but assured me that the webmasters were in the process of fixing the order page so residents of countries other than in Europe or the US could place their orders.

He also assued me that the my order had been placed & was being sent out immediately to make up for the problem online & again apologized & thanked me for the input. Now that's going above & beyond the call of duty.

Air Miles has been my worst experience. Would be on hold for one hour then the line would cut off.

Did this three times (so 3 hours) to retrieve my Roots gift certificate which then never arrived because there was theft occurring in the printing department.

So then I had an another 1 hr wait to order it again. Horrific. 4 hours for $100. This journey convinced me that headsets were a primary tool that will always be a staple in my home.

It took CIBC 7.5 years to change my address on my investment statements when we moved to Sudbury.

After having missed a few renewal dates, I have now moved the bulk of my investments.

I was so glad to see PC Financial MasterCard at the bottom of your list.

A couple of years ago, I had a problem dealing with them. I started phoning in mid August and got now satisfaction.

Then they started phoning me, but it was always a machine, and I could not get a real person to speak to me. Finally, the following March, I wrote to the Presidents of PC Mastercard, PC Financial Services and of Loblaw Companies.

Suddenly, I was contacted by a "real" person! However, she wasn't able to help me, in the end saying that I was wasting her time. (She called me, and was actually wasting MY time!)

Eventually, I was in contact with a "Supervisor" who solved my problem, but it took nearly eight months.
Needless to say, I no longer use the PC Mastercard.
Thanks for the research. It should have been done a long time ago.

Telus is a black and white company. (I pay over $3000 a year for various Telus services, so I am very well acquainted with them.)

Their internet support service is excellent. You usually get a human to talk to within 2 minutes of calling for help.

Their cell service is the worst I've ever received from any company, without exception. My usual wait for Telus service when I called from my cell phone was over 30 minutes.

Obviously, when you're on the cell phone for this long many of your calls are dropped...ironic to say the least. I finally called to tell them that I was changing cell service providers and they had 48 hours to deal with my problem. I got a return call about this 3 months later (I kid you not).

My cell account is currently with Bell, and their customer service has been excellent.

I think it all depends on where you shop. In the past I have had a better expreriance at small, local stores opposed to big box ones like Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire.

What it comes down to is knowlage, the level of how much a person knows will reflect the general outcome of customer service.

Customer service is alive and well-- if you shop upscale or in the U.S..

My Primus internet service was out of order for 6 weeks this summer.

Primus initially told me that the problem was probably with the lines in my own homes.

When I persisted, Primus eventually arranged for a a technician to come to my home to check the lines, who gave the "all clear".

Weeks after that, the lines between my home and "central office" were checked, and finally the electronics at central office were checked, after which my service magically returned.

Too bad Primus didn't seem to understand that: a technical support rep called me after my service was restored to tell me that Primus had concluded that my service was out because of a problem with the lines at my home!

On September 18, 2007 my daughters and I returned from Belgium touring the World War One battlefields of Ypres, Somme and Vimy Ridge. On arrival in Philadedelphia we collected and rechecked our checked luggage for the Toronto connection.

On arrival in Toronto, 3 of our 4 checked luggage items were lost. We left our information with Air Canada Lost Luggage department and went home, daughters to Burlington and I to Peterborough.

For 3 weeks I attempted to get my luggage back. Within a few days our luggage was located, but instead of mine being returned to me in Peterborough, it was erroneously sent to my daughters in Hamilton - although the claim checks were completely different, addresses different and of course the owner different.

Every day for the next 15 days either I or my daughter or both of us contacted the customer service number to arrange the return of my luggage to Peterborough. Multiple promises were made, all broken.

We then insisted upon dealing with supervisor level staff, and again were told expressly that the luggage would be picked up in Hamilton and returned to Peterborough.

My daughter took the luggage to her workplace so that it would be easily accessible during business hours Monday to Friday.

No one ever showed to pick up the luggage, despite at least 6 specific commitments to do so. Eventually we just gave up, and my daughter made a four hour round trip from Burlington to Peterborough and back to deliver it to me.

Our problem was not with an interactive voice response system. We were dealing almost exclusively with live people, presumably trained and expert in the seemingly straightforward task of picking up an item at one location in Ontario and delivering it to another - a function managed routinely by UPS, Purolator and a myriad of other service providers.

In the summer of 2006 my Bell Sympatico service broke down, so that I could sometimes send and receive e-mails, but more often could not.

They would just sit and clog up the computer. After 3 months of calling Bell for assistance, talking to people in India, Ontario and even Quebec, my computer tech found out that Bell had increased the line speed in my area, but had not told my computer, nor its service people. It took 10 minutes to fix the problem.

Since then I am with Videotron, and am simply amazed at the number of mailings I receive from Bell asking me to come back. MONEY NOT WELL SPENT!

My worst service experience involved an internet company called 3Web as well as Bell Sympatico.

When high speed internet first became available in our rural area I signed up with a company called 3Web.

For 6 weeks all was well until I suddenly lost my connection. I literally spent days on hold trying to speak to someone at 3Web.

One Sunday I called first thing in the morning and heard a recorded message that I was 3rd in the queue. Ten (yes, 10) hours later I finally gave up in frustration as I was still on hold!

I ended up writing their president to finally get someone to call me. In the end it turned out that Bell had over-subscribed people to their new infrastructure and so they had simply disconnected me without bothering to tell me or 3Web.

On a sunday evening recently I called Bell Xpressview with an ongoing problem.

After getting nowhere with the original agent I asked to speak to a supervisor,10 minutes later I get super. He says a repairman will be at my residence in 2 days...friday...I say this is sunday and he agrees...I say 2 days from now is tues...he says no..2 days from sunday is fri.

He then responds that if I want to be argumentive he can no longer speak with me...I say that I'm not arguing anything but simply stating the obvious and ask if he has a calender handy and to check...he does and still claims that 2 days from sunday is friday.

I've found that most of these agents are very clever in creating situations that are preposterous and you either have to be an idiot and agree with them or discuss (there term is argue, being uncooperative) their response.

Once you start to "discuss" their their response they advise you the call is over account your abusive language and attitude and hang up, and you're left wondering what the heck just happened.

This story relates to the Bell Express-Vu satellite.
I had had the system up and running for several months, 3-4?, and then, zap, the blue screen of death. T

ried to reset and reboot from my end, and nothing. So I get on the horn and call Bell's 800 number, and, wouldn't you know it, there is a higher than normal call volume at this time, (10:30 p.m.), so the wait would be approximately 75 minutes...

OK, I decided to wait until the next day, for business hours, and called back at 11 a.m., and guess what, a higher than normal call volume put the wait at 45 minutes.

Now, having endured the wait, which, in fact, did only last about 40 minutes, the person listened to my problem, did a quick troubleshoot, and declared that there is nothing wrong with my system!

Unless my tv screen was showing an extreme closeup of Papa Smurf's belly, there was something wrong with my receiver.

I invited the person to send a techie to my house to run a diagnostic on my components, but he refused because there was 'nothing wrong'!

Coupled with the 40 minute wait was about 35 minutes of absolutely zero help and my pleading, I hung up the phone, called the number again, cancelled my subscription, and signed up at shaw cable, which to me is a little inferior in comparing products, but dealing with THEIR customer service, so far, has been fairly pleasant.

Now, I relate this story to whoever I know is thinking of buying Express-vu, and try to get them to think of something else, this way I get a small victory and some revenge.

Will it harm Bell any? Probably not, but it brings a smile to my face.

It is nice to hear that I am not the only one who has had problems with Bell.

I ordered ExpressVu and when the technician came he told me he did not have a long enough ladder to put the dish up. He "temporarily" bolted it to my roof and said he would be back to move it. He never did. He actually quit the next day.

It took over a month to get someone out to move it and they wanted to charge me $100 to do it.

Other problems I had with Sympatico, Home Phone and Cell Phone services resulted in a nasty letter that I sent to their executive offices.

It never got resolved and all they do is offer you free services to keep you as a customer. I find the best way of dealing with them is threaten to leave them and tell them what it will take to make you stay a customer.

You can pretty much ask for as much free stuff as you want and they will give it to you.

My family and I have had so much trouble will Bell! We first got it when we moved to Ottawa, and it was good for a while, but eventually it slowed right down and would stop working for over 12 hours at a time.

For over a year my Dad placed calls to Bell, asking what the problem was and how it could be fixed (as we were paying for High Speed, but certainly not getting it!).

Bell wouldn't tell us why our service was so slow, and they would promise to send out people to fix it, but they never showed up.

After being contiunally frustrated, and me just going to school in order to do work (as I could never get online during the day) we switched to Rogers for our television and internet service. MUCH better service!

I work for TELUS and I can tell you that the customer service doesn't just suck for non-employees.

The employees are given much the same ride, with the added bonus of if we complain about the poor service our managers are notified.

I applied for a BMO Mosaik Master Card over one month ago and have not heard from them yet. So I spent the entire week trying to get through on their 'customer service' line to ask them about it.

Every single time, regardless of the time of day or night, I was informed that due to the high volume of callers, I would have to wait to talk to a representative.

So I waited and waited and waited and waited - all the while listening to horrible music. After eight attempts, I give up. I'm taking my business elsewhere.

What's really sad though, is that this lowsy service is now standard. Once the banks no longer care, then you know we're really in deep trouble.

Besides, there are no more 'customers' anyway. Now we're all 'consumers'.

While in Victoria recently, I needed to look up a long distance phone number. I had forgotten the address and after being read a list the particular name at various Vancouver locations by a man who spoke in a robotic like manner in an unidentifiable accent, I asked what city he was in.

He replied, "Manilla, Philipines, Asia." I wonder why BC Tel would not consider hiring local shut in's or pensioners who might be very happy to supplement their limited income with a few hours work from their computer each day.

I suppose it would be too complicated to arrange - or too expensive! It would be great if a company such as BC Tel did something to support their local economy.

You'll be pleased (?) to learn that this is not just an issue in Canada, we have many of the same issues in the UK.

It's great waiting on the phone being told that 'we are sorry to keep you waiting and your call is important to us' and holding for ages and paying for the privilege is great.
I find writing to the chief exec of a company and demanding a personal reply normally helps!

I worked in the customer service field (including management) for many years and can tell you that the vast majority of companies see "customer satisfaction" as a question of metrics, not actual quality.

The support department is generally perceived as a "black hole" in that it doesn't directly generate income and spends a lot on resources (ie., staff).

It can actually generate income indirectly -- happier customers and word-of-mouth advertising can increase sales and customer retention rates -- but most internal support departments are under constant pressure to justify their existence.

This means their productivity has to be measured in ways that can be condensed into easily-digestible bullet points for upper management: "15% increase in call volume from last quarter" or "90% of all calls processed 20% faster than August 2007" and so on.

It doesn't matter whether the customer's problem was fully resolved during the call -- even callback rates (a customer calling multiple times for the same incident or issue) are often fudged because the first call's details may not have been recorded thoroughly in the incident database, so the next time the customer calls for the same problem, it's treated as a "first contact" to make the statistics look better. There are all sorts of tricks.

Sadly, none of this has anything to do with actually helping customers or providing quality service. It's a trend that has gone steadily downwards over the last 20 years.

Business is all about making money in the short term, not keeping customers happy over the long haul.

The companies that use those hugely convoluted "touch one for...., touch two for...." just can't seem to grasp the harm that using these systems does to their customer relations.

I have refused to deal with such systems for quite a few years now, choosing instead to write or email or, if possible, visit personally to solve any problems I have with them.

Each time I do so, I tell them forcefully that I refuse to deal with them by telephone, and why. If enough people were to do this, it might change their stupid systems.

As far as I am concerned, the call centres that they hire to put a wall between thema and their customers are a form of cheating their customers....they should be charged with dealing in bad faith.

I see that you have included the Canada Revenue Agency, but no other government service.

Why not include Service Canada or any of the major municipalities (Access Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Gatineau, Windsor, Peel Region, etc.

Many of these governments have made great strides to improve their customer service, including (yes!) real people answering your call.

If you're looking for excellence in customer service, you might (gasp!) check out your local government.

Government services are by far the worst for poor treatment of consumers.

The medical services plan of Brisih Columbia had put me on hold for 5 hours! I turned it into an office joke and had the speaker phone on all day. Everyone was astonished.

1: You are better off using the company's website to complete your transaction.

2: If you do call customer service, when a CSR answers your call with their 'greeting' - if you don't like the tone, if you don't understand their name - HANG UP and call back.

3: If you're satisfied with the CSR's greeting, the first thing that you say to the CSR is "hi, who am I speaking with ? or I'm sorry, what's name ?" This gets the CSR nervous. Now that the CSR knows that you know his/her name, you should receive better customer service.

4: Within the first 2 to 3 minutes of the call, if the CSR does not 'sound' like they know what they are doing, or you're worried that they will make things worse - stop the interaction and advise the CSR that you need to go and will call back later. This is the lesser of the hassle of dealing with an incompetent CSR who may make things worse.

5: If the CSR can not or will not help you or if this is your X time calling - DEMAND to speak to a MANAGER. When the manager comes on, have him/her state their official title. You do not want a team lead or another CSR stating that they are a manager.

6: Know your options. Are you ready to quit this company and go to the competition ? Know the prices of this company's competitors. Know the names of this company's President and Vice Presidents.

Use this knowledge when speaking with the 'manager' and DEMAND what you want resolved ASAP. You must sound reasonable and fair. If they don't budge, be prepared to either bring it the director or president level or be prepared to jump to the competitor.

Tip - before leaving this company - call the competitor and see what they are willing to give you for your business!

7: Never call a call centre at night, or on weekends, or on holidays - UNLESS, you want to get something that you should not. The least experienced CSRs usually work the worst shifts - unless your call is answered off shore.

My expectations have always been met or exceeded. I always expect to be given the run-around.

We moved our phone service from Telus in August. They owe us money. They've sent us THREE bills for monthly service, even after repeated calls to them. We have not received our refund yet, and we are now well over 90 days.

Here's the question: would I still have a phone if I didn't pay them for 90 days? I thought not. But when the shoe is on the other foot.....

How does this relate to your story? Well, I'd ask YOU to call them and ask for my money. Then again, maybe I'll call them again and TAPE the call and share it with YOU !

With out a doubt Bell Canada has the worst customer service. I was once over charged by $400.00 on my calling card, when I tried to correct the error I found everybody either too incompetent or too lazy to help.

Also, when we were moving they disconnected or home phone line one month early and tried to charge us to reconnect it.

In this day and age customer service is really important and these guys just don't seem to get it...they are truly in a league of their own.

I am also victimized by Bell Canada. There must be some reasons why this company treating their customers with such incompetence. Whatever the reason is I can't even imagine.

But if they messed up their service again, just tell them you're not continuing their service anymore. And they will fix the problem right away. But if they don't, go search for another company.

As a customer service rep myself, I honestly believe that some of the problems stem from the companies themselves.

They continue to strive to have higher standards and higher volume. However, at a certain point you can only go so high. You can only squeeze a lemon so much!

We have to deal with nice people, and crazy people alike. Whether we had a great call, or a call that lasted 45 minutes with somebody screaming at us, we're expected to be pleasant with every single call.

It's not an easy job, so I hope that we'll be less harshly viewed.

I work for one of the organizations at the top this list, and even I can empathize with those who are fed up with bad customer service over the phone as well.

es, even we as employees have bad service experiences in our own day-to-day lives, and it helps us to remember what we don't want to be like.

That being said, I think it's also important to remember that the person you typically talk to on the phone is one of hundreds (if not thousands) of entry-level, front-line employees spread over thousands of kilometers, beholden to a multitude of systems and processes completely outside of their control.

If they could solve every problem and issue themselves, they most certainly would, as it would save them a lot of grief. Nobody, even the lowest-level phone jockey, tries hard to deliver bad service.

That just happens to be the result sometimes. Also, from a client perspective, taking things personally or getting over-emotional is not the best way to approach problems.

That isn't an excuse for bad service, it's just a reminder that venting venom at that individual person won't accomplish much.

At the end of the day, if you feel like you aren't getting the service you deserve, the best thing you can do is take your business to a company that offers a superior level of service.

Over time, companies with poorer levels of service come to realize that customers are assigning a higher and higher value to quality service, and they begin to make the neccesary steps to improve it.

I have been trying to reach the flights department at Expedia.ca for hours.

I spent approx. 6 hours on hold on Nov. 21, staying up to midnight and then again getting up at 4am to call them with no results.

No one will pick up the phone to answer my question. I can reach Expedia but I apparently need to talk to someone in the flights department for an answer to my question.

I tried to email them but they won't answer my particular question with email. They call themselves customer service representatives - HAH!!

How on earth did Aeroplan make it onto the list with up to 45 minute wait times??

Chuck from Halifax
I've never heard any call centre employees saying any of the thing you allege they do.

From my perspective I'd say the workers are being quite frank and honest in their posts here.

They know they're the link between you the customer and whatever device or service you're paying for.

I would imagine most of them also realize they wouldn't be doing those jobs if computers could. It's that simple.

Industry sees it the same. Unfortunately, the industry also treats them like computer bytes and expects them to follow tight guidelines and work as quickly (and in rote mode), as possible so the next caller is served asap.

And whatever you do, don't do anything more than your job, which carries absolutely no decision making powers whatsoever.

So yes, most of them want to move the trouble shooting or whatever along in hope it'll stop the ranting and then send you on your way.

Most, while they are polite about it, tell you straight up the norm in the industry is to treat people as they are treated.

I've never done that sort of work as my personality definitely doesn't do whiners very well.

But I do know if I did, I'd certainly be among the ones who might drive you nuts for a little while so that I could say I had actually accomplished something over my shift.

Cheap thrills maybe, but it helps compensate a bit for the crap you have to put up with.

By the way, they get paid peanuts and quite a few have ened up fried, burned out, and badly stress.

I must say I'm a little put off by the Anti India rhetoric and slamming of Indian CSRs with tones that stretch beyond the fact they are not Canadian.

Can you imagine the stories they could tell?

It would be great if for once when I press 1 for English I could get a native English speaking person. After all English is our nations 1st language.

When we are talking about my money the person on the line better understand what am calling about.

If I call customer service and speak to someone that is not native english more then once then the next call is to terminate the relationship as the company clearly dose not understand my needs.

The bottom line is companies need to hire unilingual employees.

I couldn't agree more with this rating, judging by the relative position of Shaw and MTS Allstream and a few other companies I have had dealings with.

I must confess, the gap between Shaw and MTS Allstream in terms of customer service is much wider than it appears on this list - some good companies out there must be missing in between!

With Shaw, I can put all my eggs in one basket, with MTS, I will put none - I'll rather hold them all in my hands.

I hope these big companies at the bottom of the list treat this with all the seriousness it deserves, because sooner or later, they will discover this is a key factor to remaining in business.

Kudos to the guys doing the great job. Wake up call for the folks down there.

My experience with Expedia is similar to Robert Hill's (above). Someone changed my booking without asking (Expedia claims its the airline, the airline claims its Expedia. I would tend to believe the airline, they were responsive and helpful).

I spent upwards of 20 hours trying to reach Expedia.ca (I reached Expedia.com in 1 hour but they couldn't help). I also sent 5 unanswered emails to Expedia.ca (they claim a 24 hour turnaround. It's been over a month).

I finally reached them after a 7 hour stint on the phone on a Sunday evening. They wanted to charge me 1200$ to change a flight that was actually worth 30 euros (50$).

The worst part is that the airline would have changed my flight back for 150$ if I had booked directly through them.

I will never book through Expedia again, or their Canadian franchisee Tour East Holidays (Canada) Inc. They have absolutely no regard for customers.

I think I deserve a little credit for getting the ball rolling on this project of yours, as I wrote that op/ed piece in the Globe and Mail's Facts and Arguments section several weeks ago, a humourous account of one person's attempt to get through to someone, anyone, at the fictional (but only thinly disguised) CALUS, which one can pronounce like the fabled phone company or like the adjective one is tempted to use to describe all these computerized call answering services.

The article, if anyone is interested, was published 2/10/2007, entitled "Please Hang Up Now."

ok...so I've been reading these comments more completely...and something baffles me.

We've got a bunch of call center employees on here basically raking us (the customer) over the coals because we're treating them badly on the phone boohoo.

What strikes me as being really odd though, is that before they get into that particular rant, they tell us that they're told to basically play whatever games possible to get us off the phone whether our problems are resolved or not.

Has it occured to any of these little darlings that people have clued into that, know when they're being lied to, and simply loose it after being driven to near insanity by call centers a plenty, not neccessarily JUST by the one they're currently talking to?

Having said that...if these CSRs know they're playing games with people...knew they'd be playing games with people during training and in reading posts like these for which there are many...and probably know that most people know they know...how in the devil could they POSSIBLY come on here and have the odacity complain that customers (who have been driven absolutely insane by all these game playing CSRs whether they're told to play the games or not) are being rude to them on the phone and therefor are at fault for not getting decent customer service, which is not going to be provided to them in the first place?

You can only push people so far...and I'm here to tell you that I don't give a Rats RIP that the CSRs feel victimized by the customer. I know this is old..but I have to say it..if you can't stand the heat, don't bother walking into the kitchen in the first place. You KNOW what this game is all about.

Bell Canada: I phoned two weeks ago before I moved to have internet service set-up, it never came.

I must have made 20 calls to their customer service line "Emily" on average having to wait 10 minutes to speak to someone who never resolved anything, or told me to wait 3 days until they can contact the higher level service department, etc. There was not one person from the 20 or so I spoke to who was a bit helpful.

Bell Canada ExpressVU: same story here, satellite TV never came, everytime I call them, and tell them "multidwelling residence" they connect me to the business service, who then connect me to the correct service department. Average wait was 20 minutes. After one month, there was only one person who really cared, and apologized and wanted to give me a month free service (which was not existant for the whole time), which I declined.

Bell Cellphone service: a bit better here, but average wait is 10 minutes, and you have to go through the "emily" automated machine.

Bottom line: as a result of one month disaster with Bell (one month with no tv, no phone, no internet service) Bell Canada has lost a life-long customer - I WILL NEVER BUY ANY SERVICES FROM BELL, and being a physician, they have a lost a lot of business.

I've had numerous problems with Telus.

The service was promised but not delivered.

Example.

We purchased a new home in a newly created development in Calgary north.

So with the move in date 2 months away I ordered new service. Internet and telephone from Telus. The activate date was set as the move in date.

The move in date comes and Telus is a no show. Telus Home service said they would come sometime that week. And the Internet dept said the new local central office had not been upgraded for high speed, perhaps another month or so.

My 1st bill arrived from Telus for the home phone service. The bill sported long distance calls made from the line a month before the line was connected.

Being a new phone service (not transferred) I knew this was an error. Calling customer service was eventful. The CSR said I had indeed made the calls.

I said I can prove I had not. She was dismissive and indicated I must have forgotten. I said I would not have forgotten making long distance phone calls from a phone line not yet installed.

She reviewed and realized it was indeed a billing error. I likely would not have noticed these long distance charges had I actually had a active phone line.

Wonder how often that happens.

A month later I received a bill from Telus for high speed internet. I had ordered the small business level, which was 200/m. The bill arrived. I had been invoiced for 3 months. Even though I still did not have DSL, and DSL was still not in our area.

Endless calls would result in a promise to reverse the charges but in fact those charges were never reversed.

Internet would say I had to talk to accounts, and accounts would say that internet would have to make a request. Nice loop.

A month or so later Telus disconnected my home phone for non-payment of the internet account. LOL.

I paid my phone bill, and enough with you Telus. We switched to Sprint and Shaw.

How opportune. I just got off the telephone with my third intervention with Emily at Bell this week alone, on problems with my voice mail feature.

Each time I've reported the problem, I get a very polite someone will call me back in 48 hours - yet they can never seem to call me back at the callback number I leave.

The second time I reported the problem, they told me nothing was wrong. A simple call to my number to try to leave a message would have suggested otherwise.

By the time I spoke to them the third time, I had lost complete patience and asked for a supervisor, who then decided to blame my cordless phone (which I've had for 4 years) for the problem.

Finally fed up, I said I wanted the service off the phone and my account credited. Well, of course customer service can't do that. That's the business centre. And you gotta call them during "bidnez" hours.

It's off to the store to get a good old fashioned answering machine!

I, as with everyone on this discussion board, have had multiple bad experiences with customer service in different companies (Air Canada, Telus, Rogers... the usual suspects).

I'm usually too lazy to complain to the companies, but I often tell my friends. Recently, I've been using zoykes (on facebook) to rate companies.

And, if I have a good experience, I can make positive ratings too.

I was surprised to see Revenue Canada ranked 34th. I have had only timely, professional and courteous service during the nearly one dozen calls I placed at various times of the days when I inquired between March and November 2007.

Having recorded Muzak play during your brief time spent in queue isn't their style as a government agency, nor is it mine.

The mission statement to provide a response within a few minutes always worked and I was quite impressed with the knowledge, intelligence and empathy shown by the call centre personnel. Perhaps your survey should focus on satisfaction of end result desired....

My worst experiences have been with Rogers cable. Even when I don't deal with them directly, they always seem to cause me grief.

My new neighbor decided to go with Rogers for internet and phone service, so Rogers hooked up the house next door by stringing cable across my backyard, over my fence, and throughout the neighborhood.

I could see the wire going through at least 4 backyards.

When my husband got home from work and saw the wire strung across the fence, he thought kids were stealing cable so he cut the wire and removed it from our yard.

The next week Rogers sent someone to fix it and this time we caught the guy climbing over our fence. We told him not to come into our yard, or we would call the police.

So he climbed over a different fence and left a trail of cable across that yard.

The new neighbor has apologized about the mess of cable going in and out of backyards, and has asked Rogers to put in a proper underground line.

That was 3 months ago. I called Rogers to complain, and was told that there was nothing the company would do about the problem.

I also called the Better Business Bureau and was told that Rogers is already on their unsatisfactory list.

After reading the posts, I just had to say, I have my huge share of all manner of customer service calls. Once when talking to an automated service of Hydro One, I go so frustrated I shouted, "I wish I could speak to a bloody human!"

Then I hear "Just one moment while we connect your call to a service representative."

Apparently the system recognized the word "HUMAN"

Unfortunaley, even the humans respond more like robots, that is robots that can't hear properly.

I strongly disagree with many of the commments about the mobile phone companies, particularly TELUS Mobility. Their customer service is 2nd to none.

You DO NOT wait 15 minutes to speak to a rep, except on rare occasions if there is an outage or something to that effect.

Have had nothing but great experiences with TELUS Mobility and with TELUS wireline. The reps alway are polite, and bend over backwards to assist. And with the automated voice repsonse service, many customers successfully navigate through there everyday without any issues.

And by the way, the CBC survey with TELUS is incorrect. It says TELUS Mobility on the survey heading and those were TELUS wireline calls.

You do not need a technician to come to your home to change a mobile phone number. Come one surveyers, please get your information straight.

What really bothers me is that companies have access to IVR, CRM and knowledge management software that can figure out who you are, track your serial numbers and help diagnose your problem. Why don't they use it ?

What can I say? This article hit the nail on the head: telecommunication companies have no clue how to handle proper customer service over the telephone.

When I mean "proper", I mean complete follow-through regarding whatever issue the customer has on the phone and proper telephone etiquette demonstrated by the operators.

Rarely are my problems solved on the first call and I'm often accosted by sales tactics by the operators, trying to up sell me to the latest upgrade of this, that and the other thing. Selling becomes the objective, rather than fixing my issues.

Having worked in a call centre environment myself, I think the companies themselves are somewhat to blame. High metrics and productivity levels placed on employees make it impossible at times to meet or exceed customer satisfaction.

When it comes to the bottom line, the customer is ultimately not first.

If I am calling with a complaint, I ALWAYS ask for a supervisor first - sometimes the rep tries to tell me that there is no supervisor on site - when I tell them that my mother managed a telemarketing crew and my sister used to work as a phone rep so I KNOW that there is always a supervisor on site, they usually give me some sort of b.s. story to avoid transferring my call - what I usually say to them usually gets their attention and gets me what I want.

What I say to them is 'Look, I know you are just doing your job, but you do not get paid enough money in a year to justify listening to me, so please transfer me to your supervisor'

99% of the time it works....I am rarely rude, almost never get angry and I usually walk away satisfied after speaking with a supervisor.

Rogers is particularly bad - I've been stuck in their 9th Vortex of Hell loop more than once. Telus is just as bad.

I've had good service rep experience, even if their service wasn't up to snuff.

But for the record, I think refusing to speak with a rep because they are from India,or Asia etc. amounts to racism - nowhere does it state that you have a constitutional right to be 'serviced' by a Canadian - only that you have a right to service in either official language. And calling the passport office 'just to see' is really, really annoying and puts a nice anglophone wrench in the gears, making others wait - it's childish.

My cellular provider is Rogers Wireless, and I just have to say that no words can describe the depth of my loathing for their interactive voice response system. It's not a push button system: one has to tell the computer what one wants. Unfortunately, the computer's daft.

On the bright side, they've changed the system so that now I end up shouting, "person," at the computer for only five minutes or so, instead of the fifteen it used to take.

Long story short, when my contract expires, I'm switching providers because of this.

SEARS???? You have to be kidding?

We bought a stacking washer and dryer set Aug 06. A couple months later we noticed that the washer would not spinning properly on delicate and perm. press.

They twice came back and replaced the mother board in the washer, and said the dryer is not drying properly because the washer is not spinning right.

For a third time they came Oct 07 and now say it's the temperature control for the washer and that the dryer is working fine but we are venting it wrong.

Our set are in a large closet on our main floor and the dryer is vented through the ceiling out the roof. The Sears service man told me as he was getting into his van the dryer was not vented right because I was using 20' of vent hose, up to the ceiling through the second floor and then out the roof.

I asked him to have a look at my house and surprise, I live in a bungaloo. The dryer vent hose is max 8-10' long total. After not hearing from Sears over a week later I called, they told me they can change the temp control but don't know if that will fix it, will not do anything to the dryer even though it has taken 2 hours to dry a load since we bought it.

I said I would like to send them back and get new ones even if I have to pay more $$$. The woman told me that even if they were to do this I would only get a portion of my money back because (ready for this) we have used them for a year and a half.

I told her I would like to talk to the head of customer complaints and she said he does not take phone calls from customers and that I would have to go to the website to get the address and send him a letter???????

If they are the best we have in Canada, it's no wonder all those US companies are coming up here and kicking butt. Oh!!! please bring back Eatons.

A couple of weeks ago I had a rude awakening to the fact that "real" customer service is indeed a thing of the distant past.

I had purchased a new HD receiver for my Starchoice sat system, and when I tried to call in to customer service to get it activated I was told that the wait time to speak with a CSA was "two HOURS and six minutes".

Granted this was on a weekend during the day... but still, this was completely rediculous. I have been a loyal customer for almost 10 years, and certainly expected better service than this.

When I finally got to speak to a human being, I was pretty miffed, and when I made the mistake of even politely voicing my displeasure, I was immediately "transferred" to another CSA... and endured another 45 min. wait listening to their awful hold music.

If my wife had not begged me to wait, I would have packed up the new receiver and sent it back to Starchoice, demanding my money back.

I think it is clear by the overwhelming responses and posts here, that consumers who are disguntled with outrageously poor customer service are rapidly reaching critical mass... you insiders and CSAs who are saying that "threats to cancel our subscriptions etc." means nothing to you.... we'll see about that!!

How about this one? Ever called them up, after entering your account number and pin, then you wait, someone finally comes on and asks you for your account number and pin and a series of security questions, then transfers you to another agent where you go through the whole routine again, and again with every person you talk to. These folks are in the technology business. Can’t they tell I’ve been transferred?

I have to be honest, the worst customer service I have ever experienced was not on the phone, it was in person at a grocery store check out.

The cashier did not even greet me when she started my transaction, she grunted at me when I indicated that I wanted to use my environmentally-friendly cloth bags, threw my groceries into the bags without any care, and she positively glared at me when I thanked her and told her to have a good day...

Now, I have spent a couple years in the past working as a grocery cashier, so I do know what is expected of employees for an 8 hour shift of standing behind the register.

You have to smile and be helpful, responsive and intelligent. And it CAN be done - I know this from personal experience.

It isn't particularly difficult to say hello to someone or ask them if they found what they were looking for. And truly, sometimes it makes a world of difference to that customer if it just seems like you care.

I've seen the change in some people's demeanors between the beginning of a transaction and the end, just with the simple act of providing good service.

But the most dangerous anti competitive trend emerging now is that telecommunication companies appear to be colluding for exclusive rights to apartment buildings and condominiums as a strategy to prevent you from switching service providers.

Then you can expect an increase in fees and leave you with no recourse at all.

If these companies have enough smarts to figure out your estimated wait time, you would think they would have enough info to figure out how many more employees they need.

I know it's really frustrating to call for help and feel that you're getting none; been there, done that.

But it's not fun being on the other end of the phone either, and a lot of people seem to forget this; I know, because I've been that person trying to help you.

Front line agents, the first people to take your calls, have NO authority to make any decisions for you (re credits, extensions, exceptions, etc.) and much of the time even our supervisors don't have the authority.

And as long as you've been waiting on the phone for someone to answer, the agents have probably been in a queue, talking to one angry/frustrated person after another for several hours; we don't even have time to get a drink of water and get flak for leaving our phone to go use the washroom.

And have you ever tried to fix someone's computer over the phone when you have no idea what they are looking at?

I know that some companies do a much better job than others at answering/dealing with calls in a timely and polite fashion, but please, the next time you get frustrated, remember that that frontline agent IS trying to help you, but maybe your situation is unique or just beyond their control and they have no choice but to put you on hold or transfer you to another agent.

I know it's frustrating, but it's a crap system and it's not the agents' fault.

Sarah P.
Bathurst, NB

I guess it is hard to avoid the huge companies with their single minded corporate agenda (like Telus, Bell, Rogers, et al), but I really need to stress that using small businesses for the most part is keeping my life stress free.

I have made some large appliances purchases and have bought from smaller appliance stores in my neighbourhood. The price was approximately $40 more than the "Big Box" stores, but the service was great.

I get my medicine from a smaller pharmacy. Again, not Walmart prices, but my pharmacist knows me by face and name.

I shop at smaller stores for groceries. Again, I pay a bit more, but it is nice dealing with the same people month after month, year after year. They know me and I know them.

If possible, support small businesses. It is sometimes worth the extra few dollars here and there to be treated with respect and not like a "drop in the ocean" as one respondent so aptly described.

Who knows, if everyone started supporting small businesses, maybe, eventually, the large corporations would find their "oceans" drying up and would have to improve their customer service practices.

I agree with Andrew...you could call a call center 10 times, get 5 good experiences and 5 bad ones...it depends on which call center (sometimes which of MANY for that company) intercepts the call...what level of training the employee on the other end of the phone has...how much they're being paid, what kind of mood they're in.

Generally speaking, some companies are worse than others (who could argue with the idea that Air Canada, or Air Mess as I call it, has bad customer service in general). It depends on the policy..but ultimately you're always going to find at least one call center employee out of a dozen who are willing to go against company policy and help you.

For me it's quite simple...I refuse to deal with call centers. There's only one I absolutely MUST deal with and it's the power company. If a company can't provide me with an outlet to walk into to have my problems dealt with, I don't deal with that company. There's no sense in letting a call center (the scurge of the world) put you in a position where you're so angry you endup driving your fist through a wall...not that I'd know..hehe.

I received a call from Telus soliciting me to return my home phone service to Telus. We agreed on a price and set a date for installation.

My wife stayed home waiting for the Telus installer to arrive. We called Telus at noon, and we advised the installer would arrive between 2 and 4PM.

At 4:30 I called Telus and was told the installer would arrive shortly because they finish work at 5:00.

At 5:30PM I called a third time, was advised that no record of my appointment existed, that I was mistaken about the date, that I hadn't called twice earlier and basically, I was an idiot for asking my wife to stay home.

I wasn't allowed to speak with a supervisor, the fellow refused to put through an urgent request for installation and eventually hung up on me when I asked if he was playing a joke.

I called Telus Customer Retention where I received a series of platitudes - but never so much as an apology.

We've been happily serviced by Shaw ever since. Even better, I get to reiterate this story on a regular basis plus, I'm involved in the purchasing of telecommunication products at work. Guess who is NEVER considered?

I think we have the worse service in Alberta at our Canadian Tire Store - I was looking for staples for a utility stapler that i bought in the store and was told there were 12 in the computer by a child that looked like they were 12 years old.

When I asked where in the store they were they shrugged she shrugged her shoulders.

They of course were not beside the staplers - after waiting for two months I stood at the counter till the accepted the stapler as a return then I went to our Home Hardware were a very helpful employee provided customer service I bought a new stapler and a box of staples and I might add they were 20% cheaper.

In the past five months I have spend 6.5 hours on 8 different occasions to get my Sympatico bill adjusted. I was overcharged for High Speed and don't even have high speed.

Today, after another 45 minutes, and another promise, I was told that my account (Bell One Bill) would be credited in December by $583.

I was given Confirmation numbers, promises of refunds, re-calls, etc. etc. I talked to people in India, Ottawa and Toronto with zero results or follow-up. Lots of promises.
During one call to the service center the line went dead at exactly 5 PM.

Bell needs to give authority to its service center reps to make decisions. And ... don't make promises when they are NOT followed up.

Also with Bell's one bill, the various parts have no authority over the total bill.

The worst part is: "Let me put you on hold".
Why is my question.

Definitely the worst service I had the misfortune to endure.

I have been in the customer service industry for years, both in person and over the phone.

Please realize that, in most cases, the person you are speaking with does not have the authority to do whatever you ask of them. If you are unhappy with the agents answers, generally the agent is just as unhappy to have to tell you they cannot help you. It is not because the agent is incapable that they cannot help you, it is because the agent is not allowed to do enough to help you.

That being said, the criteria that call centres use to hire staff is ridiculously low. There are a lot of stupid people in call centres. If the person you are speaking with doesn't seem to know what they are doing or doesn't seem to care, ask to speak to someone else.

Also, EVERYONE in customer service, be they good agents or not, takes great relish in being as unhelpful as possible to rude unreasonable clients. I'd suggest remaining polite.

The three worst are Telus, Bell and Rogers.

It always takes more than 15 minutes wait time for a call to customer service to be answered. Then the CSR is usually abrupt or even rude. And if you want to discontinue service as I did with Rogers , you end up in a blazing argument.

I would like to see the wireless spectrum opened up to the US wireless companies.

I have to disagree with some of the results. Telus has some of the best customer service I have ever experienced especially compared to our local cell service providers.

Sears Canada and Air Canada have provided some othe worst I've experienced. In fact Air Canada is the absolute worst customer service provider I have ever experienced.

I think your results are purely subjective and could mislead and misguide people into making choices in whom the bring their respective business to.

At the beginning of the school semester I had to set up internet. I decided to subscribe through Telus.

I was told that my internet would be set up on a certain date; that date came and went. The day after it was supposed to be set up I called Telus to ask what was going on.

After being on hold for roughly 2 hours I finally got through to someone who told me that there was never a date scheduled for me to get internet, but not to worry cause they would set me up to get my internet in exactly one week from that date.

I told them that I wasn't going to subscribe through them then, but this person was unable to cancel my service, they would have to transfer me to someone else.

After being on hold for another hour my Telus cellphone dropped the call. So I decided to go to the Telus store at the mall in order to cancel my service.

At the Telus store I had to wait in a line up for 30 minutes, when I got to the front of the line the girl rudely informed me that they can't do anything about my internet service from the store and she gave me another number to call.

I called this number, was on hold for 20 minutes then I cancelled my service and went with Shaw. Shaw has been great and I've never looked back, except to insult Telus.

By far the worst customer service I have ever encountered is Bell.

Trying to resolve any issue with their bloated bureaucracy is consistently the most frustrating experience I ever have to put up with.

My worst experiences are FIDO and Telus. They keep you on hold forever, is so hard to get a live agent, they always put you extra charges so they make you call them to dispute.

Real nightmare, FIDO never discloses their HIDDEN FEE.

Future Shop is another pain in the ass with customer service, they never help you with your issues (same as FIDO)

TD, Royal Bank, very good. (maybe because they make so much money from us)

Well I think I'll make a comment from the other side of the fence.

1) Most call centers focus not on the level of customer service, but on how many calls a day I can take and how fast I can get you off the line. For most call centers, if I were to stay on the line with the customer, and work to fix their issues to their fullest; Chances are I would be reprimanded or fired. The focus of most call centers is not customer satisfaction, its queue clearing.

2) The customer is never right. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to accept this. In my humble opinion, the customer has not been right since the 1960's or so. Threatening to terminate your account etc is not that good a scare tactic.

First of all, if they company is big enough to have a call center, they won’t really miss your account. Most services also have cancellation fees or restocking fees, so if you leave, they will get their money from you in some way.

Threatening legal action is a good way to end the call. The agents in call centers are told that if the word "legal" comes up, they are to tell you to contact the companies legal department and disconnect the call.

3) Yelling at me won't get you anywhere. I know you're frustrated, but tearing my head off will normally get you hung up on. It's not my job to be your verbal punching bag.

If you are so mad your spitting fire. Don't call, wait until you calm down, I'm just as human as you are. Also, if you are abusive to too many agents, you will find your account flagged and telephone support revoked. This is becoming more prevalent.

At the end of the day, call center employees are doing the same kind of thing the rest of Canadian workers are. Trying to get through the day with a job, so we can go home to our families.

These places treat employees like machines, high turnover and burnout are common. Most people don't work in one because they want to, but because they have to.

As a CSR I take hundreds of calls a day.

Every day I deal with rude customers; 75% of our callers are looking for either info we don't know, then proceed to get mad when we don't know it; OR simply call to yell and complain other numbers are busy or the IVR wastes their time.

First off I'd like to say you're wasting your own time by calling other numbers to complain about problems they have nothing to do with & can't fix, secondly, once you have an agent you're only making the wait longer for others by holding up the line, it's hypocritical really.

I'm empathetic, I listen to the client and try to assist them in any way to get you the correct number that can help them, because, believe it or not, I understand that your situation is probably a frustrating one, & in it myself, would be equally frustrated(keep in mind, you can be frustrated without being angry & condescending to the only person trying to help you fix it)

Unfortunately I'm usually the only one doing any sort of understanding.

The fact is, to expect things of the employees that they are not in a position to provide is unfair. I do EVERYTHING in my power, but unfortunately there's only so much I can do.

Getting MAD(as was pleasantly pointed out) actually DOESN'T get you anywhere! Seeing as the only thing between you & getting what you want is that agent, why would you treat him like ****?

In the end, I'm not going to go home & cry cuz you freaked out on me; I'll probably tell you to have a good day and hang up, you can call back, & wait all over again; & when you tell that agent that you were hung up on, they'll know its probably cuz you were rude.

I have hundreds of people in queue who actually WANT my help & are waiting for you to finish acting like a child.

In conclusion you want to be treated with respect, treat us with respect, we’re human too, & just as much as you’d like to not have to deal with this situation, I’d like to do what
I can to help you & move on.. cant we all just get along?

LLBean.

Yes, they're American, but they have outstanding customer service, the kind that most other companies should strive to be like.

While the initial call is answered by a recording, the anonymous man's voice is "normal" (not fake-cheery like "Melanie" and "Emily") and announces that "there will be silence while you wait".

My daughter tore the fabric of 1 knee on her snowpants, which were purchased 2 years ago. I phoned LLBean to ask about getting a patch of some sort to fix the hole.

The CSR said that there wasn't a patch available, but that I could try a fabric store for a suitable product. She then added that "if, however, you feel that this shouldn't have happened" I had the option of claiming their 100% satisfaction guarantee, and get a new pair of snowpants, for free (the new ones are pre-paid but they refund 100% plus my cost of shipping back to them when they receive the damaged ones).

When I asked what would happen if I ordered the new snowpants and sent in the damaged ones, only to have them say it's not covered, her answer was "YOU are the on who decides that the product shouldn't have failed".

How's that for a company that will guarantee its products "100%" and actually fulfill their promise with NO hassle whatsoever.

I know this is for complaints, but this is a praise. The longest I have EVER waited on hold with West Jet has been 6 minutes.

I do not get an automated menu, or a recording - I actually get a real person. The first time I called, I was actually shocked! It was nice treat in today's "modernized" world.

Last night I called starchoice to pay and cancel my service. I got someone after 18 minutes of being on hold.

I was then transfered and waited another 48 minutes. I had to hang up, I had a meeting. I made an entire lasagne while waiting on hold!

TD Canada Trust Easyline and Information Canada get my vote as the worst.

My son used to work in a call center and the people who work there are treated very badly.

Maybe Sears etc should pay more attention on how their business is contracted out.

I don't understand everyone is bashing Indian CSRs.

I have called overseas many times and I am just a white middle-class country bumpkin, who lives in an all white region of Ontario.

Perhaps people need to spend more time actually listening to the reps and trying to understand them and not entering situations with foreign reps with such a disdain that only portrays their ignorance and poor education.

The Indian CSRs I have dealt with, actually quite a few, (I HATE YOU WINDOWS VISTA) speak English well-enough for my country brain to understand or would you like subtitles like most American television?

At the end of the day, I honestly think that the problem stems from management.

All companies strive to meet their customers needs, however, it's the misdirected ways in which they measure quality/customer service, that hinders the customer service experience.

Reducing the human level in which people interact to a one-size fits all script, is annoying, and ultimately it's not serving anyone's best interests.

When I call a company four times about the same (unsolved) issue, and every time get the "Before I let you go, I have one more question for you. I notice your not taking advantage of (insert product here), may I ask why not?" , I long for the preindustrial era.

I work for a call centre located in Kamloops, BC.

I do internet tech support for a large cable company in the United States. The majority of calls I get are frustrated customers who either had a bad experience with a call centre in India and and are absolutely excited to reach a Canadian (which I find rude).

Most other callers express there frustration of making it through the automated system before reaching a live agent.

I enjoy the work though, as the majority of callers are friendly and receptive to what I can offer them. We are required to upsell but I usually focus on solving their issue beforehand.

The majority of agents here are great, but I must say there are a few "bad apples" who give the call centre industry a bad name.

I always say "I'll do whatever I can to help you today" and I am sincere about that statement. I try to listen and put myself in the customers place and always do what I can to make their experience a positive one.

I've worked as a customer service representative for a couple years and the problem does not lie with the callers as some other CSR's suggests.

The problem is for every 1 really good CSR working for a company there are 5 of the most useless, incompetent boobs you've ever seen! Unless you're talking about Bell or Rogers (they both suck equally) then it's more like for every 1 good CSR you have 10 that are useless.

I worked at a desktop support desk and I've seen agents who for every single call will tell the user to reboot and will then hang up the call...what the hell is that!

Most often if you receive a call from a customer who is irate there is a reason...like it's the 5th call to get an issue resolved, being on hold for 30+ min or being transfered half a dozen times on one call.

Worst customer call I ever made was when I switched to Rogers home phone. It didn't work by the date it was supposed to and when I called on my cell to see what the problem was the guy told me that everything was activated and working fine to my phone.

When I tell him that everything is not working fine cause it isn't working the guy has the nerve to ask me if I plugged the phone into the wall, to which I replied "No I have the new magic phone it works using pixie dust, you dumba$$.

After a week, 4 calls and finally talking to a supervisor, they sent a tech and guess what...there was a problem with the phone box outside my building...took the tech all of 2 min to fix it.

I believe Bell Canada, or as someone put it perfectly, Bell India isn't rated the worst by CBC because they don't want to jeopardize their business relationship with them.

I mean, read all the posts of everyone who says Bell is the worst customer service; its not even close, they take the cake in a landslide.

I will never forget the day they sent me an invoice for $1.04. All I did was keep short changing them. I paid them $0.50 at first. Next month got a bill for $0.58. I paid them $0.29 next. Next month got a bill for $0.32. I paid them $0.16 and you get the idea.

So basically, Bell is so out of touch with their customer service, I made them spend probably $200 collecting that $1.04. Was nice to offset some of those $60.00 connection fees they charged everytime I moved while going to university!

Everybody should say goodby to "Emily" because she is interested in your money, but not the work that goes along with it.

Rogers is the very worst of a very, very bad lot. After months and months of intermittent internet service and intermittent call answering service I decided to cancel my Rogers service.

This was the beginning of the most frustrating series of phone calls I have ever made. They turned an otherwise mild-mannered middle-aged women into a raving lunatic. It took hours and hours of waiting for a "service representative' only to be transferred three more times to other "service representatives" before I was told that all my services had been cancelled.

A month later a bill came for internet service. When I called again (and waited and waited and was transferred over and over again) I was told that I had not cancelled my internet service (silly me) and that was why I continued to get a bill.

I paid the bill because I couldn't stand talking to them anymore. In spite of that they send me a bill every month for just over $1.00 which I do not open and write return to sender on the envelope. I originally signed up with Rogers because I couldn't stand to talk to Bell Canada's Emily.

Now I am back with Emily and I pay whatever Bell asks me to (whether they are right or wrong) because I can't face calling them. Aaaggggghhhhh!!!!!

How wonderful to have a place to vent my recent experience with Rogers and know I'm not alone!

They told me to be at home for an entire day, 8-5, so that they could install home phone, then didn't show up. I picked up the phone at night, had a voice mail message that I couldn't retrieve because the phone had, indeed, been switched over--the electronic voice was asking for my new temporary pin number, which of course I didn't have!

I looked all over the Rogers web page to try to find the customer service number: couldn't find it, so went to the Rogers wireless store where I had signed up for new cell phone/home phone plans. Stood in line for 20 minutes, then was told I didn't need to be at home all day, was given my password and sent on my way.

Yikes. I was so happy to be getting rid of Bell, but now I'm beginning to wonder how much better Rogers will be....

Bell Canada Horror Story

Spent 1 month trying to get Bell Canada to resolve a simple problem. Needed to replace a defective phone which was being rented from them. No results after multiple calls.

There is absolutely no limit to the arrogance of these call centre agents. If I hear "it's not our problem" one more time I'll explode.

The corporate mentality of the customer service policies at these Canadian telecommunications companys must change. ITs brutal. I have already sent two formal demand letters asking that they honour the rental agreement. No answer. I have filed in small claims court since this is the only way I feel I'll get any results out of them.

The CRTC is useless as well for monitoring these bloated monters since they have not helped my cause whatsoever.

I dread having to "top-up my minutes" for my Rogers mobile over the phone. Do they actually think I believe "Melanie" is an actual person answering my call?

It is so annoying that I have considered changing providers because of it. It's IVR, why not admit it instead of treating customers like idiots.

Having worked at Bell (known by employees as "hell") for just slightly more than a year before quitting the call centre life altogether (dreading going to work on Monday when it's only an hour after you left work on Friday just doesn't work so well for me),

I can tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that at least the ExpressVu portion of Bell doesn't give a damn about people, just money. Plain and simple.

Monitored calls at the time I left required 90% to pass, and sales attempts counted for 50% alone, even if the caller was irate and had no functional service.

You're all very right, Emily SUCKS. None of you could possibly complain about that thing more than Bell employees! I had to deal with it 5 or 6 times a day, 5 days a week, for a year. If I never hear that voice again, it'll be too soon.

Here's my advice:

1. First question: "What is your ID number?"
If it doesn't start with a 6, ask for someone else. They're not a Bell employee, they're outsourced. (also, write the number down for your records, in case the person doesn't leave notes on your file.)

2. make note of the time your call is answered.

3. make note of the CSR's name (last name isn't important if you have the ID number.)

BRIEFLY describe the problem you're having. If you talk more than 30 seconds, they'll stop listening. Then ask them if they are able to help.

And on a final note, it's not good form to say something to the effect of "Thank God I finally got someone who speaks English!"

Keep that to yourself. Most people working at call centres are young and happen to LIKE a lot of people who came here from other countries, even if you might not. And we get offended, conclude you're a bigot, and don't want to help you.

Be as friendly as you possibly can, and you'll be a lot more likely to get good service.

Manitoba Public Insurance takes the cake for me. I was involved in a minor fender bender and went to one of the three claim centers in Winnipeg to make the claim promptly.
Seems a logical place to make an insurance claim doesn't it.

After standing in a relatively short line I got to the counter and told the representative that I was there to make a claim. I was informed that I would have to begin the claim by calling their call center.

So just so we're clear?!?!?! I must use the phone in the "claim center" to call the "call center" to make a claim to the automated call center who makes an appointment for me to return to the claim center...confused...so was I.

These companies always want a corporate tax break, but continue to offer us the worst service possible. They are in it for money, they care for nothing else. NOTHING.

Amazing when I call a company, it takes me ages and ages to get a real person, who of course always tries to upsell me something that I dont want or need (the bank always does this, Im being offered so much credit I dont know what to do with it all). However, when they want me for some new product its instantly a person calling. Even past their service hours! Amazing.

Id say, the banks, (I have 3 different banks) and cell phone companies are the worst.
Canada is in serious need of REGULATION.

Less adverts with silly animals and locked network phones (also illegal worldwide). Less credit being pushed on me when I only want my balance. Id love to not be charged false bank fees not related to actual cost of business. (remember, banks rely on OUR money to stay afloat.)

Bell ExpressVu is the worst call centre by far. I had an issue with them 3 years ago where the technician charged me at the door and the charge also appeared on my bill.

They could not/would not reverse it (despite providing the work order number of the Bell ExpressVu technician). I charged it back on my MasterCard and since then, I have been dealing with there collections department and external collectors.

I always get the name and employee number of who I am talking with, but it doesn't seem to matter. The latest person at Bell ExpressVu has never heard of that person.

Also, I ask them to check the notes on my account. Unfortunately, there never seems to be any. I also asked to talk to the supervisor. However, I was informed that he was there, but did not wish to speak with me. I probably have spent 12 hours on the phone trying to deal with their error. After the initial 4 months of frustration, I cut ties with Bell ExpressVu and I am now extremely happy with Cogeco Cable.

Consider how valuable your time is before you call for service. If you are willing to spend 20 hours on the phone to resolve a $50 problem (or you could switch services for that amount), you are in effect telling whomever you are calling you are worth $2.50/hr - compare that to what your employer pays you.

And companies will not offer you prompt service if you keep showing them you will accept slow service. So be prepared to leave, after all customer retention agents have a lot more power to resolve your problems than customer service agents, and complain to the proper governmental agency if the company is not honouring its commitments, which is a lot more effective than being logged in some company database.

Also if you know your desired solution, ask the rep if they have the authority to make any changes - there is no point explaining your billing problem to someone who can't actually help you other than to bump you higher.

I also work in a call center, and have for several years.I work for a call center that handles U.S. customers for a very large company.Our goal is to provide the customer with "outsanding service", but most of us, are finding this hard as we go through the same type of treatment as the customer.

you have to understand that most of the agents do want to help the customer and give the cx what they want and deserve.

i could write a novel on the issues that cause more issues in call centers.

for the customer the best thing to do is if you can DONT call at 8am call later on in the day and DONT come on the phone yelling.

If you are calm but firm on what you want and need you will get it dont back down and dont yell.We have speaker buttons-there are alot of agents who find it funny to place a yelling customer on speaker.

I have found that when i call places like the phone company if i stick with this it works.I have yelled at the agent befor and they have hung up on me.

I am one of those agents who wants to help you, when i say how can i help you i mean it, even when it take 5 hours and i have to call you back 10 times, we are out there just stay calm, and have a coffee.

I have had Bell Sympatico for about 7 years now, When I first got it I had no problem getting what ever information I need from one of their reps., but in the last 2 or 3 years I am always getting some one who lives In Bombay, and they hav e little patience with me and are often difficult to understand, I resent these companies out sourcing the work to foreign countries, that should and could be easily done in Canada.

The result of the out sourcing by Bell Sympatico has annoyed me to the point that I refused to speak to these reps at some foreign Call Centre. and will continue to call back until I get some one in Canada, which after 2or 3 call will eventually get.

By the way perhaps the Company name needs to be changed to BELL INDIA in stead of bell Canada.

I'm surprised Bell home phone service didn't rank lower.

This year my phone stopped working. Phoning from my workplace during a break I was forced to deal with "Emily", the computer voice from hell, who forced me to enter all sorts of information before I was allowed to speak to a real person.

The problem of course is that person had to ask me for all the same information again, because apparently Emily doesn't like to share.

Bell also had the gall to suggest I buy some kind of interior wire insurance for $6 a month. Wow, $72 a year when I haven't had any problems with my interior wiring for the past 36 years. What a bargain! And to my (not)complete surprise, the problem was located outside at the Bell box on the street...

People need to understand the nature of corporations these days.....

a)The corporation does not really care about you, your business or your petty complaint, you are nothing more than a drop of water in the ocean for them.

b)The person answering the telephone, from the point of view of the corporation, is a necessary evil, to be used and abused at their will, and expected to perform impossible tasks and impossible goals for $9.75 an hour.

As long as the tie wearing, hundred dollar haircut, paper pusher at head office can show he stayed within budget, well, by golly everything is just hunky-dory.

c)The person answering the phone has been abused all day by morons who don't understand how much they have already been through during their 11 hour long shift, and who expect them to turn the world on its axis for them because they pay $25.95 a month for their service and have been a customer for 15 years.

Here's a clue-the low payed, traumatically abused human being answering the phone doesn't care, they are just trying to keep their job and stay within the "target" that some idiot who has never picked up a customer service call or talked to an actual customer in their life has set out for them.

Now I work for a large security monitoring firm that will remain nameless, and if our customers knew exactly what happens I guarantee fifty percent of them would cancel their service on the spot. Cutting corners and massive understaffing is the norm, as long as the desk jockeys and various vice presidents and legions of managers come in under budget everything is A-OK.

If people want real change in customer service they would demand that their issues be addressed by someone with a title that starts with Vice President, not yelling and screaming at the poor soul being payed ten dollars an hour just trying to bread on the table.

Many examples have been posted about phone companies, Internet companies, utilities, etc but here are some trends that are really driving customer service down the tubes:

1) I don't know about the rest of the country but in Manitoba, try calling The Real Canadian Superstore. You can't. The only number listed is the pharmacy.

I tried calling the pharmacy and was told that there is no customer service phone line available to the public and that I would have to come down in person. Well that didn't help considering that I was calling about a lost wallet and I was 4 hours away from the store.

2) As frustrating as 1-800 lines are, be thankful when one is available. I had technical issues with my iPod. And also with eBay. No 1-800 lines, just a "database of questions and answers" that you have to spend 3 hours searching for the exact problem that you have.

In every case, my problem is nowhere to be found. If your problem is not there, you post your problem at which point you would wait 1 day, 1 week, or forever, for someone to reply to it.

My experience with trying to get technical support from Fido (I'm not a Fido customer) would have been amusing if it hadn't been so annoying.

I dialed a number I had for a Fido customer. I got an outgoing message saying the customer was not available. The outgoing message went on to say I could leave a message. To leave a message I had to enter the full ten-digit phone number (area code plus phone number) for the person I'd called. After I did this, I got the message "invalid number."

I called Fido's support numbers to try to find out what that meant. After several miscues when I was transferred to people who could not help me, I was told the problem was probably due to the person whose number I called having a call-forward in place.

Later, I found out that in actuality the person I called had switched to Rogers. By the time I called him he had a different phone number, one that he had failed to tell me about.

- I think the "invalid number" messaage I got when I tried to leave a message should have been "nonexistant number."

- When I dialled the number initially, instead of being prompted to leave a message, I think should have been told the number did not exist, and I should have not been prompted to leave a message.

woah. garret, you're living in a fantasy world. of course as service agents we all idolize the "soup nazi" and wish we could put rude customers in thier place. having worked at a fast food joint, a grocery store, as a receptionist, and a sales rep, i've had my fair share of rude customers.

the best way to deal with it is really "kill them with kindness". the nicer you are to them, the more ridiculous they will feel for being such a horrible person.

i hate when someone gets me riled up enough to care what they think! i never lower myself to thier level. besides if you're a jerk, they won't come back. its really not worth it for customer service reps to be rude. its actually kind of pathetic.

Sears I hope you are reading these comments. After 25 years of shopping at Sears, I can categorically say that Sears used to be #1 in customer service and now has fallen badly to the bottom of the heap.

Notwithstanding your phone service which may or may not be helpful, my biggest beef is with the in-store service. Every time I stand in line in front of one of those round service pay centres where there are up to 3 cashes, one teller and no indication of where to stand to be next in line, the conversations I and my fellow shopping patrons have is always along the lines of: why are they answering the darned phones!?

We stand in line up to 20 minutes while we watch the sales people jump to the phone lines to honour THOSE customers who are calling in WAY AFTER you stood in line for service. Someone calling from the comfort of their home, gets service before you do, never mind that you were in line 10 minutes before the call ever came.

The service people will tend to their needs for up to as long as it takes, while you are standing waiting. For this reason, I stopped shopping at Sears (after 25 years) 6 months ago.

I got fed up. My guess is so have many others who mutter under their breaths while waiting in line.

After countless experiences with many types of call-centres, help desks, etc., I have only one comment: "Customer Service" is actually an oxymoron. End of story.

The worst experience I had ever had is with Ticketmaster. I was on hold for 45 minutes trying to get tickets for a Hockey game and nobody answered the phone.

If you want a nightmare, sign up with Rogers.

I asked for a Rogers home business line to be put in to complement my Bell residential line. That must have been too easy for them because they gave me someone else's number and toasted my Bell number! I could call out and the number they gave was on the receiving side's call display. Call me back and you get the owner of that "new" number and he is someone who kept his number when he switched to Cogeco!

I called about 8-9x (no joke) and had to relate the fiasco and kept on getting bounced like a basket ball that at one point, I was talking to Fido service!

The CSR's would tell me that they couldn't help until my work order was closed and this couldn't be done for over a week. FINALLY asked for a manager who said I could be fixed in a week (it had been 2 weeks with no phone at this point). I said no way Jose.

I then picked up a phone to call Bell to correct the mess. I hate Bell too but I got through quick and they had me fixed just after noon the next day.

Moral of the story:
1. Ask for a manager right away.
2. Roger's sucks.

My experience with Sears Canada certainly doesn't reflect the survey.

I called to order a part for my Kenmore Washer. I was on hold for 25 minutes, an operator came on and took a message because they were behind.

I got called the next day, ordered the part. The wrong part arrived two weeks later. I then had to call and wait for 20 minutes and go through three operators to get the charge off of my account. If that's number one, then the standards must be poor.

The prize for worst call centre has to go to MTS/Allstream.

Their system requires you to enter all kinds of account information before they connect you to a live person. You cannot 'zero out' - if you try they boot you out. Congratulations MTS - still acting like a monopoly after all these years.

I have had some pretty nasty experiences with Telus so I understand how Steph from Penticton feels!

Now,if I have any choice at all,I will not deal with Telus, but they do have the power in the market place unfortunately!
Their internet(ADSL)is not available in so many areas other than almost right down town and the same for their cell phone service out on the highways.

Both very poor indeed, and no sign of it getting much better yet!

I've worked for 4 call centers here in London, ON for nearly 4 years now, all of which had/have ups & downs.

First I have to tell you that agents are trained from 2 weeks to 3 months(1 month average). Internet/telecommunication companies have very strict guidelines yet they give agents so little time to adapt. Most of the time, intros/outro's are verbatim and the rest the feed it to us, day after day after day... even in call center bathroom... you're even reading that junk while taking a...

Working for an internet company was the worst(by far!!!). You people need to understand that as an agent, we are told, word for word what we can and CANNOT do. People that complain about slow response times, wait times to reach an agent or even the review that was made by CBC.ca really made me laugh.

Please note that the review was sound aside from things like "laughed at me because I wasn't infront of my computer" or annoyances with hold music... no wonder that agent laughed at you and try listening to hold music in excess of 20 times a day.

Agents have an average handle time/call. Agents generally have qualities that need to exceed 90 percent. The call center industry is really pathetic.. i worked for a major call center company and employees stuck around on average 2-3 months due to unachievable goals by this company.

If I had a message to the consumer, here it is: agents are ponds. Their bishops are always on guard. The Queen sits in her desk looking good and The King is back home playing poker in his mansion not really giving a darn about any one of you's.

That's life!

Seriously, CBC should pull this article. To judge customer service based the companies' menu and pleasant people is ridiculous.

Did they even buy a product which had problems that needed to be resolved? CBC should be embarassed to publish such a useless piece of drivel.

And now Sears will claim they are #1!! Maybe someone at CBC gets a little something from Sears in their stocking... curious.

The automated voice systems are bad enough, but to deal with someone who can't answer my question or doesn't seem to care one way or another is worst still.

This is why, generally, I like to deal with very small companies. I value TRUE relationship building where my service providers know me by both name and face. For this reason, I also do all of my banking at local branch - IN PERSON.

It is worth the paying a little extra money for good service.

I work in a call centre and have noticed that it takes a truly remarkable person to remain friendly and helpful over time as the rude clients and assembly-line style of management wears people down and they just don't care anymore.

So you people that shout and swear and complain about someone's foreign accent are a big contributor to the toxic environment that many call centres have become.

From my experience Bell ExpressVu has the most cumbersome automated menu. You can never find the most obvious ones. I

am so discouraged to call them, as I get lost in the menus. Then when I get connected to an agent, it won't be the most knowledgeable one.

Rogers has hands-down the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I have wasted days of my life waiting for home phone and cable installation/repair techs who mysteriously never showed up because apparently I wasn't at home at the time when they rang the doorbell (even if I was waiting by the door... hmm, mysterious) I am absolutely positive that Rogers tells people they are sending someone over when they have absolutely no intention of doing so.

This has happened to me about 7 times -- it's almost a joke at this point. When each time I've called to complain a CSR has read from a script to me about "escalating my complaint", then they schedule the appointment over again for three weeks away.

It took over two months for my cable to be installed. I am on contract with them for two more months then I am ending my service. It's not worth it.

I have worked in a call-centre as a telephone agent. It is the phone agents who are left holding the bag for the ridiculous wait times and automated-voice setups of the companies that are merely offering a facade of customer service.

These companies think that people can get everything they need from the Internet, thus they pour all their resources into having a snazzy web presence instead of actually serving their clientele.

As an earlier poster mentioned, most call-centre agents are under pressure to stay within a certain timeframe (6-8 minutes where I worked) or they are scrutinized by management; the very management that setup the systems in such a way that makes it very difficult for clients to actually speak to a human.

I didn't follow that rule, my call times were much longer than the "target" set by management, and I resigned after being badgered constantly by a $12 per hour supervisor.

The way I saw it, if it took me 25 minutes to provide ACTUAL customer service that had value for the client, so be it. A happy customer that took 25 minutes of "precious" phone time is better than 3 disgruntled customers, is it not?

One thing I did notice during my time in a call centre was that many people tend to look for an easy answer by picking up the phone instead of doing some research on their own. 99% of the calls I answered resulted in me providing them with an answer, and then guiding them to a specific web page on the company's web site that showed them the same information.

Please keep in mind when you call one of these places that the person at the other end has zero power in terms of corporate decisions. Don't take it out on the $10/hour call agent - it's not his/her fault! Be polite and courteous and you may be surprised at the level of service you receive! If you are rude they will mess with you, and joke with their colleagues after hanging up on you!

Sears has been excellent over the years in our community until they recently out sourced their service work.

My mother, with diminished health due to Parkinson disease, had her washing machine break at the end of September and it was not fixed for a full month.

It turns out the company that contracts for Sears in our area never even ordered the part for over three weeks despite reminders given to them over the phone. Even after they addressed their error in not ordering the part and were reminded of my mothers poor health they still did not put a rush on the job taking another full week.

After 4 weeks the guy shows up, looks at the job and says he doesn't know how to do it and there should be someone there the following week.

I am not sure if this happens in other regions where they have outsourced their repair service but it has certainly discouraged me buying from Sears.

Customer service?... where? I think it is a sin to expect such a thing. Great, you have a survey done, you put forth some standards... and you think it will change anything?

Humbug ! As long as the dollar rules nothing else matters, cost cutting and let the consumer hang dry and angry.. after all all services use the same credo... pity !

My pet peeve: I have Rogers cable TV, the rate seems to increase at least twice a year! (Which is usually higher than the rate of inflation)

What irritates me is not the amount of the increae, it is the fact that no staff person , when I finally reach one by phone, can tell me what the amount of the next month deduction from my account will be.

The written notice of the increase is in percentage without tax calculation, no one can tell me to the cent what will come out of my account ! It is almost impossible to reach a live person by phone in our area. Obviously this precludes me from signing on to any other Rogers ' services.

What I find so galling is that these same companies will go after you with a sledge hammer if they think you're late paying a bill, but if they screw up, they couldn't care less.

I had so many problems years ago with AT&T; and their faulty bills and run-around incompetence, and inability to let me "quit" their "service", I decided to never use a cell phone again.

I switched from Bell to Videotron years ago for my telephone, internet and cable not because Videotron offerred better rates or services, but because I was fed-up with Bell Canada's customer service.

I still get the annual call from Bell trying to lure me back and I inform them that they could offer me a lifetime of free service and I wouldn't return.

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I dread the day I decided to leave Fido for Rogers. Now I'm stuck dealing with the annoyance that is Emily 2. Why can't I just press 2 or 3 for tech support or customer service when I'm having issues? When she asks you to describe the problem, are you supposed to jump into a whole discussion of what your problem is?

Now Shaw technical support probably has the best service. Easy to access and if their call volume is high you have the option of having someone to call you back, which is usually done withing 30 minutes.

This way you can go about your business for half an hour and not be glued to a phone hoping someone would answer!

On a side note, I work for CRA client services, and it really is difficult sometimes to go out of your way when your hands are tide by the law. However, we do do our best to resolve taxpayers' issues.

It's just a little difficult when you've been yelled at and verbally abused because some politicians decided that this is how things are to be done. Plus it always helps to be corteous. We understand your problem sucks but it's difficult trying to help someone who is not being cooperative.

When I lived in Vancouver I had both good and bad experiences with customer service.

The best I had was with Shaw, as I had my internet service with them. Every time I called they were eager to help and walked me through each issue I had. The automated system allows you put in your phone # and marks your spot in the queue, so that THEY call YOU back when your spot comes up, and that way you don't have to be on hold for ages.

My worst experiences were with Rogers. Very long wait times, and when both my and my girlfriend's cell phones crapped out, they made us each pay full price for a new one.

Funny you should rate President's Choice (MasterCard) as ranking last place. I wonder how PC Financial (Bank) rated.

I phoned PC Financial four times in two days last week, and was hung up on by the automated queueing system 2 of those times!

The first time I phoned, there was an "estimated wait time of 30 minutes." The fourth call lead me to believe I had an estimated wait time of 2 minutes, and then waited for more than 20. On the bright side, however, the girl I spoke with in Fredericton was very nice to speak with. (Maybe that's a reason why I had to wait such a long time!!)

If you try to speak with someone from President's Choice Insurance, you might first have to get past their Indian accent, since that's where their call centre is located.

My elderly mother's experience with Rogers was so atrocious that it has become a joke. To make a very long story short, my mother ordered Rogers' home phone service and Rogers never showed up for the installation.

Mom and I called (on several occasions) and were informed that Rogers had lost the order. Rogers put Mom at the END of their three week waiting list. Mom cancelled the order for phone service and a month later received an invoice for the month of July.

Mom cancelled service AGAIN and got a second bill (now for July and August). Mom cancelled AGAIN. Rogers sent Mom a bill for September but kindly credited her for the first two months of “service” she never received. My mother is NOT a Rogers customer and keeps getting billed!!

How many times does she have to cancel a service she never even received in the first place?

I would nominate PC Mastercard. A few years ago, I wanted to pay off my bill in full and cancel the card. I had moved, and tried at least three times to have my address changed,with no luck.

Since I wasn't getting any bills, I called PC to find out what I owed, and asked for a copy of the bill to be faxed to me.

No fax ever came, and when I phoned the company I was told that they had faxed a bill, but had no record of the number, so couldn't tell me where they had sent my personal information!

"Retail is no different, most of the staff is young, I am sorry to say and they don't really care much about service, they are just putting in time until they can cash their paycheques. In Alberta it is really bad, because of the labor shortage. "

Peter, I'd say us youths don't "care about service" because the adage of "the customer is always right" is bull. We've come to accept this. A customer only deserves as good of treatment as he gives the service representative.

I know I shouldn't and won't show any respect for a customer that doesn't do likewise. Maybe that can be seen as an attitude, but that doesn't really bother me. A gas station clerk shouldn't have to take the abuse from some fool who blames gas prices on them. Funny that a gas station clerk would be giving some moron an economics lesson...

But, if you show a little respect, you'll get it back. When I did do service jobs, I wasn't paid to lose my dignity to the disrespectful public. I can't believe you'd think that's a job duty.

People deserve what they give. If you're going to come in and be a jerk, don't expect any conversation, or anything like "have a nice day".

Well I can totally empathize with customer calling into call centres, I’ve had my fair share of “special” customer service situations. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I also spent a number of years working in various call centres, so I have a better understanding that most of the population on how the call must go to get results.

First off, the majority of contact centres regulate how much time an agent is supposed to spend talking to you. When working in tech support for a telco, we were given 3 minutes, and it was held against us if the call went over that timeline.

This 3 minutes includes the verification of personal / account information as well as the scripted responses we were forced to throw in there “oh I’m sorry you’re experiencing this difficulty, I’m sure that’s quite frustrating” etc. etc.

This doesn’t leave a lot of time for troubleshooting as you can well imagine, and was one of my biggest peeves with said company. Also, those managers that are never around? They just don’t want to deal with the phone call.

Agents are told to never escalate an issue to a manager, and the only way it can be “escalated” is with a call back, where the manager may call back in a few days “after the client has cooled off”. Employees are not left alone without management, no matter what you are told.

However, I also worked in a contact centre for a utility and it was one of the best workplaces I’ve ever been in. For the first time I wasn’t held to time constraints, and yes, I’ve spent hours on a call with a customer, but you know I had an answer for them at the end dammit.

So the answer is for the company to stop aiming for “fast” and start focusing on quality. Abolish the complicated IVR systems and adequately train / support the staff. Give them the freedom to research a problem and actually figure out a resolution and people are going to be much happier.

My biggest complaint would have to be with Rogers Customer Service.

One morning on my way to work I called to have a few changes made to my plan, I expected it would only take about 10 minutes. I waited on hold for 1 hour before my call was even answered by a rep. The changes I wanted to have done to my plan only took 5 minutes. I was so upset!!

I would also like to say that every time I call I am transfered to so many different departments, this is so annoying!

I actually find it rather amusing that when we, as paying customers need to contact customer service to deal with an issue it takes forever to finally talk to a human being, but when the same company wants to sign you up for a new service you can be guarenteed several phone calls a day from a real live people. Go figure!

My daughter and I were in Scotland. There was a problem with my daughters Royal Bank Visa Card. She tried calling the collect line you are suppose to use for overseas. She got cut off 6 times.

Finally she used my TD visa to pay for the call. She was passed round to no less than 8 people over half were rude, no she was not rude to them! At the 8th person, the rudest! He hung up on her. NO help was forthcoming. I had $200 in charges to my visa.

When she got home she removed all her money, mortgage etc from Royal Bank. They were surpised she would do this, even after she told them the crap they put her thur in a foreign country. What would she have done, if I had not been there with my TD visa, which by the way worked everywhere.

Bell = worst customer service ever

I called to get Sympatico high speed internet. Was told, "oh yes, this service is available to you". Signed up for a 2 year contract. Set everything up only to realize I was only receiving about 1 fifth of the "estimated" speeds.

Spent 2 months on the phone with reps here in Canada and in India. All were certain there must be a problem with the phone lines in my rented house, and that it was my responsibility as a tenant to handle this. T

hey disconnected and reconnected my internet countless times, then eventually admitted that I would never get full high speed. They would not agree to charge me less (since I was only receiving a fraction of what I was paying for)so I canceled my service.

I have since found out (from a Bell technician that came to my home) that I live outside the acceptable 5km radius around the "internet tower". So, I should never have been sold the high speed package at all, even though I know if I called back today to sign up, they would still tell me it most definitely is available.

Signed up with Primus and had the same speed issues, but at least I'm not patched through to another continent when I need help.

I used to work customer service for Bell ExpressVu, but had to leave. You see, I actually wanted to help people.

The main issue, in my mind, that could be addressed is that evalustion form they use for their agents (on which all bonuses, raises and even keeping the job) gave 5 points (out of 100) for actually helping the customer, 15 points for keeping the call under 6 minutes, and 40 points for trying to sell the customer something (no matter why they called in).

Change the goals, and you'll change the CSR's priorities.

A few points: I am a CSR (not by choice) and do my job with pride. Whether I'm dealing with brusquely superior businessmen, lazy-ass rural types who can't be bothered to answer diagnostic questions, or entire families squabbling into extensions (in multiple languages), I remind myself that they are human, like me, and very likely wouldn't have the presence of mind to endure the abuse my colleagues and I take daily.

Many people have griped about punching an ID number into the phone and being asked for it again. Where I work, this is done to direct the call to the proper department, to avoid multiple transfers.

Astonishingly, CSRs do not know every single detail of their multinational company's history, so we specialize. If I ask you for the number again, rather than arguing that "you already have it" (I don't), "I already gave it to someone" (well, not me), or "f*** this BS, blah blah blah" (seven minute rant)... just provide it again. It takes twelve seconds, people; write a letter to the CEO if you're that miffed.

As for those with hearing problems, comprehension issues with offshore workers, and any others who dislike telephone communication: I know how you feel! I hate screaming over the din of call centre drones to explain your bill statement, too! Do I enjoy calmly repeating myself seventeen times to coworkers/clients/third parties who cannot speak coherently in either official language? No. (But I will point out that they are MUCH politer and less "entitled" than the typical Canadian-born know-it-all ... maybe we could all benefit from improving our communication skills, hmmm?) Here's the deal: you clamor for more in-person customer service offices, do this to someone IMPORTANT (hint: not me, not my supervisor, not my manager), and snag me a cushy, lazy, government-type job while you're at it.

Thanks, citizens. In the meantime, thank you for choosing to read my comment, and have a nice day.

It seems everybody has bad experiences; in my view the worst is the "emily" kind of person - who wants to talk to a computer - do companies think we are idiots.

My opinion is that until companies get back to their basics and understand that the people who buy their products are the real CUSTOMERS not the shareholders, this problem will not be solved.

Worst call centre experience I had was Telus and I absolutely refuse to call them unless I really have to.

Best experience together with an excellent website is Canada Post.

There ARE some problems with customer service, but not just in call centers. I have worked in a call centre both as a phone agent and as someone doing "back office" work on issues reps cant handle themselves.

I AM that dreaded layer of bureaucracy that most of you probably hate or that your issues get sent off to. And i can say that there IS a lack of training with representatives, I don't necessarily trust a
consumer group to legitimately assess customer service.

These people tend to believe that all customer complaints are valid, which they simply aren't. I've taken escalated calls where customers want a month's credit for being down for a week and the minute they don't, they're threatening to go all the way to the top for it.

What's worse is that most companies are generally spineless jellyfish depending on how high you go and will let even the whiniest customer have their way over a stupid request.

Taking escalated calls, my rule is simple. If they comply with me, I give them what they want. If they get snotty, they lost me at the first sign of their attitude.

You didn't let the agent help you, so now you have to deal with me. The agent is the one that is paid to care about your problem, I'm paid to make sure the agent follows procedure. THAT is my concern.

I've had everything from requests for servicemen at 7:00 at night to a year's credit for a couple weeks of service problems. The bottom line is this: Automatically coming on the line with a "me against the agent" mentality won't work. If you do it to a supervisor, you may as well hang up now and just get another agent.

This isn't Burger King and you don't always get to have it your way. Policy is Policy is Policy, and the agents are expected to follow that above all else. Like it or not, the customer is NOT always right.

It seems everybody has bad experiences; in my view the worst is the "emily" kind of person - who wants to talk to a computer - do companies think we are idiots.

My opinion is that until companies get back to their basics and understand that the people who buy their products are the real CUSTOMERS not the shareholders, this problem will not be solved.

Worst call centre experience I had was Telus and I absolutely refuse to call them unless I really have to.

Best experience together with an excellent website is Canada Post.

this is almost too surreal. These companies that are being slammed are the same ones crying that we are overtaxed, overregulated and overgoverned and yet we take them seriously enought to elect their spokspersons in the conservative party to power!! It's laughable.

Do you think their attutude to us as canadians will be any different than their attitude to us as consumers?

Do you really think that their goal in the business world is to make our lives better especially if they are allowed to take over healthcare and the lives of our loved ones??

"Sears won?!" I almost choked when I saw that. " Who did the study? Were they *&%$ing hallucinating?" I asked aloud.

I made a mental note of the Vice President's name, because I have been trying to get my dryer fixed since June 14th, and have been unable to get anyone with any authority on the phone. I have had about six service calls, have spoken to the service line at least twelve times and to customer service reps about five times.

I have had every customer service person promise me that a callback with a solution was forthcoming - someimes that day, sometimes the next "The manager won't be back in until tomrrow".

I have never gotten a callback . Not once.

ON two occasions I was told that the Manager of the store where I bought the machine would be calling to arrange a loaner machine. No call.

As an aside, this is a warranty repair; ironically,in September Sears called to ask if I wanted to renew the extended warranty "because it's about to run out and you don't want to have a problem and not be covered." I suggested that as they hadn't yet honored my existing warranty I wasn't about to give them any more money. Since it has expired (September 17th) I actually had a phone person suggest that as it was no longer under warranty couldn't help me. When I tell those people to check their files: they still haven't fixed the problem I called about in June I've actually had one imply that I was lying.
For the most part, the phone people from Sears are well mannered, practical and doing their earnest best to get customers back on track. That said, they are powerless to effect solutions, and that's precisely the point of the exercise for this breathtakingly cynical company.
I would sooner take my eye out with a melon baller, than entrust Sears with my business in future.

I work for the federal government (Service Canada) in person centre. Policy has recently changed that we can not longer provide detailed information to clients who stop in asking questions. We have to direct them to the call centres or on the internet.

They have removed our capabilities to review, add or remove details on a clients account. Very frustrating to us and our clients. We are suppose to provide service, good public service and our hands are being tied.

Volume of calls to the call centres have increased to the point that clients are being given the message that due to high call volumes, please call back. Stress is high at the call centres as they too have quotes to achieve. 3 to 5 minutes max per call.

If you read the Service Canada Charter, you will see that they say you can get service in the manner of your choice - click, telephone or visit. Visiting our office is often fruitless as we can not help you. How is that for "public" service?

We are no longer in a service culture. I remember the day when companies and their employees really cared. Today most don't give a darn.

Make a call and you get an automated service and nothing really happens until you talk to a real person, and then often not very much gets resolved.

Retail is no different, most of the staff is young, I am sorry to say and they don't really care much about service, they are just putting in time until they can cash their paycheques. In Alberta it is really bad, because of the labor shortage.

Retail and reustaurant staff don't care to learn much about their duties on the job. Why, because they can walk across the street and get a higher paying job tomorrow. What we need is a good depression with some unemplyment again to get people caring about the customer who is paying their wages.

We are in a service economy, but no one really cares about giving service anymore.

Phone mail hell is what we get for letting chartered accountants run businesses instead of people who understand the value of customer relations.

These people can't see past their calculators that tell them how much labour is saved, how many people will give up and go away in frustration and how the bottom line will be served in the next 5 business days.

Called CIBC yesterday to find out the quickest method of making a Visa payment and getting it processed.

I felt like I was stuck in a time warp. The call looped for selection to selection. I could have ordered any one of a number of credit cards but I could not speak to a real person to ask a question that did not meet any of the selections.

Simple question - if I pay at a CIBC branch when is transaction credited to the account? Answer - I still don't have a clue because after 15 minutes of following this endless loop of electronic questions I gave up in frustration.

Doesn't give any warm fuzzy feeling toward CIBC and their services.

Last Fall Sears delivered three defective/damaged ovens in a row.

When I sent Sears an mail asking for the President's name, they wouldn't give it to me. I had to look him up.

I wrote a real snail letter to him but the Customer Rep who finally called back said that the President didn't reply to letters to him; he was too busy!

Getting customer service over the phone from Rogers is always a flip of a coin. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose!

Last summer, I was excited about the possibility of getting wireless high-speed internet access at our cottage because we were moving into a new house, but it wasn't yet ready to live in.

Trouble was, Rogers customer support wouldn't add the new wireless internet to our existing account at the new house. For some reason, that account had to be frozen because we were about to move to a new address.

But when I tried to set up an account at our cottage address instead, I wasn't permitted to get an account there because our cottage address wasn't in one of the approved postal codes.

I tried to reason with the customer support person--my mailbox is far from the actual location, and besides, there are all these billboards on the highway advertising the fact that you could have the internet at the cottage.

The phone rep insisted it wouldn't work, and there was no way to override the billing software. But I had already bought the modem anyway for $100, set it up in my cottage, and saw the the LEDs that showed the reception was excellent.

Alas, my arguments were all to no avail. Frustrated, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Of course, no one was available. Someone was supposed to call in a few days, but no one ever did.

Eventually, we moved to our new house, and I was finally able to establish my wireless internet service. It continues to work excellently, in spite of Rogers customer support. Who'd have thought I'd have to fight with the company so that I could pay them money?

The last couple of times I have needed customer service, I used the web.

Most of the bigger businesses seem to offer customer service through a form on their web site.

I've always gotten a response by the next day and spent no time waiting on the phone.

I was surprised to see on your survey that Bell Sympatico was ranked as high as #17. In my experience, they should be ranked much, much lower.

Bell Sympatico customer service and I have had a volatile relationship for several years.

The key hindrance to an amicable relationship between us is the fact that I use their internet service but do not have a Bell land line in my home (this is called a ‘dry-loop’ internet account).

Like an increasing number of Canadians, I only use a cell phone. Unfortunately for me, Bell Sympatico’s telephone-based customer service is only set-up to accommodate customers with a land line internet account.

When I need to call Bell Sympatico with a technical or billing concern, I make sure to settle myself in for at least 30 minutes, or (more realistically) 45 minutes.

I prepare myself to speak to no less than 3 different operators, some of whom will be rude and difficult to understand.

Each operator will promise to transfer me to their ‘dry loop department’, yet this rarely happens until the third operator. Even Emily doesn’t seem to have a clue as to how to correctly and efficiently direct my call.

With fewer Bell land lines in the homes of Canadians, one assumes that Bell Sympatico would address this issue and make it easier for such customers to obtain fast and efficient customer service.

This, however, could not be further from reality.

Quite frankly, I’d cancel my Bell Sympatico right now, but I know it’ll be a 45 minute procedure and I just don’t have the time. I suppose that’s one way for Bell Sympatico to keep its customers!

I'd just like to throw in a perspective from the other side. Not to excuse those companies/reps who give bad service, but just to throw another side of the view in.

If the person you are dealing with is being rude and unco-operative, then by all means return the favour. If you get bounced around, then express your dissatisfaction.

But please, don't assume that the person who initially picks up the phone is just another hack, and only yelling at them will work. Start out polite, and you might get somewhere.

I've answered phones only to be lambasted by the person at the other end. I don't know what their situation is, I can't get details because they're too busy yelling at me, and I can't help them because they're still yelling at me.

At that point, it takes a monumental amount of patience to resist the urge to slam the phone down and take the next call...

On the flip side, if I find myself using one of those "voice recognition" systems, and it is frustrating me, usually because it's either not presenting any options I need, or it's not understanding my choices, I usually start swearing at it.

Some systems seems to have "stress" words built into their dictionary, and will bypass the menus and send you to service reps if it detects you are "frustrated".

But I revert back to politeness when I get a service rep, unless of course they demonstrate that they have an understanding capability that is less than the machine I just spoke to.

Gateway Televisions; Toronto Hydro

I bought a Gateway 42" LCD television 3 years ago. During recent Toronto Hydro "maintenance" to the grid, a power surge destroyed the power unit on the surge protector and the television!

It's now been 3 months and Gateway Canada and US have sent the wrong replacement part 3 times.

This is after repeated VERY long calls to their always busy customer service line; sending them a digital photo of the destroyed power board; and escalations to their chief service person.

Not to be undone, Toronto Hydro refuses to deal with the claim against them.

They've taken a page from the telephone company book on how to never admit any wrong doing; despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Try calling Toronto Hydro when you really need them.

The service levels really are declining everywhere!

I have had customer service experiences ranging from excellent to horrific, and most points in between - I won't bother adding my stories to the substantial collection that has already gathered.

What truly surprises me is the short sightedness of most companies. They don't seem to appreciate the competitive advantage available for the taking simply by creating and maintaining a professional and expeditious customer service program.

Consumers have become increasingly jaded and resigned to endless button pushing, lengthy wait times and making multiple calls to resolve any basic problem.

Any company willing to direct the time, resources and effort required to establish a decent customer service program will quickly differentiate themselves from their competition and reap the associated benefits.

These companies would do themselves a big favor if they trimmed about 50% out of their advertising budget and pumped this cash into looking after their existing clientele.

On the downside, I wouldn't get to see the same cell phone commercials 30 times a night anymore... I'll miss those crazy kids and their zany "My Five" antics.

Can you here me now? Good!

I agree with your findings about bad customer service from telecommunications companies, but wish you had addressed outsourcing to offshore call centres.

Bell Canada is doing this with tech support services, with a drop in service levels and loss of Canadian jobs as a result.

If you complain, they say that others in the industry are doing it. Reminds me of the classic teenage refrain "all my friends do it."

It's worth noting that the call center agents you speak with are frustrated due to the unreasonable goals the companies give them.

They are anxious to get you off the phone because companies like Bell and the like require Average Talk Times in the range of 7-10 minutes depending on the department.

Agents can be punished or even terminated if they do not meet these targets, so it's in their best - and only - interest to get you off the phone ASAP.

It's worth noting however that for Sales, bill collection, etc. the agents do not have Average Talk Time goals to meet; this practice is only when it comes to helping you, not when it comes to taking more of your money.

I don't talk to Emily. I pound on the zero button until she transfers me to a human. I think you have to hit it about ten times. I'm so fed up with automated systems that I now hit zero whenever I run into one. It tends to work. If not, say "agent" over and over.

Apple's warranty service is terrible. I had an iPod that was overheating and that was still under warranty. The first agent I spoke to promised to have a return envelope sent to me, which I could use to send in my defective iPod, and Apple would send me a new one. No envelope arrived.

The second agent told me I would have to pay for the shipping of the product in both directions and that was the problem. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She promised to rectify the situation and have an envelope sent right away. No envelope.

The fourth agent finally took my credit card number for pre-approval, and I received a new iPod a few days later.

The return envelope told me to call DHL for pickup. The packing slip listed a UPS account number. After speaking to both companies, it was determined that I should actually use UPS.

I called Apple to ask them to fix this confusion. The agent was happy to take my complaint. I'm sure it went absolutely nowhere other than a computer database.

Employee retention issues in call centres? No doubt. They're not trained properly, and the only way to get anything done is to get MAD.

I love the company strategy to avoid complaints where through a single published number they connect you to some idiot who was trained for 10 minutes and is powerless to do anything but won't give out any other telephone numbers for any other part of the company (especially head office names and numbers or essentially anyone who has any power whatesoever).

Of course complaints are low! - people hang up in frustration with no recourse. They have a lot of nerve calling it customer "service"!

Here's a tip, pose as someone looking at investing - find the names and numbers of head office, then write your letters!

I remember moving to BC when BC Tel (the public utility) still existed. It took one phone call and one day to hook up a new phone line.

Then Telus took over and I have had pretty awful experiences ever since. It may be relatively straight-forward to have a simple question answered when you call Telus's automated system.

Opening a new account with Telus has also become a relatively speedy process - it has to be, as there are now competing phone providers. Just try getting service once you are a customer though.

That is where you see lengthy phone waits and find yourself having to repeat your problem to a new agent each time. Telus allows independent companies to sell its' internet bandwidth and, although many of these companies have a Telus sign on their storefront, they are not true Telus outlets.

So, they can sell you a package of internet services and submit a request to Telus to connect you to the network, but if anything goes wrong in the process these independent operators can't do anything about it.

They often can't get an issue resolved on-site and will not accept returns of Telus modems or other internet products, which you, as the "customer", have to return by mail to Telus yourself.

When something does go wrong, my experience has been that Telus blames the independent company for giving misleading information, while the company rep says that Telus customer service doesn't understand how the system works... I spent two weeks and incalculable hours on the phone getting our internet account set up properly.

We all know what happens to the cow when she's taken to the bull for "service". When I hear a bank talk about "customer service", I get the same feeling the cow got.

I returned two food products on the same
day, 1 to Sobeys the other to Superstore(loblaws)
I asked where the products was imported from.
Both said they would find out and get back to me.

At sobeys 2 people call back, the 'compliments' rep. and the original person who I returned the product to.
Superstore, dispite being told 'within
the week' has not gotten back to me 3 months later!

I have started asking where the person I am speaking to is located.
If in fact you even get a real person!
Much to my suprise a while back,I was informed the person was in INDIA???

Now I ask if I am speaking to a call center and if I am,I hang up after voicing my opinion on that issue.
I then email the company.

Aside from the fact that I could not hardly understand a word the lady in India said,I will NOT condone that!
So I emailed the company and complained, and they sent me a form to complain on.
Then they did exactly nothing!

It was a computer company, and I bet you can guess which one too!

Had to call the Passport office (it was around 10 am) for some info on renewing a Passport. The computerized ‘disembodied voice’ actually sounded human: ‘Please wait for the next available agent. There are more than 25 persons ahead of you’.

I waited about 15 minutes, as I did, the line got shorter. A REAL person answered the phone and helped me out.

It was pretty cool. At least Passport Canada knows what service looks like.

The worst for me has been the Minisrty for Social Services, trying to find someone who could answe questions about policy regarding a homeless person and how much they are allowed to go over the rent allowance if I provided a trailer for that person and would trailer park fees apply to a rental agreement.

Press this, press that, finally reach someone who tells me to go through the whole rigamarole again. It is COLD out and the person is still HOMELESS.

Generally call centre service is improving with 2 exceptions...if you have a complicated problem, you can expect a lot of frustration trying to get it resolved.

Call Centres should have a separate "button" to press for complicated problems which go to very experienced staff. The 2nd problem is "Emily" type of automated calls.....please just FIRE "Emily" and and other "automated persons now, and save us all a lot of grief...they just do not work well.

You have to constantly repeat yourself and they are very slow to get you where you need to go, plus the voice is really irritating.

Customer service is dead.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I went to a cashier to pay for gas, groceries etc. and received a friendly greeting.

I was once at Co-op grocery store, and while I was saying hi, how are you? she cut me off mid sentence "your co-op number please".

Its hard to avoid places that provide crap service because they all do. I have yet to experience good customer service anywhere in this city.

Actually there is one place that I received outstanding service and that was at the Lush store in Market Mall here in Calgary, if you are in Calgary, go there to expereince a pleasant shopping expereince.

The best way to get through the dreaded call site B.S.is by typing an old fashioned letter and sending it by registered mail.

Keep the complaint or request letters
simple and easy to read with a specific but reasonable resolution/reply date.

It works every time - probably because the CSR is shocked to receive a registered “snail mail” request in this day and age – LOL!

The best 5 bucks you'll ever spend!

My fave was trying to settle my late husband's estate with an RBC call centre off-shore. The operator insisted that my husband come on-line to confirm my request, since this had been a joint account.

We are currently having the worst possible experience with Expedia with whom we booked our flights to the UK over Christmas.

There was a change made to our schedule by the airline, leaving us with only a 15 minute window to make a connection. This means we need to be booked onto alternative flights and we were requested to call Expedia and figure out some alternatives.

In our calls to Expedia, we have so far been put on hold for two hours, one hour, and seven(!) hours. Each time I have had to put down the phone because of another commitment (i.e go to work, bed, etc).

Our problem is still not resolved and we have the daunting task of calling again with an as yet undetermined wait on our hands.

We have contacted customer service, but each time we speak to someone who appears to have absolutely minimal power in making anything different happen or providing an alternative solution.

I live in rural New Brunswick and I find that any dealings I have with businesses in Ontario are impossible.

Around this area people will generally answer their telephones. In Ontario EVERYTHING is on these automated systems, or voice mail, or whatever. Very frustrating to say the least.

I've learned to punch through the automated routes (play dumb) until I get a living human being on the line and then I ask their name, and write it down. This often wakes them up.

Large companies with a monopoly, and many minions working for them, like BC Hydro, don't really care if you're satisfied or not. Companies with some competition are more likely to invest money in customer satisfaction.

Most people hate automated voice systems, but we don't have any choice, do we?

Five years ago, I got married and changed all my documents to my married name. A few months ago, CIBC arbitrarily decided to begin sending my statements with my maiden name. I have called, e-mailed and visited branches several times and have been told each time that the problem will be looked after. Guess what - it hasn't.

I cannot order cheques because they have the wrong name, and I can't even get a response from CIBC anymore. Not a good way to treat a long-time customer.

I am also concerned that they changed my name at all, as their own representatives tell me that can only be authorized by me. Who has been changing my personal information??

Little A allan from Kamloops strays from topic in relating typically poor Canadian 'customer service' with taxes. Go figure that one out!

Little A allan, hate to rain on your parade, but when you buy by phone or on-line from US companies, Canadian tax does indeed get charged on the delivery. This fact should warm your heart in knowing that not all of our hard-earned dollars are being pushed away by the dismal 'customer service' that seems to be the norm in Canada.

As I mentioned earlier, if you do not speak out over the 'customer service' you receive - either verbally or with your wallet - you get the 'customer service' you deserve.

This survey result is very misleading since the telephone aspect is only one part of customer servive, albeit a very important part.

About a year ago we needed service on our refrigerator under a Sears service agreement. Over the next six weeks we became very familiar with Sears "service".

The telephone calls were handled well with pleasant reps who seemed to try to accommodate.

However, the follow-through was a disaster! We had 11 visits from service reps who replaced at least $2000 of parts, several of them at least twice, with regular delays to get parts, failure to arrive when scheduled, making a mess of the kitchen -- and still the frig wasn't fixed!!

Finally, in frustration I called an independent serviceman (at my cost) who came when he said he would, fixed the problem in 15 minutes with no new parts, and cleaned up before he left.

If asked to rate the telephone aspect of Sears' service I would have to agree that that part was handled well.

However, the overall result was still a disaster and I will never use Sears for service again or for an appliance purchase.

TO: Jeff Campbell of Toronto: You must have been talking to Sears Delivery; not Sears HomeCentral Parts & Service/Home Improvements.

Two different Call Centres, two different Sears businesses and staff working them. I've had problems with the Sears Delivery folks too.

My worst Call Centre is Rogers. Long wait times and their Internet on-line Call Centre doesn't talk to their phone-in Call Centre. They need to link files with one tracking number; not one each. Very frustrating.

Perhaps it's worth sharing a positive tale amongst all the service disguntlement this column is acquiring. I called Rogers for Internet help recently and unknowingly dialed into Rogers LiveCoach where to my surprise a person answered the phone without my ever hearing a message or pressing any buttons!

Upon assessing my needs (believe it or not) my "coach" invited me to connect to her PC so that she could better understand my problem and TRAIN me on the solution.

This was going to be different. She appeared in a live video window on my screen and proceeded to guide me through to a solution. being able to see my mouse pointer made certain i was following effectively.

since I personally - am a visual person, I found the interaction meaningful and personal as well as the information stuck better.

as a finishing note i understand this isn't available off the main Rogers line (thus their low score in this survey) but if you're lucky enough to land with it your cursing and bewilderment may mercifully to an end!

Customer service? What's that? Whether I use a phone, the internet or actually go to a store to shop - it is almost impossible to find someone to help you.

And if you are one of the lucky ones and actually get to speak to a real person whether over the phone or in a retail store, they have no idea about their products and can't help you anyway. This goes for them all, Sears included.

It's almost a joke to even use the phrase "customer service" these days!

Oh I have one more...

I called my internet tech support because my internet was not working. Prior to hanging up on me, the robot told me that the call volumes were too high and that I could find the answer to my question on their website.

Helllooooo! My internet is not working!!

Alec mentioned the hitting '0' trick. It works most of the time, but many times you'll get the "sorry, you've pressed an invalid option." because either you have to wait until the robot starts reading off the next menu or the button you were supposed to press for an operator was something other than '0'.

Other people complained about the muzak and wanted the option to shut it off. What's the alternative? Silence? Once I was on hold for 20 minutes with a company with no muzak and wondered most of the time if I was still on the line or if they hung up. And muzak is getting interesting. Last week I heard a muzak version of a Green Day song.

This forum is going to be loaded with everybody venting, so for the customer service human beings who eventually come to the rescue, thank you for your hard work. Seriously. No robot has ever solved my problem. It's always the representative that ends up fixing the issue.

Wanted a special book for a Christmas present.
Was referred to Hager Books in Vancouver. Called and spoke to "Jennifer", who went out of her way to find this book (not normally stocked by Hager) advised me there were 2 sources - the one in USA would save money, if we were not in a rush. Placed the order, was called 2 days later. Transaction completed.

Book arrived by post, beautifully packed, WOW!
Without reservation, I recommend Hager Books.

What I don't understand is why I have to enter all my info (account number, phone number associated with the account, birth date etc...) and then when you finally get to an agent, the first question they ask is... "what is your account number".

Why did I enter it with your computer voice if it clearly doesn't show up on your screen and we have to go though this all over again.

I can understand confirming personal information to make sure you've got the right person, but can't you start there instead of from the begining again?

Everyone has many stories. I find it amusing when you call "Customer Care" and work your way through the system for 15 min. I generally ask why they don't answer with "Customer, we really don't care".

I find Sears the best and banks the worst espec.if you are attempting to reach branch staff. Impossible. I had occasion to call RBC recently and when I finally reached a live body he told me the staff person wasn't available but he'd put a message on her desk. I asked where he was located; turns out he was 2,000 miles away. Must be a jogger.

Called Dell with a problem. It took 10 hours on the phone to India to resolve. Mr. Dell would have saved money if he had sent me a new computer.

And BMO - don't even ask. I gave up a long time ago; which is exactly what they wanted.

A few years ago I had a problem with Telus's high-speed internet service. I called tech support and after doing the keyboard dance and waiting 20 minutes I got a customer service person.

After doing some on-line tests he said that no problem was showing. Eventually I convinced that there was indeed a problem. He said he would schedule a technician for the following Wenesday (this was Friday afternoon). I said that was unacceptable and wanted to talk to a supervisor. His reply: "Your problem is not important. No supervisor will speak to you."

Within 24 hours I was up and running on a cable internet service. I have since changed my cell phone service and land-line from Telus to other companies. My family is Telus-free and better served for it.

I recently canceled my service with Rogers (wireless, TV, and internet) because of ongoing horrible customer service. Now that I'm gone, I receive mail at least 2-3 times a week from them soliciting my business...

If they cut their advertising/harassment budget in half, and put that money into hiring and training staff, then I'd consider returning.

Of course, you'll get horrible service wherever you go (especially when it comes to cell phones, cable, and internet service). With the lack of local people and lack of local responsibilities - no one can ever be held accountable for bad service.

One solution: ban call centers. They are bad for customers and they are bad for employees (unstable, abusive, poor pay...)

Customer Service has been on the decline for years. In Toronto, you have some of the worst customer service ever encountered.

There are a few rare exceptions. I believe it is a problem due to staff morale and management that borders on poor and less. If employees are happy with thier job they will not hesitate to go the distance for you.

If they work with decent management, employees will go the distance for them too. There are many websites that the general public can access and comment on in regards to local shops and retail.

I am surprised that Bell residential telephone customer service rated as high as it did. I don't know if Bell realises how annoying Emily is to most people.

It is so difficult to talk to a real person after talking to Emily and "explaining" to her the problem or question and then one gets to do it all over again when you finally speak to a real person.

Attention shareholders and executives: We don't want to listen to automated attendants, Emilys, or obnoxious music. We want to reach a real person; so be prepared to take lower profits for a while and once the public realises that you offer real customer service with real people, customers will break down your doors to use your product.

Martin from Ottawa:
You make a good point.

Mail-in and online rebates are problematic and often not honoured. There is no appeal process and Ontario's Ministry Government and Consumer Serevices does not deal with any rebate issues below $50.

Also there seems to be a complete disconnect between customer service in retail stores, e.g. Staples, and the rebate process... they tell you to go online.

I suggest we have legislation in Ontario that makes all rebates instant at point of sale... then the transaction has closure.

My top nominee for the worst Customer Service
Company is Telus. I find it very hard to understand why one has to wait for 20 - 30 minutes to speak to a rude employee on the TELEPHONE to try to get an answer about billing or other information regarding ones telephone service.

After 49 years of being a BC Tel/Telus customer I have given up and gone with an alternate Server.

be

After an extended period of having to call Telus regularly, I got so frustrated with their voice response system that I would just call up and stay silent. The system keeps saying "we must be having a problem" and you get transferred to an operator faster than navigating the menu!

And why is the first thing the operator asks is for your phone number, after the system has asked you for it already?

I am a "client" of BC hydro. I hate their tv commercials. It's such a waste of money, it's like use us or candles!

Anyways, my bill is usually low, condo living in downtown Vancouver. Every 2 months my bill ranges from $35-$50. I pay my bills online, onetime I threw away my bill before I paid, and didn't remember how much I owed.

So I just paid them $75 online, as I new this covered what I owed, and would leave me a credit, no big deal.
2 months later I get my next bill, my $75 had covered my previous charge and most of my new bill, my outstanding balance was $1.45. So I didn't think much of it, go ahead and charge me a months interest on $1.45, a couple pennies.

A few weeks later I get a nasty letter, telling me I am overdue, and demanding I pay a $200 deposit to ensure I don't lose my power. I call them up to see what is up, and let them know that a $200 deposit seems abit extreme for owing a dollar.

Considering I have been a customer for years, with good history. I was told by the rep "That's what happens when you don't pay your bills sir" then starts up about how I will owe them interest on my next bill as well!
I then spoke to the manager, he was pretty cool, told me the damn computer does what it likes with no common sense.

He fixed everything. I just couldn't believe I was being lectured about the 2 cents interest I would owe.

Sustomer service? does that still exsist? Bravo for CBC to shed a little light on this nerving issue.

I recently dealt with Sears on a furniture issue and I certianly didn't get the results you did. After several hours on the phone, store visits and repeated calls I finally got some satisfaction. They didn't have the homesense line for furniture.

The biggest issue I see is centralization, saving on the companies bottom line by taking the power away from a store/manager level only to give it to a subcontracted call centre that is usually only hired by the company but is not at all that concerned with the customer base since it's not theres.

Call centres over seas is my biggest issue. Dealing with Norton call centre was waste of time, never a resolution and 9 out of 10 times I was directed to call back when the American office was open. This includes the online service as well as the phone. I will never by a Norton product again as the service you pay for is not a service at all, it's free money to their bottom line.

I could go on. But that would be a blog in itself. What happened to the good old days of the customer was always right?

Bell has to be one of the worst companies to try communicating with. I had three issues to try to discuss with them.

As a new resident in Ontario I had to pay a $200 deposit to have my service hooked up. This retainer is to be held for six months and two and a half years later I still had not had this retainer reimbursed.

The second problem was an $80 monthly charge for services I had not ordered, and thirdly why I was recieving several phone calls from people wanting to order hearing aide batteries.

I had to spend numerous hours on several occassions pushing buttons in hopes of speaking to an actual person. After being put on hold for up to a half an hour with no response several times, I finally got through to a phone personal whose English was so bad that I couldn't understand what they were saying.

When I politely asked him if he could please speak more slowly he became extremely irrate and insulting and actually hung up on me, but fortunately not before I acquired his name and employee number. I spent the rest of the day pushing buttons and waiting on hold, and when I finally got yet another person who I couldn't understand I demanded to speak to the head supervisor.

After a lengthy discussion with him, at which time I told him I was going to switch to a different provider, it was revealed the extra $80 monthly charge was added to my account by a telemarketer who they subcontracted to sell the new service ( someone I had never talked to) , the hearing aide calls were because they accidently issued my phone number to an Audiologist as his 1-800 number, and that the $200 deposit I paid should have been returned two years ago.

From the Niagara area. The good, the bad, and the ugly from Call Center Country...

First, I have worked at call centers for 3 years and have seen and experienced both sides of the coin.

The Good: Before I "bash" call centers, let's not forget the representatives and companies who have offered outstanding service and have gone out of their way to help customers. I know as a former telephone representative that there is so much red tape, politics, policies, and "stuff" that the average worker needs to put up with and go through.

The Bad: Agents usually hide behind policies and just do what they are told due to company rules. They usually absorb verbal abuse and callers fail to realize that they are human, too. It's a high-stress, low pay, and high turn-over job. Enough of being the Devil's advocate, plain and simply some people don't belong working in customer service.

The Ugly: Yes, we have all heard of horor stories, but my personal beef is outsourcing calls to Asia. I am Asian myself, but it is annoying when I can't even understand the representatives! Saving nickels and dimes for cheap labor will cost thousands in lost customers.

P.S. I hate Emily!

I had one experience that left me laughing all day. I use Staples.ca all the time for office supplies and their customer service people are wonderful.

So, when I called the help line for one of their house brand products (number from the brochure and not the website), I was quite surprised to get someone who refused to help me. He insisted that I send the broken item back to NY and that I would have to pay customs charges.

I was surprised and asked why I couldn't have the delivery guy pick it up like the last item I had a problem. He said it wasn't possible. He then entered my information for the complaint ticket.

I burst into laughter when he asked me to spell "Ottawa." I asked him if he was serious and then where he was. He refused to tell me. I told him he obviously wasn't in Canda (after all, "Ottawa" is used in every school in every grade here) and that I would call someone local to help me.

I called Staples.ca directly, got a person and had an exchange for the broken product arranged for the next day exchange in under 10 minutes. The operator also laughed when I told her my story.

Glen from Toronto

You are absolutely correct about the CRTC being the place to call or, even better, e-mail.

I did it once in a big spat with a Telus exective and ended up getting an apology from that exec, a phone call I have no doubt was being monitored to assure quality grovelling. I loved it.

As for your request I describe "slamming the phone down calmly", that means I wasn't also loudly swearing into it as the same time. My calmness is always relative.

Beaconsfield Ray and Chris of Waterloo both opted to dump all over Canadian customer service people as it offered a chance to once again tout their cross-border shopping habits.

I simply want to note that such action clearly shows the stupidity of those who argue tax cuts generate new business.

Instead, as any honest economist will tell you, all it does is create more opportuntiy to take more money out of the Canadian ecomomy.

Having worked with IBM Global Services in a cal-centre enviornment, supporting Tim Horton's End users, I fully understand both sides of the equation.

I defy anyone posting negative comments about the representatives to try doing it for a year. I personally had a 100% telephone quality monitoring score and was one of the only people to ever have that, yet I was paid a pittance for my hard work and dedication.

I worked with all kinds of users, from those who knew something about computers to the completely computer illiterate, whom english was THEIR second language and the bloody mouse on their computer didn't work! Try that, just once even all while having to keep smiling and knowing at the end of your week, you'll barely be able to pay your bills.

To all those who say, if you don't like your job, then quit - well I did and what's left to serve you? Nobody with 100% TQM that's for sure! It's time to pay people for how good they are at what they do and not simply - what they do! Then and only then will service improve.

There are lots of agents out there who try and you have to understand that as a caller....on the otherhand, I knew many agents who simply did not care.

I recently signed up with a telephone company to a two year contract that would provide a free computer. After doing the press one, press two for three days and not getting anywhere I told them to keep the computer and cancel the contract.

They charged me over $500 and I didn't even get the computer. Whenever I finally did get to a real person after the half hour of elevator music I got a person whose first language was surely not English.

They have you where they want you, like it or use a cell phone.

When I logged the 9 hours over 4 days to get my Bell email/sympatico working again, I failed to mention that each time it was the primary mission of the agent to "upgrade" my email to their new platform - to work with Windows Live Messenger. This turned out to be part of the problem in that each agent said this would fix my problem. Not.

I danced with PC Financial 2 times in 2007. Poor service for sure, but their "supervisor" made it right within a few days each time.

Cogeco lost our business some years ago due to their horrible internal communication. We moved to Starchoice and have enjoyed perhaps some of the best customer service out there.

I had the occasion to email an airtub manufacturer with a question. They promptly responded and proceeded to send me some small replacement parts, for free. Excellent service there.

I find the voice systems very hard for for my mom, a senior and hard of hearing. Because she isn't always physically able to get out and conduct her business, the phone becomes the logical choice.

The long prompts, the accents, the unfamiliarity coupled with a hearing aid, a possibly slightly befuddled mind or a slow memory.... it creates a situation where she gets very frustrated and begins to feel very inadequate.

She is often unaware of the tricks (like continuously pressing 0 to get a real person) and consequently can become more frustrated and usually ends up asking me to do the call.

I honestly feel this is verging on discrimination- a whole segment of our population unable to access services. And just try to contact the Gov't to get information on her pension ....
Trina

I have a Rogers Pay-as-you-go cell phone. The paygo phone menu doesn't have an option to speak with a real person. The trick to bypass that? Tell "Melanie" to "cancel my account" and you'll be transferred right away.

Yesterday, I phone Hydro Ottawa's Peaksaver program toll-free number (outsourced but within Canada). When all I wanted was an answer to a question, I was bluntly told that they didn't have that information and would have to have someone call me back.

Now, the menu said "if you're calling about the Peaksaver program, press 5" (which I did). I would assume then that someone at #5 would have the answer to my question. When I told her I didn't want someone to call me back, where could I go to get more information, she answered that they're "just a call centre" and that's how it worked and then hung up on me.

When I phoned back to speak with a supervisor, the 2nd CSR said they didn't have supervisors on-site but eventually transferred me to "a supervisor" (who sounded just like the one who hung up on me).

When I asked the "supervisor" if it was their policy to hang up on people, she said no, but that it was their policy to "sever the call" and insisted that severing a call wasn't the same as hanging up on a caller.

Severing the call, apparently, isn't considered hanging up on someone?

(I did speak with someone at Hydro Ottawa this morning and am expecting a call from a supervisor there).

I think the ones that bug me the most are the Telemarketers and Agencies that use the phone to solicite donations. The latest trend are the Banks trying to sell life insurance to you.

First they give a spiel for about 3 minutes before they actually tell you what they are trying to sell you and then if I refuse, they want to try and talk me into it for another mintue. I have, on occasion had to either threaten to pull my business from their company and on one occasion I worte a letter to my bank regarding how pushy their Telemarketing firm was.

These Telemarketing firms are real pushy and some of them can be real arrogant.

I have a strict rule of not giving anyone personal information over the phone, especially if they called me and I make a specific point to not buy or donate to any Company that Telemarkets or solicits by phone.

I have not had any major blips with my phone service with Bell, they have always responded and fixed problems in a timely manner.

My problems have always been with Sympatico. Of course I've had the service for so long and I don't want to change my email address so I stay, but my patience is rapidly reaching an end.

I don't fault the customer service reps, I fault the training and expectations that their employers place on them. They are taught to read a script and try to force the customer to follow it, and several of them have become quite irate with me because I refuse to do so.

I will not go through the same steps I've already done on my own. They are not taught to actually troubleshoot a problem, and getting them to escalate the call to someone who can is like pulling teeth.

I refuse to speak with Emily she takes longer, I always hit 1 immediately and it goes into the old system.

I am flabbergasted by this news. They must have known this survey was taking place and put some competent people on the job.

Sears offered us the WORST customer service experience of our lives!

A simple refrigerator purchase turned into a 2 month nightmare of promises not kept, appointments charged on Visa (even though it was clear that it was a covered service call) and most frustrating - the 7 hour runaround with Customer Service assuring us the fridge was on it's way only to FINALLY admitting at 11:20 PM, that it was put on the wrong truck!

The refrigerator was delivered 72 hours after the promise date and for some inexplicable reason the doors opened to the wrong side, from there it became a web of lies and accusations.

No appeals to the head office were answered and no letters or e-mails returned with any solutions or apology.

Satisfaction Guaranteed USED to be their motto, no more it seems.

We returned the fridge (after much pain) and bought somewhere else with no problem whatsoever.

I invite people to plug Sears Customer Service into ANY search engine and take a quick look at what is there.

My advice - avoid Sears if you value your sanity!

I use to work for the government in CRA.
Let me tell you, client service works both ways.

Several times I would get clients calling up with specific questions about their assessments. I would ask for their name and sin, so I could pull up their account. Then be told, "Sorry, I don't give my sin out over the phone." Really hard to help you if I can't see your account.

Or the self employed business man, who calls wanting to be taking through step by step, how to take his box of receipts and prepare a balance sheet, financial statements, and tax return over the phone!

Or the callers that demand to be served in French. When I transfer them to a French agent, they demand to be transferred back, cause they don't speak french, but wanted to make sure they had the right to be served in french.

Can't recall any respondent using those
precise words ("how may I help you?") but
what has continually grated on me is the
ludicrously pretentious phrase "how may I
DIRECT your call?"....shades of Northumberland
County Council and its 'Material Recovery
Facilty' (Recycling Depot to the ROC)

I haven't called a Customer Service Center before, if I need to I usually have my mom or sister do it for me.

If I ever do, I will NOT work with somebody in India or other poor countries. I have enough problems hearing people on the phone calling from in town, let alone half way across the world.

We pay good money for services that we have to call for, shouldn't we expect to have people in our country answering calls.

Having worked in Customer Service for nearly a decade (!) I can say that I've had my share of difficulties as a customer (I really don't like Bell's "Emily" and have had serious issues with the telecom industry regardless of the company)

I've also been able to experience the other side of the telephone. I've had to handle calls from abusive and irate clients.

I've also had to handle calls from people who have experienced frustrations with their service but who treated me with courtesy and respect.

It's much easier to help someone when they are calmly discussing the situation than when they are heaping abuse on you.

I have had both AOL and Rogers decide to continue to charge my account (after I moved from one province/country to another) for months after I cancelled them.

What drove me crazy is that they made no reasonable attempt to even find me (I’m in the book) and I had no idea charges were even happening until long after the fact.

Of course I eventually find out and, due ultimately to their ineptness, when I speak with someone to clear the matter up, as far as they are concerned the only acceptable method is to pay them in full!

So after these companies mess up I am supposed to then pay them for services not received or desired or face the dreaded “collection agency demons” as the only alternative. That’s not service, that’s extortion.

One thing to be careful of is the difference between the call centre experience and the resolution of an issue.

While we all have issues (some lasting far too long and costing us much grief) what CBC has tried to do is measure the ability to navigate a customer service phone system.

Information on a specific problem was provided to give a reason for phoning the call centre, not to track how quickly the issue was resolved.

Reading through the posts, many of the problems described weren't in the process of trying to reach someone, but to resolve an outstanding issue.

I agree that some customer service phone centres are better than others and I was quite interested to see the comparisons between different companies. There are certainly some features they mention that I would love to have more available (turn the muzak OFF!).

On a side note, the most interesting option I have ever heard is for a duck quack. One company had their voicemail greeting (press 1 for...) set up with an option to hear a duck quack. Such a change of pace from your standard menu!

You didn't mention hospitals in your survey, i.e. making an exam appointment. Our local hospital old and new have atrocious service. My wife called yesterday,midday,and was on hold for 20 minutes.

When she complained, the operator said, "Oh, that's good, some people wait 30 minutes"

I rest my case.

It's really no surprise to see that Bell Canada seems to come up a lot in the minds of consumers as an awful, awful company.

Even though I no longer subscribe to Bell for anything, they have even frustrated my attempts at getting new service with Rogers. Because, you see, Bell owns all the phone lines. And new service, regardless of who you're getting it from, has to go through Bell eventually.

Emily @ Bell Canada has to be the most annoying voice / recording I have ever encountered. It is very frustrating and very slow dealing with Bell. Customer Service excellence is certainly not important to them.

I am shocked to hear that CBC rated Sears as having the best customer service. I find it impossible to believe that any company could be worse than Sears.

I tried for about a year to get satisfactory customer service from Sears after an improperly installed dishwasher caused a leak in my house. Sears took no ownership and blamed a "subcontractor".

It was an endless loop of being transfered from department to department, only to end up at the same department that I started at. A year later I gave up!

Now I tell everyone I meet that they should use small, local companies rather than big ones like Sears.

Do you know what really grates?

Have you ever tryed claiming one of those rebates? This is a real scam since they make it so difficult that the majority of customers never receive their rebates.

I'd like to know if anyone has ever received a rebate from Norton. I've tried three times and never succeeded. Even after me following ths instructions meticulously, they inevitably ask for a non-existing document. For example, store proof-of-purchase when I purchased the product on-line!

My experiences are all duplicated in the previous comments. I have found it useful to hit "0" as soon as I am connected and then I actually talk to a person who will redirect my call.

Of course, "Customer Service" is not limited to the telephone. I am sure we all have horror stories to tell about restaurants, retailers, etc. Customer service here in the U.S. is amazing and retail personnel will actually treat you like royalty.

I question the validity of the survey in regards to the two government agencies called. Both (NSL and CRA) received skewed numbers because they didn't have 7/24 service. (At least one of the three calls to each agency received zeroes on various criteria because of this.)

While 7/24 is fine (and expected) in the private sector, they are motivated by profit, and staffing is based on a profit model. The government pays its staff with tax dollars, and I can imagine the caterwauling that would occur if money (tax dollars) were requested to add weekend staff to the customer service lines.

First thing - hats off to CBC for doing this - customer service is where many organizations have a turn-over rate so high that finding someone who knows anything or has any authority is like winning the lottery.

I abandoned B(h)ell over two years ago as soon as Rogers came out with their home phone service and I will never look back.

I was moving and had arranged for all of my services to be provided through Bell several months before my move and was told that everything would be done as requested - and to make it even sweeter for bell, I was buying additional services.

The only service they installed was the satellite dish... after numerous calls of 30 minutes to 2 hours each, I was told that it would take at least 1 month and likely longer to install my home phone service - can you imagine having no phone for over a month in 2005! The entire time I was told, technician so-and-so was installing it in a day, etc... on and on... all of it untrue.

They offered no apology, said that I had to call each Bell 'company' individually to correct this situation - yes, you could order anything through one call - but cancelling - NO!

I cancelled all my B(h)ell services and will never purchase anything from them again. Thank God for deregulation in the phone industry and opening to other providers!
There was a quote from M. Sabia back in 2006 I believe stating that he was not concerned about losing customers, becuase they were 'low value' customers anyway.

That is the starting point for Bell service - as shown in the other posts here - like two months to fix a problem... can we say dumb and dumber? (Yes I was frustrated, by now I only have a slight tick :)

These days "telephone service" is an oxymoron. Nothing in life irks me more than the lack of customer service in Canada especially when it comes to telephoning a business. I worked hard all my life for the service industry and can recognize good customer service when it presents itself.

In the old days we measured customer service. Today it would be much easier to measure customer disservice. I am not surprised by the results of your "How May I Help You". The results seem consistant with my own experience over the years.

I don't understand how telecommunication companies can be consistantly bad at telephone service, or should I say good at telephone disservice.

I attempt to patronize businesses that make an effort to deliver exceptional customer service. I feel by doing this I can snuff out disservice. I believe as a customer, (the one that is giving my money to someone else), I am entitled to receive the best. As a customer, my time is more valuable than a representative from a business trying to compete for my hard earned dollar.

The other day I actually called somewhere and got a real person!!
Wow!!

And I guess it was lucky for them because I will no longer deal with those companies that do not have live people on the phone or with a company that uses a call center!
Because the person on the other end was real,I made a purchase.

Wake up people!
We are the consumer and they need us a lot!
We DO NOT need to put up with that robotic drivel that tells us what buttons to push!

Notice many of them always use the line.."in order to serve you better"..ya right!

I shop on line a fair but, and if you want my business,I want real people answering the phone!
And the company that had a real person?
SEARS!!

I must say that ROGERS has the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE - their Customer Care representatives have no skills, they make no effort to listen to customers' problems or issues and have literally zero communication skills! I suggest Rogers to stop spending so much money on advertising their new products and channel it to train their customer service representatives.

It's just a matter of time when big names enter the competition and Rogers will go in oblivion.

I transferred to Rogers from Bell because I got Emily now I get another disembodied voice.

I have given up trying to get though to their computer help line. I cannot afford to sit on the phone listening to their ads for a half hour or more. The worst ecxperience was when the computer service went off for a period of time.

I disembodied voice informed me of this when I phoned. Problem was that when the problem was fixed they forgot to change their automated phone message. When I first got my computer I had a computer phone line with AOL and got very good service. Wait times were few and their people were helpful and polite.

I moved into an apartment where the phone line was connected to the door opening procedure so I switch to cable. Big mistake. I wish I could get the same service I got from AOL but I cannot face the frustrations of trying to find a way to change my computer service.

I also do not want to tie up my phone when using my computer.

I find most of the automated customer "service" systems to be annoying. This is espescially true if you have a problem. I once encountered this with Royal Bank when all of my accounts were suddenly frozen for no apparent reason.

I had no cash, it was Friday afternoon, Monaday was a holiday and for the life of me I couldn't get a live person on the phone. Once I did, she transferred me to another section where I got - you guessed it - another automated thing.

It took several hours and cost me my Friday afternoon plans of lounging by the pool with my fiance and some nice slushy drinks, but it obviously had to be fixed immediately, so I had no choice.

My fiance was not happy - nor was I.

Having said that, Royal Bank's system is actually pretty easy to use if its just routine stuff. But if its a problem that doesn't fit neatly into category A, B, or C -forget it. Its a nightmare! Same can be said for most of these systems I think.

Oh, and please, please, please - if you're going to locate the call center in India, at least screen the employees to be sure they actually speak english.

Getting a live person ob the phone isn't much help if they don't understand you and you don't understand them.

"One thing I find particularly funny when talking to a obviously outsourced customer service rep is that they say their 'spiel' with an accent you can hardly understand followed by telling your there 'name' (i.e. 'John') in perfect English. Laughable!"

I sometimes got that when phoning Dell's technical support and having my call forwarded to India's one and only call center. Too bad they don't know much over there and are generally useless. No wonder Dell was forced to shift some of its technical support back to North America.

Still being fairly new to the computer age[1 1/2 years]we moved from Simcoe to Woodstock.

Transferring my phone was a big pain in the ass with Bell.

We had the internet but no internet service.

Me being a green horn thought maybe my connection line was too long.

They sent someone out[a technician]that cost me 100.00 to find out they had me on the wrong hook up!

I was on high speed and they had me on ultra speed.

We moved to a better place back in May and my computer does not act like it did when the technician came out,really quick.

Is it possible they screwed it up again?

Any ideas anyone?

I hate Emily and I usually can't understand the person from Sympatico either.

I can remember not too long ago talking to them when my internet didn;t work to find out it was not working in 5 other cities but I didn't get any rebate for no service and I imagine neither did anyone else.

I too applaud CBC for this most important subject. How many of us stop the complaint process due to the hassles of doing so?

I most recently have had major customer service problems with Dell - by computer and phone.

This company does not stand behind it's equipment when faulty - sales reps are a nuisance because they are required to sell you all kinds of things you don't really need - the customer service reps have accents that are hard to understand (because the call centres can be anywhere in the world) - and the complaint process is most annoying as they truly don't care about their customers once they have your money.
I remember these companies - and stop using them and spread the story - from phone companies - to banks - to computers - to......etc.

The National Student Loan Centre has some of the most aggravating phone representatives in this country.

In a recent call, I advised the person I spoke with that documentation had been sent to them concerning my daughter's student loan.

This person was aggressive and rude, insisting that if they didn't have it, it was my daughter's fault. When I offered to re-send the document, I was told that they would not 'back date' a file.

I explained that I wasn't asking for 'back dating' but rather that the file accurately represent enrollment dates. When I suggested that perhaps the information had been omitted from my daughter's file, I was told that it wasn't possible.

At this point, the dialogue broke down as it's impossible to reason with someone who insists they cannot be wrong! What the National Student Loan Centre seems to forget is that it's LENDING students money, not giving them gifts; students are their customers. Without them, they would not exist.

The confrontational attitude was a common factor in any call. My daughter has found dealing with them to be very upsetting due to the 'guilty until proven innocent' attitude of their phone representatives.

I work in the technology business and I have upon occasion, called various manufacturers and service providers to see how their customer service is. I am always amazed at how courteous and patient the individuals are from offshore call centres.

North American call centres are generally good as well. We as customers have to remember that to get respect, we have to also show respect to these people. Having said that, the problem with call centres is not so much the individuals as the training they receive.

I understand some call centres have turnover of like 100% or higher in any given year. No doubt that is due to the low pay, unruly work conditions and generally almost always irate customers.

I just wish companies would invest more money into their customer service and that they would follow through on their execution, which invariably always is something like 'we value every customer's business'.

I have found that many companies have telephone software where the default condition is that someone alive actually answers the phone. Phone the number and when the system picks it up, say or do nothing and you may find that after some time an actual person does answer.

Yesterday I phoned a large communication company based in Toronto. Just after I dialed I heard, “Hello, this is ------ and my name is Marilyn. How may I help you?” It was a live person waiting for my response. I was in such shock that I forgot why I was phoning.

Canadian 'customer service' is the reason my family and I have been shopping the US for years, all from the comfort of our home. First by phone, now on-line, we know how it feels to be treated as a truly valued customer.

Sorry Canadian business, but our money will continue to go south, joining tens of thousands of its fellows that have preceeded it. You would have to try so very much harder to even tempt us to consider shopping at home, that I truly believe it is a lost cause.

A quick comment to all Canadian 'customer service' personnel - if you hate your job so much, quit and give us (and your company) some peace. To companies who either have no clue what their 'customer service' personnel are doing, or choose to ignore it, wake up and smell the coffee - it's costing you BIG!

And for customers who continue to put up with bad service, get over it. You choose not to speak up, not to complain, not to push, not to talk with your wallets. You simple get what you deserve.

And as for Bell's Emily, who's interested in starting a "Annihilate Emily" campaign? I'll pay big money to the 'hit man' if I can't find time to do her myself!

I've had running battles with Rogers (after refusing to use Bell anymore), and it still boggles my mind that Air Canada charges you more for a ticket if you buy it over the phone instead of on-line -- it must be the only company in the world that charges you a penalty to buy its product.

As for good service, I've always been pleasantly surprised by TD Gold Visa's Travel Rewards Centre. Although you're usually talking to someone in India, that can helpful if you're looking for advice about a trip to Goa, say.

But the worst, for me, are those companies that don't even have a phone number you can call -- they don't even give you the chance to shout at someone, which is really all we're looking for.

For instance: My wife and I, on three successive visits, ended up with something rotten from the Real Canadian Superstore up here. The third time, it was a loaf of Dempsters bread riddled with green fuzz. Of course, for both RCS and Dempsters, you're only option is to "contact us" on-line.

My wife and I each dropped emails into the soul-less vortex of cyberspace, saying we weren't happy with the bread that was working its way across the kitchen counter like an inch worm. No reply from either company, and no more business from us.

"Thank you for calling 911 emergency, for service in English pr..." *beeeep*

"If your house if burning down, press 1, If you are being murdered press 2..." *beeeeep*

"If you know the name of the assailant, press 1..." frustrated, you hit 0 to speak to a representative...

"We're sorry, you have pressed an invalid selection.... thank you for calling 911 emergency, for service in English, press 1..."

OK, while that hopefully would never happen with 911, getting through that system is half the battle. Even worse...

"Please say the language in which you prefer service."

"English"

"... did you say... 'Flemish'?"

I was once a 1-800 phone rep for CRA on the general enquiries line and when I'd answer the phone, the clients would exclaim in relief that they were happy than a human being answered the phone. Not anymore though. Have you HEARD the CRA 1-800 phone guy's voice?? He sounds like Ben Stein on valium!

I am applauding the CBC's efforts to highlight the state of customer service in Canada. I'd like to suggest that the next phase of the study focus on how well companies respond to e-mail requests (if you think call centre service is bad, try getting an e-mail answered).

Then, perhaps a story highlighting the most effective web self-serve sites, and the efforts companies put in to not having to have their customers contact them at all.

That is, their service just works and few call or e-mail to request service.

Keep it up.

One thing I find particularly funny when talking to a obviously outsourced customer service rep is that they say their 'spiel' with an accent you can hardly understand followed by telling your there 'name' (i.e. 'John') in perfect English. Laughable!

My spouse just swears and is usually transferred to the so called customer servives rep more quickly. 'Emily' cannot 'recognise what he has said'!

The layer upon layers of automated telephone 'red and frustrating tape', Oh ... and don't forget the monitoring bit. " Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes" A feeble attempt to ward off caller anger and/or frustration.... I believe.

Here's another example bureaucracy at its finest.
A telemarketing call is received daily. You never get to speak with anyone because their automated dialler rings up about 50 numbers in unison. So you call back the exchange and ask that your number be removed from their system.

"We can't remove your number or stop calling, because we're acting on behalf of a third party. You'll have to call them (Toronto Hydro) and request they stop the automated telephone messages to your residence"

That my friends is pure, unadulterated frustration. Service personal no longer exist.

Like the majority of todays consumer products and services, quality is the lesser in the sales promotion.

After reading these comments, I'm glad I live in Thunder Bay.

Shaw Cable, T.Bay Tel(ephone) and Thunder Bay Hydro all have easy to follow prompts that connect you quickly to friendly, knowledgable people who either solve your problem or dispatch someone for physical problems.

Too bad there aren't many jobs available so more people could move here and enjoy good service.

I was with IGS Cyberus internet. THey were bought by 3 WEB. The service was good until I went to move.

After I bought a house with my girlfriend I arranged for a service transfer to a new phone number. I was promised an activation date which came and passed with no internet service. 5 promised dates later I still had no internet.

At the same time I was incorrectly billed for 6 months (undercharged) and when they sent me a bill stamped PAST DUE I called and paid them immediately. They then promptly double charged my card. I was never refunded the second bill.

What's even worse is I called easily twenty times, spoke with people who had not idea, the notes they placed on my account were inconsistent, they would not transfer me to a manager and even after I wrote a letter received no follow up.

They will NEVER get my business and I make it a point to tell as many people as I can.

When I moved from Montreal to Belleville I tried to get my Bell ExpressVu (satellite) and sympatico transferred. Over a period of 2 weeks and many calls I was not able to reach an attendent - typically waited on hold for 20 minutes before giving up.

Finally I called Cogeco cable and in 5 minutes was signed up for cable TV and internet which was connected in 2 days.

Bell lost my business because of Customer service and I will never go back.

So I agree with your high ranking of Cogeco but I am really surprised that there is actually worse Customer Service than Bell out there.

Bell Canada's customer service is unquestionably the worst in all of Canada.

"Emily" can never understand the words I'm trying to say and never directs me to an operator.

I cancelled my service with them a long time ago and don't plan on going back.

Moreover, anybody else find that Canadian customer service in general is terrible?

We went down to the US shopping recently and the customer service was astonishing. They actually want your business down there!

Up here, we have snotty, sarcastic, know-it-all people that don't have the time of day for you. How many times have you needed help in a store and seen 4 or 5 workers standing around goofing off?

No matter though, we are now doing all our shopping in the US and I can't wait until Midnight Madness tonight!

Go Loonie Go!!!

I made a point to read this article when I heard about it on the radio this morning, because I was particularly interested in how Bell Canada ranked.

Bell's service is terrible. The worst. I don't know how it ranked where it did on your survey.

Obviously whoever was calling didn't have a real phone line, because if you were inquiring about a real problem they would have flubbed it.

"Emily" often mistakes words and transfers you through to the wrong subdivision (eg: you wanted Mobility, they gave you Sympatico), and then you have to start all over again because the different divisions can't speak with each other or transfer your calls across.

I could go on for pages about the problems I've had with them.

Like the reader above, they erased my account, told me repeatedly I didn't have one - but can't explain why they continued to charged me for a line and why my service continued to come through.

I have bell sympatico for couple of years now. My internet stopped working on 14th august this year and it took them two months and two weeks to fix them.

The root cause was my account was deleted. I spent about 2hrs almost every two days for the entire 10 weeks. Bell should be improved.

Calling Telus for internet help: after about a four-button push dance, I received a human. I clearly stated my problem and politely stated that I needed it solved. The word "please" seems to have some kind of effect. The employee asked me some pointed, sequenced questions then asked me to wait a moment. I did. Problem solved.

Dell, on the other hand, was responded by someone whose English was absolutely incomprehensible. I apologized for him, hung up, and after speaking face-to-face with computer geek friends, solved my problem.

With Telus, I've learned to wait until evening hours, if possible. I'm also told by Telus employees, that soon help line calls will be going off-shore if they haven't already. Then I suspect the communication problem will rear its ugly head.

I generally don't mind the automated systems for most companies, but what does bug me are the stall tactics. For example;

1) "Our menu has changed. Please listen to all options before selecting." This is a regular line a call and the menu has not changed in several months.

2) "We are experiencing high call volumes. Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line for the first available representative."

I believe high call volumes at mid-day when there are clearly network problems. What I don't believe is at 5am in the morning. It must be a code message for "We've gone for coffee."

3) "To serve you better, please enter your phone number with area code." This is a Bell message.

What bugs me is that the first thing the service rep asks for when the finally answer the phone is your number beginning with the area code. Shouldn't their call pickup system already show this.

Allan in Kamloops...you need to show me how you "calmly slam" a phone down.

For those that have constant problems getting financial resolution from Bell. You're best bet is to place a call to the Ombudsman at the CRTC.

A friend finally did this after 2 months of dead ends. Within 2 hours, a VP at Bell called him back and stayed on the line while the accounting department corrected the billing. Sometimes you have to push and push hard.

Besides hating Bell's Emily, I have trouble with it because somedays I have trouble enounciating words properly, I hate the government's systems more.

We have had the same experience as Allan of Kamloop's with the telemarketers.

Personally I would like to know how they know your number if it is private and unlisted.

If your business is so important, then why can you be held on a phone system for up to an hour to get a LIVE person, only to get discconnected when they transfer you to another department?

Call back and you have to go through the same hassle again.

I would like to see live people again. I don't find the computer age as helpful as they promoted it back in the 1980s.

I've had a few bad experiences speaking to call centers outsourced in different countries.

Either the phone lines are bad or their hands are tied and they can only do certain requests for you.

To fix that, I have been choosing "French" in the automated system and this usually gets someone in Canada that is an employee rather than a contractor in another country.

It has saved me a few headaches.

In September, 2005, my Internet service with Bell Sympatico was abruptly cut off.

After three weeks of calling their support line, talking with an endless parade of know-nothings whose only purpose is to transfer you to another know-nothing, and constantly receiving promises of restored service, I learned that Bell had "accidentally" DELETED my account.

2 weeks later, after still no Internet service, I switched to Rogers.

When I received my last bill, it showed that I had been charged for service during the month of September, when I was given none.

More repeated phone call to their customer service lines resulted in vague promises that the matter would be cleared up.

Fast forward more than a year later, and I'm getting calls from collection agencies on behalf of Bell Canada for the service that their utterly incompetent company was unable to provide. It took a month of calling Bell, and receiving threatening calls from their collection agency before the matter was finally settled.

Bell Canada and everything associated with it should be audited immediately by whatever consumer watchdogs there are in this country, because it has been robbing all of us blind. It will be a cold, cold day in hell before Bell Canada ever gets another penny from me.

My biggest complaint with business is getting caught in their automated telephone systems.

You often need to artfully navigate the system only to be placed on interminable hold.

I'd love to go back to the days where human beings were your first point-of-contact.

I've had to call Bell about problems with my line and they've mostly been good about it, although yes I've had to go through many menus of automated service however I do eventually get a person.

When I do get through, I ask the person where they are, and they replied "I'm in India". Seems that all the customer service calls get routed through a call center there.

Sometimes I can't even understand the person his accent is so hard and it doesn't help when the line is fuzzy or the volume is quiet. Even when I've had to call the 407, they've contracted their business out of town as well.

I would rather talk to a person and I's also rather talk to a customer service representative who resides in my own country.

Seems to me that we're selling our country short of employment.

Yes I do and it's positive, sort of.

I've been getting telemarketing calls from some outfit that wants me to take out a credit card.

The call starts as a recording and tells you to punch one to talk to a live someone or three to "never be called again." Not a hard choice, I thought.

I press 3 and get dead air then like magic the message launches once more. Same thing, same result so I calmly slam the phone down.

It rings almost as quickly so I pick it up hoping I can relate this lunacy to a friend I expect is calling.

No, its that happy face voice again promising to cut my interest rates, only this time its on my ansering system and try as I might I can't delete it. I start freaking, thinking I'm doomed. That recorded voice is just too optimistic, too sweet and too repetitive for me.

Then I determine "I've had enough and I'm not going to take anymore" so I call my phone company, which, surprise of surprises, now has it's first a customer service line since Alex Bell was a kid.

Now I'm a cynic about phone companies, having had my share of verbal battles with them. But this time a get a nice polite young man who advises that when the message starts again to hit the three button twice rapidly and then use the delete button.

It works! But then, my phone rings again as I feel my blood pressure climbing. Somehow I've been linked back to the Customer service guy who tells me he's never had a call bounce back. I don't care I tell him, the beast is gone.

We share a chuckle.

As children we were told Customer is the actual employee. If your customer is not treated well, the company will go down and so will you.

As adults it was mandatory for few exclusive companies to train their staff in Customer Service. We had to graduate with good grades to continue with our jobs.

However, Customer Service with most major companies as with few Visa Posts around the world is seen as 'trying to hold back people' rather than offering them their services. Delay tactics is how I see it.

The companies are doing very well, but they do not have enough budget to hire people to answer their phones.

Sadly even customers are taken for granted. Who needs them when sales are generated by monopolizing the markets, offering cheap sub- standard products?

Current Customer Service at most institution is as poor at their sub-standard goods and services. It has become the 'accepted custom' of Customer Services.