I hate Telus - phone is fubar'd

[Flames0910]

My cell phone is dead, I figured it was a battery and would be a reasonably simple (albeit pricey, apparently $90) problem to fix. Turns out where you plug in the charger is warped (why that would be when I've only used the wall charger and phone charger that came with it is beyond me, ty design i guess)

Anyways, looks like I need a new phone because fixing it would be $250 which is more than this phone is probably even worth.
To replace it is $150 dollars and even if i were to add another 3 years to my contract it would STILL be $150 dollars because they discount it from a higher price (thats ed up) and then I'd be stuck with telus for 4-5 years!

Does anybody know how I could get this solved for cheaper? I wanted to just strangle the guy at the Telus store. $150 to replace a phone thats only 1.5 years old is just ridiculous.
Does anybody on CP have a cheap phone they're not using that I could buy and transfer to my account? (is that even do-able?)
I ing hate Telus.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Phone and ask to speak with their customer retention department. See if they are willing to do anything for you.

[rubecube]

Dude...Telus doesn't make the phones and they do buy them at a higher price and then mark them down based on contracts. All cell phone companies tend to lose money on the hardware, the profits are in the contracts and the features (i.e. voicemail, caller ID, etc).

If you sign a new three year contract it doesn't add on to your current contract, it'll be be three years as of the day you sign it. Have you called the Telus retention team and asked them if they have any refurbished phones? I lost my phone about a year ago and replaced it for around $60 with a refurbished one.

EDIT: Are you still under warranty?

[Fobby]

go to bestbuy and buy a refurb phone. Swap the ESN number online for 10 bucks.

Good luck.

[jayswin]

Phone customer service and really sadly tell them how it was stolen. I've heard they will sometimes help you out if theft was involved.

[BBQorMILDEW]

go to kijiji.com and look for a brand new telus phone with no contract..

[Flames0910]

go to kijiji.com and look for a brand new telus phone with no contract..

not so easy when i'm looking for just a phone. kijiji and craigslist both just have crackberry's and stuff

go to bestbuy and buy a refurb phone. Swap the ESN number online for 10 bucks.

i couldn't find any refurb phones on their website, are they only in store? also what is an esn number/how does one go about doing this?

Dude...Telus doesn't make the phones and they do buy them at a higher price and then mark them down based on contracts. All cell phone companies tend to lose money on the hardware, the profits are in the contracts and the features (i.e. voicemail, caller ID, etc).

i completely understand this. however when a customer comes in who is already on a 3 year contract you generally want to retain that customer. charging them 150 dollars so they can continue using that contract isn't a good way to get them to renew when that time comes.

EDIT: Are you still under warranty?

kinda doubt it, as i said its 1.5 years old and the guy brought up my account and never mentioned it. as near as i can tell on their website all telus gives out is 30 day warranties on new purchases

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by TanguayFan

i completely understand this. however when a customer comes in who is already on a 3 year contract you generally want to retain that customer. charging them 150 dollars so they can continue using that contract isn't a good way to get them to renew when that time comes.

What if you had broken your phone six months in? What exactly is the limit on having Telus replace your phone for you after they've already discounted one once, just so you'll renew? I understand the thought process in wanting a second discount and getting it for nothing because you already have a contract, however the world just doesn't work that way. I'm sure Telus does want to retain their customers, but understand this: If they give you a new phone every 1.5 years and you sign a 3 year contract every time, in 6 years you will have signed 12 years worth of contracts and had 4 free phones...

If you don't like the contract system, buy a phone outright. Buy a Pay and Talk starter kit (keeping in mind you won't get the activation bonus) and throw it on to your account. Cheaper phone that way and, you're not extending your contract at all.

[Flames0910]

What if you had broken your phone six months in? What exactly is the limit on having Telus replace your phone for you after they've already discounted one once, just so you'll renew? I understand the thought process in wanting a second discount and getting it for nothing because you already have a contract, however the world just doesn't work that way. I'm sure Telus does want to retain their customers, but understand this: If they give you a new phone every 1.5 years and you sign a 3 year contract every time, in 6 years you will have signed 12 years worth of contracts and had 4 free phones...

i just want a way to replace my phone that is more reasonable then 150 dollars. i don't need a free replacement, just a reasonable price.
telling me that 150 dollars is the cheapest way to solve this problem does not make me a happy customer. i just need a basic phone, how can that be so expensive??

I'm sure Telus does want to retain their customers, but understand this: If they give you a new phone every 1.5 years and you sign a 3 year contract every time, in 6 years you will have signed 12 years worth of contracts and had 4 free phones...

i would question the ethics of selling a phone that is going to last 1.5 years on a 3 year contract without informing the customer ahead of time.

[wooohooo]

I also understand your frustrations with broken phones. I'm also with Telus and my phone broke less 4 months in. To send it in is free to get fixed but the loaner phone they want to give me... HAH its a joke.

Anyways, the problem moreso lies with CDMA phones since you can't just swap out a sim card. The market is pretty saturated with Sim card phones so its pretty easy to get a replacement unlike CDMA which is linked to the carrier.

[blankall]

What kind of phone do you have now? I was a Telus sales rep for a little over two years so know their system pretty well.

When judging whether or not to give you a new contract, they basically use:

1) how long you've been a Telus mobility customer;
2) how big are your bills; and
3) how good you are at paying your bills

as the criteria for deciding to give an early renewal or not. Obviously if you are only spending 40 bucks a month it doesnt really make sense for them to give you a brand new $300 phone if they have you under contract for another year and a half.

All customers with 6 months or less are guaranteed to get "early renewals". You can get one earlier if you are persistent and meet the standards using the above criteria. Otherwise, the refurbs or pay and talk kits are always the best way to go.

Future shop and Best Buy have:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN for 69.99

Keep in mind the phone only has to last a year. Then you will be eligible for a new contract.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I also understand your frustrations with broken phones. I'm also with Telus and my phone broke less 4 months in. To send it in is free to get fixed but the loaner phone they want to give me... HAH its a joke.

Anyways, the problem moreso lies with CDMA phones since you can't just swap out a sim card. The market is pretty saturated with Sim card phones so its pretty easy to get a replacement unlike CDMA which is linked to the carrier.

not to get too off topic but would you mind explaining the difference a bit? i'm somewhat aware of these two types but i don't completely understand what differences there are between the two.

[Flames0910]

Future shop and Best Buy have:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN for 69.99

Keep in mind the phone only has to last a year. Then you will be eligible for a new contract.

Thanks blankall, I actually noticed that phone a little earlier and you say I would be able to transfer it over? How would I go about doing that, buy the phone at futureshop and then take it into a telus store? I imagine there will be some kind of service fee as well

Also blankall I was wondering if you could explain something for me. I don't understand why when I asked the guy about extending my contract he said the phone would still be 150 dollars even if I added a couple years to my contract with it. He mentioned that the discount would be from 350 but I don't really understand that. If I can buy the phone for 150 without extending my contract why the hell would I buy it at the same price with an extended contract?

[wooohooo]

So basically there are two networks (CDMA and GSM). Bell, Telus and Kuddoooo use CDMA while fido and rogers use GSM.

Now GSM uses something called SIM cards which is something you stick into your phone and the phones reads this and it runs on whatever plan you have. So say your phone breaks or runs out of batteries... simple take it out and stick it into another GSM phone.

However, with CDMA the information is ingrained into the phone so if it breaks or runs out of batteries you're out of luck.

That is why alot of people go with Rogers primarily for the GSM phones and its easier to unlock.

Hope that made sense

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by TanguayFan

i just want a way to replace my phone that is more reasonable then 150 dollars. i don't need a free replacement, just a reasonable price.

So Telus should take the extra cost out of their wallet instead without a guarantee from you that you will remain with them after they shell out that extra money, already on top of the discount they gave you when you originally signed up? Cell phones cost a lot of money to make.

i would question the ethics of selling a phone that is going to last 1.5 years on a 3 year contract without informing the customer ahead of time.

Nobody forced you to sign a 3 year contract, you did it so you get the discount associated with the hardware. There were also discounts on 2 year and 1 year contracts, not to mention that if you buy phone without a contract period Telus still sells it for less than they paid for it. I know plenty of people, myself included, whose phones have lasted 3 years and much longer.

[Flames0910]

what is supposed to be the benefit of CDMA then? or is it just the old standard which telus/bell haven't switched from

[wooohooo]

I'm not entirely sure on this but I believe it has better coverage something to do with the frequency? So out in the boonies Telus and Bell are usually the company of choice.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by TanguayFan

Thanks blankall, I actually noticed that phone a little earlier and you say I would be able to transfer it over? How would I go about doing that, buy the phone at futureshop and then take it into a telus store? I imagine there will be some kind of service fee as well

You can do an ESN swap online at www.mytelusmobility.com (I believe it's $10-15) or you can call Telus and they'll do it for $25. Sometimes, if you get the retention department, you can convince them to do it for free.

[Flames0910]

Nobody forced you to sign a 3 year contract, you did it so you get the discount associated with the hardware. There were also discounts on 2 year and 1 year contracts, not to mention that if you buy phone without a contract period Telus still sells it for less than they paid for it. I know plenty of people, myself included, whose phones have lasted 3 years and much longer.

I was merely speaking to Firefly's hypothetical situation in which a phone is breaking every 1.5 years

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by rubecube

You can do an ESN swap online at www.mytelusmobility.com (I believe it's $10-15) or you can call Telus and they'll do it for $25. Sometimes, if you get the retention department, you can convince them to do it for free.

If you're telling them you're trying to do it online and you're having problems they'll do it for $10. Thats what I did