TELUS — Local services in West Jasper Place

*Long review but helpful and with a feedback for improvement I visited Telus west Edmonton 30 December 2023 to get my S23 Ultra activated as it was a win back deal given by the call center (As I moved to Bell and Telus offered a win back). I had the phone picked from 34th Street store and as had to get the data transferred, they advised to activate the phone later. When I visit West Edmonton store, Duong assisted me, he was surprised to see the deal of $55 for 120G (2Gbps speed). He wasn't able to activate the plan hence he spoke to someone on phone and activated $85 plan with no benefits of the win back applied. Though he advised me to talk to the call center as they will apply the same deal. I agreed because I was not aware of the ordeal was about to go through. I called the call center the next day, they confirmed that store has goofed up and now it is the store which can make the changes or rather I have to return the phone and get a new one again. I was angry because it takes a business day to go an pick the phone and transfer the data. I refused to which they explained that it is the store who have the ownership of the account now. The supervisor assured that he will connect with the store team and will guide them to fix the issue. I decided to take an off and visit the store on my birthday, 02nd January 2024. I go to the store, guy sitting at the desk was not at all helpful and clearly stated that it is not his problem (I do not remember his name but I was at the store 01:10 PM) and I will have to return the phone or it will be call center who will fix it. I explained that it is the store who made the changes and even reversed the tax charged at 34th Street. I showed him the contract issued by 34th Street and the new one issued by them. He was not assisting and kept on insisting that it is call center who will resolve. I I was already at the store for like 2 plus hours and In between, I get call from the call center supervisor who asks me to give phone to store representative, which I did. This guy clearly said no to the call center supervisor and was not ready to assist in any way. I wanted to ask about the availability of the store manager and politely asked Dan (guy with beard and spectacles) if I can ask a question? to which he replied "NO, HE IS ASSISTING YOU" pointing at his colleague. He was super rude and aggressive in his response. Still I requested him that I only want to know about the manager's availability. To my surprise, he grabbed the contracts and shouted "I believe you want to be removed from the store" yes you do" and started walking towards the entrance of the store. This behavior was appalling. As not only it was the store's fault but it's TELUS which these guys represent. It was humiliating and that too on your birthday plus you are loosing the day's salary to get insulted on the day you should be celebrating. The guy who was attending us was also shocked. Though it I should have been agitated or should have called 911 for a fraud on you guys but I thought of not wasting anymore time on TELUS and of switching back to BELL. To my surprise, Call center manager assured me that they will escalate the issue internally to get the things sorted in my favor, which they did in 2 days. OWNERSHIP, This is what your store lacks. Now the feedback for the store manager/owner is, I understand that things work different in this country however right of refusal to serve is applicable only and only when customer is rude, abusive or irritated without reason. In this case, I still have both the contracts, it was store's fault and Dan knew it. Instead of being apologetic, he chose to be unprofessional. I know, no action will be taken against him but I understood the level of maturity, product knowledge, customer service and brand value these two reps posses. I hope and wish this review is taken in a positive manner and the team receives the feedback and is sanitized on how to be polite and ready to take...

Update: Changed to 3 stars. One start for each person who helped: the 1st floor manager (took things seriously), the second floor rep (helped with phone), and a call center rep (after hearing my story cancelled my very high bill).

It is a bit of a read, as my story with Telus is a bit lengthy too. This is a review about Telus and two of its stores at WEM.

My experience with Telus was better than average until I had to change my phone in August 2023 (bring it back, corporate (EPP). There are two Telus stores at the West Edmonton Mall: on the main floor and the second floor.

The main floor Telus store left much to be desired, though its manager appeared to be responsive to customer concerns. So, on my first visit, I explained my purpose for being there, but the representative immediately informed me that their system was down for corporate plans and suggested I check online instead to avoid connection fee as well. I was surprised to hear that as I was sure I was not supposed to as per my EPP and I also prefer to see what I am going to buy. So, I returned a week later, assuming the system was back; however, I received the same response. I went to a different mall where Telus representatives were helpful, explained everything about corporate plans and how it worked and confirmed that I did not have to pay connection fee as per my corporate contract, but they had limited stock as they were a small kiosk. They checked WEM and confirmed they had the phone I needed. So, I went back to the main floor Telus store at WEM again, only to hear the same response: "The system is down again" (it became obvious to me they did not want to deal with my request!).

Frustrated, I decided to try the second floor Telus store. Everything was ok with their system. Thankfully, the second-floor Telus store was able to help and its reps were helpful, and I managed to exchange my phone. However, my frustration escalated when I received a bill of $214, and I realized I had been DOUBLE-CHARGED for the CONNECTION FEE, even though it was supposed to be waived for the corporate plan. During the contract signing, the representative assured me it was not included, but it had been. I usually pay attention to what I sign, but this time, I missed it – PLEASE CAREFULLY CHECK what you sign, especially with Telus! I immediately called the store upon receiving the $204 bill, and they promised to take care of the error. I visited the store a few days later, but the issue remained unresolved even after two weeks, until now (will update this review once it is resolved).

To date, I have spent one month, from August 10th to September 13, 2023, trying to change my phone and resolve the payment issue with two Telus stores at WEM. This experience has been frustrating and time- and money-consuming, and it has cost me more money than expected due to overcharge, traveling to WEM and other malls because representatives at WEM did not want to deal with my request.

I am deeply disappointed with Telus and the amount of time and energy I've wasted on this overall. I had initially planned to switch my entire family to Telus, but now I'm counting the days until my contract ends so I can return to my previous provider. I've never encountered such a troublesome experience with any other service provider in the past. While I had different issues with previous providers, they were usually resolved within a week at most. Telus beat them all in “excellent” service provision. I personally cannot recommend Telus as a service provider and would advise against visiting Telus stores at WEM.

Please stay safe and make informed choices when choosing your...

This a review for Telus. I am not reviewing any particular Telus store. This is one of the worst companies I have dealt with in my entire life. What is particularly depressing is the lack of choice we have here in Edmonton for Internet service provider. It seems Telus and Shaw have carved up the neighborhoods among themselves. So, if you are in an area, then you must take the service provider assigned to the area. And over the past 10 years, I have avoided Telus like a plague. Not this time. Both my residential and business Internet can only be provided by Telus. I spoke with one of their customer service personnel. I needed to clarify a few things and make a payment arrangement. He was patronizing and utterly unappreciative of my plight. When I asked him to speak with his supervisor, he told me that it will take up to 48 hours for someone to get back to me. This is about my business account. I also wanted to speak to them about my home account. I had to go through a maze of orders by a robotic voice to key this, dial this, enter this to only end up being reminded that I may have to remain on hold for 45 minutes to speak with a representative. Can you imagine wasting 45 minutes of your life to do this?

Bottom line, I recommend you avoid Telus like a plague if you can help it. I miss my days when I dealt with Shaw. They were relatively reasonable and provided far superior service than Telus. What a horrible company. And God help you if you are late paying your bill. You will be gouged big time...