Customer Service - In Recession

Finally - connected ... I hope everyone had a great long week-end. I'm looking forward to catching up on all the postings I have missed from my wonderful Blogger Friends.

It’s Saturday of a long week-end and of course the sky is overcast and rainy outside. To make things even more interesting the folks over at Bell Mobility– had managed to repair and return my MiFi internet device within a week – (they had estimated it could take 6-8weeks- mine was part of a re-call due to a defect that may cause battery swelling, resulting in malfunction of the device). So after a very horrible week – of ups and downs, frustration, and having been smacked in the face with the ever present fact that I now have to depend on others – primarily Mr. G. – I sat down for some escape time on my computer.


The temporary Turbo Stick was plugged in; in all the commotion of the week I had not felt like dealing with technical matters, which often result in more added frustration when things do not go as they should. Before the accident I would have thought nothing of just exploring and patiently figuring things out on the computer until they worked.

Within a half hour of my Internet escape adventure – a message popped up saying that the Turbo Stick was no longer active. No problem – no panic – the MiFi device had arrived (trying to remain positive) and all I needed to do was uninstall the WiFi and reinstall the MiFi – it had been the reverse to activate the temporary Turbo Stick. I followed the instructions – step by step, successfully uninstalled WiFi and installed MiFi – as I waited for the device to locate a service cell – I went off to make a cup of tea. Upon returning a message had popped up that the SIM card was not activated. Still trying to remain optimistic – I reminded myself all I need to do is call the Client Care number, on the letter Bell sent, and the MiFi would be activated. So I dialed the number provided – 1-800-611-6600 (keep in mind this is a Client Care number – for a product that is used 24/7 by Bell’s clients) –

WRONG!!!! Instead of the usual frustrating Press 1 for ??? Press 2 for ??? I heard an even more frustrating automatic message:

“Thank you for calling our Client Care Department – we are currently closed and we are sorry to have missed your call– Please note that our hours of operation are from 9:00am -7:30pm Monday –Friday - Please call back during regular business hours , Thank you.”

Nowhere on the letter did it mention the Limited - hours or days of operation! It only said “To reactivate your MiFi 2372 device(s), simply call 1-800-611-6600. It’s Saturday of a long week-end, which means that Bell’s Client Care Department will probably be closed on Monday for the Victoria Day holiday. So I will have to go 4 days without any internet access. This may seem like no big deal to some people, but when you rely on something as an escape and means to cope with day to day challenges; it causes much stress and anxiety, just the thought of knowing that it is not accessible.

The Turbo Stick – came with a pre activated SIM – why couldn’t they have sent the repaired MiFi already activated? Why did they deactivate the Turbo Stick before making sure the MiFi was working properly? But then again, Bell deactivated the MiFi system before making sure all Clients had received the temporary Turbo Stick. In some cases people were without Internet service for almost a week, according to the nice Customer Service Rep I had spoken with when I was getting anxious waiting for the temporary Turbo Stick to arrive.

In a time that we are suppose to be in a recession – it seems that Customer Service has also gone into recession. Have you encountered Customer Service challenges? I think I’m going to start a weekly Post devoted to Customer Service – or the lack of. If you have received poor Customer Service or outstanding Customer Service I would love to hear from you – email me your stories, I will post about your good or not so good experience (I respect your privacy and will leave out your name unless you request that it be included. I will be happy to insert a link to your blog/website from the post about your experience – when emailing your experience please add at the end the link you wish it to have included in the post.)

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