Cellphone Bill Secrets: How to Get a Better Plan (CBC Marketplace)

this is marketplace cellphone bills gone wild why is it costing us that much insiders share their tricks can be put in a warm trench for you it's the people versus the cell phone company's mission accomplished you can't afford to miss this it's your marketplace okay.you passion we're setting up our very own call center three customers are about to take on the big three cell phone companies it's a call center challenge no-nonsense Nancy's ready to rumble with Rodgers says they're refusing to replace her dog of a phone I'm usually not one for conflict but this one just pushed me to the edge Darren's duking it out with Bell he feels tricked into a deal too good to be true and now he wants his money back my message to Bell is I'm coming back to try again this Italian mom is taking on Talent this is outrageous to keep Maria's business they're gonna have to make her an offer she can't refuse our customers can't solve their problems so we're calling in two of the pros to help them win their battles they have the inside scoop the tips and tricks you need to know hi my name is Ron how can I help you - Ron Finnegan spent years on the cell phone service frontlines thank you for holding this retired rep was a pro and has the proof I won this award for good service and excellent sales Ron's heard all your complaints cell phone providers can do a better job to help make it better he's about to tell all I want to help you the viewer get the best deal you can training professional bill Buster Mohammed hollaby takes on the big three everyday trips for me to customer relations it can be like 40 minutes an hour on home prep one frustrating very frustrating she's worked on the inside selling phones for one of the big guys fed up customers hire him to fight their battles that's just Fiesta he knows the right buttons to push to beat down bills mission accomplished hi Mohammed hi Ron thank you guys so much for coming welcome to our call center thank you so we have our three very frustrated customers they're standing by they're ready to hit the phones sound good sounds good okay so Mohammed you're gonna talk them through this you're gonna help them solve their problems and Ron you're gonna be giving us the scoop fill us in on what's really happening on the other line obscene so let's meet our first caller Nancy Hebert from Mount Hope Ontario come on down this is the phone that causes all my grief Nancy says Rodgers sold her a dud I've just spent two years with a phone that randomly shuts off it's her only phone so she tried to fix the problem pronto so I've talked to the clerks in the Starr agents over the phone I have written a letter to Rogers she says all she's been offered is a used refurbished phone it says your device is new now she's going into cell phone battle mode Rogers do the right thing or I'm walking hi Nancy hi this is Mohammed hi Ron hi nice to meet you so I think you deserve a free phone perfect there shouldn't been any equivalent all once you've demonstrated the phone is defective it should have been replaced all right you go hit that boat okay then you got your back okay thank you testing testing can you hear me yes I can so I'll be occasionally talking into your ear we're good to go we're rolling Nancy doll that foam how can I help you I have been two years in a contract with a phone that shuts off constantly and I want to know whether Rogers is going to do right by me Ron says frontline reps don't have much power when he was taking calls here's all he could offer probably the most that they can give you a credit for is $50 they certainly can't give you a free phone not much power and not much time Roger's raps are rewarded based on how quickly they deal with calls that's why Mohammed strategy is to bypass the front line and ask for customer relations to do that try this ask him if he's gonna warm transfer you are you going to warm transfer me yes I am I need to go and get the money what's a warm transfer it's where he'll actually get the other agent another line and then conference in the calls if you're still this way he will explain what we already know to the next person so she doesn't have to waste her time exactly oh yeah after 11 minutes she gets a warm transfer to customer relations but it's a cold response they need to give me the phone of my choice for $0 and if you can't authorize that for me today could you please put me on hold yet again and get me someone who can make that authorization for me no one at often in Rogers can authorize that true he's plainly lying Nancy asked to speak to a manager can you please escalate this call and put me through to a manager I could but I just want to let you know that the manager will not waive the cost of the phony Mohamed's not buying it and the agent isn't transferring to a manager why wouldn't an agent want to transfer someone to a manager it's not so much that they don't want it's that their instructions are deal with a call and don't transfer it at each level they're gonna try and do whatever they can to stop her from going to a higher level because it is a negative for Kate for the people that transfer the call Ron says part of his performance was based on keeping transfers to a minimum Mohammed says stand your ground Nancy how you feeling right about now I'd like to get off this phone after 46 minutes into the call thanks for your patience but I do have a manager on the line now finally she gets a manager persistence pays off I will adjust the cost of the phone for you as a one-time Trinity yup Nancy got what she wanted a phone for $0 in the end she's saving over $600 I'm going home happy stick with it and you'll get what you deserve thank you you guys ready for another call we're ready okay let's bring in our next caller Maria ouchy from Burnaby BC come on down Maria yah-tchi cell phone is all about family I have five children and three grandchildren another one on the way I've been married for 37 years to the same man I have a relationship with Telus that lasts more than most marriage lasts but she's not feeling a lot of love for Telus these days we are paying far too much 227 228 $245 Maria and her husband used their phones for the basics cannoli we're making canola's as a cannoli shells I don't play games I don't download things doesn't fit my needs nor does it fit my wallet Maria wants the plan changed and her bills slashed tell us let's make this happen hi hi Maria big smile on your face I see you brought some accessories for over 20 years these are some of the phones that I've gotten from them you're a loyal customer that's really important so you know I think today you need to get some discounts on your plan and get pricing that's more reflective of your needs they can update her her pricing to make it much more attractive for her are you ready I've excited I think you're feisty go in there and get him ramped up that's me thanks for calling pellet Maria's account has phones for her her husband and son Mohammed thinks her 200 dollar bill shouldn't be much more than 100 monthly I feel that I'm paying way too much money for our three cellphone Maria gets transferred to the loyalty Department she's on hold for 16 minutes hello Maria then finally a real person yet luring you a plan right yeah I am I am like 20-year loyal customer Mohammed says there's cheaper deals for long-term customers like Maria but those prices aren't advertised if you don't ask they may not tell the police come back with something better than what's offered in market I really want something to really Wow me and to that offered like uh way better than what's in the market so in market is what your new customer would be eligible for it's the prices that are publicized out in the market the out of market plans or the loyalty plans are for tenured customers like Maria I've been with you guys 20 years and I think I deserve something like over the top give me a few moments Maria I'm gonna put you on a quick vote six minutes later I'm real why don't we go okay so what I could do is give you a loyalty discounted rate give you a plan I can give you a plan for 135 oh that's on the savings yeah tell me you deserve better pricing this is standard pricing that's my loyalty deal like what what's what's the last 20 years Ben that is the absolute cheapest I think I'm gonna call my none of us okay stay on the line our cell phone challenge ramps up we're calling in today to either keep our business or move our business ready to hang up on your cell phone company join the live chat with our coach and get advice at cbc.ca slash marketplace marketplace always on call for you cell phone bill buster Mohammed hollaby is about to talk tough with telus I'm gonna speak them on your behalf I'm gonna have to pass the phone on to a friend of mine Maria's having trouble convincing Telus to give her a discount on her pricey plan there's better deals for loyal customers and Mohammed knows the right buttons to push former call center service rep Ron Finnegan is listening in so at this point we're leaving you know 20-year on customer you know in my view should be getting something a little bit better than this I don't have the authority of you know like going lower than I'm offering now that is the absolute cheapest that we have available to offer it can you ask somebody who can do better because you know you're gonna end up using the accounts giving 20 years of business Mohammed says never accept the first offer keep on escalating okay I can definitely add a touch with my support team I can't promise you they'll be able to do it any more than I can right now however I will get some people from my team right thank you okay thank you after holding for over seven minutes well I'm a Dave here in Calgary are you a manager comes on the line so we've been overpaying for years and years and years I really don't want to waste more time on this I'm looking to spend about a hundred and fifteen dollars a month and all three of these lines and we're calling in today to either keep our business or move our business and you know it's your call well I mean as a final and I don't ever want to lose customers don't get me wrong so what are you offering here right now I have something lower I would offer to you I'm sure you and I can figure something out Dave you know a few minutes later the offer please be looking at about a hundred and ten block okay say that again sorry look how exciting is based on almost twenty years with the company here as well certainly would hate to lose you as a customer three agents and seventy-five minutes later Maria gets a deal I am so thrilled I can't believe we got it down that low or ebert with the help of my on it anyway you have to have some basic understanding of what's available in the market first of all right educate yourself educate yourself Maria saves about a thousand dollars a year on her cell bills I will take that I can do this like if I can do it anyone can enjoy those savings ready for another call super excited it's fantastic let's meet our next caller Darren made low from st. Albert Alberta come on down my relationship with bell mobility is currently strained Darren's beef with Bell starts with turbo Stix a gadget that shares his cell data with his computer a bowel rep called him up out of the blue and offered him two for free I asked the representative numerous times so this is it gonna cost extra right I'm not gonna be paying for this right he assured me that wasn't the case sure the sticks were free but Darren says he wasn't told he be charged 30 bucks a month to use them I immediately called Bell and I spoke to a representative assured me that my bill this problem would be corrected in our next bill three years later still no fix he's out of the contract but he's out about a thousand bucks and he wants it all back what can you do it's it's me against a giant corporation I don't have the skills to take on a film myself don't worry Darren help is here hi Darren hello welcome so Muhammad what do you think he's entitled to well he was clearly promised that these were for free with no additional monthly charge he was clearly wrong they told they were going to correct it they didn't he should get his entire money back you're ready to take it on you bet thanks lucky luck Darren thank you I've seen this happen over and over again Ron says Darren's not alone Ron's dealt with customers misled about extra charges on stuff they thought would be totally free I thank you for calling Darren goes through it all again so you total money basket just just the amount I paid for the triple sticks each month for the three years give me two seconds I'm gonna see who I'm getting a touchless for that gonna put you on a very cold I will be right back sir cover the phone mention the fact that somebody promised you a resolution right that's really important yeah thanks a lot hi my name's Khalil Darren's feeling good it's the first time he gets a manager on the line but then comes the offer I have no problem going back three months and crediting you the monthly fees that specificity yeah I was assured and that they were free monthly and and I would really like to get all of my money back the problem that that is that that we don't have any notes of you calling in to you either inquire about it or cancel done work why I absolutely did call and I called several times but after several attempts I gave up I was assured that the first time I called that it would be taken care of on my next bill and it was not that's right even though Darren insists he complained Bell says they had no record of his calls this is just it's nonsense it's a bit odd to me that they have all these detailed notes about when they were put on the plan you're saying yeah and there's no subsequent notice hmm so there are notes on the sale but nothing about Darren's complaint scuse me if you let me finish I don't know why you're cutting me up but I'm not even done talking you will Mohammed top talks score a win this time hold the line hold your ground this is your market place this is just it's nonsense only gonna pass the phone to somebody to speak in here behalf Mohammed hollaby is fighting on behalf of bell customer Darren who feels ripped off he was promised that these sticks would be free monthly there's gonna be no monthly cost for them but there was about a thousand bucks over three years daran hoping muhammad can get him his money back how would you feel this hop in queue let me ask you that question I would have definitely hurt a woman unless we need it after going back and forth for several minutes so he finally gave up and if there was going to be a cancellation fee excuse me if you can let me finish I don't know why you're cutting me up but I'm not even done talking yet you can see anything you off no word no oh you can you can talk go ahead okay well then I want to escalate this call this obviously isn't going anywhere the only way to speak to someone higher than is if you get a call back in that 24 to 48 hours I'm not interested in waiting 24 to 48 hours excuse me I'm not I'm not interested it's within your capability to find me a feasible solution and this isn't acceptable nice try but no movement on the three-month credit worth $90 this is extremely frustrating because they're making it seem like the fault is on you when it isn't Darren's heading home without a deal back in Edmonton bowel please telephone tag with Darren today he's gonna give it another shot oh there we are come on so I'm going to coach Mohammed conferences in from his Ontario office he's not ready to throw in the towel either we're good I'm taking that big deep breath here before I start a supervisor comes on the line well I can definitely dress here concerns today consumers value to soar with bone valued customer how about that off to a good start and guess what she finds one he called it and quiring about the turbo stick well well bell does have a record of Darrin calling in about the turbo sticks there's no information in regards to anything else exactly and and that's what's really frustrating is that nobody left really proper notes on the account like this call sure is different than what Bell said the first time around the problem that that is that they don't have any notes if you call him to you I'd require about it or cancel them when I added up this like a thousand eighty dollars for three years yes he spent a lot of money over it and then it comes this shocker and be honest with you I honestly truly do understand it he's not the only one who sold Rockets Nick seven balls pretenses what did you hear that sold under false pretences old rocket stick 700 pretenses okay great uh so like this is obviously this happened before you've seen this kind of issue before I'm not gonna verify that still with that admission Darrin feels vindicated and seems this supervisor wants to help but says her hands are tied I didn't wanna bring me to get the approval for me to go against what L the other visors and the executive officer is based the ask Belle about the notes on Darrin's calls and that thing about false pretenses they tell us reps do their best to help customers and promote products accurately and they're still not gonna give Darrin a full refund but he's gonna keep fighting Belle I hope you make the right call and reimburse me my money coach Muhammad will stay by his side you need to say farewell for now to one another I hope next time we talk it's on awesome positive monetary gain terms we're gonna keep following this story all right and so until then adios wanna bust your cellphone bills get our cellphone cheat sheet at cbc.ca slash marketplace start dialing so these are the electrodes wiring up doctors what's the longest year we're gonna wait I think close to 24 hours 24 hours straight yeah marathon so much it's just not saying he's falling back asleep

Channel: CBC News

Views: 1,256,898

Rating: 4.7985139 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting, news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, marketplace, cbc marketplace, marketplace cbc, cellphones, cell phones, bills, telecoms, mobile phones, smart phones, smartphones, money, customer service, iphone, samsung, android, phone

Id: gt3DlPDKx_g

Length: 22min 16sec (1336 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 12 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/matafubar]

Well that was frustrating to watch. The only that truly deserved a refund was the last guy who literally got scammed and he didn't get a refund.

[u/Bobby_Booey]

What a complete crock of shit!!! Maria's deal is completely censored. They totally edited out how the guy negotiated from the original offer at 13:05 to the "deal" at 13:15. ...HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU LEAVE THAT OUT??? That's like, the most important fucking thing here.

[u/My_First_Pony]

It's getting to the point where American TV show editing is painful to watch. Way too many pointless sound effects and trivial dramas. Just fucking show us the thing that's happening without using cliches to tell us how to feel.

[u/[deleted]]

What the fuck did I just watch?

[u/wmeiklej]

Some good point in here stretched into a half hour show.

[u/ausmedic]

Remindme!

[u/androto]

The only reason the Bell-sticks were not refunded was because he paid the bill for 3 years straight... Typically these telecommunications companies believe that "payment = consent to the contract/fees". They also only keep recordings for a short period of time, so calling about an issue a year ago will be hard to prove.

[u/davou]

fake as fuck. Would be vilating wiretap laws to record a call like that, airing it would be impossible unless you warn them first, and any rep in a call center would kill the call if you insisted on recording.