ARGHHHH!!! TELUS!!!

Here's a story to help you wrap your head around the fact that THINGS ARE NEVER FREE when it's comes to people trying to snag your business!

I signed up for Telus internet last year because they were offering a free IPod Shuffle if you signed a 2-year contract. Before signing this contract, I mentioned that I was potentially moving the following year to Kelowna and asked if the switch-over would be a problem. They assured me that there would be no problems, so I signed up and got my IPod.

I phoned around last week to get all my bills switched to my new address. Telus included, so we wouldn't lose track of any of them. There were no issues.

So I try to install my setup CD for my telus internet again so it would automatically reset my internet address, and immediately encountered problems. I called the C.S. line and found out from C.S. Person #1 that the Kelowna area had NO available ports for an internet hookup. AFter discussing the problem with #1 (being offered dial-up, which wasn't going to happen), he advised me to find another provider and cancel my account with them if I found one. So I went out to Shaw, got an amazing internet/cable deal for students (ask for it if you're still in Uni!!!), came back to the house and called Telus to tell them that I found other services and that they would have to cancel my contract.

I was then informed that I would be charged $120 for my contract cancellation. So I told them that it was THEIR fault that the contract was being cancelled and that I wasn't paying a fee for THEM defaulting on the contract. They tried to tell me that the actual cancellation fee was $240 and that they were discounting that fee by half because it was their fault, but since they sent me the gift (IPod), I would be charged for that gift and this was standard policy and it didn't matter WHO defaulted on the contract! Needless to say, I started getting a little upset.

After telling the girl that such a policy was absurd and that I wasn't paying it, she tried to tell me that the "gift" was worth $300!!! I came back and told her it was worth $80, and she tried to tell me I'm wrong. I proceeded to call her on it, since you can get a brand new Shuffle for $79! I definitely called her a liar and told her that she had no idea what the hell she was talking about. I then told them I would just send back the IPod because I didn't care that much about it and they could have their bloody gift back. THEN, she told me that they can't take them back because of CRTC regulations! Obviously B.S. She also kept repeating the phrase "We gave you a free gift"... my reply was, "If it's FREE, then I DON'T PAY FOR IT! By making me PAY the $120 fee, I was PAYING FOR IT! And that was unacceptable." So I told her to credit my account another way and she told me that there was no way to do that. I then asked to talk to her Manager and she told me that she had talked to her manager and she said the same thing. I asked again, and suddenly the manager was nowhere to be found. I then told her that I wasn't satisfied and wasn't paying anything and that her manager could call me. She said that she would in 24-48 hours, so I left the house for a bit to cool off. The manager called back and left a message for me to call her long distance (knowing that I had cancelled my long distance and went with another carrier), or that she would call me back Tuesday. She's going to have to call Tuesday, because she's the one picking up any costs for that phone call.

T's not happy, and I do feel bad about yelling at the last C.S. agent I talked to, but two things they should never do to me: lie to me, and try to rip me off. I may get screwed once in a while, but I'll kick up a fuss if I ever figure out someone's trying to do it. THe moral of this story is that nothing's free. DON'T GET SCREWED BY TELUS!!!!

- T