Feedback on Telus Tech Support

[bimmerdriver]

This post will be in three parts, because there is a 2100 character limit.

Part 1 of 3.

This feedback is from a few months ago. I'm finally getting around to posting it. Below is more or less how things transpired, based on my recollection.

I've been a Telus customer for many years, starting with a landline, then dial-up internet, then VDSL / Optik and currently PureFibre / Optik. I'm technically inclined. I've been through a lot over the years, due to aging copper in my neighborhood. The switch from copper to fibre was also painful. There were initially a lot of problems with all of the equipment, especially with the PVR and STBs, but after around 6 months of tech visits, it started working properly.

Over the time that we've been on fibre, we haven't had a single problem with the landlines (we have two). However, last fall, we started noticing occasional brief internet drop-outs, as well as calls dropping on both landlines. I wanted to be sure the problems weren't with the cordless phones, so I spent some time using a wired phone to confirm it wasn't the cordless phones. It took a while before I was able to confirm the service drop-outs were all related. I was on the phone and using my computer at the same time when the landline and internet both dropped out at exactly the same time. Since we have two landlines, we have an ONT, so the only point of commonality is from the ONT back to Telus. Also, I have my own router connected to port one of the NAH, which is bridged.

[bimmerdriver]

Part 2 of 3.

I called Telus and was put through to "tech support". The person had a set list of steps to follow which included performing a factory reset on the "modem". I have an ONT and an NH20T, so in my case, the ONT is the "modem". I explained this to the person, who seemed to not understand what I was talking about, even though he insisted that he did. He insisted on doing a factory reset of the NAH, which I explained was a waste of everyone's time. He maintained that he had to do this, so I disconnected my router from the NAH and let him proceed. The problem was intermittent, so there was no way to prove it made no difference until it happened again. The person noted in my file that if the problem reoccurred, they would send a tech to my home.

It didn't take long for it to happen again, so I called tech support again. The person I was connected with was located in India and he could barely speak English. I explained that there was a note in the file that if the problem reoccurred, Telus was going to dispatch a tech. I don't know if he reviewed the file or if he could even access it, but he completely ignored that this was the second time I was on the phone about this problem and reassured me he would fix it, even though clearly had zero clue what he was talking about. He asked me for permission to "factory reset the modem". I asked him what he was referring to, because I have an ONT and an NH20T. He didn't seem to understand I have an ONT was, but he insisted on doing a factory reset of the "modem". I told him I didn't want to reset the NAH, because I have port 1 bridged and if I didn't disconnect my router from it, there would be problems with my devices. I told him that I was okay with him doing a factory reset on the ONT, if that was what he was going to do, assuming it is even possible, which I doubt.

[bimmerdriver]

Part 3 of 3.

He ended up performing a factory reset on my NAH. Of course, this accomplished nothing other than screwing up the devices on my LAN and I told him how pissed off I was for doing what I specifically forbade him from doing. He insisted that doing a factory reset on the "modem" would fix the problem, which he blamed on my WiFi, which makes no sense to anyone with a clue. When I explained to him that the WiFi couldn't possibly have anything to do with the problem because I have an ONT, he told me he was putting in an order to have my landline moved to my NAH. I told him that was impossible because I have two landlines. I forbade him from doing anything else and demanded that he escalate the call.

The call was escalated to the loyalty department. I told them how pissed off I was at the incompetent tech support. They apologized and dispatched a tech to my house. The tech checked the fibre and reterminated it because the levels were too low. He also called someone in the back office who confirmed what I expected, which is that the problem was related to the ONT. It turns out that Telus had reprovisioned my service late last fall and changed a single bit in the configuration, which caused the problem.

Since the tech was at my house, the problem hasn't happened again.

There is no excuse for Telus providing such terrible and incompetent overseas tech support. I'm sure the call-centre in India is cheap, but it's disrespectful to inflict such incompetent people with ZERO clue what they are doing and who can't even speak proper English, on your customers. If you used competent local tech support, problems could be solved more quickly without putting customers through h*ll.

[Rocky3]

Are you saying that tech support international was making a repair to your system assuming is was cable without checking to see it is fibre?

[bimmerdriver]

Both times, they didn't understand I have an ONT with two landlines and an NAH, rather than fibre directly into an NAH with a single landline.

[TELUS_Support]

Glad to hear our technician was able to resolve the issue for you. By all means let us know if you experience any further issues with these services and we can investigate.

[bimmerdriver]

I'm glad I was finally able to be put in contact with a local person who is competent and speaks English. I should not have had to spend literally hours on the phone both on hold and on the phone trying to have conversations with people who are clueless and can't speak English. I have no problem with overseas call centers as long as they are properly trained and they can speak English. I know they exist, because I've talked with them before. However, recent experience is that the quality of your overseas "tech support" has collapsed. The don't know enough about the product to be able to provide tech support.