Blood Bath (1966) + Bell Canada’s Appalling Customer Service

September 13, 2016 | By

OperationTitian_Ital_posterI’ve uploaded a review of Arrow’s Blood Bath boxed set that features four films tied to a singular production, which the label and film historian Tim Lucas trace in this vivid examination of Roger Corman’s mini-film factory during the 1960s.

Coming very shortly is a review of Ann Marie Fleming’s animated film Window Horses (2016), which premiered at TIFF this past Sunday, plus some audio extracts of the post-screening Q&A with audience members.

Bell is TIFF’s major sponsor, and its name is permanently tied to the TIFF Bell Lightbox cinema building, which gives the company a shining image of an important arts patron. They may be a patron of merit, but in becoming a convergence giant with total vertical integration of producing, releasing, broadcasting, and disseminating entertainment across multiple platforms, they’ve lost touch with their once highly regarded flair for customer service.

I’m now into week 6 since after having moved to a new locale, and Bell’s killed the phone connection again, and I’ve wasted countless hours trying to get to the bottom of why such a large, sophisticated company can’t fix ongoing mistakes that are now literally repeating themselves; and a Blue chip company that has the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced.

What was a straight phone line move scheduled for Aug. 3 still isn’t done – either the internet works, or the phone, but never both for more than 5 days – and their escalation manager, Stefanie 6043086, no longer replies to any requests to finish what’s ostensible one giant cock-up. It also doesn’t help that two scheduled tech visits last week resulted in no-shows, wasting 9 hours of my time. Their 611 tech scheduling hotline is bullshit.

I’ve documented the entire morass of ineptitude in a 3,000 word chronology consisting of day-to-day diary-like entries which I might publish online, because at this stage no one cares to do anything to resolve this disaster.

There have been genuine heroines in figuring out what’s been happening at key stages – only one at Bell; the rest at rival Teksavvy – but this is the biggest mess I’ve ever experienced with Bell, and as much as I admire their technological infrastructure that’s built up the country’s sophisticated telecommunications industry, they’ve completely lost touch with their residential client base, treated them (and me) like bottom-feeders.

My nearly 6 week ordeal with Bell is very different from their “Commitment to Their Customers,” as outlined on their website with pride, and reprinted below with addendums to my own empirical experiences:

 

Delight.

Yes, delight. Simply put, that’s our mission: To delight you with the products, services and customer support that we provide to you every day.

It’s more than just talk. It comes with a commitment. Here it is:

– We will bring you outstanding products and services that can help you in your daily life;  (1)

– We will strive to provide you with the products and services that you want; (2)

– We will remember that technology can be fun, and excite you with creative and useful new product innovations;(3)

– We will strive to ensure that pricing information is presented clearly; (4)

– We will be helpful and courteous in your dealings with us; (5)

– We will strive to be accessible to you through the medium of your choice, whether it be online, in-store or by phone.(6)

 

(1) I haven’t yet received them. If a car works 5 out of 30 days in a month, it’s not a car but a piece of junk.

(2) I can’t call out and receive calls. You’re billing me to power my phone. That isn’t ‘what I want’ nor what you should be charging me $75 + $50 + $40 (new line + phone number move + monthly phone bill).

(3) Your technology is “fun” when it works. When your technicians don’t show up and Stefanie 6043086 ignores my emails and I have to make phone calls from work on my days off, that’s not “fun.” Can I bill you for hours lost, because my time has a monetary value, too.

(4) Are you kidding? You’re also billing me for incomplete services. Shame on you.

(5) Escalation manager Stefanie 6043086 from TM Gene Escalation unilaterally stopped replying to my pleading to resolve the latest bungling by your technicians last week. She’s gone underground. Bell Deep Web. Incommunicado. Besides, silence doesn’t equal courtesy. It’s a cheap maneuver to unload a disaster and let someone else deal with it. The problem is Stefanie 6043086 never forwarded my case to anyone. I’ve been left to rot. Instead I’ve called Teksavvy who are doing your legwork, troubleshooting and problem-solving, and being far more helpful, courteous, and understanding than you’ve ever been. Embarrassed yet? A reseller is besting you.

(6) You’ve rendered me inaccessible by virtue of killing my phone connection. Communicating by chat with Accounts during business hours is a poor substitute for an accessible technological medium. It’s also not my choice. Stefanie 6043086’s emails are signed with “Please communicate only with me and do not call customer service for I do not want anyone interfering with the resolution applied to have your issue finally fixed.”

There’s no resolution in sight because I’ve been cut off by GM Gene Escalation, the elite department that’s supposed to stop missteps from ‘escalating’ into mushroom cloud debacles; to temper tempers by maintaining contact and reciprocating emails; and performing follow-up checks on accounts to ensure scheduled fixes are done right and billing issues are fairly resolved. You know: what Teksavvy’s been doing on your behalf.

Besides: you can’t even call me to rectify the situation because you killed the phone connection. You’re only emailing me bills because no one is taking the time to read the epic details of this debacle and reach out to me so I can resume my business as a media writer & filmmaker, and not spend hours crafting entries & tallies & responses to this mess instead of writing reviews and providing my readers with filmic content (although the blog header seems thematically appropriate).

Congratulations, Bell: you’ve pissed away 27 years of brand loyalty and service.

Regards,

 

 

Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

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