Rogers just Doesn't Get It

During my move I had to switch my utilities over to the new address.  In most cases I had to close an account at my old address in Aurora and open a new on in Richmond Hill and this cost me some shekels. 

Rogers was different though.  "Moving is absolutely free" the Rogers Customer Service lady said over the phone when I called to let Rogers know that I wished to move my internet from Aurora to Richmond Hill and inquire as to how to do this.

You would think Rogers would have learned their lesson after their last time screwing up with me (see here and here).  It seems that anytime a change occurs at Rogers with an account the customer ends up screwed.   When Rogers purchased Aurora Cable Internet (the local cable company in Aurora), all the old Aurora Cable Internet subscribers were gradually moved over to the Rogers packages.  This caused technical, billing and customer service issues.  Rogers lost gobs of former Aurora Cable Internet Customers.   In my case, they screwed me twice (signed me up 2 times for the wrong package and then screwed up the bill by charging me an activation fee transferring over to Rogers services because Rogers themselves were ending Aurora Cable Internet service!). 

Fast forward to my move.  Remember the line "Moving is absolutely free" that was fed to me by Rogers Customer Service.  Well soon after I moved into my new home I opened my mailbox to find a bill from Rogers for the usual amount plus a "$14.95" activation fee.  

To say the least, I was seething.  If "Moving is absolutely free" than why are, to borrow a line from Chrisopher Watts,  these asshats charging me an "activation fee"?  Again, the premise of changing anything with Rogers seems to boggle their Customer Service people.   You would think that over the past forty years of serving a large swath of Southern Ontario that Rogers could handle someone moving within their service area and promise "Moving is absoultely free" with a snap of a finger.   Apparently not.

So I called Rogers Customer Service and got their billing department.  I told my story to Lyna in billing (who actually spoke clear English and sounded like she at least resided in Canada).  She put me on hold for less than a minute.  She came back and said the activation fee has been refunded and the new amount of the bill.  I inquired with her if this new amount would show up online by the next day.  She confirmed it was.  I took down Lyna's name on my bill and the date I called in case things got even more interesting.

As a test, I logged in five minutes after hanging up the phone and the new amount showed on my account.  I payed it right away!

Fast forward to Wednesday June 23rd of this past week.  At work I had just come back from lunch when a middle aged asian woman walked into the front office looking for the person who looked after the phone system.  I responded that would be me.

The lady said she was from Rogers and if she could see if I was getting any savings on our phone system.  It seemed like she was one of those electrical sales idiots that Ontarians are having issues with but with phone systems.  As soon as she said she was from Rogers I pounced.

I basically told her I would never give our company's business to Rogers based on my experiences on two different occasions with my Rogers home services and Rogers technology and billing practices. 

In return I got the usual nod and smile "I'm understanding your frustration and I promise this won't happen here" response from her.  She said she would be watching our account very carefully as Rogers Account Manager so these items wouldn't occur.

I looked at her with a dumbfounded look and said that I wish I could believe her but the recent media reports were not in her favour.  I pointed out that Rogers was currently refunding somewhere between three and thirty million dollars in overcharges to current subscribers.

She reassured me that as an Account Manager that she would oversee things to ensure everything was correct.  I told her that perhaps if it was just a case like my own Rogers Residential issues I could possibly let it go.  But I'm sorry when it is a figure in the millions of dollars it seems that not only was it just a Rogers Customer Service billing issue but the billing and customer service incompetance goes all the way up to the management chain. 

At this point I had enough and had work to do.  I got up and proceeded to give the impression I was not interested by trying to head back to work.  She insisted that if I changed my mind I should take her name and number to call her.  She gave me her flyer with her name and number handwritten on it.

After she left I filed this piece of paper in my blue box under my desk.  

Rogers, you've apparently learned absolutely nothing.  As Toronto Star Consumer Columnist Ellen Roseman said on her blog "I’ll watch my bills and wonder if I can trust them again."

The Library Card!

This evening my wife and I headed off to the Richvale Public Library for a little browsing of the DVD collection. 

Rewind to last Wednesday.  We walked over with library bag in hand (my wife has a Richmond Hill Library Card already) and explored the local branch.  I, growing up in Aurora, going to school in Ottawa and living in New York, had never seen such a small branch.  My wife commented that this was the size of library she used to visit a kid.  I didn't mind the size and quickly found a newspaper and a nice little spot to curl up in. 

Fast forward to today.  I was bounding off the walls in the library like a four year old.  I got my Library Card!  A brand new shiny Library Card.  I felt like a million bucks.  Did I borrow anything?  No, I had too much excitement for one day.  But my wife borrowed some DVDs for the weekend we plan on watching tonight.

Nonetheless, sometimes it is the simplist things in life like getting a Library Card that puts a smile on my face.

House Hunting 101: Learning About Different Homes & Terminology

After finding a reputable realtor (in our case Roy Eveleigh), deciding what type of place we wanted (e.g. townhouse, detached, number of bedrooms, etc.) and what our price range was, we were off looking at houses. 

The first house we looked at was in Richmond Hill on Church Street South near the Elgin Barrow Arena.  We looked it over on an open house one Saturday at the end of February.  We learned a lot about older homes in this area.  The main one was older homes tend to have lower ceilings in north west of Major Mackenzie Drive and Yonge Street area (Downtown Richmond Hill).   This house, after visiting the basement, was not for me as really the only thing I could observe down there was it had nice carpeting. 

During late February through March to April 2010 the housing market in our price range was moving quickly.  Literally we would see listings on http://www.mls.ca/, forward them Roy to book appointments.  The time would come to meet Roy to see the places, but we couldn't.  THEY WERE SOLD!  This was frustrating at times.  I believe that in at least one case we were viewing a house and it sold while we were still in it. 

When these appointments fell through due to the property being sold, Roy took advantage of it to book other appointments of houses we might like or to visit properties that were of educational value.   In one case we visited a foreclosure.  The property was located on Roseview Avenue also in the older part of Downtown Richmond Hill.  Roy promised we probably wouldn't be interested in the place but we should see what a typical foreclosure house might look like.  To say the least the place a several issues, everything from the under the kitchen cabinet do it yourselfer wiring for lighting to weird layouts on the second floor were quite evident.  Only one person knows if the renovations inside were up to code, the Chief Building Official for the Town of Richmond Hill!   By my novice eye, I doubted this property would have passed. 

Another interesting learning experience Roy took us on an open house with tenants still living in it on Nahanni Drive.  We left that place feeling sorry for the sellers agent.  The place was a mess and hadn't seen a vacuum or a little Windex in at least two weeks.  What a dump. 

In contrast we saw another home in north Richmond Hill that we actually thought about putting an offer in.  The place was immaculate and very well kept.  The only thing that stopped us in our tracks was on the listing it said it was "tenanted".  Even Roy was surprised that this place was being rented.  As first time homebuyers, as well, we looking for a place that was easy to move into.  Obviously renters were probably not interested in being forced to move out and we could see possible legal bills dancing in our eyes.  So anything tenanted were not interested in seeing. 

There was lots to learn on the home front.  We were glad Roy Eveleigh was along for the ride.  He was very knowledgable in different features of homes (i.e. he is pretty handy when looking at an electical panel).  We also felt comfortable asking him the usual "we are totally new at this..." questions to Roy.  These questions ranged from: "What is broadloom?" (Answer: carpeting that is not of the area rug nature); "What does 'PC' mean on a listing? (Answer: "Price Change").  Roy was very patient with us and answered are numerous questions in simple language with some examples. 

Learning ropes of the real estate industry while searching for a home was an experience in itself. It was great having an experienced real estate agent along for the ride.

Moving Memories

Back in February of this year the entire idea of moving out of my apartment began.  I talked to what would be our agent after church one day about what we needed.  He gave us a couple of business cards to contact mortgage people.  Soon after my wife and I were talking to mortgage brokers and financial advisors.  

Once we became preapproved we went back to our agent, Roy Eveleigh, to figure out our next steps.  We drew up a list of what we were looking for in a place and of course the three most important things: location, location, location.

My wife and I were looking to shorten our commutes.  Since we both work in north Toronto and south York Region we decided something in Richmond Hill would be ideal.  Richmond Hill? Yes it is perfect for us as it is close to both work and accessible to transit into the city (GO Train and VIVA service).  Also, Richmond Hill's housing prices were affordable to us unlike places we saw on http://www.realtor.ca/ in north Toronto.

The road ahead was tough slogging though: open houses, appointments for viewing, strange real estate agents for sellers and much more.   But it was all worth it as I type in my new home feeling satisfied after clearing out five more cardboard boxes of stuff today. 

Of course there is lots more to tell about moving... so stay tuned!

Amongst the Boxes....there is Satisfaction

Well I'm officially moved.  Yesterday, my family and I moved everything from my little apartment in Aurora to Richmond Hill.  In fact, even a day later it is amazing how much stuff I own as look around while typing amongst the boxes. 

But nonetheless I've got a feeling of satisfaction.  Satisfaction that I now own my own place and no longer rent. Satisfaction I looked at around forty to fifty houses with a darn good Real Estate Agent in Roy Eveleigh  Satisfaction in finding a place that reduces my commute to work by just over an hour per day. Satisfaction that the search is finally over.   Satisfaction that in a week every nook and cranny in this place will have seen a vacuum, swiffer, soap, or cloth and will finally be clean!  Satisfaction that perhaps in a week the last of the boxes will have been flattened and the burly recycling man will have trucked it all away.  Satisfaction that for one summer Saturday night I can sleep with the window open and not hear the drunks coming home from the bar yelling obscenities or skateboarders practicing their trade.  Come to think of it, as I sit here in my new home, typing away it is pure satisfaction to hear just the birds chirping and the dull roar of traffic in the background.   Satisfaction overall that this part of my life is finally over.

Now I just have to set up and organize my home life again.  I love doing this part.  The putting things together, the decorating and seeing what has to be purchased.  Today I changed the locks on my house all by myself.  It was simple really,  a couple of Home Depot specials and a little help from an orange aproned expert and I was away to the races while my wife made dinner I set to work. This is really satisfying, to know that, sorry Red Green, the women find me handsome, and they find me handy.

I wonder now, as I sit amongst the boxes, what future satisfaction awaits me in the place.  Only time will tell what satisfaction is ahead.

Some changes again

Over the next little while there may not be weekly blog postings like I normally do.  This is because I'm moving to my new home!  I will be moving to Richmond Hill!  So stay tuned for my adventures in Richmond Hill!  But for now I must pack and get the fine details taken care of. 

Also, I've been forced to moderate comments here on the blog due to spam postings.  It seems I've started to get about two to three weekly that pop up and I must delete.  So if you post a comment please be patient for it to appear on the blog as I must now approve it.

Originally on posting comments to the blog, I had been forced to turn on the "sign in" option in order to post, but now I'm getting signed in spammers, so this is the next logical step.  But what about "Captcha"  I find those annoying on other blogs so I will not subject commenters to that on my blog.

Part Deux: The RESPONSE: Poor Maintenance + Incompentent Customer Service = A Bad Day at VIVA / York Region Transit

It has taken an attrocious 12 different e-mails between YRT's Rosanna Agostino (Supervisor, Customer Service) to figure out what occurred on YRT's end on that dreadful day of April 15th on my too and from work on YRT/VIVA as described in this post.
On April 15th I sent an e-mail to Rosanna Agostino and CC'd Phylis Morris (the Mayor of Aurora and Aurora's Regional Councillor) and other higher ups at YRT over the disgrace I had gone through that day as a YRT/VIVA passenger.

Rosanna responded on April 16th with my YRT Customer Service Ticket Tracking Numbers for both the incorrect time shown on the VIVA next bus digital display (i.e. the next bus should arrive in 2 minutes) and the missing VIVA Blue bus.  However, I she didn't give me a Tracking Number for the travails I went through on the YRT Customer Service phone system.  All she did was give me that a new phone system had been implemented.

On April 17th I replied that I wanted a YRT Customer Service Ticket Tracking number on the YRT Customer Service phone number by April the 19th.   After receving no response from Rosanna by 4:50 P.M on Monday April 19th, I then followed up with another e-mail requesting a YRT Customer Service tracking number or I would be filing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request through the Region of York.  On both e-mails, of course, I copied the Mayor of Aurora and other YRT Management. 

Sure enough I received a YRT Customer Service Tracking Number shortly before 7:00 P.M. on April 15th.

On April 21st I received an e-mail from Rosanna explaining all the issues and a few that provide some interesting notes into the operation of YRT/VIVA (the below is from Rosanna's e-mail from that day):

"The Viva Blue scheduled at Golf Links at 6:42am experienced a mechanical issue in Newmarket which resulted in the bus being taken out of service. Unfortunately, the driver did not log out of the system, therefore the VMS display at Golf Links did not reflect this updated information and continued to indicate the bus was due to arrive. We apologize for the inconvenience you were caused."


"With the implementation of any new technolgy or system (even though successfully tested in a development environment) there is a possibility that minor issues may occur, as you experienced when you attempted to contact our contact center the day of the launch. Those issues were immediately resolved. We thank you for your patience and apololgize for the inconvenience you were caused."

"With respect to the Viva fleet, normally 60 foot buses are assigned to Viva Blue; however, 40 foot buses may be assigned to the route to deal with routine service or unscheduled maintenance issues."
Note:  If you see 40 foot non articulated buses doing VIVA Blue routing, you can bet your life savings that there is a shortage of 60 foot articulated VIVA Buses being repaired.  This despite these buses, at the very earliest, were only put into service in 2005.  Yet the TTC can seem to keep their buses on the road in some cases for over 20 years!

"There are a number of indication lights on the dashboard of a Viva bus. Please be assured all buses are checked and serviced daily. In addition, bus drivers are required to conduct a circle check prior to going into service to determine if there are any concerns. The identified maintenance issues are corrected before the bus enters service. There may be times that a failure occurs on route and the bus is taken out of service if required. The warning light you witnessed may also include minor issues such as a burnt out interior light which would be attended to once the bus returns to the yard."  Note: Hmmm...Rosanna, your management buddies need to get on the 5200 series VIVA numbered busses.  99% of these I've been on have a green wrench indicator lit up worse than a Las Vegas Casino.  And why then, with your noted information above on 40 Foot buses did I see two or three of them that day?   Me thinks the 60 foot articulated buses have some severe maintenance issues. 
 
I followed up with Rosanna again on April 21st on the YRT Customer Service Centre phone system installaion.  On her e-mail she noted that the new phone system was tested in a "development environment".   This sounded like they hooked up the new phone system in a white coat science lab setting and tested it and then ripped it apart and put into the YRT Customer Service Centre and flicked the switch on the Thursday Morning at 7:00 A.M. and had a bunch of techies watch the YRT Customer Service Agents stare at their phones to see if the darn thing worked. There wasn't any indication there was testing done before the YRT Customer Service Call Centre had the new system installed but before they opened for business.  So I asked, in the e-mail, if after the YRT Customer Service closed on the Wednesdnay evening and the new phone system was installed if there was any testing completed BEFORE they opened on the Thursday morning.
 
Rosanna in an e-mail dated April 27th, of course continuing to copy the Mayor of Aurora and the other YRT Upper management, answered with:
 
"In response to your inquiry regarding our telephone system, please be advised that once the new telephone system was installed, York Region’s Information Technology (IT) staff continued the testing process in the live environment.


On April 15, 2010, IT staff were onsite to monitor and resolve any technical issues that occurred. They were also providing support to our contact centre staff while they transitioned to the new system."
 
Um...that didn't even come close to answering the question, so on the same day in an e-mail I tried to clarify what I was asking point blank:
 
Simple question that wasn't answered:


"When I refer to "testing", I didn't mean pretested in a development environment. I was referring to following installation before the YRT Customer Call Centre opened. Did this occur?"

To make it simpler here is what I'm saying (full steps included):


1. YRT Customer Service closed on Wednesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

2. Technical Support moved in and set up the new phone system.

3. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TESTED THE PHONE SYSTEM TO ENSURE IT WORKED BEFORE YRT CUSTOMER SERVICE OPENED
4. YRT Customer Service opened at 7:00 A.M. on Thursday and Tech Support continued to provided support.

Now for the question:
IS #3 ABOVE IN BOLD LETTERS CORRECT, YES OR NO?

On April 27th, Rosanna responded with:

Michael; you're obviously not understanding what I have told you. In order to test the telephone system "live" it must be done during our regular business hours when we are open to the public. As I stated in previous e-mails, the system underwent thorough testing in our development and live environment.

She planely wanted to avoid answering a simple "Yes" or "No" question.  She could have simply said "yes the system was tested after installation as best as possible before going live.  OR "No the system wasn't tested after installation before going live but we will try next time to try this.  I would have been satisfied with either of these answers.  She blatently tried to tell me that I didn't understand a thing about Customer Service phone systems and that they must be tried live. 

Well Rosanna, I've got news for you. I happen to deal with phone systems and other technology at work. I've dealt with experts in the field of phone systems and data collection.   You have to be creative to test the systems and try it before your customers do or see results.   Remember your phone system is one of the main front lines of your Customer Service Department, so it better be fully tested before you turn it on live!   Apparently this wasn't done at YRT.  

Since Rosanna refused to give me answer after I asked no less than two times I sent this e-mail to Rosanna (Remember she is the Region of York's YRT Supervisor of Customer Service) with the answer that I got to my Customer Service Phone system Question:

Rosanna:



I asked a very pointed question that you've refused to answer. You've skipped around it more than once by saying the system was tested in the design phase (i.e. before it was installed) and Tech Support provided support after it went live. However, you refused to answer whether it was tested after installation before going live (i.e. before YRT Customer Service opened in the morning at 7:00 A.M. on the Thursday). I've given you at least two times to answer it and you refused to do so.

So the answer to my question, I assume then, is "NO" it wasn't tested after being installed for live service for business hours on the Thursday.

I will assume this answer as you've refused to answer my question with a "Yes" or "No" answer.

Again, here is what you refused to answer from the last e-mail:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Simple question that wasn't answered:

-------------------------------------------------------



To make it simpler here is what I'm saying (full steps included):

1. YRT Customer Service closed on Wednesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

2. Technical Support moved in and set up the new phone system.

3. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TESTED THE PHONE SYSTEM TO ENSURE IT WORKED BEFORE YRT CUSTOMER SERVICE OPENED
 4. YRT Customer Service opened at 7:00 A.M. on Thursday and Tech Support continued to provided support.

Now for the question:


IS #3 ABOVE IN BOLD LETTERS CORRECT, YES OR NO?

--------------------------------------

Thanks for providing an answer via not giving an answer. I can read between the lines that you refuse to answer the above question.

Thanks
 
Michael
 
In other words, YRT/VIVA Management, via Rosanna's refusal to answer my question, have said they didn't test the new YRT Customer Service phone system following installation but before going live. 
 
With awesome Customer Service like this, it is no wonder some YRT riders believe YRT Customer Service and Management don't care.