I try to keep things positive here on The Sunday Spark. But spending what felt like endless hours mired in the customer service sludge of Canada’s two largest telecom companies inspired a bit of a rant in today’s post.
Welcome to the 122nd edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a simple living challenge for the week. In addition to customer service sludge, this week’s edition looks at cutting food waste, rejecting excessive packaging, and building walking into your day.
On my mind this week: Mired in customer service sludge
I learned a new word this week. Actually, sludge is a word I already knew. Dictionary.com offers several definitions, including “mud, mire, or ooze; slush”, and “sediment deposited during the treatment of sewage.” I suppose it’s more accurate to say I learned a new application for the word.
If you’ve every had to walk, drive, or bike through slush, you’ll know it’s slow and frustrating. And it leaves you exhausted. That’s exactly how I’ve felt over the last couple of weeks as I’ve been mired in the customer service sludge of Canada’s two largest telecom providers.
Coincidentally, I saw several news articles this week discussing customer service sludge. It refers to tactics used by large corporations seemingly to frustrate their customers. Money Talks News defines sludge as “the deliberate or neglectful design of systems that wear you down and keep you from resolving problems.”
Confusing phone menus. Endless wait times with horrible music interrupted by marketing messages. Dropped calls. Ineffective procedures that prevent reps from solving your problem. In many cases, it’s by design to stop customers from claiming refunds, activating new services, or resolving problems. In short, companies save money when you give up so that’s their goal.
The frustration is real. Allow me to share my experience…
My sludge experience
Until now we’ve had our Internet service with Bell and our cable TV service with Rogers. We were paying too much so we decided to consolidate our services to save money. We decided to go with Rogers because my husband enjoys watching Kitchener Rangers games and they air on the Rogers Community Cable channel that’s not available on Bell’s TV platform.
Here’s how it went:
- Friday. Live chat with Rogers with three goals that I clearly communicated at the beginning of the chat: upgrade our cable package, get 2 digital TV boxes, and add Internet service. Three times during the chat, I reconfirmed what I wanted. (Time: 1 hour)
- Friday. Received the confirmation from Rogers showing: the wrong cable package, 3 digital TV boxes, and NO Internet service. I read through the chat transcript to confirm I didn’t miscommunicate anything and tried calling but they were closed. (Time: 30 minutes)
- Saturday. Called Rogers. The rep was friendly and professional but couldn’t help because the hardware had already been shipped. He told us to do the install and then call back to get the Internet service added and arrange for the return of the extra digital TV box. (Time: 1 hour)
- Sunday. Received the modem and digital cable boxes. Quick shipping was the best part of the whole experience.
- Monday. Called Rogers again. After waiting on hold for 2 hours and being repeatedly told not to hang up, I then heard, “We are experiencing extremely high call volumes. Please call again later.” And the call was ended. (Time: 2 hours)
- Tuesday. Called Rogers for the third time. Waited in the queue for over an hour. Then spent over an hour with the rep who added the right service and arranged for the return of the extra TV box. (2.5 hours)
- Wednesday: Drove to the Purolator depot to return the additional digital cable box. (30 minutes)
- Friday. Got an email from Rogers that my bill was ready. I tried to access it on their online portal but couldn’t because my account number changed with the change to my service. Sigh. Another call was needed but I didn’t have the energy to deal with it. (Time: 15 minutes)
- Tuesday. Called Bell to cancel our Internet service. Of course, they tried to retain my business which I admit was tempting because I was suffering from Rogers remorse at this point. (Time: 1 hour)
- Tuesday. Since I was already frustrated, I decided to call Rogers back (that’s phone call number 4 if you’re keeping track) and solve my billing issue. (Time: 1.5 hours)
Total time: 10.25 hours
Frustration level: Off the chart!
Ways to fight back
People get frustrated with large corporations and government agencies for good reason. Throughout the whole experience, I remained calm and did not take out my frustration on the agents I was dealing with. They have a hard job, and it’s not their fault they work for greedy corporations whose customers are at the very bottom of their priority list.
The Money Talks News article I referenced earlier offers six ways to fight back against customer service sludge, including making your experience public. Done!
In the end, the change will save us about $100 a month. And I’ve resolved NEVER to change providers again. Which I suppose is the goal of these corporations.
Sigh!
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- I enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration on Sunday with my mum and all three of my sisters. It’s the first time in over 50 years I’ve celebrated my birthday with all my sisters. It almost made up for not having my girls at home.
- On Monday, I went out for a July birthday dinner at Golf’s Steakhouse with three girlfriends. Three of the four of us have July birthdays so the dinner is an annual tradition.
- On Friday, the weather finally cooled a little and the humidity broke. We enjoyed a nice lunch and visit at my sister Lorraine’s place.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are a couple of things I learned this week:
New site helps cut food waste
Food waste is a big environmental concern so any resources to help cut food waste are welcome. This week I found a new site, Love Food Hate Waste, that has terrific information to help households reduce food waste.
I found the section on food storage especially interesting. I plan to study that section closely. Watch for an update in a future post.
Consumers reject excessive packaging
A new study by sustainability consulting firm Aura, found 37% of consumers in Canada and the United States had decided against buying something because it was unsustainably packaged. The figure rose to 42% for European consumers.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal)
This week’s simple living challenge – Build walking into your day
Simplifying life is a big part of living more intentionally. With that in mind, I kicked off the year with 52 ways to simplify your life this year, including a downloadable checklist of weekly tasks.
This week’s challenge is to build walking into your day. You’ll get some exercise, boost your energy, and get some outdoor time. And, driving less is good for the environment! Learn more at Surprising health benefits of walking.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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Happy Birthday, Michelle. Customer service, especially in the IT or telecommunications sector, is problematic. A lot of these companies try to do more with less, and the customer service department doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I actually changed my telephone provider because three lines with unlimited data for $90 per month was an irresistible offer. It was a little painful making the transition, but the money I’m saving makes it worth it.
Thank you Edward.
Yes! Throughout this whole experience, I kept reminding myself that I was saving money by making the change.
Happy birthday, Michelle! I’m so sorry you had a slice of sludge to go along with your cake. Yikes, that is a frustrating experience. I love that you didn’t take it out on the reps – so incredibly thoughtful.
Food waste and not ordering things because of the packaging – great topics! Have a great week!
Thanks Wynne! Yes, a slice of sludge. UGH. But at least it’s over…for now anyway.
Having experienced a few customer service battles over the years (we should get what we pay for) and stuck on hold for what feels like eons only to be “transferred” to the appropriate party and then get disconnected, I feel your pain.
Pain is the right word to sum it up, Pete. So frustrating.
The customer service sludge is so frustrating to deal with and can be a reason why I switch service providers!
Sadly, we have so little choice. I have had better service experience with Bell in the past and would have stuck with them. But my husband really likes his Kitchener Rangers games…
So sorry about all the negative aspects of a situation that should be relatively simple Michelle. Sadly I’m not surprised however and I’ve been in similar situations that leave me dumbfounded by the experience. I don’t have cable but I do have internet and was just looking into how to cancel that prior to the move to CO. Used the chat feature to get info…so many offers to help me take my service to my next home no matter how many times I said no. Finally I was offered the option to schedule a call appt or simply go into the store. I’m going into the store. I want to look these people in the eye and also see exactly what they are doing with my acct in real time. It’s all about keeping as much $$ as they can. In better news- glad you had a few terrific b-day celebrations with family and friends 🙂
It really is ridiculous, isn’t it Deb? During my last call, they actually tried to sell me a mobile phone plan despite all my challenges. We may eventually move our mobile phones to Rogers to take advantage of the bundle discount. But I need to recover from this experience before I entertain that move.
Oof! “Frustration level – off the chart”! I felt that as I read, Michelle. I was unaware of the “sludge” term but geez…it’s descriptive, isn’t it? Wowza. I didn’t actually experience any of what you did…yet I was exhausted – just reading. 😠
It really was ridiculous…and it could have all been avoided if the original agent from the live chat did what I asked for. I tagged Rogers in my Instagram post today. We’ll see if they respond. But I won’t hold my breath.
I think your post on this topic is so relatable…it doesn’t change the situations but it’s good to know we’re not alone in the muck…the “sludge”. I’ll cross my fingers and toes for you. Maybe an IG nudge…about sludge…will do the trick! 🥰
Yes. The sludge nudge. I like it. Well I don’t like it, but you know what I mean. 😂
You’re my “word girl”. I knew you’d like that. I just knew it. Any way I can wrangle a smile given the week you had…in the sludge. My job here is done! 🥰😜🥰
🤗😂🤗