RANT: Telus Internet Sucks - Changed to Shaw.

[Sally Simpson]

After years of using Telus ADSL, and being an enthusiastic customer, I've switched. It's worked well for me in the past, but the pain started after having to get my ADSL modem replaced. A combination of inconsistent tech support, combined with unecessarily complex technology has driven me to Shaw.


1) Two weeks, the ethernet port on my ADSL modem broke. It was a time-consuming process to get the Telus support monkey to agree with my diagnosis, necessitating many reboots, but they ultilimately did, and agreed to send me a new modem.

2) The new modem they send me is a combined modem/router with multiple ethernet ports and a wireless access point. (I don't like using wireless, but a call to Telus told me that they didn't have a non-wireless router to give me). It has a firewall that can be configured by a web interface. It's complex, and I don't need it, and I don't want it. Nonetheless, I want to get online, so I try to install it.

3) It should be as simple as plugging in the appropriate cables - But it's not. It requires further configation/registration to work. There's no instructions, except for an install CD, which I have to load on my computer. I install it, and it asks to reboot my computer. That's a lot of overkill for "Documentation" , don't you think? What have you loaded on my computer Telus? Dutifully, I close the several windows I'm already working in and reboot. It turns out it installed some spyware, which tracks what I do online and sends statistics to Telus. I DO NOT WANT THIS.

4) After the reboot, I use the wizard to try to configure/enable my internet access. My logins inexplicably fail, so I call tech support. They try to walk me through it, but it keeps failing. After an hour of reboots (The staple move of Telus tech support), the agent finally notices I'm a "Business" user, and tells me I'll have to call another department. EXHAUSTED, I tell him I'll call again tomorrow.

4.5) I decide to try again myself the next morning, having an idea what the problem might be. Inexplicably, the modem is now showing a red light for my ADSL feed. For whatever reason, I've lost my ADSL feed. I check the phone cabling, and the "filters" on my other lines, and it all checks out. I unplug all of the other phones in the house, and reboot the modem, but I still have no ADSL feed. It seems that overnight I've taken a large step backwards. I'm filled with dread at the thought of calling Telus tech support again. IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS DIFFICULT.

5) So, I decided to call Shaw. They tell me they can have a guy out in 2 days. In the meantime, I try to uninstall Telus' spyware crap from my computer. What a weird process. It actually DOWNLOADED an update in order to remove itself from my computer. Weird. It appears to be uninstalled now, but I'm not convinced it didn't leave something behind. I resent the time spent managing software that should be unnecessary to this process.

6) The shaw guy came out, installed my cable modem in half an hour. It's a simple device, with only an input for the Cable feed, and an ethernet output. There's no need to "register" my computer, or install spyware on my computer. Not only do I get internet, but the tech has to install a Cable Amplifier, which inadvertantly gives me a better picture on my TV. He's a really decent fellow to deal with, clearly knows what he's doing, and isn't "scripted".

On the way out the door, the tech also notices a Mis-setting on my wide-screen TV, and shows me how to fix it, giving me an even better picture. I'll be calling in a kudos tomorrow.

GOOD RIDDANCE TELUS. I do not need your wireless access points, spyware, fancy-pants routers, or MAC-address registration.

[toomuchb00st]

Haha i did the same thing i swear a month ago. Telus sent out three different techs to resolve my slow internet issue and it never got fixed. We tried everything including a new modem (the same one you got -2WIRE) and it did nothing. We got no where and it took 4 months to figure that it was going no where. So i cancelled and went shaw. Works perfect.

[BigMass]

LMAO SAME HERE!!!! the past week has been horrible and the 2 wire modem was impossible to get working. The CD was full of fucking spy ware shit i had to spend time removing from my computer. What happened to plug and fucking play? I have 2 other modems i just plug in and bam! internet. Oh well, the net still sucks no matter what and they can't figure out the problem.

Shaw is coming to install my new internet tomorrow. Telus, if you're reading this. FUCK YOU! Oh yeah, i'm gonna get my phone from Shaw as well so Telus can just DIAF!

[93accord]

:werd: TELUS IS BS!! i've had many bad experiences with them too!! my contract is over wit them in a few months. definetly planning on going wit shaw :clap:

[Tik-Tok]

Telus works fine by me (though isn't as fast, I've heard). The router/modem/firewall is easy to access, and easy to program, (and easy to shut off the firewall and wireless if you don't want it).

You had to agree to the "spyware", to not get it, you just had to unclick it when it asked.

I'm still biased against SHAW, as my internet would go random everytime it was windy out, it would take over a week for the tech to come check my lines (always when it wasn't windy), just to tell me "it checks fine".

They refused to believe that the wire going from my house to the pole was the problem, even though it was always swinging in the wind whenever I had an outage.

As every shaw VS. telus thread ends... there is no winner, both suck. (though shaw sucks at faster speeds)

[GQBalla]

werd ^^ the 2wire modem is really easy to install and configure -

but i will be cancelling telus once my contract is up and will be switching to shaw.

[infamous]

wow.....i didn't want to post this story because i thought i would kinda sound like a whiner, but here's the fucking hell that i went through with telus.....

it all started with my internet getting cut off one night, for no apparent reason. i called telus, they tried to figure out the problem, but couldn't. took down my number and told me that they were going to call me the next day, because the department that i needed was closed.

three weeks later i call back. they tell me that i need to pay off my bill before they can restart service. my bill was 95 dollars. didn't understand it, but went and paid it off anyways. called them back, and they said within 48 hours it would be back working. ok, fine.

48 hours later i still had no internet. called them back again, waited on hold for hours and hours and hours. they said within 48 hours it would be fixed. waited, and nothing. called them back, was told 48 hours again, and nothing. repeated about 3 more times before i had the best (or worst?) telus representative ever. he assured me that he knew what the problem was, assured me that it would be fixed, and even said that he would credit my account 3 months for all the time that i wasted with them. sweet, or so i thought. 48 hours later when i still didn't have internet i called again. and absolutely lost it. i still feel sorry for the telus employee that i screamed at that night. it was a combonation of weeks of frustration, and the fact that she thought that i was stupid. she talked to me like i knew nothing and this was the first time that i called in. i informed her in a not so polite manner that in fact, this was my last time calling in. i couldn't take it no more. i was ready to jump out my 8th storey window.

which brings me to another point that i hate. telus doesn't keep track of when you call. they didn't know about half the calls that i made, and none of the departments work together. i can't even count the number of hours i spent on hold, waiting and waiting for internet. the lies and deception that i endured was more than enough for me.

so i picked up the phone and called shaw. the nice guy that i talked to there told me that normal bookings weren't for another 3 weeks. so i explained my situation. the next afternoon i had internet. and it's a lot faster than telus. and a lot better.

FUCK TELUS!! SHAW FTMFW!!!!

[BigMass]

you know what the best service i've ever had was? Cadvision.... that was, until Telus bought them out and fuck it all up. Telus is Satan!

[beecue]

I can't believe anyone uses telus .. If I had those speeds I would shoot myself

[BoS_DC2]

Telus ain't that bad, beens working efficiently for me for 4 years.. Though I wish the speed was alittle faster..

[Intent_Fire]

haha, yea i had that problem too.. switched to xtream-i.. its wayy faster.. but it took about 3 months on shaw before they stopped screwing up everything, replaced a switch and my internet finally picked up speed from 1000kb/s down to 9800 down. Still in the end it was a good switch from telus.

[Raven_R1]

Originally posted by beecue
I can't believe anyone uses telus .. If I had those speeds I would shoot myself
Haahahaha

[Mangina]

Huh, I switched from Shaw because I had crappy customer service and they hadn't fixed my internet problem after 3 months of trying. Telus has been more reliable and a lot faster than Shaw. To each his own.

[alloroc]

Originally posted by BigMass
you know what the best service i've ever had was? Cadvision.... that was, until Telus bought them out and fuck it all up. Telus is Satan!

Ya Cadvision was excellent. Especially considering the everyone was still on dial-up. They were so on the ball they often told me there were problems before I even knew they existed.

[spikerS]

well, people are going to say that I am biased, because i work for TELUS, but I don't work for landline, i work for mobility.

I like many of you, decided to switch everything over to shaw. Phone, tv, and internet.

I traded in my HD sattelite receiver, and ADSL modem, so that i could get thier equipment at no cost, ported my number to shaw. With this package, i was supposed to get 3 months free of internet and cable, and 1 month free of phone. confirmed with the representatives, by doing it this way, my total costs every month would be somthing like $122.40 a month, and that was including GST.

During the 5 months I had used shaw, I had 18 service calls. that averages out to be about 1 a week, that I had to be home for. "someone will be there between 1-5 for example, and only twice did they show up inside that time frame. usually showed up anywhere from 90 - 120 mins late, and 4 times it had to be re-scheduled, effectively taking away what could have been a productive day.

starting month 4, i get a bill for almost $500. wondering what the hell was up, called back into shaw, I had already been paying for the phone, was paying $50 a month for the phone, was a guess, i never received a bill. They tell me it was a screw up, and would take care of the issue. Guy also noticed the service calls I had and on his own accord, stated that due to the amount of service calls, and the horrible service (his words were something like "since you have had soo many problems and such, we are going to re-start your deal. 1 month free of phone, and 3 of cable and TV".) I was like sweet!

Month 5, get the next bill for $650. I am like WTF! this was supposed to be cleared off! And I still have another service call today. so had to call in again! this time they say that the previous rep only gave me another 3 months of the digital channels free, and they can't do anything about the bill, as i had to pay for the receiver and cable modem. Told the girl that i had traded in other equipment for it. she said they have no record of it and nothing can be done.

I told em to screw off, and went back to TELUS.

Telus might be slower, but i don't need the blazing fast download speed. i don't download much.

In the end, i got this crap equipment now that i can't use, and can't do anything to get my old equipment back. this little venture cost me about $1200 to pay off shaw, and re-purchase equipment to go back to my old setup.

I will never be going back to Shaw.

[DarkDream]

The problems you are having with TELUS seem to be coming from the fact that you aren't very computer savvy...

The main reason i believe TELUS just sends you a package instead of sending someone to install it is because it provides quicker installation service.

The reason why this is true is b/c it is not dependent on people coming over to do it.... I understand shaw wait time aren't usually long but its definitely not always the case.

So, since you feel that you were having issues with installation it was a good choice for you to go to shaw...

But in your case, its not TELUS's fault that you are incapable of doing the installation

[Sally Simpson]

Originally posted by DarkDream
The problems you are having with TELUS seem to be coming from the fact that you aren't very computer savvy...


You have alread been provided sufficient information to the contrary. Your conclusion is incorrect.



Originally posted by DarkDream
But in your case, its not TELUS's fault that you are incapable of doing the installation [/B]

How do you know that? Lacking any details of the actual symptoms or troubleshooting, you have insufficient information to arrive at that conclusion.

Assuming that I was the weak link in the process, a Telus CSR should have been able to resolve the issues promptly. They weren't. I patiently several evenings on the phone with them,
and got nowhere.

It was evident that most were overly reliant on their scripts, and lacked sufficient networking and/or troubleshooting skills.

Additionally, their processes and equipment are unnecessarily complex, and their tech support is inconsistent. This stands whether one is a power user, or not.

Aside from issues of expertise, I am surprised that you are unable to see that manual MAC address registration is archaic, and that customers shouldn't be forced to host a WAP.



UPDATE: I called Telus today to cancel. Their IVR routed me to the cancellation line, which informed me that it was too busy to take my call, and that I should call back later. Nice.

(Must be because "I'm not very computer savvy").

[BigMass]

Originally posted by DarkDream
The problems you are having with TELUS seem to be coming from the fact that you aren't very computer savvy...

The main reason i believe TELUS just sends you a package instead of sending someone to install it is because it provides quicker installation service.

The reason why this is true is b/c it is not dependent on people coming over to do it.... I understand shaw wait time aren't usually long but its definitely not always the case.

So, since you feel that you were having issues with installation it was a good choice for you to go to shaw...

But in your case, its not TELUS's fault that you are incapable of doing the installation

The installation disk you get with the 2 Wire modem sucks. It has a big “install internet” button and that’s it. You cant choose what you want to install, or even know what is being installed. Only after you see all the spyware bullshit it installs like Telus E-care and other background monitoring crap that probably feeds straight to the fucking FBI lol…. But seriously, the disk sucks and in their effort to make it “simple” they make it more difficult because it doesn’t give you options.

A modem is not difficult, It should be plug and play. But somehow Telus has fucked that up.

Personally im switching to Shaw because I have slow download speeds in the evening that requires a tech to come over and do an inspection. We have already figured out the problem is not on my end as far as the computer is concerned. Telus sends a tech in during the day who cannot find anything wrong with my connection obviously and in the evening it’s fucked up again. They told me techs don’t work in the evening. So basically they told me, “tough shit”. Great customer service!

[BigMass]

Originally posted by Sally Simpson


UPDATE: I called Telus today to cancel. Their IVR routed me to the cancellation line, which informed me that it was too busy to take my call, and that I should call back later. Nice.

(Must be because "I'm not very computer savvy").

ROFL oh my! Now you’re in the realm of greasy salesmen tactics to get you to keep your account as long as possible. They’ll probably make your life a living hell to try and cancel. I can’t wait until it’s my turn later this week. Looking forward to another piece of Telus bullshit I have to wade through.

[topmade]

I only went for telus because work was paying for the line, so I cancelled shaw and went with telus. But stupid me signed up for the 3yr deal for the shitty 4mp camera thinking I would be working with them for a while but got something else a few shortly after.

It actually has been pretty trouble free for me, other then the speeds, but I don't do much at home anyways. But rest assured when my contract ends, I'll be knocking on shaws door.

[Scottie403]

Originally posted by infamous
wow.....i didn't want to post this story because i thought i would kinda sound like a whiner, but here's the fucking hell that i went through with telus.....

it all started with my internet getting cut off one night, for no apparent reason. i called telus, they tried to figure out the problem, but couldn't. took down my number and told me that they were going to call me the next day, because the department that i needed was closed.

three weeks later i call back. they tell me that i need to pay off my bill before they can restart service. my bill was 95 dollars. didn't understand it, but went and paid it off anyways. called them back, and they said within 48 hours it would be back working. ok, fine.

48 hours later i still had no internet. called them back again, waited on hold for hours and hours and hours. they said within 48 hours it would be fixed. waited, and nothing. called them back, was told 48 hours again, and nothing. repeated about 3 more times before i had the best (or worst?) telus representative ever. he assured me that he knew what the problem was, assured me that it would be fixed, and even said that he would credit my account 3 months for all the time that i wasted with them. sweet, or so i thought. 48 hours later when i still didn't have internet i called again. and absolutely lost it. i still feel sorry for the telus employee that i screamed at that night. it was a combonation of weeks of frustration, and the fact that she thought that i was stupid. she talked to me like i knew nothing and this was the first time that i called in. i informed her in a not so polite manner that in fact, this was my last time calling in. i couldn't take it no more. i was ready to jump out my 8th storey window.

which brings me to another point that i hate. telus doesn't keep track of when you call. they didn't know about half the calls that i made, and none of the departments work together. i can't even count the number of hours i spent on hold, waiting and waiting for internet. the lies and deception that i endured was more than enough for me.

so i picked up the phone and called shaw. the nice guy that i talked to there told me that normal bookings weren't for another 3 weeks. so i explained my situation. the next afternoon i had internet. and it's a lot faster than telus. and a lot better.

FUCK TELUS!! SHAW FTMFW!!!!


dude had the EXACT problem called every second day for 3 weeks about gettin my internet hooked back up and same shit everytime just lies and "we'll have someone call u back" and never getting a call back when they say. finally called them and told them to come pick their shit up that i was switching to shaw

[em2ab]

It's illegal for any company in Canada to record statistics from users' machines without their consent. It's in the privacy act, sue them for it.

[DarkDream]

Originally posted by Sally Simpson


You have alread been provided sufficient information to the contrary. Your conclusion is incorrect.




How do you know that? Lacking any details of the actual symptoms or troubleshooting, you have insufficient information to arrive at that conclusion.

Assuming that I was the weak link in the process, a Telus CSR should have been able to resolve the issues promptly. They weren't. I patiently several evenings on the phone with them,
and got nowhere.

It was evident that most were overly reliant on their scripts, and lacked sufficient networking and/or troubleshooting skills.

Additionally, their processes and equipment are unnecessarily complex, and their tech support is inconsistent. This stands whether one is a power user, or not.

Aside from issues of expertise, I am surprised that you are unable to see that manual MAC address registration is archaic, and that customers shouldn't be forced to host a WAP.



UPDATE: I called Telus today to cancel. Their IVR routed me to the cancellation line, which informed me that it was too busy to take my call, and that I should call back later. Nice.

(Must be because "I'm not very computer savvy").

The reason why i said you weren't computer savvy was becasue if you understood how ADSL worked you would know that all you need to do is register your mac address and they have a website to do this. When I did this about 2-3 years ago i recall the process very simple.

also comments like this led me to believe you aren't very good with computers.

Originally posted by Sally Simpson
[B]
The new modem they send me is a combined modem/router with multiple ethernet ports and a wireless access point. (I don't like using wireless, but a call to Telus told me that they didn't have a non-wireless router to give me). It has a firewall that can be configured by a web interface. It's complex, and I don't need it, and I don't want it. Nonetheless, I want to get online, so I try to install it


When i said its speeds up the process I meant by not having to wait for some guy to do something i can do myself... This is what i believe TELUS is trying to do. More and more people are becoming more and more knowledgable about computers and don't require a tech to come to there house to do something they can do.

As for the piece of software they install like e-care. you CAN unistall it afterwards. Whether or not after uninstalling, will remove all tracking software is unknown.

I also DO understand that the call centre at TELUS SUCKS!!! since i have called there previously. But there isn't many call centres that don't suck. Also based on the last time i call them they had some service which automatically called back so you don't have to stay on the line. I thought this was pretty neat feature and it worked well since i did get a call back from an agent. Also those tech agents aren't networking pro sadly to say they are just people with better knowledge of computer then the average joe.

BOTH Shaw and TELUS are the same.

With regards to the comments that TELUS equipment is Complicated, I don't really understand what you mean. The only equipment you need is a modem. which EVERYONE who uses internet has and an ethernet cable that you connect to you computer and finally a phone cable connected to your phone line. After that you just go to that website (OCA i think) and register your mac address and bam your done.

I think you might be complicating things a little to much.

Also for WAP you aren't required to broadcast a wireless signal you CAN turn off through your modem gateway.

[Sally Simpson]

Originally posted by DarkDream


The reason why i said you weren't computer savvy was becasue if you understood how ADSL worked you would know that all you need to do is register your mac address and they have a website to do this.


Again, you jump to conclusions based on insufficient information.

What makes you think I did not attempt to do this?


Originally posted by DarkDream

When I did this about 2-3 years ago i recall the process very simple.


It may be simple when it works. It's still a waste of time that shouldn't be necessary.

(It was an even bigger waste of my time when I wasn't able to login, despite the tech resetting my password repeatedly - Combined with intermittent loss of connectivity to the login page.)



Originally posted by DarkDream

As for the piece of software they install like e-care. you CAN unistall it afterwards. Whether or not after uninstalling, will remove all tracking software is unknown.

With regards to the comments that TELUS equipment is Complicated, I don't really understand what you mean. The only equipment you need is a modem. which EVERYONE who uses internet has and an ethernet cable that you connect to you computer and finally a phone cable connected to your phone line. After that you just go to that website (OCA i think) and register your mac address and bam your done.

Also for WAP you aren't required to broadcast a wireless signal you CAN turn off through your modem gateway.



Of course, all of these issues are solvable. Of course I can run around my house plugging inline filters into my phone lines. Of course I can disable this and enable that and configure this and register that. And of course I can install the spyware wizard that may or may not help me register my computer and then uninstall it later and then call tech support and wait on hold for a moron who will tell me to reboot my computer repeatedly.

Of course these issues are solvable - but I choose not to solve them. I do not wish to embrace the inconvenience of what, in reality, is a mess of crappy policies and crappy implementation. I don't want to be one of those propellerhead apologist losers who enable companies to keep deploying crappy tech and pushing crappy policies, just because the issues are "solvable".

I much prefer making a phone call and having a man show up and provide me with a working internet feed, without any further hoops to jump through.

I can take the rest from there, thanks.

[DarkDream]

Well if you perfer to have a man come up to your door then you shouldve known your answer before you even went to TELUS... since you knew they don't send people to your door and only hand out "QUICKCONNECT KITS" lol

Also unfortunately like i said in my previous post the tech support TEAM is same in both companies.... You'll have a couple knowledgeable techs but most of them are dumbasses. I am just trying to make you understand that you will probably run into the exact same problem with dumbass people not knowing how to do anything with SHAW just as you will with TELUS.

FINALLY REASONS WHY I BELIEVE YOU AREN'T COMPUTER SAVVY.

First off i don't really understand, but you seem to be offended by the fact that i think you aren't very good with computers. Frankly, not being good with computers is not a bad thing and i don't look down at people who aren't good with computers because i understand that some people are better at certain things then others..

Okay so comments like these led me to believe you aren't very good with computers.

1.) I want a wired router instead of wireless one.... (Keep in mind the word on the router saying its wireless doesn't necessarily mean you HAVE to use it.) People that are computer literate usually understand this.

2.)Thinking all you need to do is plug in cables and it should work... (BTW this was used in your first post on the 3rd reason.) Since you are aware that you are the person setting up the internet from the time your ordered it shouldn't you also be aware that you will need to do more then just plug in cables from the beginning?

3.)If you knew that a mac address needed to be registered why did you even bother use the Installation CD that gave you all that crap software? I understand most people don't know that a mac address needs to be installed. or thats what the CD is doing so this is no big deal. So if you knew this all you need to do is call them and ask them how to do it without the CD... lol now this will really depend on the TECH on whether or nor they would help you are try to get you to do something else(LOL this will be the case for BOTH companies).....

FINALLY My definition of of someone who is computer savvy is someone who is GOOD with computers...

BTW if you so happen to be a pro computers then you really portrayed the opposite in your posts

[BigMass]

Shaw came last night and set everything up quickly. Everything was plug and play. Zero installation, software or anything else required. The speeds blow away DSL like it was dial-up, the speeds were consistent throughout the evening, and my game pings/latency has gone down about by 2/3

Oh yeah, when i call shaw i get a rep after about 3-5 min on hold tops. Telus is more like 3-5 hours. (1 hour of that just to get through their IDIOTIC automated menu system)

[Canmorite]

Did the same switch a few months ago.

[old&slow]

Telus is too big to be any use to a regular joe who wants to actually resolve a problem!

I made the switch 3 years ago with no regrets!

[clem24]

Telus: Needs to BRIBE customers with promises of new shitty computers and laptops and LCD screens.

Shaw: Don't need that shit.

Enough said!

To those of you stuck on Telus, I pity thee. I used to think they were better. But of course, before I used Shaw, I obviously didn't know better. Their service sucked. The MAC address registration is STOOOPID. Max speed was 162KB/s. Switched to Shaw. 600KB. Lower price after bundling with cable. Clear winner!

I also still can't believe they use that "Telus highspeed internet isn't shared" crap on their radio ads. That is soooo passe. So what if cable is shared... esp. when the "shared" connection is still 4x faster than your "non-shared" shit!!! Talk about unethical/false/deceitful advertising.