Who are all these people out there who make their buying decisions based on a single article/review?
Why Wind Mobile lost two customers today
This morning I read about the Wind Mobile All in the Family plan.
I thought, excellent, I am going to sign both my kids up with new phones.
Went to my local Blockbuster and asked for the deal. The helpful sales clerk apologized and said that he couldn't give me the deal and that I had to talk to "corporate." The guy is a nice guy and I wanted him to have the sale but he said the only way I might have a chance was to go to a corporate Blockbuster store.
Okay, so I hopped in the car and drove ten minutes to the Blockbuster store at Parklawn and Queensway. Went inside and asked the clerk how to sign up for the All in the Family plan. She said I had to have a "form". I said, I don't have the form but I would like to sign up for the plan. She then proceeded to tell me how I could sign up for "better" plans and so on.
I said no, I wanted the All in the Family plan that I had read about. She refused to offer me the plan and refused to tell me why some people were eligible and I wasn't.
Result:
Seems like Wind has learned about customer service from the Big Three!
I thought, excellent, I am going to sign both my kids up with new phones.
Went to my local Blockbuster and asked for the deal. The helpful sales clerk apologized and said that he couldn't give me the deal and that I had to talk to "corporate." The guy is a nice guy and I wanted him to have the sale but he said the only way I might have a chance was to go to a corporate Blockbuster store.
Okay, so I hopped in the car and drove ten minutes to the Blockbuster store at Parklawn and Queensway. Went inside and asked the clerk how to sign up for the All in the Family plan. She said I had to have a "form". I said, I don't have the form but I would like to sign up for the plan. She then proceeded to tell me how I could sign up for "better" plans and so on.
I said no, I wanted the All in the Family plan that I had read about. She refused to offer me the plan and refused to tell me why some people were eligible and I wasn't.
Result:
- An hour of my time was wasted.
- Wind Mobile lost two customers.
- Wind Mobile has gained a vocal critic for its refusal to even exlain to me why I was not eligible for a deal it was offering some and not others.
Seems like Wind has learned about customer service from the Big Three!
121 - 140 of 154 Posts
I do not think anyone said they based his/her decision to sign up on Wind from Hugh's personal experience. I can tell you there is a post of people wanting to hush him up on the Wind Forums. And I can tell you that his point of view is a valid one. I have had and seen many more posts of people saying they have had issue after issue. Not a single month goes by someone is saying the billing is messed up. I am sure if all had gone well he could have reported just as fairly as he did.Who are all these people out there who make their buying decisions based on a single article/review?
Good grief. The whole purpose of making a Pros vs Cons list is to list all the pros and all the cons so that you can weigh the two out.Based on his experience (and his experience alone), I don't see why he should be required to state something positive about Wind. Good plans or network coverage is meaningless without the ability to actually activate a phone that was shipped to him. In this case, the negatives definitely outweigh any positives he could have taken from his experience.
Yes, it was an all around Epic Failure on behalf of Wind on virtually every front, but that still doesn't change the fact that there are many possible pros, which Hugh completely ignored. I wouldn't have any problem whatsoever with his so-called review if he left out the Pros and Cons list at the end.
How is hugh supposed to list pros if the product as advertised doesn't work?
The plan he was trying to get was not advertised, nor listed on any official wind outlet/website.How is hugh supposed to list pros if the product as advertised doesn't work?
Whether or not he was supposed to be able to get the plan or not, Wind eventually sold him a phone with a SIM card that couldn't be activated, wasted his time in directing him to various stores, and gave him false/misleading information. All these things combined into a negative experience. There wasn't anything positive that Hugh got out of this, which is why he wrote the review he did.
Would things have been different had he tried signing up for a plan that was advertised in store or on their website? Maybe / maybe not. Unfortunately, this is something that cannot be guaranteed, given how Wind dropped the ball in matters outside of the plan choice.
Would things have been different had he tried signing up for a plan that was advertised in store or on their website? Maybe / maybe not. Unfortunately, this is something that cannot be guaranteed, given how Wind dropped the ball in matters outside of the plan choice.
Seriously? You don't know how a tech enthusiast and expert is supposed to find information on a company and its products?How is hugh supposed to list pros if the product as advertised doesn't work?
Seriously? Why would an expert regurgitate third-party opinions without trying to confirm if the opinions are accurate? Too many so-called journalists do this and it's just sloppy.
Its easy to understand why Hugh found no "Pros" to Wind Mobile as they never provided any actual service to him.
I don't expect him to regurgitate third party opinions. What I do expect from an objective and critical review is an accurate representation of facts. To some people, cost is a factor when choosing a mobile carrier. A quick mention of pricing and plans would have demonstrated at least a modicum of objectivity on Hugh's part. For those that actually got working SIMsSeriously? Why would an expert regurgitate third-party opinions without trying to confirm if the opinions are accurate? Too many so-called journalists do this and it's just sloppy.
, there are cheaper plans on Wind than many other carriers. Please understand that I am not trying to defend Wind here. As I mentioned earlier in this thread when the debacle started, I think Hugh was far more patient with the company than I would have been in the same situation. I would have tried to exit much earlier. The whole thing was terrible. What I am extremely put off by is how Hugh presented the article as a REVIEW. Clearly it is not a critical review at all. It is an extremely biased rant written by an unhappy would-be customer. An honest and critical review should analyze and present both good and bad aspects of the subject.
Pricing was mentioned on the first page. But I don't think you can count it as a pro if you can't use what you paid for. To use an analogy, a friend of mine bought one of those knock-off USB power chargers for his iPhone. While it was certainly cheaper than Apple's offering, it simply didn't work. Should its price then be listed as a pro?
Ahh, thank you. You illustrate my point exactly. The error which Hugh made is exactly the same one as your analogy. You can not simply analyze one specific case and apply it to the general. While it may apply, it is not necessarily so. Your friend's knock-off charger may have been an isolated incident, or it may have been a systemic failure. You don't know unless you look further into the situation. Intel is one of the top CPU companies, but as anyone that builds computers can tell you, some of them just do not work when you get them. It is not a systemic problem, it is just isolated cases due to the manufacturing process.Pricing was mentioned on the first page. But I don't think you can count it as a pro if you can't use what you paid for. To use an analogy, a friend of mine bought one of those knock-off USB power chargers for his iPhone. While it was certainly cheaper than Apple's offering, it simply didn't work. Should its price then be listed as a pro?
With Wind, there are tens of thousands of customers (I'm guessing), and at least some of them had better experiences. Some of them have working phones, and some of them pay lower prices than those available from other carriers. Certainly this would justify at least a mention as a "Pro".
Perhaps I just regard Hugh much more highly than the rest of you seem to. In this age of new media, Hugh is as close to being a 'journalist' as you are going to get. He has been on national newscasts, and has articles in nation wide newspapers. He is sought out for his expert and informed opinion on consumer technology. I truly believe that because of this, he has the obligation to be less emotional and more objective when presenting a review article on his site.
Thank you for the honesty in the review and in this forum. I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who encounters poor customer service and a total lack of management, even basic understanding of problems, sweet little fine print gems, etc. I know now I am not alone.
And all those people who are upset about a bad review. We Canadians don't bitch effectively often enough. Start speaking out and demanding what you paid for. Don't be a mouse.
Even our government in a sample test for the census employment I read today indicated that encountering 2 situations, only one had priority:
a)one upset citizen versus
b)one upset citizen threatening to go to the media
(guess which one you are supposed to concentrate on and ignore the other until you have time!!) I'm gonna b b) as often as possible from now on!!
And all those people who are upset about a bad review. We Canadians don't bitch effectively often enough. Start speaking out and demanding what you paid for. Don't be a mouse.
Even our government in a sample test for the census employment I read today indicated that encountering 2 situations, only one had priority:
a)one upset citizen versus
b)one upset citizen threatening to go to the media
(guess which one you are supposed to concentrate on and ignore the other until you have time!!)
I'm gonna b b) as often as possible from now on!!It's irrelevant. News of the plan made it on Mobile Syrup which is an official unofficial "buzz site" for the industry. If Wind had intended it to stay private the first CSR Hugh spoke with should have been polite but firm and say "unfortunately the plan is restricted to friends and family of Wind employees but I can help you choose another plan that will be cost effective". The fact is customer service blew it and management dropped the ball.The plan he was trying to get was not advertised, nor listed on any official wind outlet/website.
Not sure how Hugh could find a "pro" in any of this.
Read between the lines in his article,It's irrelevant. News of the plan made it on Mobile Syrup which is an official unofficial "buzz site" for the industry. If Wind had intended it to stay private the first CSR Hugh spoke with should have been polite but firm and say "unfortunately the plan is restricted to friends and family of Wind employees but I can help you choose another plan that will be cost effective". The fact is customer service blew it and management dropped the ball.
Not sure how Hugh could find a "pro" in any of this.
"The clerk then proceeded to tell me how I could sign up for “better” plans than the All in the Family plan. I politely refused indicating that I wanted to sign up for the promotional plan that I had read about. The Wind Mobile clerk refused to offer me the plan and refused to tell me why some people were eligible and I wasn’t."
This is basically that, they just fudged up not saying exactly why. But as a typical pushy customer, he grinds on. 95% of customers would realize right at that point, it was not a normal, official plan and take the CSR advice for a different plan. He chose to not accept "no", knowing this would be an issue. He actively made the decision to make it a difficult experience.
^^^^^
atolibot
why don’t you go to a car dealer, and get all the option on the new car that the sales person advice you to (even if don’t need them), or we call you pushy costumer.
Is having your own opinion/choice is such a bad idea?
atolibot
why don’t you go to a car dealer, and get all the option on the new car that the sales person advice you to (even if don’t need them), or we call you pushy costumer.
Is having your own opinion/choice is such a bad idea?
If I then insisted that I must get that promotion even after being told NO, then yes I would be a pushy customer.
If the car dealer said a promotion was no longer available or I was not eligible, I would ask what is. I would consider the presented available options and make my decision (or shop elsewhere, at a competitor), like the vast majority of logical, sensible people. Its not like they offered him one choice in regards plans, and said take it or leave.
Use some sense, really now.
If the car dealer said a promotion was no longer available or I was not eligible, I would ask what is. I would consider the presented available options and make my decision (or shop elsewhere, at a competitor), like the vast majority of logical, sensible people. Its not like they offered him one choice in regards plans, and said take it or leave.
Use some sense, really now.
I personally have had great dealings with Wind's customer service, when I was a Wind customer. Granted, some of the CSR's I talked to where not as helpful, but generally they where great. I used the network builder tool they have on their website to report any network problems I had. The network techs always followed up with me once the area was improved. When I reported a serious network problem in downtown Calgary. Wind's CSR's and techs contacted me frequently until the problem was resolved. I have recommended Wind to my family and friends. The ones that have signed up, have all had excellent service so far. They are happy they are saving so much money over what they used to pay with the big three. I would still be a Wind customer if I didn't want an iPhone 4 so badly. If Apple makes a future iPhone that is compatible with Wind's network, I would go back in a heart beat.
You would not see any of this helpfulness, that I received from Wind, with the big three. I have dealt with the CSR's at Bell, Telus, and Rogers over the years, and I have always had problems with them. Most of them wanted to get you off of the phone as quick as possible.
I do agree that Hugh's situation is terrible, but I also agree with the posters who commented that there should have been pros listed in his review. Even if he listed the plans as a pro, that would have been better than nothing. He knew what the plans where, and how much better they are than the big three's prices. Even if he didn't know anything about their actual network service.
You would not see any of this helpfulness, that I received from Wind, with the big three. I have dealt with the CSR's at Bell, Telus, and Rogers over the years, and I have always had problems with them. Most of them wanted to get you off of the phone as quick as possible.
I do agree that Hugh's situation is terrible, but I also agree with the posters who commented that there should have been pros listed in his review. Even if he listed the plans as a pro, that would have been better than nothing. He knew what the plans where, and how much better they are than the big three's prices. Even if he didn't know anything about their actual network service.
Hugh was spot on in his assessment. Here in the GTA what he got csr wise is normal.
Pro win is cheap.. if you can get it.
Much like the all you can eat buffett.. 4.99 but its from 12-1215 and you need to book in advance, and they are booked for 6 months.. and there is a dress code.. but it is cheap thats a pro. Can't tell you how the food is. Or the service..
Quit defending Winds lack of customer commitment. Hit up the hofo or wind forums and you will read more and more people having issues the latter will delete them asap.. but they are there.
Pro win is cheap.. if you can get it.
Much like the all you can eat buffett.. 4.99 but its from 12-1215 and you need to book in advance, and they are booked for 6 months.. and there is a dress code.. but it is cheap thats a pro. Can't tell you how the food is. Or the service..
Quit defending Winds lack of customer commitment. Hit up the hofo or wind forums and you will read more and more people having issues the latter will delete them asap.. but they are there.
Rockjock, again, it's not about defending Wind. In fact, if you look at some of the strongest complaints against Hugh's post, they all make it clear that the treatment he received was not acceptable. The problem is in the way Hugh's post - as an official statement on behalf of the site - is unbalanced. If he had simply described his experience and positioned it as his personal bad experience with Wind, this might not have been an issue. His calling it a "review" (which, in the public's mind, suggests an actual assessment of the product), his positioning it as an official recommendation from the site, the complete lack of any assessment of the actual telephone and data service, the fact that DH gets picked up by international news feeds - all of that is what made the post inappropriate.Hugh was spot on in his assessment. Here in the GTA what he got csr wise is normal.
(middle portion deleted or brevity)
Quit defending Winds lack of customer commitment. Hit up the hofo or wind forums and you will read more and more people having issues the latter will delete them asap.. but they are there.
121 - 140 of 154 Posts
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