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Why Wind Mobile lost two customers today

38K views 153 replies 35 participants last post by  g011um 
#1 ·
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:
  • 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!
 
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#82 ·
It is totally the norm, you can post this on the Wind forums and they will simply delete it. Issue after issue and they are all deleted. 911 issue deleted. Home zone that becomes an away zone that is a no zone. the list is endless. The OP had a terrible experience thats much is true. But take just 1 of the details and it is unacceptable.. lump them all together then its appalling. The only pro I can think of is now that Wind is for sale.. perhaps the new owners will take better charge than the old ones from Egypt did! BTW was it the Indian or Egyptian call center you spoke with? Not that it matters because less than a year in they outsourced. Oh the list of complaints I could vent.. but as many already know.. " I am marked for death " lol OP good luck
 
#83 ·
However, I do think you should consider clarifying that the form that you obtained and printed did not come from Wind, you found it from an unofficial internet source.
For the record:

I found the form on the Mobile Syrup website, a website that is supported by Wind Mobile advertising and often gets exclusives from Wind.

When I signed up, I stated that I found the form on the Mobile Syrup website. The employee who took my order put me on hold, spoke to a supervisor and then came back on and took my order. The sales rep never said that I could not have the plan. That was confirmed when she spoke to her supervisor. There was no deception on my part.

At any point during the sale or in the 10 days or so before the phone was shipped, the company could have said "No, we won't offer you that program" but we can offer you an alternate plan.

Finally, I gave Wind every opportunity to resolve the issue and published their response verbatim. No deception.
 
#84 ·
You clearly stated in your review that the first clerk you ever spoke with said he couldn't offer you the plan, but could offer better alternatives, but you "politely refused".

The fact is, with unadvertised sudden promotions like this, clerks aren't necessarily informed of the details (if informed at all).

Anyways, just had to say that this is without a doubt one of the most biased and unbalanced reviews I have ever read.

At no point did you attempt to include the views or experiences of others. At no point did you include any disclaimers as to the nature of the promotion, where it arose and where you grabbed the form from. (Just because WIND advertises on Mobile Syrup does not make them an official news source or press site for WIND. Anything they publish is still based on outside information. I see ads for Netflix coming in on Digital Home, does that mean you're affiliated?)

While this "review" may be appropriate for personal blogs and such, by no means is it appropriate for Digital Home. This site has a well-built reputation and could very well likely become a top result on Google when a prospecting customer searches for reviews of WIND. And this review does not deserve to and should NOT have any influence over a customer's choice.

Digital Home is supposed to be a professional site, but this is certainly not a professional review.

(Sorry, not trying to be offensive but that is the truth).

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

For a little bit of contrast to this review, would you like to hear my WIND experience? Quite possibly the best I have ever had (based on previous experiences with Rogers Mobile, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility).

I went to purchase a Nexus One from Mobilicity. Done, easy, but unrelated. I walked into the local WIND retail store five minutes down the road from me and asked about the *unadvertised* (at the time) "Holiday Miracle Plan". The clerk knew exactly what I was talking about and started the sign-up process right away.

Since I already had the phone, all I needed was the SIM card (which they had plenty of).

Literally within 10 minutes, my account was setup and my service was ready to go.

The only issue I have had to date was that I was supposed to be set up on pre-auth payment, but that was not done. So I called in to WIND customer service, spent five minutes in queue and was then served by a very friendly, English-speaking representative who quickly fixed the issue for me.

I personally highly recommend WIND mobile.
 
#86 ·
I read the thread at the other forum; just as many supporters as haters. Not sure what the point of directing people there was. I did come across this little nugget posted by profets

I tried to post some things positively about it but he doesn't really care to hear.
Umm, could it be because profets and otafool come across as shills for Wind? That's the sense I get from their posts. I don't see any logical counter discussion.
 
#92 ·
I read the thread at the other forum; just as many supporters as haters. Not sure what the point of directing people there was. I did come across this little nugget posted by profets



Umm, could it be because profets and otafool come across as shills for Wind? That's the sense I get from their posts. I don't see any logical counter discussion.
It's true. I was initially trying to put some positive posts, and saying give them a chance. I even spoke about my experience which wasn't perfect and involved a few trips to the store and several phone calls.

All I'm saying is try to be fair. One person has a rough experience while trying to sign up a plan that he shouldn't have access to (and is led in circles by uninformed and uncaring CSRs), and it ends up as a review on a site that many canadians trust. And to not even post any pros for Wind? Come on.. no more silly long distance, no 3 year contracts, selling most hardware at cost to the consumer, providing amazing plans. They're not perfect (Uinformed CSRs, some half-duplex audio issues, some data issues, limited coverage), but at least they're trying to provide some change and competition from the big 3. Heck, if we go around telling people to not give them a chance (like Hugh will if someone asks), then let's not complain about 20c txts, shrinking local calling areas, 3 year terms, horrible rate plans, insane roaming charges, etc..

PS.. You may think I look like a shill for Wind, but I actually work for one of the big 3
 
#87 ·
You clearly stated in your review that the first clerk you ever spoke with said he couldn't offer you the plan, but could offer better alternatives, but you "politely refused".
DavidT, you might want to read the article again:

The helpful sales clerk apologized and said that he couldn’t give me the deal for reasons I did not understand but pointed me to another Blockbuster store several miles away that could sell me a phone and the plan.

I piled the kids back in the car and we drove ten minutes to a Blockbuster store at Parklawn and Queensway in Toronto. Inside, we asked the clerk how to sign up for the All in the Family plan. The Wind representative said that in order to sign up, I had to have the “form”. I replied that I didn’t have the form but could we download it from the internet and sign me up.

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.
At no point did you attempt to include the views or experiences of others.
So tell me, when a website such as CNET, for example, reviews a product, do they consult others before publishing the review?

I think people may be getting confused with a review vs. a study.

Never usually see Roger Ebert include the views of others before publishing his review in the Sun-Times.
 
#88 ·
This is a wind employee review, not a Wind review.

There is nothing about service at all.

If you were smart you would have printed the form to begin with, called the stores ahead to confirm, and then went in with the form. You would have had no issues whatsoever then...

Lesson learned I guess.
 
#89 ·
This is a wind employee review, not a Wind review. There is nothing about service at all.
Hard to review the service when they won't provide it. I also don't recall Hugh stating he was reviewing the cellular service.

If you were smart you would have printed the form to begin with, called the stores ahead to confirm, and then went in with the form. You would have had no issues whatsoever then...
Are you actually serious, or just trying to provoke some sort of response (which I guess you were successful at)? Does ANYONE ever call ahead to make sure they have the plans, the phones, the SIMs etc? My experience has been they the person I talk to on the phone has no more of a clue about stock than I do. They just want to get you on the door.

Lesson learned I guess.
Condescend much?
 
#90 ·
I'm getting the impression people are only reading what they want to see.

This is a wind employee review, not a Wind review.
Right, so when the SIM card didn't function properly, that was a reflection of the employee?

If you were smart...
Right, because only dumb people have negative experiences with customer service.
 
#91 ·
Umm, could it be because profets and otafool come across as shills for Wind? That's the sense I get from their posts. I don't see any logical counter discussion.
Shill? I don't use Wind, but I know several people who do, and they're happy. Especially those who pay $40 for unlimited voice and data. Much happier than people paying $70 in a 3 year contract. So sure I'll shill.

Again, my beef with the article was that it's a personal rant masquerading as a professional review. Many customers base purchasing decisions on reviews in the mainstream media. DigitalHome is such a source (at least in the eyes of Google News). Using it as platform for personal bitchfests is bad for consumers and the reputation of this site.
 
#93 ·
I have been with WIND since day 5 after the Vancouver launch in early June. The only issues I have had was a faulty SIM card which was resolved by a 10 minute train ride from my place. They tried to fix it without me going to the store, and spent over 40 mins on the phone with me trying to fix it. During this time, they were very apologetic. All this for a $7.50 voice plan....

Porting from Fido took about 3 hours and after that I never had any issues.

Since my half price plan expired in December, I phoned them up and waited about 45 secs to speak to somebody and switched to the $40 holiday plan.

Overall, extremely impressed with the service I have received. I really can't honestly say I believe your story fully, as it doesn't match my experience and sounds greatly exaggerated.

Now my experience with Rogers on the other hand, I don't want to get into for this thread. They basically deny the existence of Western Canada with their online self serve and I can never reach customer service when I'm at home.
 
#94 ·
I am happy to say the story has over 100 comments in just a few hours with folks appearing pretty even on it all. I encourage anyone reading this thread who is interested in Wind Mobile to take a look.

FYI, for anyone doubting the article, just read through this thread. Much of the content of the article was my musings posted in this thread.
 
#95 ·
Let's clear the air a bit here. Hugh did not just wake up one day and decide that it was a good day to lambaste a mobile phone operator. Look back through the years that this site has been in operation and you'll see that no such pattern is evident.

It is important to note that Hugh actively posted in these very forums about his trials, travails, and tribulations with Wind before taking his struggles public. The piece on the main web site is a culmination of our discussions about his experience. This is an example of the beauty and validation of a strong consumer-oriented web forum.

Is it likely that all Wind customers will have such problems? Of course not. Did his experience serve to inform and reveal something new and interesting? Of course it did.

As I've said earlier, there are severe problems in Wind's customer service system, and they can be resolved by starting with some corporate executive introspection. Since my particular professional advice has been given earlier on I need not repeat it here, but I highly advise Wind to do some serious navel gazing about it.

There are no saints amongst the Canadian mobile phone operators, as years of forum posts at this site attest. So, since Wind was not singled out for cruel, unfair treatment, it is time for those who feel somehow personally offended by the article or needful of posting rebuttals based on their own better Wind Mobile customer service anecdotes to acknowledge that this was not a hatchet job or ill-researched flame.
 
#96 ·
No-one is denying Hugh's years of work, and I do have to say that I feel sorry for him; no-one should have to go through that. However... I do honestly feel that the "review" is a massive over-reaction to an unfortunate experience. Furthermore, as much as I hate to say it, the review as posted is an irresponsible misuse of Thompson's position at this web site.

What needs to be considered is that when a review is posted, especially when the post is from the site owner, it is generally taken as the site's official viewpoint. It's already been noted that the DH review has turned up in Google News. As such, Hugh has now stated to the world that his site - with the authority it carries as a well-established forum in the telecommunications field - recommends that Canadians avoid Wind. Some readers will see that in the news feed and, trusting his past reputation, thus avoid even considering the company altogether. However, his recommendation is based solely on a very bad experience with customer service, and does not include any assessment of the actual mobile telephone service. (He may have honestly set out to do so, but the point is that for whatever reason he as yet has no experience whatsoever with using their product.) Thus his readers are being done a dis-service in that they may end up avoiding a provider that could well give them exactly what they need.

Does this mean that Thompson should merely gloss over the experience? Certainly not - that would also be irresponsible - but he has already made his feelings clear through his chronicles in the forum. However, to take that personal experience and turn it into an "official" blacklisting of the provider is, frankly, an irresponsible use of his preferred position as the site owner. As but one example, my experience with Wind over the past five months is the mirror opposite of his, yet I do not have the luxury of the DH podium to speak from. Hugh should have been more careful in separating a personal bad experience from a professional review. As a site operator - and as such a "voice" of Digital Home, he should know better than to let his personal feelings conflict with his professional standards in that way.

Tv


Note - Let me be clear that I'm not a Wind employee, nor is this simplistic boosterism. Yes, I'm very happy with what I've experienced so far, and the holiday unlimited plan has changed how I use wireless for the better. I am prepared to work through startup glitches to see what the end result is, just as I did over a decade ago with Clearnet. I'm also quite prepared to walk if the company doesn't deliver, just as I did when Telus became overpriced and unresponsive.
 
#97 ·
I think most people will see it as a bad experience. I have Wind(and love it) and as a moderator i don't have a problem with the reporting of his experience.

That story is his story. Every company will have a mixture of happy and unhappy customers.

Hopefully a story like this will help Wind improve issues that were illustrated.
 
#99 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi tvisforme,

I do agree with you that Hugh's article was tough, but I also I am happy to see that he wrote about his experience. Consumers, including myself have often been in similar situations from various companies, and we had no means of venting other than maybe telling our friends, families or posting on forums. If someone of authority like Hugh can make Wind or any other company realize there errors, than I support it one hundred and more percent. Wind Mobile should take this article and address these issues, and they also can find a way to win Hugh back as a customer, there are ways to make unhappy customer's happy if the companies knows how to service what they are asking for. Hugh, if you are reading this post please always post your opinions and experiences. I truly enjoy reading over this and help me make critical and important decisions. Your article might deter me away from Wind mobile, but it does not mean this will be forever. Again if Wind improves their service than people please write about it.

Thank you.
 
#100 ·
We all have bad experiences and many of us just decide to walk away and shop elsewhere and tell our friends about our bad experience.

Not knowing why a customer left or not having an opportunity to fix a problem before the customer leaves, for a company, this is a the worse case scenario.

Feedback is needed of this type to prevent additional experiences.

Wind Mobile should have secret shoppers, if they don't already.
 
#101 ·
The article was incredibly unobjective. The fact that Hugh couldn't bring himself to write down any "Pros" for Wind Mobile speaks volumes. I could understand if Hugh wrote the article the same day as when most of the debacle occurred, but he didn't. Hugh posted this days after the event, when he should have been able to look a little more objectively at the situation.

Hugh - can you honestly say that there are no possible "Pros" to using Wind Mobility? I guarantee that if you pull any 12 year old kid off the street and have them do a pro and con list, they will be able to find some pros. The fact that you can't shows your childish unobjectivity in this matter.

I think your posts in the forum are fine, but to post such an unobjective review is irresponsible at best. Whether it is deserved or not, you and your site have become a rather trusted source for consumer electronics information, and frankly, I would expect much better from a review on your site. If your intention was to write some trolling flame-bait drivel to create 'buzz' and drive traffic to your site, I guess you succeeded. Sad, really.
 
#103 ·
His issues would have just begun, the billing, coverage, dead zones, lack of handset choices, customer service failures, data down, network down.. God forbid he have an issues and post it on the wind forum just to have it deleted. No no he got a glimpse into the future of wind.

rsambuca pull a 12 year old off the street? really? And ask them to pros and con of a cell service their parents would be paying for? Hmm good point.. A service that works everywhere? oh thats not wind, one that I can count on to make my calls, not wind again.. do not get into this p!ssing contest my friend. You will not measure up. Wind is a company that had such promise.. they stood on a platform of no hidden anything. Well ownership is an issue.. network, CSR, back office/front office.. there is quite a list.

So please do tell me.. Wind is for sale do you think the new owners will change things? Since the old owners have said they will not put in anymore money into wind, well the shareholders have said this, what is next? Looks like the talk of Mobli buying wind is true?

I for one applaud Hugh for his article. He is not the first to document his experience with Wind. And clearly not the last.
 
#104 ·
The comments keep flowing in and the reaction has been enlightening. One comment that keeps coming up which I should address is the "Friends and Family" plan. People say that I should have "known" that friends and family plan was only for Friends and Family.

Can one of those commenters please explain how marketers define a "friend or family"?

I have spoken to several marketers today and they all laugh at the term. Like me, they consider the term "Friends and Family" to be meaningless. They tell me its like saying the "spectacular sale". They told me the term was meaningless advertising and the ONLY thing that matter was the "Conditions of Sale" or "Disclaimers".

I investigated and in less than five minutes found over 20 sales in the last year that were billed as "Friends and Family" that placed no restrictions on who could buy except maybe the need to input a coupon code which was well known.

Here is a quick list of companies that have had Friends and Family sales in the last year which were really open to virtually anyone.

Adidas
Aveda Canada
Best Buy
Carlson Hotels
Flamingo Hotel
Footlocker
Futureshop
Holiday Inn
Intercontintental Hotels Group
Mac Cosmetics
Monster
Nine West
Puma
Reebok
Sears Canada
Softmoc
Sport Chek
The Bay
Urban Behaviour
Verizon Wireless
 
#105 ·
The "friends and family" is really just that. friends or family of wind employees. the top of the form even mentions that:

This holiday season we’d like to share our All in the Family program
with our family and friends. It’s an extraordinary offer exclusively for
the family and friends of WIND employees
They had the program in November, and it worked by a wind employee pre-registering their friend of family member (there was a max number of invites they could do), and partially filling the form and passing it to their friend/family along with a password for the person to verify when they called up to register the plan.

Honestly, it ended in late november or early december (can't remember exactly) but the program ran relatively smoothly (especially compared to AITF back in april). Why they brought it back during december and made it partially available to the public is beyond me. All it did was create confusion, and reps were never up to date with proper info. They should have either just made it publicly available to everyone, or keep it private like they initially did in november.
 
#106 ·
Hugh this " friends and family plan " was open to anyone. That much is fact. YOU had a terrible experience and wrote about it. The previous F&F plan was limited and sales staff were selling the invites. Wind then simply opened it up for all. They need the subscribers badly. Wind could do a simple account audit and then find out who is a legitimate friend or family member.. there even was a " dummy " referral code in the system.

What has happened to you has and is happening to others.. just the others choose to post on the Wind Forums where its deleted promptly.
 
#107 ·
Profets we both know the F&F was a sham. The first go around people were selling the plans.. and the second time same thing happend so that is why wind just let it go. It got them more subscribers and thats all they cared about. The " dummy " referal code in the activation system is damming enough. When I read the article I thought classic bait and switch.. then as I read on it was clear Wind is in trouble. Less than a year in and afor sale. thats pretty bad, they should have just reached out and made Hugh the offer of his promised plan then he could have said it was smooth and painless.. then fingers crossed the network billing and handset did not fail him he could have been pro wind. As it looks Wind failed yet another person.
 
#108 ·
The bottom line is line: If he wasn't eligible for this plan then they shouldn't have: processed the order, sent out a phone, attempted to activate the sim card, etc.

Would his experience been any different if he simply ordered from the website using an advertised plan?
 
#110 ·
James I agree with you! lets just say for a moment you are the CSR and he explains to you what all he has been through, and tells you I want the plan that I was promised.. you do it for the customer of course OR find someone who will. Plain and simple Wind needs each and every sub they can get.
 
#109 · (Edited)
Having been led here out of curiousity from the Wind Forums (this article is being spammed there constantly), I would have to say yes, hughs experience would have been different if he had used an official plan listed on their website. It seems to have been the root of his actual problem with Wind customer service.

Was his experience with Wind customer service horrible, hell yes. They lack proper training and never seem to be fully aware of all the current promotions and plans. When I was in purchasing my phone, a new CSR wasnt even aware of their advertised buy one get one free blackberry promotion and the customer actually had to explain it to them. BUT as it was listed on their website, he had no issues getting it. Winds biggest downfall right now is rooted directly in customer service.

The minor annoying network issues pale in comparison, and most people are giving them some lee-way as they grow. Im a pretty heavy user and I'd say I'm 90% satisfied with the service, technically speaking.

That said, I was able to walk in, buy the phone I wanted, with an advertised official plan. 25 minutes later I had a working handset and happy as a clam.
 
#111 · (Edited)
Again, I think some people are missing the point: Thompson, as the voice of this site, has a responsiblility to make sure that posts reflecting the site's official position are balanced and based on a complete professional analysis, and not driven by personal frustrations. You may not think it fair that that Thompson has to meet a higher standard than those of us who only post in the forums, but it is a reality of the responsibility he has assumed through his position in the information industry. If Digital Home was merely a small-time personal blog, Thompson could write whatever he wanted and people would take it in context. That is not the case, however, and it is little different from the way in which news presenters have to be very careful when stating personal positions on issues. The fact that DH has the ability to influence an international news feed just reinforces that fact.
 
#113 ·
I do not see what the issue is here. If this was a Rogers bash you would have no issue. I think you and many others are pinning your hopes on wind and are blind to the fact that they are no better and sometimes worse than the big 3. I remember tony atop his soap box claiming they will be different no hidden fees and they will always tell you how it is. Then they stopped the roaming in a home zone so they would not have to pay rogers for the lack of network they had. Totally understandable.. I mean why should you get what you pay for?! I mean really! While the big 3 lowered the cost of a sim wind raised it.. no official reason.. lets not forget they limited the unlimited plans and but a cap on the infinite plans also. Hugh did not report on any of this? He did not touch upon how all the debt is held by a company offshore. Nor did he say how the numbers of subs is fudged each time the pitchman for wind speaks. Not a word about the sale, out sourcing, lack of handsets etc.. I think Hugh was more then honest with his experience trying to become a Windie. Of all the points what he brings up, all the short comings..all that can be picked out is why were there no pros to wind.. well maybe since he never got to be a client he could not find out. So the fault falls on Wind.
Try posting this on the Wind forums and see how quick it is deleted.
 
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