TELUS SUCKS!!!!!

I have just spent the morning composing a letter to send the CEO and President of TELUS, one that will be forwarded to all the Board members and to a number of papers and consumer watchdogs. To say that I am disgruntled with TELUS' treatment of me is an understatement. I'm PISSED OFF. Just sayin'. So, here's the scoop, and some of you may have read about this on my FB page - I'm sure there will be a lot more of it, so if you don't want to read this - it's all good. Back to the scoop - I'll do it in point form so it is not so laborious.

• July 2007 sign up with TELUS - 3 year contract so that I can get the pretty pink Razr phone (HUGE mistake - never let a phone dictate your contract). 
• October/November 2007 - phone begins to crap out, turning off every time I close the damned thing
• December 2007 - finally fed up with the faulty phone I take it to local TELUS dealer - told to buy a new phone or sign a new 3 year contract - they claim absolutely no responsibility for repairing or replacing the phone that I signed the initial contract to "rent" until it was paid for (supposedly after the 3 year contract was over)
• canceling-not an option (cancelation fee insane and asinine); purchasing a new phone - not an option (hello, expensive as hell thus the reason I signed the blasted 3 year contract to begin with); only option - sign another contract
• leave the TELUS dealer with another 3 year contract and a cheap replacement phone - the only kind they say they will give me after my expensive phone crapping out - you know the phone they had me sign the 3 year contract for - new phone in no way represents what I signed the contract for but stuck
• fast forward a wee bit - some financial issues and some personal expenditure paring down needed - perhaps cancel cell phone - no problem, if I want to pay blahdiddyblahblah hundreds of dollars - only recourse drop to lowest plan $20/month - not great but semi-manageable - a little over a year on this new plan. 
• December 14, 2011 - hubby and I opt to go with an alternative provider and a new HTC (oooh pretty, shiny phone - gah, fallen prey to the latest technology again - but we bought the phone outright this time - ha ha ha won't catch us) 
• January 2012 - a bill arrives from TELUS - we owe them $100 plus HST for canceling the contract  2 DAYS EARLY - WTF!!!!! Apparently, the contract wasn't over until December 16th, and now they feel they are owed a pound of flesh and a pint of blood.
• actual revenue TELUS lost because we canceled the contract 2 days early - $1.81 (including HST) - this an average based on 3 months worth of bills - don't forget we were on a $20/month plan - HOW COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS IS THIS?!?!
• the gist of it - TELUS is a major corporation and no one cancels early on a major corporation because they haven't squeezed every last red cent out of your wallet yet and maybe, just maybe while you are counting the minutes until you can extract yourself from TELUS' slimy clutches, they might be able to sucker you into buying something else. 

The future is friendly my ass! There is absolutely nothing friendly about this particular telecom corporation, nor any of the big 3 would be my guess. I mean, was TELUS going to go bankrupt because they didn't get their two days worth of revenue from us ($1.81). Give me a break! There is absolutely no independent thinking in this kind of situation; there is no case by case analysis (and there should be given the amount of money the average individual spends on cell phones and wireless plans - it's not like they don't have the resources).

So, we sent a cheque to TELUS for $1.81, along with a letter stating that this is all the money they will be receiving from us and when the cheque is cashed it will serve as a closing of the contract and we will never hear from TELUS again. I'm not holding my breath. They have, of course, threatened us with collection and we've already started receiving the calls. Keep in mind how incredibly stupid this is - they are going to spend a bunch of money trying to collect what they perceive as owed revenue - but the fact is that we only owed them $1.81 for the two days - so let them spend all the money they want on trying to collect from us. They aren't getting another frackin' penny.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the big 3 are all that are out there for wireless - do your homework, shop around, and go with a carrier that will work WITH you not just FOR your money. Better yet, save up buy a phone outright and get on a month to month - that way the slimy buggers don't get anymore money than you are willing to give them - that's the way we went with Virgin and so far, so good - no more dropped calls (and boy, did we have a ton of those with TELUS not to mention shoddy coverage areas), and no one haranguing us to spend more, get more, do more - in fact, and this is the best part, no sales calls at all (we were bombarded by TELUS).

There is no friendly future with TELUS, if you are under contract with them now - as soon as you can (although not too early 'cause that will cost you) RUN!!! Run as fast and as far as you can. If you are looking for a new carrier - AVOID TELUS!!! At all cost!!! You don't want them, you don't want anything to do with them - they will abuse you with sales calls, and have some of the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Perceive TELUS as the devil - sign up with them and you've just sold them your soul.