Terrible Customer Service From Both Rogers and Brightstar

[mason123456789]

I have been a Rogers customer since September 2007, and I'd like to preface this by saying I had been very happy and satisfied with their service overall. However, in December I set up a new account so that I could leave my ex's and things went downhill very quickly. I paid the balance owing on the old account, gave my credit card information for automatic billing, and elected to receive my bills via email.

The next day, Rogers illegally gave my ex level 1 access to my account as an authorized user without my permission.

I filed a complaint and was told it would not happen again. I got a call a month later indicating that my account was overdue. I was confused because I hadn't received a bill, I set up automatic payments, and the amount owing was nearly twice what it should have been. The customer representative told me that there was still a balance owing from the old bill, and when I told him that I had paid it already, he told me that I had to fax proof of payment! I went into the Rogers store and they told me that he should have easily seen the linked account and there was no reason for that. They disregarded the late fee and gave me a $25 credit. My understanding at that point was that everything was resolved. However, the following month I got another phone call indicating that my account was overdue again. A Rogers representative told me over the phone that the reason I wasn't receiving my bills was because I elected to receive them via mail (which I have never done in the 11+ years I've been with Rogers), but I had yet to received a single piece of mail from Rogers! I went back into the store, explained the series of events, and was told everything was resolved. They again waved the late fee and gave me another $25 credit. A customer service representative emailed me a week later in reference to negative feedback I left in a customer service survey and requested a preferred time for a call to discuss solutions - she noted that she would call within 3 buisness days. The next day, I received my first actual bill from Rogers in the mail indicating that my account was overdue. Four buisness days later, I had still not received a call and I followed up. I was assured that all these matters would be looked into and a customer service representative called me later that day. I was given a $50 credit on my account. Overall, I spent more than nine hours on the phone and in the Rogers store dealing with issues that caused a lot of stress and should have never been issues in the first place, equating to less than minimum wage in credits.

Two days ago, the screen on my phone stopped working properly. I have been making payments for device protection insurance through Brightstar for more than 7 years for three different phones, and have never made a claim. I had dropped my phone over a year ago which caused a crack on the screen, but because it hadn't caused any functional or display issues, I felt it was not worth my time to request a claim. When the display stopped working properly, I contacted Brightstar for a service request and they denied my claim because the phone was dropped more than 60 days ago. I explained that I was not making a claim for the glass on the phone, but the OLED display that stopped working properly that day. The representative told me that he would escalate the claim, but I couldn't call back for 2-3 business days and I would be stuck with a phone that worked very intermittently until then. I called back tonight and my claim "was denied by corporate" due to the date of the original incident with absolutely no options or anyone else I could talk to moving forward. I reiterated that I was making a claim for the OLED display that broke two days ago, not the glass, and the representative's response was that had I made the claim in the time allotted, the display wouldn’t have malfunctioned. I replied that regardless, the outcome was the same – the phone was perfectly functional and met my needs after the drop, and it was only two days ago that it actually broke. The representative said he understood but that there was nothing he could do.

Overall, I cannot believe the string of terrible service I have received from both companies after being a loyal customer for many years.

[RogersMaude]

Good evening @mason123456789,

Thank you for joining the Community!

Having to call on multiple occasions to deal with a billing issue can be frustrating. I can definitely imagine how you must be feeling and if you haven't been able to already, we want to help you reach a resolution as soon as possible!

It's important that you know we do value your business and appreciate your loyalty. We'd like the opportunity to make things better as this whole experience sounds like it left a sour taste in your mouth and I don't blame you.

Regarding the account you migrated from and to, I want you to know that when an account is cancelled, a final invoice is generated and mailed. If that bill goes unpaid, an invoice will be generated on your bill cycle date, as a reminder. Keep in mind that we put several self-serve tools at your disposition for you to keep track of your bill due date and balance owing. Do you have access to your MyRogers online profile? Also, make sure that you've got your account numbers updated if you normally pay by internet banking.

If you still need assistance with regards to the invoices and account access issues, you can reach out here, by private messaging our @CommunityHelps inbox. You can learn how to send a PM, here.

We normally don't compensate for time spent on the phone dealing with such issues. If you received credits, they were courtesy adjustments applied as a token of our appreciation for your time and willingness to resolve.

You mentioned your desire to discuss this matter with someone higher up. I understand you've submitted feedback and were awaiting a call back. Please, access our Share a Concern page, you'll be able to submit a call back request or chat with a member of our Management Office. You can also request to escalate to the Office of the President if you feel like your efforts were in vain.

Pertaining to Brightstar, I'm sorry you did not feel like they provided you with the help you needed. If you would like to take things further, we could bring it up to their attention if you contact us and go through the authentication process. Although our hands are tied in most issues pertaining to this company, we do want to help you remain a happy Rogers customer.

Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions!

RogersMaude

[mason123456789]

Regarding the closure of the old account, the final invoice was paid in full at the time of closure in the Rogers store and I subsequently attempted to enroll in automatic billing as I had done for more than 11 years. My online Rogers account has been set up.

My reference to the amount of time spent mitigating the issues that arose as a consequence of Rogers' mishandling of my account, and the credits I received not equating to minimum wage was not meant to be reflective of direct compensation per se, but to illustrate the actual amount of time wasted and how valuable that time was. Furthermore, with respect to the sheer profit generated from my $160 per month bills, the discounts offered were incredibly meagre and not reflective of the gross errors made. Especially given that Rogers allowed an unauthorized user level 1 access to my account.

The issues with your partnered insurance company truly compounded the above issues. Given that the string of events noted above have occured within a 3 month period, it is difficult to put into words the level of disatisfaction I feel as an 11+ year customer. In isolation, aside from granting unauthorized access to my account, these individual issues wouldn't have been a big deal. But cumulatively they've equated to the worst customer service I've received from any company.

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @mason123456789,

Thanks so much for your response!

Although I'm happy to hear how satisfied you were with your Rogers' service during a large portion of your time with us, I can definitely understand how things can go sideways quickly. I've been through similar situations myself, and it's not a nice feeling. 😔

As mentioned by RogersMaude, we truly do appreciate your loyalty over the years and this is the last thing we would have wanted to have transpired after such a long and happy relationship. We agree that your time is very precious and no one wants to spend it on the phone discussing issues that could have possibly been avoided. We would need to review your account details to better understand what is happening, why it happened, and how to resolve it.

With respect to the safety and security of your account information, we take this extremely seriously! If you haven't already done so, I'd highly recommend adding a 4-digit PIN to your account going forward and keeping this information to yourself. Once done, you'll be asked to provide this secret PIN number on every interaction you have with us to ensure no one else can access your account using other personal details that may be known to them. Any agent can help you get this added once you've been fully authenticated.

By any chance, were you able to request a callback using our Share a Concern option online? This will help put you in touch with someone from our Management office who may be able to find you some workable solutions to your issues. 

As mentioned earlier, you may also send a Private Message to us here @CommunityHelps and we'll do our best to help turn your experience around. Please click HERE for information on how to send us the Private Message. 

Kindest of regards,

RogersLaura

[jsnyder]

I have had equally disturbing service from Brightstar and Rogers with regards to a service request for a replacement of a broken iPhoneXS screen and back.

After several excruciating hours of trying to work through first a repair request then a replacement request(because brightstar determined over the phone that the repair could not be done at an authorized local repair provider, the only option would be to send it in(with no loaner) for 3-5 days.   OR to pay the additional amounts to swap for a refurbished phone.    Did i mention this part of the process took about 3 hours alone.

Then they proceeded to tell me that the only way i could process the transaction was to email them copies of my drivers licence or passport(really a bad idea in today's day and age) and fill out the appropriate paperwork.  After reluctantly doing so and submitting the 4 documents, I waited the 2 days they said it would take to process .   For three days i was not able to(as still at the time of writing this) access my online account information(MyRogers).   Finally I called back to Brightstar and over another 2 hour of being on hold and conversation to discuss why my submittals were declined, they instructed me to get a copy of my contract from Rogers, because no other confirmation of purchase I could supply would be sufficient.   And I could send them copies of my Property Tax bills or Vehicle ownership slips as proof of address.     Apparently, My ROGERS bill and the Drivers Liscence provided are not acceptable forms of  proof of address.   They volunteered to "escalate my issue" but told me it would likely take another 2 days to do so.  From this they will send me the results of the submissions not accepted, (which i have no other access to while MY ROGERS ACCESS IS STILL DOWN).     Brightstar instructed me to get a copy of my contract from Rogers directly to send to them.     After over an hr of searching, this was determined to be unavailable and no option.     Imagine the frustration level at this point in the process.

Luckily Heather from Rogers understood the frustrating and no win situation I was in and found a way to assist me in the upgrade of the phone(yes it did cost me more) of my phone.      I could not bear to have to spend any more time on the Phone with anyone from BRIGHTSTAR.    I believe they fulfilled their mission.   Make the process of getting them to satisfy the obligation so difficult that you finally just go away and they get to keep your monthly payments without providing the service you pay for.

I SUGGEST TO ANYONE WHO HAS THE OPTION.........TAKE APPLE CARE.  BRIGHTSTAR Protection is not worth the frustration.

IF my corporate name was being attached(ROGERS) to product, i would take much better care to ensure they were representing me satisfactorily.