Telus' concept of "Communication" - A Story of Irony

I just wanted to share my experience with your company.

On April 13th 2014 a Telus technician was sent to my new home to install Fibre Optik Internet 100. I purchased this internet because I was told that it is the best one out there right now. Everybody told me to go with Shaw for home internet. However, the Telus representative over the telephone was very lovely and I decided to sign up with them. (big mistake) There were no issues with my Internet for six weeks. On May 28 suddenly I was unable to use my Internet. It would show that I am connected, but trying to access any web pages was impossible and my cellphone was telling me that it cannot connect to server, however again it showed that I was connected. Naturally I called Telus to see what was wrong and Debbie was lovely. After being on the line with her for over 30 minutes and on hold multiple times she advised she would need to send a technician to my house. I told her that I would need to leave work to meet the technician and to make a note for him/her to call me 10 minutes prior to arriving at my house. She said she would make it 20 minutes prior. Great. The technician is supposed to come between 12 and 2 pm. So the next day at 2 pm the technician calls me for directions to my house. I directed him, and because I was still at work I then proceeded to leave work since it was evident that the technician did not read the note to call 20 minutes prior to arrival. When I met with the tech he took less than one minute to diagnose the issue (WAN light red instead of green on white box). But not before he told me that no, he did not even read the notes to call me before arriving. He then says that it must not have been a 'Fibre Optik Specialist' who installed my system (are your technicians not all equally capable of installation? I wonder) Then your technician proceeds to tell me that Telus only has Internet 50 and he has never heard of 100. WOW. WHAT IS GOING ON? The technician says he has to leave for ten minutes and will be back. When the technician came back to my house he then tells me that there is nothing in the system other than my name and home address. My account - he tells me - has been deleted. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? Especially when Telus billed me last week, and I paid that bill on Tuesday (the day before my Internet services stopped working) He says it will take 2 hours to restore and that I could then leave my house and go back to work. But what did I do? Of course I called Telus back. I first spoke with Joe who I was disconnected with while he put me on hold. A gentleman named Adrian called me back (I thought this strange) After explaining my situation now a fourth time (once to Debbie, again to the technician, then to Joe and now to Adrian) Adrian puts me on hold, comes back, and then goes on hold a second time he says to reach out to Customer Retention and Loyalty. Dave from Loyalty comes on the line but Adrian advises me that he is still there for troubleshooting questions. OK Great. And let me say that up until this point absolutely none of the people from Telus can tell me why I am experiencing Internet connection issues. Yet they want to keep my business. After then explaining my situation to Dave (fifth time) he tells me that the technician 'clearly dropped the ball' by telling me my account was deleted. Let me now tell you how absolutely baffled I was that a person from your company can be so quick to throw another individual (and co-worker) under the bus, so to speak. I'm disappointed but more so I am furious. I work as a representative for over a dozen online platforms that communicate with customers about our products and service and as a company, WE are responsible.  It is ALL OF OUR fault if something happens. It is EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY. But Dave clearly does not understand this concept. Dave then proceeds to tell me that he has been with Telus for four years and has had no issues. OK. Good for you Dave. He says he has never experienced this type of situation - where a technician, and again he says, 'so blatantly drops the ball and tells a customer that he doesn't know what internet 100 is - I will make sure this technician gets sent to "coaching"'. I don't know what 'coaching' is but I think that would be wise for MOST of your staff. Of course I was furious because again Dave is not accepting responsibility on behalf of YOUR COMPANY, but putting blame on one individual. Dave also says that, 'he is only customer loyalty and retention, and if he could fix the problem he would come to my house and fix it' How professional of him - don't you think? At this point I was getting no answers and feeling very upset to the point where I asked that my service with your company be cancelled effective immediately. FINALLY I'M FREE. I can get off the phone with these very unhelpful people and call Shaw like I should have in the first place (this was around 3:00 pm) At 9:34 pm that evening I receive a call from the Telus technician telling me that my internet should work tonight and if it isn't still tomorrow, call him back. EXCUSE ME? This is the same technician who I was told was going to be sent to 'coaching' for his lack of knowledge. Ironically, it is clear Telus has no concept of communication. How can your employee continue to be allowed to contact a customer who they have given false information to? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this is? Well I do. Half an hour later the technician attempted to call me again. (10:00 pm) I did not pick up. He sent me a text message after the phone call saying, "it should work now." I feel like telling everybody this story. Because it just goes to show how little Telus cares - not for its customers, but for its employees, and the people they send to represent their brand. For six weeks I was an advocate of Telus and I can assure you that will no longer be the case. Thanks for reading and good luck.

if only...

we get sensitive when we don't get our way; when someone isn't doing things the way that we would necessarily do them, or have them done. as time goes on we realize that people are not out there, living their lives to impress us. People don't wake up in the morning to make others happy. but wait a second - why not? we cannot fight another person's battles, nor can we take on another person's responsibilities. there is no reason for us to defend another person's faults, or even inquire into another person's affairs. we live our lives for us. how many times have you seen another person intentionally cause pain or endanger someone else? was it for good reason? probably not.
we're in it for ourselves. that's why we see people leaving the scene of accidents and texting while driving and cutting others off. there is no good reason. there is no enjoyment in these things. there is nothing other than one thought and one thought only.
if only we were in it for each other.
practice makes perfect, that's what they say. and since this life is unique to all of us, it too takes practice to make perfect. if we don't appreciate our life it's not anyone's fault. if we don't appreciate our life it may be because we are greedy or ignorant, and sometimes we all are. but we can change this. we can become less greedy and more aware. but it takes practice.
today we are in constant anticipation of the next best thing. iPhone 5 then 5s. iPad then iPad mini. we are no longer expected to commit or devote ourselves to anything because we know that there will be something new around the corner. we don't practice being loyal.
one thing that we can do, however is practice being alive. living and breathing are only the beginning. this is our one shot to take any opportunity that comes our way; any possible experience, and make it our own. there's no way we can control our lives, but we can make them special and memorable if we face them head-on.
we can make them special by avoiding the if only's and the what if's. 
learning about who we are is equally as important about learning how our earth rotates.
but seeking out who we are is far more important than seeking out the table of elements.
once you find yourself you're likely to stop wishing that others were different.
once you find yourself if only shouldn't exist.

Easter on 4/20 and growing balls

i think a lot of people; young people especially, are just scared. they're scared to admit that they like doing things cautiously, or that they like sleeping next to another breathing body. today is so much about, 'the next iPhone' and 'the newest night club' and 'the hottest trend'. young people are scared to admit they'd rather stay home on a friday night instead of joining the crew for an all-night adventure. they get sucked into thinking the only way they can fit in is by being there, doing it and then talking about it. but there's a lot more to living wild and free.

wild is waking up and going for a walk before the sun is fully in the sky.
wild is making guacamole with habanero peppers - or whatever the hottest ones are called.
free like barefoot in the backyard, watering the garden.
free like finally finding the sock from last month's mysterious load of laundry.

this world has taken many years to perfect.

young people need to grow some balls.

it's a sad day when young people get together, have a few drinks, and drink a few too many. it's a sad day when young people drink and drive. it's a sad day when you wake up to the news: five people stabbed and killed at an end-of-school house party. it's a sad day when you know one of the victims.
young people don't understand how vulnerable they really are. we get so caught up in believing that we're just young and restless that we fail to remember we're inexperienced and immature. we laugh when someone jokes about skin colour. we dance around pain that we inflict on others. we call each other, 'gay' and 'retarded' and 'useless'. and stupid is as stupid does. and maybe that doesn't fit here at all but how can you be so cruel in a world that sends you curve balls every day?

wake up young people. smell the roses, that's what they say. remember to think before you act and speak your piece. try to remember that this life is yours and it gets shorter by the hour. try to remember there are others like you around.
i'm not telling you to be something you're not but for your sake you should try and be the best version of yourself. because we know you don't know who you are just yet.

be wild and tell yourself that you're a little scared to grow up. be free and grow in every direction possible.

the world has taken many years to perfect.

young people need to grow some balls.

how to live Happily Ever After - a group activity

once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.
suddenly the speaker stopped and decide to do a group activity.
so he handed a balloon to each person and told everybody to write their name on the balloon using a marker pen. then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

now these people were let into that room and asked to find the balloon with their name on it within five minutes. everybody was searching frantically for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around each other. it was chaotic. and at the end of the five minutes
no one could find their own balloon.

now these people were asked to collect a random balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. within minutes everyone had their own balloon again.

the speaker began, 'exactly this is happening in our lives - everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.
but our happiness lies in the happiness of other people -
give them their happiness; you will get your own.
and this is the purpose of human life.'

getting what you want; the Golden F's

is it strange that we seem to get what we want, but almost after the fact?

we can't find something we're looking for until we give up and settle for an alternative.
and once we've accepted the alternative we finally find what we'd been searching for.
or when we wait for the server to take our first order; which seems like too long.
and then the server proceeds to return to the table three times while we are eating to ask, 'how is everything tasting?', and 'is there anything i can get you?', or as you take that nearly-too-big bite of pasta, 'what do you think of the Chef's special?'.
we are single and free from the restraint that is exclusivity; free to do as we please, go where we want at whatever time we choose to do so. single as one can get, yet can get no one to notice the fact.
so we start to see someone, go out on dates.
and when this happens; when we become attained we get the attention.

is it ironic that we seem to get what we want, but only after?

i didn't want to be a girlfriend because i didn't know how to ask questions like, 'who are you talking to?' or 'what did you do last night?' and 'how many people have you slept with before me?'. questions that people seeing; dating; in a relationship together, ask all too often. i didn't want to be a girlfriend because i don't know how to fight about things that girlfriends tend to fight about. and i certainly didn't want to be a girlfriend if i had to sacrifice my freedom, my friendships (mostly male) or my family. the Golden F's.

Freedom allows for option. the option to do and say and think as we see fit. Friendships are an offer that many feel they cannot live without. some people get to have all the friends in the world, others have a hard time finding just one, but Family...that's different than the other; and you don't need to have friends to get what you want.
Family allows for opinion. the common interest, values and lifestyle. and a family makes sure that both Freedom and Friendship are upheld.

Lesson #1 to getting what you want - choose Freedom, find meaningful Friendships, and never forget about your Family, and where you came from.

how to wake up in the morning.

the last time i remember having time to waste i was reaching over to turn my alarm clock off. i can't remember the time the clock displayed, or even what time i was supposed to get out of bed. i can't even remember getting out of bed. i never got out of bed.

the first time i remember having time to waste i was at the orthodontist. the all-too-obvious fish tank did nothing to comfort my nerves; diminish my wait time. i was barely eight years old and i had to have something glued into my mouth. there was a metal piece with two hooks that came out on either side of my eye teeth. and with a tiny croquet needle and little baby elastics i would, each evening before bed, attach a vertical bar that went from my forehead to my chin. i guess they called it a headpiece. i never got out of bed.

another time i remember having time to waste i was a little bit older but not much. every Friday my Grandpa would pick me up from school in his tow truck. most of the time we would go straight to the hair salon but sometimes we would make a stop along the way. back then i still ate meat so we would pick up Kentucky Fried (Popcorn) Chicken and i loved that shit. at the salon i would answer the phones and schedule the appointments. can you imagine calling your hair stylist and an eight-year-old books your cut, colour and blow dry? Grandma let me play hair dresser with the mannequin heads; wash, dry, curl, style, buzz. indeed one day i found the electric razor. she told me it was OK but she warned me that it would be the last time i played hair dresser. i had a blast buzzing that doll's hair off. and then i cried immediately after. and the next day. i never got out of bed.