Bell - A Communication Company That Can't Communicate With Their Communicators!

I recently acquired a Blackberry, through a family plan on the Bell network. After the first billing cycle, we realized that my plan was not appropriate for my needs. After two weeks of further investigation, attaining information through their Web site, store, and customer service line, we were ready to make a change.

The last consultant we spoke to (at the store location) informed us that when a decision was reached, then we could come back to the store and make changes with the staff members. This past Friday my mother and I went to do just that. It was to our surprise and disappointment that we were told any plan changes needed to made through the customer service line only. The Web site as well as the store were not equipped to handle any plan change requests. Instead of leaving the store and using my cell to call and make the changes, we asked the clerk if he could contact customer service on our behalf, and assist in guiding us in making the right choices.

He called - we sat, and sat and sat. Twenty minutes of listening to Bells hold messaging goes by, all the while the clerk is apologizing for the lack in service and confusion of procedure. We ended up leaving to make the call on our own.

The entertaining aspect of this story is that once the call was made from home, it was picked up right away - and a plan change took effect immediately. Does this mean that Bell was intentionally avoiding a call from their store clerk? Another interesting detail of the story is that when we were waiting for our call to be picked up at the store location, I noticed a huge flat screen TV mounted as a wall display. I said to the clerk humorously " You should at least have something on the television for us to watch while we are waiting" and he replied "We just got a new great satellite system installed, but we can't get it to work".

I guess in this situation it would be unreasonable to expect him to recite anything from Bell's official customer service statement:

"Delight.Yes, delight. Simply put, that’s our mission: To delight you with the products, services and customer support that we provide to you every day.It’s more than just talk. It comes with a commitment. Here it is:
We will bring you outstanding products and services that can help you in your daily life;
We will strive to provide you with the products and services that you want;
We will remember that technology can be fun, and excite you with creative and useful new product innovations;
We will strive to ensure that pricing information is presented clearly;
We will be helpful and courteous in your dealings with us;
We will strive to be accessible to you through the medium of your choice, whether it be online, in-store or by phone.

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I think they need a new writer. I would like to suggest a slogan such as "Bell - we can't make it work either". I could find some delight in that.