Bad Customer Service

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IdOp
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by IdOp »

I think one difference between the cheap and more expensive cables, which was only partly touched on in the interesting article, would be build quality, specifically in the form of quality control in manufacturing. Something has to give somewhere, and quality control costs money. I would expect a significantly higher rate of DOA/defective cables at the cheap end. This isn't to say one shouldn't buy them, just that the average cost is going to be a bit higher than it looks because you may have to replace the odd one.

I never used HDMI, but I once bought an el-cheapo $1 USB extension cable at Dollarama. It was DOA. One of the ends looked a bit funny, so I cut it open and found the wires were not properly connected to the contacts. Bad quality control. It was too late to fix it at that point. So I took a deep breath, went back to Dollarama (no returns) and bought another one. It worked fine. :)
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Shakespeare »

One of the few times I saw a difference in cables involved the connection of my DVD player via component (not composite) cables. Although I have replaced most of my closed-captioned DVDs, I still have a small number; these are played on the DVD player connected to the composite input of my Sony TV. A few TVs, including Sony, Philips, and Toshiba, will display closed captioning on the component input, although it is not spec'd for that, as long as the signal is set to 480i. This gives a notably better picture than the composite input, which is spec'd for closed captions. When I replaced my cheap Philips 3-wire component cable with a much better one included in my Bell receiver packaging, the picture became noticeably clearer - there seemed to be a ground problem with the cheap Philips cable that resulted in an overlay of slanted lines on the picture.

Of course, the weaknesses of analogue connections do not apply to digital cables, which basically either work or don't work.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Bylo Selhi »

IdOp wrote:build quality
You can buy 10 cables at Dollarama for the price of one at Future Shop. I'm pretty sure at least one of the Dollaramas will be fine ;)

That said, there are some reasons why one might want to buy quality cables from a more reputable source like Monoprice without wasting money on Monster Marketing.
1. If the cable will be connected/disconnected frequently, e.g. when used to switch media sources.
2. If the cable will be placed somewhere like inside a finished wall where the cost of the cable is a small part of the total cost of replacing it.
3. If the cable run will be lengthy you might want to buy one that uses heavier wires, say 24AWG rather than 28AWG, in order to reduce power loss and/or shielding in order to reduce noise.
4. A cheap cable may not be able to perform all functions, e.g. provide both power for charging and data for OTG access in the case of USB.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by MALDI_ToF »

With digital you tend to get either get a cable that works and you see signal, or you get one that doesn't and you see nothing. Amazon has some nice cheap ones. Even if build quality suffers a bit, you could replace the cable 10+ times and still come out financially ahead!
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Shakespeare »

A couple of weeks ago I went online on my CIBC credit card account to request a card limit increase to $10K preparatory to a planned June Europe trip with about $4.5K in hotel expenses.

The request was acknowledged and then disappeared - despite my having a top quintile credit rating.

I called their 1-800 number today to find out why no action was taken. I was told that it was because they did not know who I was online(!) and I would have to go into a branch and provide two pieces of ID. This after having used the card for some years (the original application was made at a local branch) and after just paying a $3K bill online.

Calling this bird-brained is unfair to birds.

Royal issued me with a $10K card a couple of years ago without my needing to ask for a limit.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Zipper »

I have been buying and receiving gift cards forever.

As usual I bought $300.00 in gift cards from Shoppers Drug Mart on my PC Mastercard for my son in Vancouver at Christmas.

They were all valid except a $50.00 Starbucks card.

I had all the receipts and activation codes.

Starbucks said the card had no value and refused to honour it.

Shoppers has waffled now for weeks and finally said it was not their responsibility.

I have since sent my son a Tims card with no issue.

All other cards were good but someone got in and scammed the Starbucks.

And no one would make it right.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by nomad »

Zipper wrote: 24 Feb 2020 18:14 I have been buying and receiving gift cards forever.

As usual I bought $300.00 in gift cards from Shoppers Drug Mart on my PC Mastercard for my son in Vancouver at Christmas.

I've been burned a few times and have stopped buying gift cards from retail walk-ins and only buy online from the actual suppliers (I.E. Indigo, Winners, Boston Pizza, Home Depot, etc.) for my more distant family members.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Shante »

Try PC MasterCard, they should be able to reverse charges for merchandise not delivered.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Shakespeare »

Shakespeare wrote: 24 Feb 2020 14:12 A couple of weeks ago I went online on my CIBC credit card account to request a card limit increase to $10K preparatory to a planned June Europe trip with about $4.5K in hotel expenses.

The request was acknowledged and then disappeared - despite my having a top quintile credit rating.

I called their 1-800 number today to find out why no action was taken. I was told that it was because they did not know who I was online(!) and I would have to go into a branch and provide two pieces of ID. This after having used the card for some years (the original application was made at a local branch) and after just paying a $3K bill online.

Calling this bird-brained is unfair to birds.

Royal issued me with a $10K card a couple of years ago without my needing to ask for a limit.
Update: was able to increase credit limit at bank after some hassle by person at end of the advisor's phone (to him) who did not want to accept an Alberta Health Card as ID - a normal second ID in this province. But several charges on that card (to Eurostar, e.g.) were rejected, so I used the RBC MC and immediately got a an automated call with an authorization number. I called CIBC Visa to make sure that the rejected charges were not on the card and said I was trying to book a European trip. A couple of hotel bookings were accepted.

Coincidentally - or maybe not - I just got a phone call purporting to be from Visa Fraud questioning further charges. The first time I hung up. The second time I pressed 2 to decline the charges and was diverted to an agent with an Indian accent and a boiler room echo. I hung up again.

I wonder if one of those booking services is compromised.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Zipper »

Zipper wrote: 24 Feb 2020 18:14 I have been buying and receiving gift cards forever.

As usual I bought $300.00 in gift cards from Shoppers Drug Mart on my PC Mastercard for my son in Vancouver at Christmas.

They were all valid except a $50.00 Starbucks card.

I had all the receipts and activation codes.

Starbucks said the card had no value and refused to honour it.

Shoppers has waffled now for weeks and finally said it was not their responsibility.

I have since sent my son a Tims card with no issue.

All other cards were good but someone got in and scammed the Starbucks.

And no one would make it right.
Shoppers informed me today that they had referred the matter to their third party Blackhawk and that the $50.00 was restored to my son's Starbucks card.

He indeed said it was loaded and I thanked Shoppers/PC for their effort.
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Re: Bad Customer Service/ UPS

Post by jasdlc »

Just wonder if anyone else is having long delays with deliveries from UPS? I ordered from Costco on 27 Apr. and today is 19 May.
Last message is from Friday the 15th ... nothing today. Costco replied to my email.... your package is not lost! Misery loves company if you too are waiting 'patiently'....



In Transit 05/15/2020 7:00 Hamilton, ON, Canada
Your package has been delayed due to events beyond our control. We're adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible.

05/14/2020 7:00 Hamilton, ON, Canada Your package has been delayed due to events beyond our control. We're adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible.
05/12/2020 21:00 Hamilton, ON, Canada Arrival Scan
05/12/2020 19:41 Concord, ON, Canada Departure Scan
Past Event Shipped 05/12/2020 15:14 Concord, ON, Canada
Origin Scan

Past Event Label Created 05/08/2020 20:44 Canada
Order Processed: Ready for UPS
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Re: Bad Customer Service/ UPS

Post by Clason »

jasdlc wrote: 19 May 2020 17:35 Just wonder if anyone else is having long delays with deliveries from UPS? I ordered from Costco on 27 Apr. and today is 19 May.
It's standard. 4 adults in the household here, and we have a running joke going about them.

Anything delivered over UPS over the past month gets delayed about 2-3 weeks and it's always beyond their control. It moves "quickly" between 2 Ontario cities (i.e. 2-3 days instead of overnight), but the last few miles aren't happening. The message that you are getting shows 5-10 days in a row (instead of same day). I can recall this for 3 separate packages. A Canada Post regular parcel service from Manitoba to Ottawa arrived about 1 week earlier than a UPS package from Toronto ordered the same day.

We receive 5-6 packages per week (business and personal). Purolator is rarely more than 1 day late. Canpar is always on time. Canada Post runs on time or better than usual. Amazon's Intelcom delivers when it says it would. UPS is generally 2.5 or 3 weeks.
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Re: Bad Customer Service/UPS

Post by jasdlc »

Thank you Clason for your reply. It was good to read that I was not alone. I especially enjoyed your last paragraph! It is a shame that one can not identify the service to be used.
As it turned out the delivery arrived 2 hours after I posted my message. So 22 days in total. Don't think I will be ordering online again. Stay healthy all.
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Re: Bad Customer Service/ UPS

Post by Sumaco »

jasdlc wrote: 19 May 2020 17:35 Just wonder if anyone else is having long delays with deliveries from UPS? I ordered from Costco on 27 Apr. and today is 19 May.
Last message is from Friday the 15th ... nothing today. Costco replied to my email.... your package is not lost! Misery loves company if you too are waiting 'patiently'....
Placed and order May 3rd with Home Depot... Received my 4th UPS Update: New Scheduled Delivery Date in 3 days earlier today. Item has been sitting in the Concord, ON depot for the last 3 days. I could have picked it myself when it arrived there from NJ. <<sigh>>
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Insomniac »

Canada Post is now just as bad as UPS. Race to the bottom?

I ordered cabinet hardware from an outfit in Sherbrooke. They gave me a Canada Post tracking number. Canada Post received the package May 19th and it was supposed to be delivered yesterday, May 27.

The package didn't arrive yesterday. I checked Canada Post's site and the status was updated this morning. It's in Montreal and expected delivery is "date pending". 9 days to get from Sherbrooke to Montreal. Sad. :x
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Eclectic12 »

I suspect they've all got challenges.

My UPS experience was that two of the three items were estimated to be delivered four days later and the third item was estimated to be delivered eight days later. One items was delivered eight days later (i.e. four days late) and two were delivered nine days later (i.e. one five days late and one was one day late).

My Canada Post experience was one item was to be delivered eight days later and one nine days later. Instead the items were delivered five days later and six days later (i.e. before the estimated delivery date).


Curb side pickup has also been all over the map. Two orders were available in two hours while the third order was four days and a fourth order is going on four days with a pending status.


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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by fireseeker »

Insomniac wrote: 28 May 2020 19:08 Canada Post is now just as bad as UPS.

An explanation, published yesterday:
Canada Post workers are grappling with a record surge in bulky parcels at a time when reduced staffing due to physical distancing makes it impossible to meet delivery dates, even as online shoppers grow impatient for purchases to arrive.

The postal service told customers this week to brace for delays into the forseeable future as demand and distribution centres that weren’t designed to keep people two metres apart clash.

“We’re having higher than Christmas volumes right now with a reduced staff,” said Derek Richmond, who works at the York Distribution Centre in Scarborough.
...
Parcel deliveries grew at a record pace from April to May — hitting an all-time, one-day record of 2.1 million parcels delivered May 19. Numbers are roughly three times the norm for this time of year.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/0 ... _top_pages
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Insomniac »

Didn't see that story. I saw this one: https://www.timescolonist.com/canada-po ... 1.24140681
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by knotley »

I have had two Home Depot curbside pickups cancelled:


1. Place order May 3, order "confirmed" May 6, cancelled with no explanation May 12

2. Place order May 16, order "confirmed" May 22, cancelled with no explanation May 28

I have no idea what the "confirmation" step means. But it didn't help and both were cancelled.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by KFried »

We're being swindled out of our $100 security deposit at a Windsor motel(fabricated 'damage to tv table').

Anybody had experience with Mastercard chargebacks? (they might redflag the merchant) Or other options?
We''ll make a BBB complaint and write reviews - not sure thieves care but may warn other travelers.

We totally don't care about the money, we just want the mothas discouraged/stopped, as it seems to me they have a scamming routine.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Stan_W »

My wife chose to commute a small pension and have the entire pension transferred to her CIBC RRSP. The prescribed amount was about 65% of the total and we received a T4A for the remainder. We expected that CIBC would issue a contribution receipt, but they did not. We contacted them in March and they were to get back to us, but never did.

We let it slide after I had done our taxes and recently called back to get the receipt. The person we spoke to blamed it on the pension plan for sending the entire amount as a lump sum. We contacted the plan and they sent a copy of the form that clearly shows the portion that was the prescribed amount and the portion for which a T4A would be issued. We called back, and after being put on hold several times while she consulted with someone else, she told us that we would have to contact CRA to find out how to get the money out of the RRSP without again paying taxes on it. I know this is BS, but I wasn't getting anywhere with her, so we ended the call.

I have copied the documents and sent them to CIBC Investors Edge customer service to see if we can get somewhere.

If we don't get a favourable response, does anyone have suggestions for our next step?

Thanks.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by e_girl »

Since high school, I have been using CIBC to handle all the finances, until...

While I was still a university student, working in my intern year, I made some contribution to my RRSP at CIBC. The lady who was the advisor of my dad, unilaterally assigned herself as my advisor as well. All I needed from her, on that day at the end of February, was the contribution slip of my RRSP contribution.

Somehow this lady failed to produce the slip that day, and asked "can you delay claiming the RRSP until next year?"

I said "no". Given another 15 minutes or so fighting on her computer, she finally was able to give me the slip. She did not forget to give me a lecture, about why I should contribute RRSP's throughout the year, instead of in the busy month of February. What I did not care to explain to her, was that I only had money, after paying off my student loan.

To avoid going back to that lady, I had opened an RRSP, a TFSA, all the RESP's for my children, a regular investment account, ... etc. at another big 5 bank.

I still have a small RRSP at CIBC, but that is just 5% of the portfolio. Most of this chunk of money is a result of consolidation of my PCF (now Simplii) and CIBC RRSP accounts.

To this day, CIBC has been great for me, with the exception of investment accounts.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by mapleleaf66 »

e_girl wrote: 22 Nov 2020 20:26 Since high school, I have been using CIBC to handle all the finances, until...

While I was still a university student, working in my intern year, I made some contribution to my RRSP at CIBC. The lady who was the advisor of my dad, unilaterally assigned herself as my advisor as well. All I needed from her, on that day at the end of February, was the contribution slip of my RRSP contribution.

Somehow this lady failed to produce the slip that day, and asked "can you delay claiming the RRSP until next year?"

I said "no". Given another 15 minutes or so fighting on her computer, she finally was able to give me the slip. She did not forget to give me a lecture, about why I should contribute RRSP's throughout the year, instead of in the busy month of February. What I did not care to explain to her, was that I only had money, after paying off my student loan.

To avoid going back to that lady, I had opened an RRSP, a TFSA, all the RESP's for my children, a regular investment account, ... etc. at another big 5 bank.

I still have a small RRSP at CIBC, but that is just 5% of the portfolio. Most of this chunk of money is a result of consolidation of my PCF (now Simplii) and CIBC RRSP accounts.

To this day, CIBC has been great for me, with the exception of investment accounts.
I have had a similar experience with CIBC. Great on the banking side (above and beyond in some cases), but lacking in the investment area. It seems the smart and talented that they hire soon leave for more lucrative pastures. A lot of young and inexperienced staff.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by Stan_W »

Stan_W wrote: 21 Nov 2020 14:59 My wife chose to commute a small pension and have the entire pension transferred to her CIBC RRSP. The prescribed amount was about 65% of the total and we received a T4A for the remainder. We expected that CIBC would issue a contribution receipt, but they did not. We contacted them in March and they were to get back to us, but never did.

We let it slide after I had done our taxes and recently called back to get the receipt. The person we spoke to blamed it on the pension plan for sending the entire amount as a lump sum. We contacted the plan and they sent a copy of the form that clearly shows the portion that was the prescribed amount and the portion for which a T4A would be issued. We called back, and after being put on hold several times while she consulted with someone else, she told us that we would have to contact CRA to find out how to get the money out of the RRSP without again paying taxes on it. I know this is BS, but I wasn't getting anywhere with her, so we ended the call.

I have copied the documents and sent them to CIBC Investors Edge customer service to see if we can get somewhere.

If we don't get a favourable response, does anyone have suggestions for our next step?

Thanks.
I checked my wife's RRSP account and see that the original transfer has been reversed and replace with a transfer of the prescribed amount and a contribution of the surplus. The receipts for the year are usually issued in late Jan or early Feb, so it looks like the issue is resolved.
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Re: Bad Customer Service

Post by amphitryon »

While we have almost all our financial dealing at CIBC (except for HISAs and GICs), I can only say that they have performed quite well for the last 40 years. Way back, when we were in a bit of a jam with having a house for sale with a mortgage to discharge and another one to pay for with a new mortgage, the then Manager there helped us out nicely. So we stayed, even to the point that we still use (a once a year meeting) this particular branch, now a good hour's drive away.
They do a fine job calculating and selling monthly the necessary instruments from both our RRIFs, while keeping the agreed upon balance within each account intact. There were some small hiccups recently, where I needed to explain to them that e-transfers for over 65s were as of recently free of charge, and I also had to intervene with the reduction - actually I stopped the monthly RRIF payments for two months - of RRIF payments. Once cleared up we were quickly on course again. The rest we do all on line, and so no actual complaints; there is on-line help if needed. They accepted that their savings etc. rates basically suck, and we use other venues.
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