Number 1 worst on my list of crappy, semi-monopolistic companies is, not surprisingly, a telephone company.
I had a major dispute with them over a mobile phone contract when I moved unexpectedly to New Zealand.
I understand that no company in Canadian history has had more complaints filed against them, including mine.
In June 2006 I called TELUS on behalf of my parents and had excellent service. I was about to revise my opinion.
Then I used a TELUS pay phone. Yes, public phones still exist. But in the Crowsnest Pass in rural Alberta, it will take you a while to find one.
TELUS charged me C$2.40 for a 1-minute call! (Does that sound like a reasonable price to you?) I was phoning the same area code — 403.
The pay phone was ancient. So old, in fact, that it did not take one dollar or two dollar coins. We scrambled to get enough dimes and quarters together.
Of my 1-minute time allotment, I got only about 20 seconds then was cut off without option to insert more coins.
I tell everyone I know — do not use TELUS. Use Bell, Shaw, Fido — anyone but TELUS.
I will complain, again, about TELUS to the CRTC.
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Hey, I got a quality reply from TELUS®: the future is friendly®
I appreciate the friendly tone and the information provided. And it only took a couple of days. Well done, TELUS.
Hello Rick, your email was forwarded to me for response as I manage the Sales & Customer Service associated with payphones at TELUS.
The cost of calling from payphones is governed by tariffs with the CRTC and reflects the costs associated with providing the service. In this case, the cost of processing and collecting coins from payphones is high so the calls have a surcharge of $2.00 attached to them plus the cost of the call itself. I recognize that this is not the most convenient way to make a call and there are a variety of alternatives. For someone that travels, using prepaid phone cards or rechargeable minutes would be far more cost effective. If you would be willing to provide me your address I can forward you a card as reimbursement for the inconveniences you’ve encountered in using our service.
I hope this answers your question but please feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions or concerns. I can be reached at 1-800-XXX-XXXX or by email at xxxxxx@telus.com. Thank you for taking the time to forward your concerns and I apologize for any inconvenience you encountered.
Dave Fowler
Sales Director
TELUS Public Access
Rick McCharles 
Rick, I have always been impressed with your Worldly travels (jealous mostly). Having been a Wireless Advisor (communications guru) for almost 2 decades, I pride myself on recommending travellers with the Proper Tools.
FOR YOUR NEXT EXCURSION TO MT. EVEREST OR THE CROWSNEST PASS YOU WILL NEED: 1 SATELITE PHONE, 1 GSM PHONE, 1 AIRCARD WITH HOTSPOT, 1 TRI-QUARTER COMMUNICATOR, WATERPROOF POUCHES, HAND CRANK BATTERY RECHARGER, MODERN CURRENCY: CREDIT CARDS/PREPAID CARDS/CALLING CARDS.
***Note: Sat phones need fairly clear skies, GSM and Aircard need cell sites or a Starbucks for Hotspot, TriQ needs Cappy Kirk, Pouches leak, Cranks cease, and Credit Cards max out ! And if you lived in Ontario you would be mad at Bell Mobility, in London, England torked at Orange…
Call me before your next Outing and I’ll help you Transfer any accounts without Termination Fees…. for Hassle Free Travel.
At least the Phone Booth had a Door and the Light was on!
P.S. We have a Promotion on “the Smoke and Blanket” and “the extended length String and Cans” kits.
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I chose Telus’ $20 for 200 minute plan in a 3 year contract (and a Motorola Razr2 PCS phone). I also agreed to try out some additional options like web access and text messaging knowing that each time “I used those options” there would be a charge but I wanted these options in case I needed to download updates from the web or if I wanted to send a text message. Unknown to me, simply by agreeing to have web access, Telus took it upon themselves to send my phone web update requests so each time I used my cell phone, it would check the web for updates and simply by agreeing to text messaging, Telus decided to send me daily informational text messages each of which cost me an additional $1.00. I was not a heavy cell phone user but I typically used my phone 3 or 4 times a month and I never sent a text message or checked the web myself but my monthly bills were close to $70.00 for this $20/200 plan. That is gouging the customer.
So I am back in BC for a few months, I have and iphone and telus can (finally) support such a device. Easy right? Unlock the sim on the iphone, buy an sim card and start it up. Its not that simple, its telus!
The phone worked right away however my internet connection did not (the APN settings are suppose to be on the sim THEY ARE NOT!). I could not find the APN settings on the telus web site either. When I called customer support the said they could not give me the APN settings as my phone is a “grey market” phone. what kind of bull is that? I paid (a lot) for a data package but can’t use it because I didn’t by a phone from telus. Its a BIG scam!
I searched for a long time on the WWW to find the right APN settings. My phone is now up and running and since these settings are not on the telus web site as they should be I am publishing them in a variety of places to make sure no one else has the same problems as I did.
Here are the APN settings for Telus
APN: sp.telus.com
No username/password
MMS APN: sp.telus.com
MMSC: http://aliasredirect.net/proxy/mmsc
MMS Proxy: 74.49.0.18:80
Tethering APN: isp.telus.com
I realize this in a very old post, only came across it becasue of the Iphone info.
Just as a FYI, pay phones are operated at a loss to companies like telus. It is a requirement of major local carriers to offer pay phones as per the CRTC. Pay phones are regularly vandalized, used as bathrooms, and robbed. Paying for the repair, cleanup and regular servicing far outweighs the 2 dollars they get from usually infrequent customers (which is why they are not subject to upgrades in tech). The price you paid is also regulated as the rep who replied stated, meaning telus cannot raise prices despite taking a financial hit for every phone still in operation.
As far is complaining to the CRTC, it is kind of strange complaining to the regulatory body about a service which they impose on the carriers. Most carriers would love to dump this service as it is a money pit.
(please don’t accuse me of being a fan boy, telus employee or Christian, I just like the facts)