I like to consider myself to be a pretty patient person. Three decades of running a tree planting camp, where EVERYTHING can go wrong, has taught me that. However, I've met my match with Telus Home Security. I want to scream. I'm going to lay out some of the problems that I've had with them in a distinct and organized timeline, in hopes that this dissuades some other potential customers from ending up in that same personal Hell that I'm still experiencing.
It all started when I bought a home security system from ADT, a few years ago. That system worked great. But Telus ended up buying ADT. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but everything seemed to keep working normally, at the start.
Things got complicated when I needed to install a separate system at another building. By this point, it wasn't possible to get an ADT system anymore, so I cautiously opted to look into Telus products, only because Bell Home Security wasn't available in New Brunswick yet. My preference had been to use different providers for the two systems, partly to compare features, but also in order to keep the billing very distinct between the two systems, since one was for my own house, and one was for a business.
Telus showed up and installed the system. This was when I started to get the first hint of problems to come. Although I wanted to keep the systems separate, I thought I should inquire about whether both systems could be controlled by one app, in case that proved useful in the future. Nope. One system (my original) used the Alarm.com app, and the new system required a new Telus app. Ok, no big deal yet. Everything worked.
Fast forward to December 2023, when everything fell apart. I switched phones. An upgrade, to a better Samsung. Surely this shouldn't cause too many problems, right? Wrong. I could no longer log into EITHER system.
Let me back up a bit. The original ADT and Alarm.com combo worked great. Logging in was simple. I had a username and a password. Getting into my Telus account was a bit more difficult. I had a username and an email address associated with the account. But for some reason, even though logging into the app worked fine with the email or username, I couldn't log into the website. I eventually called Telus to try to figure this out, and they said, "Oh, you have to change the username to capital letters if you're logging in through the website." Odd. I tried that. I got in, but there was no account info. Another call. Oh, you are probably logged into your ADT account. You should log in with your phone number instead. Anyway, although this was annoying and didn't make any sense, I could live with it. I'm only mentioning all of this to set the stage for the adventures that started in December 2023.
As you'll remember, I had a new phone at this point, but I could no longer get into EITHER account. I tried password resets, etc., but no luck. I was able to get into both accounts online (one through ADT, the other through Telus) but I couldn't connect either system to their designated apps. So I called Support.
After some discussion, I was told that it was no longer possible to make the apps work, because my equipment was outdated. Ok, I understood that might be possible for the ADT system, which was four years old by this point. But it didn't make sense for the newer Telus system, which was only two years ago. I had a lively discussion, pointing out that I expected to be able to make the systems work with apps, and Telus suggested that I upgrade my equipment.
At this point, I became suspicious. I told them that my equipment was great, and I didn't want to upgrade. "You'll have to, if you want to use the apps." Ok, but I better not be expected to pay for this upgrade. "Oh no sir, we'll take care of this for you. In fact, let me check, because we might be able to save you some money."
Well, it turns out that by upgrading, I could have both systems working from a single app. Ok, that sounded convenient, and it also sounded like this was the only available option. However, I pointed out that I needed to make sure the billing for the two systems was kept separate, because one was a system for my personal home and one was a separate business account. "No problem," the representative said. She went on to say that they could swap out all of my old equipment with new equipment that would work with the app, I could have both systems on the same app for convenience, billing would be kept separate, AND she could reduce my monthly bill to $27 from the current rate, which was $46/month at the business address and around $40 for the house.
This seemed to be too good to be true. And as it turns out, it was (too good to be true).
I was told that the new systems would be installed on January 24th, and I needed to ensure that I was available at both locations, all day, to work with the technician. Ok, that would be time-consuming, but I agreed that it made sense for me to be there. On the day of the appointment, the technician actually showed up fairly early in the morning, only an hour after the window opened, so I wasn't waiting around too long. By mid-afternoon, everything was done, although the technician was really looking stressed ... I think he was late for his next installation.
The technician was pretty good. The equipment swap only took a few minutes. The next several hours were spent in trying to figure out how to connect the systems to my phone. It appeared that I now had at least three separate accounts for my systems. Instead of using my email and password to log in, he pointed out that I needed to remember to sign in with a new username: My email and a random four-digit number. If I logged in using JUST my email, I'd be in the wrong account and I wouldn't be able to see anything.
Then I discovered that I had four accounts, not three. My old ADT account with my personal email, my old Telus account with the business email, a new "empty" business account with my personal email, and the important new active account with my email and the 4-digit number. This was starting to get annoying. It looked like both the personal house and the business were being combined onto a single bill.
Even worse, after the technician talked to several people in Support, with his phone on speaker so I could hear the conversations, we were told that it was absolutely impossible to separate them, and whoever I had talked to in early January, who had promised that it was possible to keep these separate, probably didn't say that. Incidentally, I had been reminded earlier in the day that all calls were recorded, and I pointed that out to say that maybe they could listen to my earlier call. They then said that the earlier Sales Rep had been mistaken, and that I should have spoken with Support. Wait a minute, I thought I was speaking with Support on that earlier call, because I had been trying to connect my apps. Argh.
The technician left, and all was good, or so I thought. I played with the systems a bit to fix the names of the different sensors, then I discovered that I had lost my fire alarm sensor. It was still in the house, but was no longer part of my new system. Ok, I'll deal with that later.
At this point, I got distracted for a few weeks, and didn't give much thought to the systems.
Then I got a bill on February 2nd, for the old system. That's odd, I thought, we pulled that out. Ok, maybe it's because less than a month has passed since the install, so they're still billing me on the old system rather than the new one until the first full month has passed.
Then a few weeks later I got a warning saying that I hadn't paid my ADT account, and the account would be disconnected. Well, no kidding, the account was already disconnected. I called again, and spent about an hour and 43 minutes on the phone trying to figure out what was going on. At the end, they said that everything was resolved, and I didn't have to worry.
But then just after mid-February, I got another email saying that my account would be debited for $46.00 on March 2nd. This was too much. I called and when I finally got hold of a Rep (which took four separate calls), they said that since my old Telus system had been cancelled before the end of the three-year contract, I had to keep paying that out for another 11 months. I very patiently explained once again what had happened, and said that I had been forced to replace the equipment because the equipment was outdated, and that I had been told there would be no cost because it was a necessary upgrade. Well, after almost an hour on the phone this time, the Rep said that it would be taken care of, and I wouldn't need to worry.
Fast forward to March 2nd. I got an email saying that $46 was charged for my old system, AGAIN. I tried to call, but it was a Saturday, and all of their offices were closed.
Again, I got distracted, and forgot to follow up on Monday. But then on March 8th, I got an email from Telus from a Customer Support rep who asked how my recent experience was, and making sure that everything was Ok. I wrote back, saying that no, everything was NOT Ok, and referenced the date and time and case number of the previous call where I had been told that the $46 monthly charge for the old system would be cancelled. She wrote back and apologized, and said that the service had been disconnected effective February 28th. No mention of why I got an email on March 2nd to let me know that I had been charged again. So that may still be an ongoing issue. And even if not, there was no mention of a refund of the $46, which I had requested.
But wait, it's not over yet. This morning, my credit card was charged for the NEW systems. The ones that were supposed to cost $27 per month combined for the first 12 months, and only $77 per month after that (still cheaper than the combined total of my two old systems). But do you think that the charge was for the $27 plus HST that my contract says? Of course not. It was for $66.61. And of course, Telus isn't open today, so I can't call to ask where that number came from.
I also did some digging into the documents that they sent me when they set up my two new systems. I've just discovered that I've been signed up for "Telus Online Security Ultimate" package, which they're going to start billing me for in 11 months, at $30 per month. This is something that I did not ask for, and did not know about.
But the cherry on the topping with this Telus Online Security package is that I don't even have internet with Telus. They've signed me up for a VPN and anti-virus package for my Telus internet, even though I don't have Telus internet. Unbelievable.
The amount of personal time that I've wasted with this company is unfathomable.
PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR OWN SANITY, DO NOT EVER SIGN UP WITH TELUS HOME SECURITY.
Update, 2024-03-12: I just had another call with Customer Support. I asked about the Home Internet charges. The rep did some investigating and agreed that it should not be on my bill, and she said there's a problem with her system so it's not currently possible to figure out why that charge was there. But she promised that she would figure out how to get it removed and would call me back within a few days once this was accomplished. And she also initiated a credit to my account to reverse the previous home internet charges. Also, a separate update, apparently my new monthly total isn't $27, it's $44. And I no longer have a smoke detector registering on my new upgraded system. Also, one slight ray of sunshine: Although I'm getting a single bill for both locations, and it's in my personal name, at least the two locations are broken out individually, so I can manually allocate the bill costs to personal vs. business components with a bit of calculator work.
Update, 2024-03-13: The Telus rep called back to say that even though my billing statement says that the "Online Security Ultimate" says that it's for online features (specifically Norton 360, VPN, "Dark Web Monitoring," "Social Media Monitoring," and related services), the services are actually not for internet, and they're intended to protect my Telus phone line. Unfortunately, I got this in a voicemail, so I didn't speak to her again in person (yet). Otherwise, I could have told her that I don't have a Telus phone line. And after saying that these services are for my phone, she asked me about my knowledge of online security, because I might not understand the benefits of protecting myself. Again, I was not able to tell her that I learned some programming languages using punchcards in the 1980's, and that I'm a web developer and I'm quite comfortable with computer security. She wrapped up the call by saying that she's going to leave the service on my account for now, since it might be useful to me. JFC.
If you want to read more horror stories, go to Google and try searching "Telus Sucks." But in the meantime, if you've also had problems with Telus, please share this post.
Also, I recommend that if you're ever calling Customer Service, record the call so you can refer to it later, if necessary. They record the calls, so you should too. If you don't have a standalone audio recorder, or a call recording app on your mobile phone, run Zoom and do the call while you're sitting by your laptop. Make sure that you start your conversation by letting the CSR rep know that you are also recording the call so you can refer back in the future if you forget what was discussed.
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