Rogers Accused of Pressuring Employees to Scam the Elderly Here in the states, ISPs from CenturyLink to T-Mobile have increasingly been accused of upgrading users to services they didn't order and never asked for. Often, this is due to individual employees just trying to reach unrealistic sales targets, contributing to a culture where the downsides of relentlessly upselling users -- or even engaging in fraudulent behavior -- is overlooked. In CenturyLink's case, a whistleblower stated that this behavior was actively encouraged by management, resulting in numerous class action lawsuits against the company.

The problem obviously isn't unique to the States. Both Rogers and Bell have recently come under fire for similar behavior, the CBC noting that "dozens" of Rogers employees have come forward stating that they are under "extreme pressure" to hit sales targets or risk termination. As a result, these employees are often pressured to make a new sale on every call, even if the customer doesn't want the service offered, or in the case of some elderly may not even understand what they're being signed up for. "You're supposed to look at a customer's account and sell them cable, home phone, home security, a credit card--whatever is missing," complains one Rogers employee who works at the company's Ottawa support center. The employee states he's so "desperate" to earn sales points, he often signs up the elderly for internet service, then tells them a technician is going to come to their house "to install a modem for their TV" despite the obvious fact that a modem is only needed for internet service. "We're giving internet service to customers who actually do not have a computer," states the employee. While this obviously helps Rogers meet short-term sales targets, this kind of animosity toward the end user creates all manner of costs (both direct and to a company's brand reputation) on the other end should users realize they're paying for services they don't need. The relentless pressure to upsell at any cost also routinely erodes any efforts to provide quality customer service. "While we do not believe the concerns raised represent our values or sales practices, we take them very seriously and we will work with our team to respond to these concerns," Rogers says of the accusations. "While we do not believe the concerns raised represent our values or sales practices, we take them very seriously and we will work with our team to respond to these concerns," Rogers says of the accusations.







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Most recommended from 15 comments



r81984

Fair and Balanced

Premium Member

join:2001-11-14

Katy, TX 15 recommendations r81984 Premium Member Sales Targets??? LOL Sales Targets are a joke. Either people will buy something or they wont.

An employee has no choice but to lie and cheat to get sales to reach targets when people just dont need the product. They have to lie to say someone is getting a lower price or more service than they really will to get more sales.



A company that knows what they are doing will reward ideal call times and volume of calls and maybe audit of calls. They would not base it on sales which is something an employee has zero control over. Kearnstd

Space Elf

Premium Member

join:2002-01-22

Mullica Hill, NJ 13 recommendations Kearnstd Premium Member Quotas for support are bad When will this ever be learned? Seriously nothing good has ever come of sales quotas for the help desk.

Dustyn

Premium Member

join:2003-02-26

Ontario, CAN 51.6 9.2

11 recommendations Dustyn Premium Member Robbers Enough said...

NickD

Premium Member

join:2000-11-17

Princeton Junction, NJ 7 recommendations NickD Premium Member This is how they lower the average data usage per person By selling Internet service to people who don't even own a computer, that's how they can claim that the average data used per subscriber is lower. A lot of zeroes will drag it down

ham3843

join:2015-01-15

USA 7 recommendations ham3843 Member Isn't this FRAUD!?!?! Seems pretty clear to me that these reps are committing a form of fraud, and that the

system they are working under ENCOURAGES this crime.



Shouldn't the Federal Attorney General's Office bring charges against the company?

XNemesis

join:2002-11-16

Kitchener, ON 5 recommendations XNemesis Member So these tactics are driven by... The need for lining the pockets of Shareholders and upper management and screw customers, especially the most gullible/vulnerable?

Anon39134

@2607:f2c0.x 4 recommendations Anon39134 Anon I believe it. Bell used to charge for renting phones, even if you didn't actually rent one. Would not surprise me in the least that they are shady on the sales side in the rush to increase ROI.