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Convert voicemail to email

Earlier I wrote about my unfortunate experience trying to try out (yes) PhoneTag.com, a service that transcribes voicemail and forwards it as email and SMS messages. I came across PhoneTag.com in my reading of The Four Hour Workweek, and I really like the idea of reducing the number of inboxes I need to monitor. After my initial trouble setting the service up, PhoneTag.com’s CEO, Thomas Lesnick, offered me a 30-day free trial of the service, which I couldn’t pass up. I wish I could call the experience entirely smooth, but I also want to make sure PhoneTag.com gets a fair reputation for the good points they’ve earned, so I’ll describe my experience as evenly as I can here.

Rogers: elevating customer service to below the floor

First, I found out that I’d have to drop voicemail from Rogers Canada to use PhoneTag.com’s service. This turns out to reflect Rogers’ service, and so counts as a point against them, rather than against PhoneTag.com. Sadly, Rogers Canada managed to give me false information in my quest to cancel voicemail from my service. When I stopped in to a Rogers Wireless store, I asked someone to tell me how my plan price would change if I dropped voicemail. After a few clarifying questions, they told me my plan would decrease in price by $2/month. I told them a few times, “I just want to make sure the cost won’t increase because I’d go from a bundle to a-la-carte services.” Imagine my annoyance when I spoke to a CSR at Rogers on the phone, who informed me that replacing a bundle with a-la-carte services would increase my monthly costs. I managed to show just the right amount of exasperation, because a moment later, the CSR told me she could “make voicemail not work” without charging me any extra money. While I expected a decrease in price by $2/month, no change in price satisfied me, so I went along. I canceled voicemail.

Next, I forwarded all my unanswered, busy, and unavailable calls to the PhoneTag.com service’s phone number. PhoneTag.com was good enough to secure a 902 area code number for me to use. Now since my Rogers Canada plan includes pay-as-you-go call forwarding, each forwarded call would cost me about $0.20/minute, but I considered that reasonable cost to pay to try PhoneTag.com, so I went ahead. Setting up the service took only a few minutes, and I called myself through SkypeOut to test the transcription.

I first left a message without choosing the correct microphone setting in Skype, which meant no audio recorded in the message. PhoneTag.com helpfully pointed out that it recorded no discernible audio and would not charge me for hang-ups. Good for PhoneTag.com! Once I configured Skype correctly, PhoneTag.com sent me accurately transcribed messages by email, but not by SMS. This troubled me, because I wanted to receive voicemail by SMS while away from an internet connection for days at a time, if only so that my book-keeper could contact me with urgent questions. At this point, PhoneTag.com began losing my respect.

First, their support system doesn’t integrate with their service system, so I had to create a second account especially for their support system. Without this, I couldn’t track trouble tickets. I don’t mean to put this rudely, but my calendar reads “2009″, not “1999″. I find no real excuse for this inconvenience. What’s more, to sign up for a support account involves specifying my mobile phone provider, and while I can choose “Rogers Canada” for my service account, their dropdown list does not include “Rogers Canada” for the support account. Worse, when I emailed PhoneTag.com support about the issue, they couldn’t decipher my comment and I had to send them a screenshot of their own support system signup page for them to understand what I meant. Here, sadly, PhoneTag.com and Rogers Canada have roughly equally effective front-line support workers, and I don’t know whom that maligns more.

Finally, PhoneTag.com informed me that in order to receive transcribed voicemails by SMS, Rogers Canada would charge me extra, because of the gateway PhoneTag.com uses to send transcribed voicemails by SMS.

This really bothered me.

When I signed up at PhoneTag.com for a service account, they knew I used Rogers Canada as a mobile phone provider. They should have disclosed the extra fees to receive transcribed messages by SMS at that point! I wouldn’t mind them blaming Rogers Canada for the extra fees, but I don’t appreciate finding out after I’d already signed up for a PhoneTag.com account. The fact that they extended me a 30-day free trial makes their lack of disclosure cost me less, but it doesn’t erase the time I’ve wasted setting up their service and dealing with Rogers Canada and their inept customer service. I notified PhoneTag.com and Mr. Lesnick about my disappointment, telling them that this makes it less likely that I will continue to use the service past the free trial. Shame, too, because I like their core service so far.

So I like PhoneTag.com’s core service so far, although I find PhoneTag.com’s customer service and fee disclosure policy a little shaky. If you care deeply about receiving your voicemails as SMS, and you’re on Rogers, then you might find PhoneTag.com too expensive. If you really only need voicemails by email, then you’ll find PhoneTag.com more cost effective. I’ll know more when I see my next Rogers Wireless bill. I don’t look forward to seeing how they screwed it up.

I figured the epic nature of this story simply demanded the use of Roman numerals.

Most of you have, over the past 5 months, listened to me whine and complain about the general lack of competence of customer service agents, shipping companies. . . basically anyone whom I’m paying to handle issues of importance to me.

I think the wounds are still a little too deep to go back to day 1 with the shower, but don’t worry, the FULL story is coming (and is probably going to The Consumerist as well) but I would like to recognize one individual who made all the difference in this process, and who is singlehandedly the reason that I have a luxury steam shower in my home (albeit still in pieces in the living room, but that’s another story).

Our contract broker in this ordeal was Ms. Beverley Johnson from A&A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. I won’t get into the boring details here, because they really are quite boring compared to the rest of the story — she did her job, she made phone calls to other companies on our behalf (instead of requesting that we relay messages back and forth like the shipping company and manufacturer did), she called us regularly to keep us informed of the process (alleviating some of the stress of my newly acquired full-time shipping detective job) and she KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING.

Sorry to scream, but those of you who know how patient and tolerant I am with the general moronic public will understand.

I have a request, if you have a few moments to spare out of your busy day. Since you know me and my painfully exacting high standards of customer service, and since I have seen fit to post here that Beverley Johnson is the only contract broker a Canadian will ever need, therefore by flawless logic, she must be the BEST CONTRACT BROKER IN THE COUNTRY.

I happen to know that this week (sorry this post is so late) was “Staff Appreciation Week” at her company, so if anyone has a chance to send an email to Mr. G. B. Robins Mr. Dave Costa (gbrobins brobins dcosta AT aabc DOT com — don’t want him getting spam because of this!) and say something along the lines of

“Sarah is the pickiest person I know; she doesn’t like anyone, and she thinks she can do anyone’s job better than they can. But, she raves about Beverley Johnson, so she must be the best service professional in the world!”

then hopefully this dear, wonderful woman will get the recognition she deserves.

I know we often use the power of speech to gripe, complain, and generally vent. But, I was thinking today as I crafted my own letter to Mr. Robbins how good it felt to be able to use my gift of writing irreverent and stand-out reference letters for real good. I hope that I’ll be able to make as much of a difference in Beverley’s day or week as she made in our time of need. (Not that all you guys weren’t supportive as I complained about the shower, but you didn’t really make it get here any faster, now did you?)

So, if you can spare a couple of minutes, please do write on Beverley’s behalf. The logic is simple. I am disappointed with the service of pretty much everyone. I was thrilled with Beverley’s service. Ergo, Beverley rocks. That’s all you need to say.

Oh, and of course, if you need a one-time, contract broker for importing all those BELOW PAR US goods in to the country, you know whom to call. I can give you her direct number.