The 85-year-old with Alzheimer’s sold Bell products and services that he can no longer use after visiting The Source

Believing he needed a new TV last October, 85-year-old Ross Miller went to The Source – a Bell Canada consumer electronics store. But he got a lot more than he intended.

A sales rep signed a two-year contract with Miller for Bell Fibe TV and a new cell phone with data and a warranty plan. sold him a cordless phone, landline, and tablet; and signed it to another two-year contract for high-speed home internet.

Miller, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, is not clear what happened. He already had a cell phone that he didn’t use, didn’t know what a tablet was, and didn’t understand the Internet.

The new products and services “seemed to have been sold without my knowledge,” he shrugged and told Go Public. “That’s the only explanation I can have. I’m still not sure how that happened.”

Miller’s son has a pretty good idea of ​​what happened – he says a sales rep in the store in Toronto’s Dufferin Mall acted unethically.

“He went in to get a television … and came out with everything but a television,” said James Ogden. “There is no justification for what they did just to take advantage of someone. It was exploitative.”

A source working elsewhere told Go Public that the constant pressure to hit unrealistic sales targets – even when people stay home due to the pandemic – is forcing employees to make unethical sales.

He and his colleagues are encouraged not to ask too many questions when a customer does not appear to have good cognitive function.

“The goal … is to get them down on paper and sign a contract. So if the person doesn’t have their skills, we’re basically just being told to go through this [sales] Script, “he said.

“We’re told to just assert ourselves.”

CBC News does not identify him for fear of losing his job.

He describes the heavy pressure from his manager by sharing texts telling the team that there are no excuses for not selling and that employees cannot blame a lack of customers for not making sales.

Miller, 85, is unclear what happened. He already had a cell phone that he didn’t use, didn’t know what a tablet was, and didn’t understand the Internet. (Keith Burgess / CBC)

“There’s a constant every day: ‘We have to hit this [sales target]why is there nothing on the board? ‘”, he said.

A business ethics expert says promoting high pressure sales is detrimental to a company’s brand.

“It’s so easy for me at this challenging time [companies] being pushed beyond that ethical line and… getting their employees to commit sales misconduct, ”said Ruodan Shao, Associate Professor of Corporate Responsibility and Ethics at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

“Businesses should … provide protection and support for their employees instead of putting all of these financial difficulties and pressures on their employees.”

Bell declined an interview request, but eventually refunded Miller and waived the contracts. In a statement to Go Public, spokesman Nathan Gibson said the company “is focused on promoting the customer experience” and takes concerns about sales and service practices “very seriously.”

He also said the company has opened an internal investigation into Miller’s experience that the employees involved will face disciplinary action and that what happened “is in no way inconsistent with our policies and we apologize to him and his family to have”.

A location of The Source in Toronto can be seen in March 2009. Bell’s own chain employees are under pressure to achieve unrealistic sales targets. (Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press)

“We do not encourage or endorse high pressure sales tactics,” Gibson said.

The upselling came to light when Ogden was visiting his father last November and noticed the Bell Fibe television receiver – which he found strange because his father’s condo fees included Rogers Cable. He soon discovered the other items.

His father couldn’t remember much, so Ogden says he called Bell over and over again. He says customer service agents simply refused to cancel TV, Internet, and cell phone plans or take back pristine devices.

Some said his father got stuck with his phone and tablet after passing the two-week Buyer’s Remorse Window.

Out of frustration, Ogden began recording the calls. For one thing, one agent – shared with Go Public – insisted that Ogden’s father was responsible for what happened despite Alzheimer’s because he signed a contract.

“Your father was physically and mentally healthy to process and provide the information required to sign the contract,” said the representative. “End of the story.”

Ruodan Shao, economics professor and corporate social responsibility expert, says promoting ethical behavior pays off for companies in the long run. (Andy Hincenbergs / CBC)

The insider says it’s annoying but not surprising to hear what happened to Miller.

“The more that is bundled, the higher the payback for the sales rep. We are therefore encouraged to bundle,” he said.

Go Public heard from a handful of other current and former The Source employees who also said the pressure to hit sales targets was unreasonable. One said there is a management culture of “looking the other way” when an employee is achieving goals.

Elderly “a specific goal”

In 2018, the CRTC conducted a public inquiry into aggressive telecommunications sales tactics, during which senior citizens’ agency CARP urged regulators to protect the elderly. Sale.”

No such safeguards have been put in place, Ogden says, but they are long overdue.

“There should be something that protects vulnerable people from exploitation,” he said.

Miller, seen here with his son James Ogden, never opened the new tablet or phone, but The Source did not take it back because the two-week return window had expired. (Keith Burgess / CBC)

Source insider says Bell has a good game of not promoting a stressful work environment and is known for its “Let’s Talk” campaign on mental health, but the company needs to cut sales targets significantly when it comes to state of mind take care of his employees.

“Bell needs to look closely at how they are currently approaching sales,” he said.

The spokesman says Bell speaks to its executives and sales teams about its code of conduct and sales ethics.

“We … will not tolerate conduct that violates the strict guidelines and extensive training programs that we have noted,” Gibson said in the statement.

CLOCK | 85-year-old man with Alzheimer’s sold Bell products that he can’t use:

An 85-year-old man with Alzheimer’s who went shopping for a television at The Source had multiple Bell contracts and a new phone and tablet that he didn’t need. A source insider says employees will be pressured to upsell even during the pandemic. 2:12

After Going Public Bell, the company agreed to take back the phone and tablet, waive the contracts, and clear Miller’s outstanding fees.

Gibson acknowledged that “there were several instances of non-compliance with company guidelines and training”.

He said that Bell representatives are bound by the “strict code of conduct for companies” and that their training includes mandatory courses on ethical sales behavior and accessibility.

According to Shao, the ethics professor, employees who feel pressured into unethical behavior often look elsewhere for work, which causes long-term damage to the company.

“I think Bell should pay more attention to the mental health and well-being of its employees,” she said. “You have to have the conversation.”

She says she is pleased Bell took steps to bring Miller’s case up, but it should have happened months ago.

“It clearly shows that the company knows it is doing the wrong thing,” she said. “You should be more proactive.”

Miller has vowed to drive to the store without his son and has returned to Rogers for television and phone services. But his son worries that Bell is trying to get his father back as a customer.

“Two days later, Bell literally called [him] to see if he’d like to reactivate his Bell account, “said Ogden.” There is nothing in his file that explains the ordeal we went through. “

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