1171 replies to this topic

[Bernard]

How much of your subscription dollars actually filtered down to HBO? You'd be better off to download the shows and send HBO a cheque for half what you are paying - they'd be better off for it.

Interesting story, back in the late 1970s an engineer in the US built the first home satellite dish and managed to get the HBO feed unscrambled. He sent them a cheque for the cost of the service. HBO freaked out and did not accept the cheque but threatened to sue him instead. HBO did not succeed and changed to a scrambled signal

[Holden West]

HBO did not succeed and changed to a scrambled signal

And teenage boys from that era were well aware of the phenomenon of the scrambled adult channel. Some stayed up all night squinting to catch a glimpse of what could be a fuzzy green boob. Other more clever chaps invented their own crude descramblers or simply stuck a tiny foil strip into the converter box.

[VicBooster]

Time may have come to get rid of cable television in my household. I can no longer stand the volume of commercials including the ridiculous Shaw commercials that play over top of other commercials.

I have no problems with advertising per se but some 30 minute cable slots are declining to 18 minutes of show and 12 minutes of ads. This is nuts.

[vandervalk]

Time may have come to get rid of cable television in my household. I can no longer stand the volume of commercials including the ridiculous Shaw commercials that play over top of other commercials.

I have no problems with advertising per se but some 30 minute cable slots are declining to 18 minutes of show and 12 minutes of ads. This is nuts.

I've got the free trial of NetFlix going now, running it off my Wii and PS3 and while the Canadian content isn't nearly as good as the American programming right now, it's got a LOT of movies and television shows to keep one occupied for quite some time.

A lot of the movies aren't mainstream but if you into movies and watching flicks that might not be mainstream but are still good, this is a great investment of $7/mth.

Instant movies and streaming to your television with the ability to stop, jump or hold for as long as you like.

Interviews with execs say that if the membership increases in Canada, so will the movie offerings as CRTC is much more difficult to deal with than the American counterparts and money is what they need.

Either way, $7/mth for this service is probably the best $7/mth I've seen for a LONG time.

[LJ]

Time may have come to get rid of cable television in my household. I can no longer stand the volume of commercials including the ridiculous Shaw commercials that play over top of other commercials.

I have no problems with advertising per se but some 30 minute cable slots are declining to 18 minutes of show and 12 minutes of ads. This is nuts.

That's why I PVR everything, I never watch a show live.

You are right about the volume levels tho, the worst channel I find is HistoryHD, you are watching a movie then an ad comes on and before I can hit fast forward I'm bombarded by almost double volume. I keep my finger on the mute button now and as soon as I see fading to black - hit mute!

[Mike K.]

Ugh, the volume. Comedy Channel has a tendency to run their ads at an excessive volume as well. I think that's a requirement to get through to the stoned and drunk viewers who stay glued to that channel

[Holden West]

Stations can be penalized by the CRTC for having the commercial volume too loud.

They get around this by boosting the midrange up to the peak level where usually only the occasional loudest notes live. So technically, the maximum decibel level is no higher but it sounds much louder because every sound is pushed up to the max.

[Phil McAvity]

Yeah, but that's where these idiots shoot themselves in the foot by blasting us with commercials because increasingly people just hit the mute button on the remote and voila! No one hears any of their ads! Before they started deafening us with ads I, like most people I know were perfectly happy hearing the commercials. It would be nice if the CRTC could set up laws that actually work so we don't all have to dive for the remote every time commercials come on.

[rjag]

ahhhh the wonders of a pvr, I just skip all commercials and then there is no problem.

[Rob Randall]

Telus challenges Shaw with Optik TV

By Robert Randall • Published on Friday, November 5, 2010

Canadian telecommunications giant Telus has officially rolled out its new venture providing television service to Alberta and British Columbia, including much of Greater Victoria.

Dubbed Optik TV, the fiber-optic-based network is aimed at stealing business away from established TV provider Shaw by providing enhanced services at a price lower than Shaw’s bundled services.

Telus will invest $70 million this year in Greater Victoria to provide Optik TV along with upgrading its wireless and broadband networks.

more...

[sebberry]

After Telus commenced collections actions against me for a business phone account they neglected to close properly, I won't be giving them another penny.

As archaic as the Shaw cable box and interface is, I'll be sticking with them for now.

[bicycles]

telus PR?

[gumgum]

I've always found Shaw's costumer service impeccable. I've heard horror stories about Telus - most of them from businesses working with them. I will never switch.

[sebberry]

I've always found Shaw's costumer service impeccable. I've heard horror stories about Telus - most of them from businesses working with them. I will never switch.

Shaw has local support staff who know the product and area quite well.

Unfortunately Telus farms out their telephone support staff to far away places. Not only are the call-takers working out of an instruction manual, they're crammed into call centers like sardines - hardly a comfortable workplace.

Believe it or not, having a comfortable work space generally equates to better service. I hate to say it but the language barrier is also removed.

[Sparky]

Telus challenges Shaw with Optik TV

By Robert Randall • Published on Friday, November 5, 2010
more...

In the for what it's worth department...

A friend of mine, a few weeks ago, received a soliciting call from Telus offering some excitingly low rates on TV. He decided to switch from Shaw to Telus and called Shaw to cancel.

They immediately transfered him to the "loyalty" department, and they promptly reduced his monthy bill substantially.

[gumgum]

I got the same promotion from Telus. With secretly little intention of switching, I called Shaw about the offer and now my bill is about half of what it was before. I use their phone, cable and internet.

[Bob Fugger]

I got the same promotion from Telus. With secretly little intention of switching, I called Shaw about the offer and now my bill is about half of what it was before. I use their phone, cable and internet.

I kind of did the same thing, except that I flat out told them, "I feel that I'm paying far too much for my telecommunications services, and I'd like you to do something about it." And it worked: they put me on a one-year promotional plan. I thought that by the time the year was up, they would be falling all over themselves to keep me connected.

I also have a ridiculous cellphone contract from Fido, that would have cost me more than double from someone else.

It never hurts to flex your consumer muscle.

[dirtydeeds]

Shaw is offering their hd digital tv (hd plus), high speed internet and phone (free ld) for $85 dollars a month if you phone talk to their "loyalty plan" guy and complain about getting a better deal with telus. It is for 12 months and they threw in the movie channels and HBO for 3 months too. Beats the $139 I was paying before!
What are you doing on the computer, go phone NOW!

[renthefinn]

I've had terrible luck after recently switching to Shaw with their customer service, had to wait upwards or two hours to talk to technical support the last couple of times, was never as bad on telus, living in Vancouver I had telus TV since 2007, though not the new Optik. I appreciate the lower prices at Shaw though, and internet seems quite a bit faster for the price. Hope I don't have to wait for customer support any time soon again though.

[sebberry]

Shaw is offering their hd digital tv (hd plus), high speed internet and phone (free ld) for $85 dollars a month if you phone talk to their "loyalty plan" guy and complain about getting a better deal with telus. It is for 12 months and they threw in the movie channels and HBO for 3 months too. Beats the $139 I was paying before!
What are you doing on the computer, go phone NOW!

I don't want a 12 month deal. I've been a customer for 10 years, I want a forever deal.

Sure it saves me some money over the next year, but what about the next 8 years?


And with services like Netflix, Apple TV, etc.. it's just a matter of time before Shaw introduces usage based billing that many other ISPs are now charging thanks to a recent anti-consumer decision by the CRTC.