1171 replies to this topic

[dirtydeeds]

I was this close (Holds thumb and index finger close together) to ordering Optik TV today,
Oh well.

What was the price and what options would you get with it?

[sebberry]

What was the price and what options would you get with it?

They have a package builder on the website. If you use the "click to order" feature you can build it as you want. Much easier to figure out that way than just reading the available channel lists.

I started with the $23 base package and added Discovery World HD, NatGeoHD, OasisHD (and the three other sister channels that go with it)

It was going to be $52 per month, or about what I pay for Shaw HDTV.

[slarv]

I thought I'd pass along my experience. I have been dealing with telus for about ten years. I recently moved and that is when things got a bit interesting.

The area I moved to doesn't have Optik TV yet so they sold me on satellite... who knew that telus offered satellite service.. I bundled it with my phone and internet 'high speed enhanced' and the bill came in at $120 including taxes.

I noticed my internet was considerable slower so I complained and was told that my internet was actually 'high speed lite' because that is all that was available in my area.

I told them to come pickup the satellite and cancel my service and that is when the magic happened. For one year I get.
$35 satellite (medium)
$10 phone service
$10 internet

My point is, if you are willing to go to the wall you will probably get a better deal. In my case they had already paid to install the satellite so I guess they must have figured that they would salvage what they could.

Cheers.

[slarv]

One more interesting phone option. I recently picked up a 'MagicJack' from bestbuy. It cost $50, it plugs into a USB port and you can call free to any line in Canada and USA. Pay $20 per year and an extra $10 per year for a Canadian number and you can take incoming calls too.

So... $50 initial investment + $30 per year and you have a home phone with Voicemail, call forwarding, call display etc. Sure it needs to be plugged into a computer that is on all the time but mine is anyways so....

[Mike K.]

Just to confirm, when you sign a contract with Telus, do they guarantee the monthly rate for the term of the contract or does it change as the rates are increased?

[gumgum]

A big drawback is that Telus charges for installations. Shaw does not.

[dirtydeeds]

A friend of mine tried to get the $ 79 Shaw deal and was told it was no longer availlable. He then canceled his shaw and about a month later they contacted him and offered the deal???? I guess they are saying no then seeing if you have the stones to leave or not? Interesting buisness model?

[Mike K.]

Telus is not charging installation fees right now, but I'm not sure how long this perk is being offered.

Ok, so I just jumped the gun and dropped Shaw in favour of Telus.

Here's what I signed away three years of my life for:

Internet: $39/month, up to 15mpbs; 75GB download/upload (Shaw offers 65GB); first 3 months $20/month

TV: $26+21 in packages ($47/month); first three months for $16/month with the first month of packages free, then $21/month for additional channels

Phone: $21+$5.95 in features

- Free PVR rental for three years
- Free box rental for three years
- Free XBox 360, which doubles as a digital box with a $5/month box fee (otherwise the fee is $10 per month to rent a box)
- Free installation

All in I'm looking at $118/month. With Shaw, which I'd been with for some 15 years, when I said I was canceling all they offered was a free digital box rental. Nice. For just internet and analog cable I was paying $99.95/month. If I had switched to digital I'd have been dinged an additional $2.95 for each box plus a higher cable rate. This, of course, without any phone service.

To be perfectly honest the reason I canceled was because one of my favourite channels was removed from my cable lineup. I phoned up Shaw to ask what was up (upon returning to Victoria from a trip and discovering the service "improvement," as the rep called it) and asked why Shaw did that. The answer from the rep was for me to switch to digital cable and my channel would be back. In response I said I'd like to cancel my services and the rep obliged and transferred me to the retention department. Shaw's retention offer was a free digital box or a handshake goodbye. So I walked considering I would have to rent or buy additional boxes.

15 years of cable and internet payments and Shaw's rep literally pushed me out the door and said that he hoped Telus would work out better for me ("you serious?," I thought to myself). And I'm no deadbeat subscriber, either, and I had been with Shaw from the very beginning of the company's cable internet services (way back when the service was experimental).

FYI, we had a very amicable conversation and at no point did I raise my voice or result to throwing insults or anything of the sort. But to be shooed away without so much as serious attempt to keep my business cements the fact that customers who are loyal to one cable provider over another are kidding themselves into thinking that the loyalty will one day be reciprocated.

[gumgum]

^You had to sign a 3 year contract? Must admit though, that's a good deal.

[G-Man]

Weird. I got them to reduce my package to $85 a month for a year and then it will go up to $120 a month permanentlyt this is with digital cable and some hd channels, phone and the extreme internet and no contract. I pulled the exact same thing as you funnyt that they wouldn't play ball.

[dirtydeeds]

But to be shooed away without so much as serious attempt to keep my business cements the fact that customers who are loyal to one cable provider over another are kidding themselves into thinking that the loyalty will one day be reciprocated.

It amazes me how poorly they treat loyal customers and tend to take advantage of the fact people don't want the hassle of switching.!

[Mike K.]

You had to sign a 3 year contract? Must admit though, that's a good deal.

Three years for TV and two for Internet. Those were the terms in order to qualify for the free pvr and boxes.

Weird. I got them to reduce my package to $85 a month for a year and then it will go up to $120 a month permanentlyt this is with digital cable and some hd channels, phone and the extreme internet and no contract. I pulled the exact same thing as you funnyt that they wouldn't play ball.

When did they offer you this deal? Others in this thread said that up to a certain point Shaw played ball when people threatened to move to Telus, and then all of a sudden Shaw stopped giving in and started letting customers go without so much as a wave goodbye.

It amazes me how poorly they treat loyal customers and tend to take advantage of the fact people don't want the hassle of switching.!

No kidding. When all was said and done the Shaw rep said something along the lines of "well when you're done with Telus and decide to come back we'll be here waiting for you." Yeesh. Creepy, hey?

[G-Man]

I did this in December.

[Mike K.]

So between then and now Shaw has eased up on its efforts to keep customers. I have a feeling that they've shot themselves in the foot without requiring contracts and existing customers cash in with a deal from Shaw and when the deal is over they cancel and switch to Telus.

[Holden West]

Mrs. West refuses to use Telus, Even if it means a better deal.Good customer service is everything to her. And she has NEVER received good service from Telus.

[Mike K.]

I find the phone reps with Telus to be hit and miss (mostly miss) but technicians that come to your home are equally capable and courteous.

[dirtydeeds]

existing customers cash in with a deal from Shaw and when the deal is over they cancel and switch to Telus.

That is exactly what I will do, shop around for the best deal then change providers if I have too.

[Schnook]

Shaw phoned me before Christmas with an offer to try their digital TV box for free for six months with no obligation. I received the box by courier a week later, installed it, and puttered with it for a few hours. I didn't find any distinct benefit to the channel selection, usability or picture quality, so I disconnected it and returned it to the Shaw office the following day.

I don't care about HD, I don't care about all the extra unwanted channels, and I don't care about the PVR or any other 'freebies.' What I want is my basic package CHEAPER. For that reason, I look forward enthusiastically to the entry of new players and greater competition.

Regards

[Mike K.]

I must say that I am very impressed with Telus Optik TV.

With only one PVR, you can record TV from any digital box in the house to play back on multiple televisions. The PVR even has an iPhone app that allows you to record and manage PVR schedules from afar. It's incredible, really.

And a neat perk I realized today is when a phone call comes in, the name and number of the caller shows up on the television screen. Nice.

It's too bad that after over a decade with Shaw I was let go without so much as a handshake when I didn't agree with their decision to pull channels off of analog cable and require customers to switch to digital, but now having been exposed to Optik I'm pretty stoked to have made the switch. And comparing Shaw's digital TV with Optik, Telus has its gameplan figured out. Shaw definitely has to play catchup.

[Nparker]

I make the switch to Optik from Shaw on March 18, and will be saving about $50/month for the first 3 months on my overall TV/Internet/Phone package, then about $20/momth. In addition I get the free-PVR and better channel line-ups than I previously had.