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Cable/internet/satellite rates: how much are you paying?


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#81 Barra

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 10:08 AM

After happily watching Telus TV for a few months, the picture started freezing and then pixilating (or maybe it was de-pixilating). Very annoying so I called tech support and after two calls they decided it was a technical problem and sent a technician. He had one tv going for a few days (no change to the other) but then it was right back to breaking up. I've heard of one other person in James Bay with the problem. Apparently the optic cable in James Bay can't handle it (whatever that means).
It was REALLY annoying trying to watch the Canucks game last night and having the picture freeze for as much as a minute at a time.

I'll be going back to Shaw, I guess.
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#82 sebberry

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 10:34 AM

IPTV isn't for people who want perfect TV without problems.

Shaw is coming out with a whole-home DVR system that functions similar to Telus' PVR. Central box with extenders at each TV.

I was thinking about Telus TV for a few channels that I was interested in, but I didn't want the headaches. And being in a condo with older phone wiring probably doesn't help.


I've had my HDPVR from Shaw for a little over 6 years now. Still works almost perfectly. Occasionally I get sound dropout or the video freezes, but that's rare.

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#83 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 10:38 AM

After happily watching Telus TV for a few months, the picture started freezing and then pixilating (or maybe it was de-pixilating). Very annoying so I called tech support and after two calls they decided it was a technical problem and sent a technician. He had one tv going for a few days (no change to the other) but then it was right back to breaking up. I've heard of one other person in James Bay with the problem. Apparently the optic cable in James Bay can't handle it (whatever that means).
It was REALLY annoying trying to watch the Canucks game last night and having the picture freeze for as much as a minute at a time.

I'll be going back to Shaw, I guess.


That's nothing. I nearly suffered physical harm at the hands of Shaw last night. A bar I work for had ordered the big UFC fight (cost = $1100), just like they had for the previous 69 fights.

As always, Shaw calls the bar on Thursday prior, and runs a test of all the boxes to make sure all is good.

Sure enough, 6pm rolls around last night and the PPV does not start, and 275 fans started getting restless about 15 minutes into the outage. 25 minutes into the outage, some threatened harm. 35 minutes into the outage, I got off the half-hour hold and into a conversation with a technician, that seemed to think it was funny. 5 minutes later, he had it fixed. I nearly blew my top.

Thank God the filler for the fans was the Canucks game.
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#84 Mike K.

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 12:04 PM

I think the days of always courteous reps at Shaw are over. I've had very mixed results recently and comparing both Shaw and Telus I'll have to say that the quality of Shaw's tech support is sliding towards that of Telus.

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#85 sebberry

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 12:13 PM

I think the days of always courteous reps at Shaw are over. I've had very mixed results recently and comparing both Shaw and Telus I'll have to say that the quality of Shaw's tech support is sliding towards that of Telus.


The morale at Shaw is declining rapidly, especially since they cut something like 500 of their workforce.

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#86 Mike K.

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Posted 01 May 2011 - 05:05 PM

Wow, sebberry, those employee reviews are spot on.

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#87 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 08 June 2011 - 09:35 AM

No surprise:

http://www.winnipegf.../123470809.html

Canadians paying some of the highest prices for roaming data: OECD report


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#88 Holden West

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Posted 11 December 2011 - 09:53 PM

A Shaw installer pulls up to a Victoria house to do an Internet install only to find a Telus van parked outside. Installer assumes the customer must be getting Telus phone or TV. Customer points out the recently installed wiring he's put throughout the house already. "Are you a Telus installer?", the Shaw guy asks the customer. He replies he gets more bandwidth at a cheaper rate than Telus.
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#89 SamCB

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Posted 13 December 2011 - 05:18 PM

posted in reply to TimmyHos in the 834 thread.

I'm with Bell for my phone and I complain about their service. I was with Shaw for my previous internet service and I complained about their service too. In the future, regardless of who the provider is, I'll probably find a reason to ***** about their service at some point. :)


Agree with you there. But the level of service doesn't bug me so much as how much we pay for that level of service. Canadian telecom is some of the most expensive in the world. Wind mobile came into the big markets in Canada last year and offers unlimited everything cell phone plans for $30. Those prices are on par with the rest of the world. Canada's telecom laws prohibit foreigners from owning a majority share of a telecom company, which is why we're stuck with Canadian companies charging us cartel-prices.

The Egyptian owner of Wind mobile had this to say about Canadian telecom companies:

"You need to ask yourself, why isn't Rogers in the U.K., like Vodafone or France Telecom,"
"Why aren't they everywhere if they're so good? The answer is simple, here they're protected. They can be inefficient, their cost structure can be expensive."

You have to wonder how much cheaper our TV, cell, and internet service would be with global competitors in our market.

#90 rjag

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Posted 14 December 2011 - 10:35 AM

Had a problem with Video on demand on my PVR a few weeks back. I phoned Shaw support and was on hold for an hour the first time before hanging up in frustration. Ove the past 3 weeks I have called and been placed on hold for more than 5 hours. Then on Saturday night I decided to call and placed the phone on speaker and sat and watched a show. 2 hours later someone finally answered!!! He fixed the issue in 5 minutes (the pvr needed a nudge from his end)

After explaining that over the last 3 weeks I was on hold for nearly 7 hours he offered me a free pay per view movie....now thats what you get when you pay in excess of $200 per month for years while new customers are being bribed with up to $300!!!!

So no support for existing customers but all the time in the world for new customers....

#91 Mike K.

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Posted 14 December 2011 - 11:07 AM

It is no secret that Shaw's customer service has deteriorated over the past two years.

Canada's telecom duopolies/monopolies are the reason behind the lax customer service, high rates and overall dissatisfaction with services.

Like the Egypt-based founder of Wind Mobile said, Canada's telecoms are insulated in this country and would be financially devastated if they ever found themselves in a real competitive situation.

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#92 mc9

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Posted 14 December 2011 - 02:01 PM

This might be a good time to cross reference you to the post I made about using CCTS - Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services. I recommend checking into it.


http://vibrantvictor...read.php?t=5425

#93 manuel

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Posted 14 December 2011 - 08:31 PM

I had great success with a complaint filed about Rogers billing with CCTS. What had happened was that the credit card that I had used with them for around 5 years was expiring at the end of the next month, and then all of a sudden my automatic Rogers payment bounced and they charged $0.80 interest.

After calling customer service and getting hung up on twice, the third agent said that it was my bank's problem (card no longer valid). Bank said that it was a fraud code and call back to Rogers. No luck with them, explaining quite clearly that it logically had to be their automatically updating my expiry date when I hadn't yet activated the card (hadn't actually received it due to the postal strike).

To make the story short, I sent a nasty note to CCTS (after a $25 bounced payment fee came on to my Rogers account) indicating that it was likely that Rogers was auto updating customer account info without permission. Within a couple of days I had someone from Rogers (not from the southern States, but someone who actually worked for them) trying to work through the IT issue at their side. Got all of the charges immediately reversed, and got them to do a bit of forensics on their billing system. Understand that some code changes were made as a result.
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#94 Phil McAvity

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Posted 15 December 2011 - 01:02 PM

I pay almost $60/month for Shaw high-speed internet (everything included). I think it's a bit pricey but at least it's reliable because I remember when Shaw cable internet first came out about 12 years ago and it was not reliable.
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#95 Sparky

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 05:17 PM

Here is one that I only learned about recently.

I just returned from the Shaw store and changed the name on our account from mine to our university student daughter's name. We had to take her with us so she could show her student card and course outline to prove that she takes at least 3 courses.

Savings?........$54.32 per month. All above board. I think that represents 40 % of our previous bill. She has 4 1/2 years to go in post secondary education. Expected overall savings...$ 3,000.00 + :)

#96 LJ

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 06:42 PM

Why didn't you tell me that a few years ago!:mad::D
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#97 Sparky

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 09:13 PM

^ Sorry LJ, I could have taken advantage of this a year and a half ago......if I had of known.

That's why I am sharing this .....now.

I think the employees are encouraged to......don't ask.....don't tell.

#98 Holden West

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 09:45 PM

^They're not going to believe it's a student's account when the only thing being watched is Matlock, Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote.
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#99 Sparky

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 09:53 PM

^ So I guess "Girls gone wild" is a bit of a indicator? :)

#100 Mike K.

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Posted 22 January 2012 - 09:07 AM

So I just canceled my Telus phone and tv services. Even though I was on a three year tv contract, the constant screw ups with the technology and frequent calls to technicians allowed me to escape the clutches of the contract.

Now all I have to do is wait for my next bill to make sure that what the agent said is reflected on my next invoice and I'm not surprised with a $700 bill for canceling a contract. This is ensure that my Internet bill hasn't spiraled out of this world.

I have thus far decided not to renew cable/tv with any provider and I don't think I want to. Paying monthly for what amounts to 1/3 advertising is a stretch at nearly $60/month.

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