Rogers sucks; Bell sucks; which one sucks less?

shabbs wrote:

The Silfer Server wrote:

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Once my contract with Shaw is up I'm going strictly with netflix with a US IP address. Primus unlimited download ISP. KABLAM!!!

With Netflix you don't get any of the current stuff (except for Netflix Originals). You also don't get Sens.

But with a US IP address, you can get NHL Gamecentre Live, which will give him access to Ottawa games. I have a friend that does that and he swears by it!

EDIT: In that message i'm somewhat implying you can only get Gamecentre with a US IP, which is not accurate. The US IP allows you access to the Ottawa games. You can get NHL Gamecentre regardless of your IP. They'll just black out in-market games.

You would also have to pay for NHL Gamecenter Live...

Live sports is the tough one... the rest you can probably download from anywhere.

There are a couple of websites you can stream from and the important games (Playoff games on CBC) are streamed on CBC.ca so it's all good. I don't get the opportunity to watch too many regular season games anymore so this works well for me.

My old PVR died about 3 weeks ago (slow death over about a week). So I called it in, told them I tried everything, including re-formatting the drive, they said just bring it in. So I got the new 8642 PVR (since the upstairs one is the new HD box I'm all set up for Whole Home PVR.

Got my latest monthly bill and it's over $250 now. Looks like they are charging me $25/month for the PVR, even though I had the old one on a rent-free-for-life deal (the "life" being as long as I remained a customer, not the life of the PVR). There was also yet another $16 download fee as my kids insist on watching hours of Netflix, re-watching the same "Community" and "Arrested Development" episodes they've seen 2-3 times.

So yet another long telephone call is in order. My contract runs out in January (to avoid paying back the bundling charges -- although, really, if I refuse to pay, how will try to collect?) and Bell's Fibe TV should be available then.

wprager wrote:My old PVR died about 3 weeks ago (slow death over about a week). So I called it in, told them I tried everything, including re-formatting the drive, they said just bring it in. So I got the new 8642 PVR (since the upstairs one is the new HD box I'm all set up for Whole Home PVR.

Got my latest monthly bill and it's over $250 now. Looks like they are charging me $25/month for the PVR, even though I had the old one on a rent-free-for-life deal (the "life" being as long as I remained a customer, not the life of the PVR). There was also yet another $16 download fee as my kids insist on watching hours of Netflix, re-watching the same "Community" and "Arrested Development" episodes they've seen 2-3 times.

So yet another long telephone call is in order. My contract runs out in January (to avoid paying back the bundling charges -- although, really, if I refuse to pay, how will try to collect?) and Bell's Fibe TV should be available then.

What services are you getting for $250? Cable, internet, home phone, AND cell phones?

No cell phone, but the others.

When I signed up for home phone it was $33.31 taxes in. It's something like $42.xx now -- calculated it to be an increase of 31%! I've had it for less than 1 years. Ridiculous! Criminal.

I have Teksavvy for home phone ($30, taxes inc) and internet ($40, taxes inc, DSL, 300GB data).

I pay Robbers $90 (taxes inc) for the Digital VIP package. I bought both my PVRs for $250 each.

Y'know Prags, for being so thrifty, you sure like getting bent over by Rogers.

tim1_2 wrote:I have Teksavvy for home phone ($30, taxes inc) and internet ($40, taxes inc, DSL, 300GB data).

I pay Robbers $90 (taxes inc) for the Digital VIP package.  I bought both my PVRs for $250 each.

Y'know Prags, for being so thrifty, you sure like getting bent over by Rogers.

You know, I'd disagree, but you're 100% correct.  Same with not switching over to PC banking.

I didn't realize TekSavvy did home phone.  Does that $30 include some North America LD minutes?

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:I have Teksavvy for home phone ($30, taxes inc) and internet ($40, taxes inc, DSL, 300GB data).

I pay Robbers $90 (taxes inc) for the Digital VIP package.  I bought both my PVRs for $250 each.

Y'know Prags, for being so thrifty, you sure like getting bent over by Rogers.

You know, I'd disagree, but you're 100% correct.  Same with not switching over to PC banking.

I didn't realize TekSavvy did home phone.  Does that $30 include some North America LD minutes?

My TekSavvy home phone does not include any long distance plan. I pretty much never use long distance, as we have the internet for that. And then they do have those special numbers you can dial to get discounted long distance should you absolutely need it.

I switched my Bell home phone to TekSavvy home phone by filling out their online subscription form. No one even had to come to my house, and I kept the same number. It uses all the same Bell infrastructure. Not positive if they offer the Rogers home phone equivalent.

Well, I just completed my semi-annual 45 minute chat with Rogers. I'm just not digging the thrill of getting my bill slashed. I think they are getting better at deflecting my rants. Fibe TV, where are you?!

Anyhow, I think they still made a mistake (they e-mailed me what my next month's bill will look like and are charging me $24.95 for a digital box, whereas I am supposed to be getting a free HD PVR and only paying for the second box). So I went on their website to find out just what they are charging nowadays.

The non-PVR HD box is $13.08/month to rent. Or you can purchase it for #323.19, or you can "rent-to-own" -- this means you pay $7.58/month for 36 month, after which time you can purchase it for $1.

Now let's add this up. $7.58 * 36 = $272.88. So it's cheaper than buying. Also, at the end of the 36 months, what's to stop you from buying it for dollar and then doing another rent-to-own (in case you are afraid that once you own it, it will break and you will have to pay to fix it).

So why would I choose to rent it for $13.08/month when I can "rent" it for $7.58/month? And in case you're wondering, 36 months of rent-to-own equals to under 21 months of renting it. I guess if you are planning on sticking around for at least 21 months it's cheaper to rent-to-own both in the short term (reduced monthly payments) and long term.

Oh, and my old PVR (with moving parts and all) lasted a goo 8 years, so buy it for $1 and keep using it (no hard disk, it'll probably last a longer)..

Similar numbers with the PVR, but the 36 months of rent-to-own comes out to more than the purchase plan, but it's still cheaper than renting -- $10 cheaper per month).

By comparison, Bell lets you "rent" it for free for 3 years, at which point you are welcome to keep it.

Oh, and my "rent free for life" deal is officially dead. They can no-longer enter that in their system so the best they could offer me is a 12-month rent free, and I have to call them again in 12 months. Somehow I fear that, when I cancel in January to switch to Bell, they will try to claw back the savings, claiming that it was only given to me because of the 12-month contract.

But I guess I'll just deal with it when I deal with it.

*SOOOO* fed up with all their BS. $5.95 system access fee -- why, what does the $32.95 monthly fee give me if I don't pay $5.95 on top of it? If I go with Ooma it's $4/month, no system access fee.

Also, what the hell is the "Digital Services Fee" that I pay $2.99 each month? I already pay for my Internet service, and I pay for my VIP cable package, and I pay for my modem rental (reversed after this call). WTH? Apparently if I switch to TekSavvy that's another fee that I won't have to pay.

Mmmmmmm  



This may have cost me a re-set on my contract termination date (as they also upped my bundling discount from 8 to 12%); but I was 30 GB over (thanks to my sons' insatiable appetite for watching reruns of Community on Netflix) and with a little pleading I got them to give me the unlimited for $10/month (special deal was over about a week ago).

So I immediately went to Netflix and changed my video quality to the highest setting (was at the lowest before).  And now the boys are done with their summer course as of today, so I expect my total usage to go up by an order of magnitude or more.

This doesn't change my resolve to switch, by the way. But I am paying $7/month for the DOCSIS-2 modem which let me go from 60 GB to 80 GB (no increased speed), and now I'm thinking I'll just go back to my old, rent-free-for-life modem, so this unlimited usage could be just $3.

So, you're still paying more than you need to, correct?

wprager wrote:Mmmmmmm  



This may have cost me a re-set on my contract termination date (as they also upped my bundling discount from 8 to 12%); but I was 30 GB over (thanks to my sons' insatiable appetite for watching reruns of Community on Netflix porn) and with a little pleading I got them to give me the unlimited for $10/month (special deal was over about a week ago).

So I immediately went to Netflix and changed my video quality to the highest setting (was at the lowest before).  And now the boys are done with their summer course as of today, so I expect my total usage to go up by an order of magnitude or more.

FTFY

The great thing about Netflix is that you can see what's being watched.

Unfortunately I have my parents hooked up on my account as well, so sometimes it's not easy to tell who's been watching what.

tim1_2 wrote:So, you're still paying more than you need to, correct?

Who isn't.

Over the last couple of weeks I've seen many Bell trucks around Morgan's Grant. Made me think FibeTV is finally coming. Talked to a guy at a Bell store last weekend, he seemed to know a bit more than the average guy. He said that if the trucks were rolling it's very likely that Fibe is being deployed, and that FibeTV would then be available in a couple of months.

Yesterday in the mail I got a promo pamphlet from Bell. Got excited thinking they may actually be announcing FibeTV and giving dates. Instead, it was a promo for Bell Satellite TV.

Now I'm confused. Would they still be trying to sign people up to buy a dish and pay the installation fee, if FibeTV is coming in a couple of months?

wprager wrote:Over the last couple of weeks I've seen many Bell trucks around Morgan's Grant.  Made me think FibeTV is finally coming.  Talked to a guy at a Bell store last weekend, he seemed to know a bit more than the average guy.  He said that if the trucks were rolling it's very likely that Fibe is being deployed, and that FibeTV would then be available in a couple of months.

Yesterday in the mail I got a promo pamphlet from Bell.  Got excited thinking they may actually be announcing FibeTV and giving dates.  Instead, it was a promo for Bell Satellite TV.  

Now I'm confused.  Would they still be trying to sign people up to buy a dish and pay the installation fee, if FibeTV is coming in a couple of months?

When I put my address on Bell's site, it says Fibe is available.