Is It Time To Move My Services ????

[bostonbob]

So my 2-year bundle deal with SHAW ends on March 31st. Right now I've got the Total TV package, Internet 50 plus home phone and my monthly bill is just under $123 with taxes. My one big complaint is that I don't like the fact that it feels like SHAW just doesn't give a crap anymore about Gateway customers like me and it's frustrating that I pay the same amount for my Total TV package even though there are at least a dozen HD channels that I don't have access to like BlueCurve customers do. But then I keep reading about all the BlueCurve issues that customers are complaining about and I am happy to keep using my Gateway. Somebody from Shaw called me around the end of January about signing up for another 2 year deal. The best they could offer me at that time was the exact same package for $10 more a month. So my bill would now be around $133 which sounded OK but I was told that there might be a better deal available around the end of March. I said I would wait and was told that I would be called back around the 20th of March.

Then out of the blue somebody from Telus called me last night ( I don't know how they got my number but they knew my deal with Shaw was ending soon ) and their offer was extremely tempting:

- Essentials TV plus 1 Premium TV service ( Crave, Netflix, etc ) and 4 theme packs ( includes complimentary 4K TVR )
- Pure Fibre Internet 1 GB
- Home Phone ( includes 1 Calling Feature )
- $450 billing credit ( so basically I'm getting almost 3 months free )
- no installation fees
- 2 year contract for $140 plus taxes a month

As much as I am tempted by this offer I have said this many times in the past and will repeat it now - as much as some of the stuff that Shaw does drives me crazy I have to admit that the actual services they provide are top notch. Maybe I'm lucky but outside of power failures ( and one Gateway box dying on me which was immediately replaced ) all my services have performed pretty much flawlessly. So now I guess I will wait for Shaw to call back and see what their final offer is - right now the Telus offer is definitely a bit more appealing. But then again - the grass is always greener blah, blah, blah.

I would appreciate any thought or comments.....especially from former ( or even current ) Telus customers when it comes to their services, tech support, customer services, etc.

[bostonbob]

Wow - Telus is determined to get my business as they just called back. Since I really don't need such powerful Internet I asked what the bill would be if I downgraded the Internet but upgraded the TV. The CSR said that she would discuss this with her supervisor and send me an e-mail which I just received - the new offer looks like this:

- Essentials TV ( includes 1 Premium TV service plus 7 theme packs )
- complimentary HD PVR
- PureFibre Internet 75
- Home Phone ( includes 1 Calling Feature )
- $450 billing credit
- no installation fees
- 2 year contract for $141 plus taxes a month

I'm not going to lie - this offer is very tempting.

[rstra]

I had to suffer Telus when we were living at the in-laws while our house was being built, the internet was actually really good but the TV was garbage. The wifi boxes cut out a lot, they brought in range extenders, but they didn’t really help. Was glad to get our BlueCurve back, ours is wired, so I have no experience with the wireless boxes. 

Our plan expires at the end of the summer, we do watch about 30 percent cable TV, the rest is OTT,  but I think it is time to drop the cable. My brother got rid of TV and got third party internet, saving around $90 a month. Anyway, we will see what they offer, but I expect a price increase. Would be nice if Rogers came in soon, they have a lot more options for TV packages, instead of Shaw’s Limited and Total TV. 

[bostonbob]

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@rstra wrote:

I had to suffer Telus when we were living at the in-laws while our house was being built, the internet was actually really good but the TV was garbage. The wifi boxes cut out a lot, they brought in range extenders, but they didn’t really help. Was glad to get our BlueCurve back, ours is wired, so I have no experience with the wireless boxes. 

---

How long ago was this ???? I just noticed that they have a regular 4K box and a wireless version - it wasn't actually specified which one I was being offered. In a way I kind of hope that Shaw can come close to what Telus offered - it's kind of the old " Devil you know "  scenario. Right now Shaw has offered to renew my old deal for about $133 a month including taxes for 2 years and the Telus deal ( including the $450 credit ) would come out to about $139 a month including taxes for 2 years. The Telus deal looks a bit better when you consider a few things - slightly faster internet plus I would be adding Crave TV while only paying about $6 more a month. What I need to do this weekend is look over the Telus theme pack list and figure out which 7 theme packs I would get -  then I need to make a list of what channels I would lose and what channels I would gain by switching.

[rstra]

This was about 4 years ago, so things may have improved. Telus seems to like to install their modem in garages, and this wasn’t a good idea for the in-law’s large house. 

[mdk]

@bostonbob / @rstra -- Telus seems to like to install their modem in garages

Last month, a friend got her TV/Internet switched from copper wires to fiber-optic cable.

Curiously, the fiber-optic cable from the nearest telephone-pole to an outside wall, adjacent to the (now-unused) Shaw demarcation-box, had been present, unterminated, with about 30 feet of cable looped around the exterior filler-tube for her indoor oil-tank, for over 2 years. Why did they not connect it?

Anyway, since the friend's basement had an unfinished ceiling, Telus routed the fiber-optic cable across the basement's ceiling, and then "up" to the main level, and mounted their first converter-box (fibre-optic to Ethernet) to the wall behind her computer-desk. The Ethernet cable feeds the Telus modem/router, less than one meter away.

Telus then routed a cable back "down" into the basement, and the "up" to connect to the Telus TV-box in another room on the main level.

By the way, her house is over 100 years old, and her garage is a separate building -- not attached to her house. So, mounting "in the garage" would definitely have been strange.  🙂

[bostonbob]

While I have not totally made up my mind yet I have to admit that I am now strongly leaning towards making the switch to Telus. I looked at their theme list and after choosing which 7 theme packs I would pick I came up with this:

The Bad
- I am losing 8 SD channels and 15 HD channels from SHAW's Total TV package ( the only ones I watch on a regular basis are Starz 1 + 2 and CTV Comedy )
- my monthly bill will go up about $6 a month when figuring in the $450 credit from Telus
- have to change my e-mail address

The Good
- adding either Crave or Netflix for very little
- getting the HD version of 12 channels I current can only get in SD with SHAW including CW Seattle, NFL Network and WSBK Boston
- slightly higher internet speed
- don't have to change my home phone number

I contacted SHAW yesterday and told the CSR what Telus had offered me. I then told the CSR that if SHAW could sweeten their proposed $133/month total then I would seriously think about staying. The CSR basically told me that I was already given the best offer they could make and that I really should just take it. I'm on the fence right now and that type of attitude is definitely not going to help sway me into sticking with SHAW. One way or the other I need to make up my mind quickly as my 2-year deal with SHAW ends on March 31st and either I will stay or else I want my new services to start on April 1st.

[f__u__c__k]

It is always such an ordeal just to pay my bills. The made me make a 'display name' this time... I did so and I regret nothing.

(Just take my freaking money and leave me alone)

[mdk]

>>> Just take my freaking money and leave me alone

I have allowed Shaw to auto-debit my bank account on the due-date. No fuss, no mess.

After I die, my Executor, not me, will have to cancel the services.

[hjnicol]

Be very careful with Telus.  They don't always tell the truth.  I've had sales people (contract sales people, talk and act like Telus employees, but they are commissioned sales people) tell me what I wanted to hear.  When it came down to the actual install, talking to the actual Telus people most of what was promised was impossible.  The same happened to a friend.  Lots of promises but all fiction.