The Streaming Box was Not Free At All

[Moosik]

I have been a customer of Shaw Internet for decades and have always been happy. Last August, I renewed my Internet subscription for another two years.

The Shaw representative asked if I want to receive a FREE Streaming Box, to which I replied No. I have no use for a streaming box. The representative kept insisting, saying that "it's totally FREE, and why would I not want it"? I kept asking, "Is it really free? Will I not need to return it or be charged?" The answer was "No. It's totally free." So I agreed.

The box arrived and I let it sit. I had no use for it. 

As part of my yearly accounting, I pulled up my Shaw bills and was horrified to see that in the months September-February, I have been charged $30/month more than my subscription price. I then discovered that I got moved to month-to-month billing. Moreover, I was charged $165 for equipment in September.

In talking to a Shaw representative, I discovered that because I did not "activate the equipment" within 30 days of receiving it, my Internet subscription was voided. Also, I got charged the full price of the Streaming Box.

Why would Shaw do that? How is the activation of an add-on Streaming Box affect my ongoing subscription for the Internet? Why has the representative not been upfront about the dangers of not activating the box?

I have known Shaw to be a lot more transparent in its marketing. This is not OK for us old-time customers.

I have not been refunded the monthly charges that were incurred due to the voiding of the Internet subscription. I have been refunded the equipment charge and sent a return label.

Am I the only one who had this happen to them?

[rstra]

@Moosik  I don’t see anything in the service agreements that says not activating your stream box voids the value plan. If it were me, I would escalate this issue and would even consider canceling.

[g-idk]

Hi @Moosik , Wow that is quite the kafuffle with your account.  I myself haven't heard of such an issue.  What I don't understand is how you don't check your invoices every month, that should be a standard practice for anyone, I can understand maybe missing checking your monthly invoices (bills) for a month but you would make sure to check them all the next month.  That way any errors can be dealt with right away before something like this happens.  Don't get me wrong it was not correct if that Shaw Rep said what they said and led you to believe it, but also in turn if you had been checking your invoices on a regular basis, you would have caught and dealt with this matter right away and avoided all this nonsense that you have to go through now.  Really sorry you have to go through this.  In future do not blindly trust the amount a company says you owe them, always always double check your invoices (bills due).  I hope everything can get worked out for you.    

[mdk]

@Moosik -- had you enabled automatic payment, on the due date, for each Shaw invoice?

Did you review your monthly bank-statements for the payment of the Shaw invoice, to notice the change? Monthly, did you pay online, through the My Shaw Portal, or through Online Banking, or in-person through a bank teller?

On an older Shaw invoice, what did page 2 show for the end-date of the two-year Value Plan?  Did it expire, which automatically switched you to the month-to-month fee structure?

> I have been refunded the equipment charge and sent a return label.

That is good.

So, do you have an older HDTV box (with an internal disk-drive for recording shows) on a "legacy" account ?

I am not sure, but I think that the addition of the Streaming Box forced your account to be migrated from that "legacy" account, to a new account. The Streaming Box communicates via WiFi with your cable-modem -- there is no coaxial-cable connected to the Streaming Box. I don't understand why the Shaw Agent did not try to sign you up with a new two-year Value Plan.  Maybe, poor training of they by Shaw?

Without a month-by-month review of page 2 of the last 24 months of Shaw invoices, I cannot be more specific.

[Moosik]

@mdk

I have automatic payment on my VISA. I did not check the bills until February. The two-year value plan ended in August, at which time I renewed it and go the Streaming Box sent to me.

[rstra]

@Moosik  The Shaw under JR would have called you to find out what is going on. Customer service isn’t what it used to be.