wait times

[blueheron21]

Anyone else having issues connecting to an advisor on the chat function? how long does it usually take, I have been waiting for 

[mdk]

@blueheron21 -- typically, I get to an actual person within 5 minutes. Once, it was over 20 minutes.

Note that the Agents usually have multiple windows open on their computer -- simultaneously chatting with a few customers.

What time-of-day are you trying to connect? Morning? Mid-day? Evening? Late? Monday-to-Friday? Weekend?

[LeanneDrum1]

I've been on hold over 40 mins... not sure what to do, so frustrating. 

[mdk]

@LeanneDrum1 -- what time-of-day was it, while you were waiting?

Maybe, try early morning, or even late evening, when fewer people are trying to get help?

[janca]

I'm 200 in chat queue, also on hold on phone.  I'm guessing mdk gets answered quickly because he is a grand master!

Unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to call in early morning or afternoon; maybe Rogers/Shaw should realign agents shifts according to call/chat volumes if they know more people call mid-day?  And what happened to the call-back option? That worked really well

Is this also a symptom of all the recent changes in the last month (change in billing cycle, change in the devices that people aren't happy with)?

[wynford]

Try the 'Need Help?' button in the bottom right of the web page... shaw.ca. You'll be connected to a Virtual Assistant with different options. A hell of a lot faster than waiting on the phone for someone

[mdk]

@janca wrote Is this also a symptom of all the recent changes in the last month (change in billing cycle, change in the devices ...

I doubt it. Shaw invoices (and credit-invoices) both are payable 21 days after the invoice.

My Arris Gateway HDPVR has an internal 500 GB disk-drive, that probably is well over 5 years old -- well beyond the 1-year or 2-year warranty from the manufacturer of the disk-drive. So, since replacing the disk-drive is not possible, I think that the disk-drive (which has been working 24/7 for years) may be starting to fail.

Rogers tells me that I must upgrade to their current technology (XiOne set-top box) this month.  Yes, technology changes, over the years. If recording programs to the Rogers Cloud works, I will be happy. 

[janca]

A miracle! I finally got thru... After finding out you can't call/chat in the eve, I jumped on phone and virtual assistant/chat early today. Phone never tells you where you are at in queue, but I was 40th on chat. Got my billing inquiry/issue fixed, didn't bother with new tech questions as it took long enough and had to be somewhere.

So thnx for recommendation of trying earlier/later. My comment still stand ( if Shaw/Rogers actually read the forums): align the # customer service agents working with call volumns.

[janca]

They recently changed their billing cycle (or should I say Payment date. They moved it up (at least on my bill) from being due at end of month to earlier, so there were some other posts about people feeling ripped off and maybe they were 'clogging up' the queue.

Not sure what the failing hardware comment is about? Is it in response to someone else's post? My hardware is just fine not failing.

 I'm all for change if it is worth it, but if you lose features and are paying for Rogers version of IPTV there are cheaper options. I don't personally like it yet because I'm a (live tv) channel hopper and can quickly switch shows, go back and forth without missing anything. New internet based streaming devices are terrible at that IMHO.

[mdk]

@janca wrote Not sure what the failing hardware comment is about? Is it in response to someone else's post? My hardware is just fine not failing.

The disk-drives inside the ARRIS HDPVR boxes do fail -- sometimes spectacularly, sometimes intermittently (refusing to record or refusing to play a recording and sometimes "glitching" -- missing gaps in recordings and "freezing" a playback of a recording.

In general, disk-drives fail -- some sooner, some later. I presume that the disk-drives used by the "Rogers Cloud" have been configured for redundancy, so that the loss of one disk-drive in a group can be remediated.

I don't personally like it yet because I'm a (live tv) channel hopper and can quickly switch shows, go back and forth without missing anything. 

On the new equipment, before you "hop" away from a channel, press "record". After you "hop" to a different channel, again press "record".  This gives you the capability to hop between the two channels, and use pause/rewind on the recorded content. This is not as easy as it was on the ARRIS Gateway (which has 6 tuners), but this is a bypass that works.