DavesnothereNo-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages
join:2009-06-15
START&Cogeco
kudos:6
2 edits | Why Cogeco Subscribers are NOT Notified
Let me explain what happened when I took my Internet account to Cogeco last month (and not my first time dealing with them - previous occasions were fine).
Due to recent problems (some experienced, some grapevine) with other ISPs, I asked MANY pre-scripted (by ME) questions of their CS & Tech reps for a couple of hours, several days before I called back to actually place my order, and another hour or more's worth on the day I placed the order.
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ONE of my Q&A logs which might be relevant to the folks who say that they were NOT Notified of usage amounts (or of other changes to their ToS) could be THIS (paraphrased) :
Q : What notifications will I receive regarding usage ?
A : There will be one at 85% and another at 100% of your cap.
Q : I already have another email address which I would like to use for all correspondence with Cogeco and do not plan to be using any addresses which Cogeco may provide, as I have had several ISPs over the years and do not wish to change my email address each time.
Can I give you this email address for your records ?
A : No.
Q : So when Cogeco wishes to tell me something by email, where will it go ?
A : It will be sent to the primary email address which we assign with each new Internet account.
Q : What happens if I do not wish to manage yet another email address, as I have several already, mostly webmail.
A : Just a moment, I'll check with someone....
[back quickly enough]
A : You can go into the 'My Cogeco' page and set the box up to forward copies of all incoming emails to wherever else you wish.
Q : I see. - Is this the same place where I would go in order to check my monthly usage ?
A : Yes.
Q : Well that's not so bad, if I only need to do that once.
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OK now, WHO can see any flaws in what I have just explained, and what might they be ?
(I'll post answers later....  )
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"It's COLD in here, Mister (Premier) McGuilty !   - PLEASE, could I have just a wee piece of COAL for the fire ?"
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 AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ
kudos:1 | looks reasonable to me. |
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| reply to Davesnothere
They end up in spam?
Nobody actually does this? |
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boredguy
join:2002-01-27
St Catharines, ON | reply to Davesnothere
Of all the things that Cogeco does that i disagree with this isn't one of them. Standalone mail clients all allow multiple pop3 accounts, and pretty much all webmail places allow you to check pop3 accounts as well. The CS rep gave another option with email forwarding.
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What would Jesus do for a Klondike bar? |
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DavesnothereNo-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages
join:2009-06-15
START&Cogeco
kudos:6
3 edits | reply to Davesnothere
OK, here goes :
1) NONE of this info was volunteered - I HAD TO ASK, and had to lead them by the ear, all of the way thru that line of questions !
And when such crucial matters as notifications of changing usage caps, overage fee levels and limits (essentially FFP - 'Future Fine Print') stand to get lost, THAT'S NOT A GOOD ENOUGH WAY TO HANDLE IT.
I'm a techie, and am also an informed consumer most of the time, but only because I consciously CHOOSE to be, and few other folks would even think to ask most of the stuff that I did (this part was just 'the tip of the iceberg'), so what happens to THE AVERAGE FOLKS ?!
2) Cogeco SHOULD allow an 'outside master' email contact in the customer profile - practically all other companies do.
That first "No" from them (in my OP) was BULLSHIT and unprofessional, no matter WHAT the reason, and yes, they also quoted me security concerns when I asked why, which I forgot to mention above.
3) I had to call in 'after the fact', in order to set up my email and the user portal to check my usage, etc.
Cogeco should be more proactive than that, especially when ToS legalities are at stake.
4) The person who told me of the forwarding idea was a tech with whom I asked to speak during my first research call.
Another tech, on the day I placed the order, said that nothing could be done, and I did not volunteer to him what the first tech had said, but instead called back later, and a 3rd tech said the same as the 1st, so I suggested that they re-brief everyone there about this sort of thing.
It was a Canadian call centre, BTW.
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"It's COLD in here, Mister (Premier) McGuilty ! - PLEASE, could I have just a wee piece of COAL for the fire ?"
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Read about : »UBB Nightmare |
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 dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
join:2010-01-09
Hamilton, ON
kudos:9
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| said by Davesnothere:Another tech, on the day I placed the order, said that nothing could be done
When I had my "surprise! we're billing you for 2 months overages", that's what I was told - the notifications can only go to my configured Cogeco email account, "due to privacy reasons". Those words were used explicitly. I was not told forwarding was an option and saw nothing like that in the control panel.
I would note that when I reviewed that email inbox - with the CSR on the phone with me - I did notice that the November notifications went into my inbox but the December ones hadn't. When I pointed that out she acknowledged there were issues with the December notifications going out en masse. So she credited me the one month's overage charges. When I asked why this wasn't done automatically she had no answer. I put DSL/MLPPP in place that week and cancelled Cogeco internet (residential) shortly thereafter.
This is a modus operandi, no two ways about it.
Mike
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Cogeco - The New UBB Devil
»[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare |
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 kimPremium,Mod
join:2001-03-25
ON
kudos:6
·Cogeco Cable
Host:
Cogeco
| reply to Davesnothere
My emails from Cogeco all go through another email account. Now I haven't had an 'overage' email so I can't say for sure that an email of that nature would come through the same way but I'd be surprised if they used a different one.
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Currently auditioning for profound and witty posting .sig
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | said by kim:My emails from Cogeco all go through another email account. Now I haven't had an 'overage' email so I can't say for sure that an email of that nature would come through the same way but I'd be surprised if they used a different one.
I've got an 85% one and it is sent to all your email addresses with Cogeco so for example I got 6 or 7 at once. |
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kimPremium,Mod
join:2001-03-25
ON
kudos:6 | all "@cogeco.ca" addresses? |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON
1 edit | Yes. I get a batch all at once and hard to miss as it fills the inbox. Every single active email address I have with them not just the primary one.
I'll add this does not seem to concern certain people in the household, and you all know who you are, as I pay the bill and they stream away without a care in the world.
The ironic thing is the other people I share with respect this but someone directly in my household, and you know who you are in case you are watching my posts, could care less.
Maybe the router password might change someday and I'll forget it or the breaker will go to your computer circuit, and you know which one, and it'll take forever to get an electrician out.
You've been warned, and you know I'm talking about you, about your usage. Read this thread oh nosey one: »[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare |
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| said by peterboro:Yes. I get a batch all at once and hard to miss as it fills the inbox. Every single active email address I have with them not just the primary one.
I'll add this does not seem to concern certain people in the household, and you all know who you are, as I pay the bill and they stream away without a care in the world.
The ironic thing is the other people I share with respect this but someone directly in my household, and you know who you are in case you are watching my posts, could care less.
Maybe the router password might change someday and I'll forget it or the breaker will go to your computer circuit, and you know which one, and it'll take forever to get an electrician out.
You've been warned, and you know I'm talking about you, about your usage. Read this thread oh nosey one: »[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare
Just leave that on a note somewhere with a knife through it on the wall. That'll get their attention.  |
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dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
join:2010-01-09
Hamilton, ON
kudos:9 Reviews:
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| I'd have some fun with that, print off OhNo's last 3 Cogeco bills ($2500 in usage) and photyshop my account number and MAC on them, knife those to the wall with an "Ante up, a$$hat!"
Mike
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Cogeco - The New UBB Devil
»[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare |
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DavesnothereNo-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages
join:2009-06-15
START&Cogeco
kudos:6 | said by dillyhammer:I'd have some fun with that, print off OhNo's last 3 Cogeco bills ($2500 in usage) and photyshop my account number and MAC on them, knife those to the wall with an "Ante up, a$$hat!"
But it would be hard to do that with a straight face (and clear conscience) if you had already left Cogeco.   |
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dillyhammerA. Good. Start.Premium,MVM
join:2010-01-09
Hamilton, ON
kudos:9 Reviews:
·Start Communicat..
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·TekSavvy DSL
·Caneris
| reply to kim
said by kim:My emails from Cogeco all go through another email account.
My 'paperless billing' notifications go to my own personal email address no problem. Never missed one. So I guess letting me know I owe them money works, but letting me know I may owe them more for UBB shortly doesn't.
Bloody shameless and sneaky, is what it is.
Mike
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Cogeco - The New UBB Devil
»[Burloak] Usage Based Billing Nightmare |
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kimPremium,Mod
join:2001-03-25
ON
kudos:6 | Sounds overly bureaucratic to me, can any of our guys from Cogeco confirm this?
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Currently auditioning for profound and witty posting .sig
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| reply to Davesnothere
One simple step will insure that you receive your Cogeco usage details if you choose not to use cogeco email. You need to obtain your email address and password and login to webmail at my.cogeco.ca, once you have logged into this email you can then step up and automatic forward to any address you wish. This will only need to be done once.
There are two ways to monitor your usage, the proactive approach (setting up my account) and monitoring on a regular basis, or you have the option of the less proactive approach just waiting for an email to advise you that you have hit 85%.
These two options are very simple and should be very easy for any tech skill level. |
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| said by help4u :One simple step will insure that you receive your Cogeco usage details if you choose not to use cogeco email. You need to obtain your email address and password and login to webmail at my.cogeco.ca, once you have logged into this email you can then step up and automatic forward to any address you wish. This will only need to be done once.
There are two ways to monitor your usage, the proactive approach (setting up my account) and monitoring on a regular basis, or you have the option of the less proactive approach just waiting for an email to advise you that you have hit 85%.
These two options are very simple and should be very easy for any tech skill level.
That's not the issue at hand here - we've already discussed that you can forward emails from your Cogeco account, but:
a) You can't configure a third-party address to receive these notifications to instead of having to rely on forwarding
b) Cogeco's notifications are spotty at best (unless it's related to billing :/) |
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| Here in Quebec the company has to mail you (snail mail) since they changed the consumers laws here a little bit ago.
Makes me wonder if Cogeco mailed their Quebec customers and didn't bother with the Ontario customers.
or if they just ignored Quebec consumer laws altogether and didn't bother for anyone?
As for an ISP email system. I only know a few who even bother with it. But Cogeco (unlike others) forces it upon you? I find that strange. |
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 A LurkerPremium
join:2007-10-27
Burlington, ON | reply to got_milk
said by got_milk:b) Cogeco's notifications are spotty at best (unless it's related to billing :/) I believe I got one set of 85% and 100% after I switched to the business account, then no more. At some point someone did look into it, but they never recurred. (I was making a point to knock it over to see if I got them - no.) On my account it doesn't matter as I rarely go over, and I don't pay overages. However, if this happens on one account it may happen on others. |
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DavesnothereNo-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages
join:2009-06-15
START&Cogeco
kudos:6 | reply to got_milk
said by got_milk:That's not the issue at hand here - we've already discussed that you can forward emails from your Cogeco account, but:
(a) You can't configure a third-party address to receive these notifications to instead of having to rely on forwarding
(b) Cogeco's notifications are spotty at best (unless it's related to billing :/)
(c) {Really (a), IMNSHO} is that THEY DO NOT VOLUNTEER MUCH - IF ANY - OF THIS INFO AS A MANDATORY PART OF THE SIGNUP PROCESS ! (You are forced to ASK, as I luckily did.)
--
"It's COLD in here, Mister (Premier) McGuilty ! - PLEASE, could I have just a wee piece of COAL for the fire ?"
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Read about : »UBB Nightmare |
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