 1 edit | [Official] $8 Rental and Some Answers Hi Guys,
We haven't weighed in on the $8 modem rental but we have certainly been paying attention to the feedback we've been getting.
Unfortunately it is the case that there is no option to purchase a modem. And this is not our preference. We are looking into our options and hope to be able to provide a purchase option for our customers. Keep your fingers crossed that we make progress here.
Regardless of if our customers use their own modem we/you are still charged the $8 fee (our straight cost from Bell, no mark up). We did some digging on how this came about, and that portion of the deal was separate from the tariffs, but was approved by the CRTC for Bell (CRTC 2011-377 Items 20 and 21).
So some of our logic while we were working on the pricing.
1 -Our number one request with respect to invoices is that customers request itemized bills vs lump sum. 2 -We prefer transparency - the more information our customer has the better informed you are. 3 -There have been instances already where the CRTC has required incumbent ISPs to be transparent on the cost of internet vs hardware. So we thought we would avoid this going forward. 4 - We lowered the price. Even with the additional $8 rental, the total cost of service for FTTN 25 is less. (300GB was 67.95, 300GB is now 52.95service + $8 modem)
As always we want your feedback and know we are always paying attention even if we are not responding. Look for other threads on other issues shortly.
TSI Martin will be keeping an eye on things here. -- TSI Tina- TekSavvy Solutions Inc. Authorized TSI employee (»TekSavvy FAQ »Official support in the forum ) |
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 grunze510 join:2009-02-14 Cote Saint-Luc, QC kudos:1 | Can't you show it the same way as you do for phone service? Show the full price on the website, and show separate items on the bill. And maybe have a little section on the site that says $8 of the $61 is for an unavoidable modem rental fee. Same with the $1.50 activation fee on DSL2 and DSL6. |
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 TSI MartinEscalations - Social MediaPremium join:2006-02-23 Chatham, ON kudos:11 | reply to TSI Tina I'll also be following this... let me know if you have questions as Tina doesn't follow DSLR religiously! |
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 | reply to TSI Tina First off thank you Tina (and Martin) for this explanation.
Second I'm pleased that a modem purchase is being looked into and would like to further encourage this option. Thank you for your continued work on this front. |
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 | reply to TSI Tina said by TSI Tina:4 - We lowered the price. Even with the additional $8 rental, the total cost of service for FTTN 25 is less. (300GB was 67.95, 300GB is now 52.95service + $8 modem)
Well, that's pretty much the bottom line for me. If the price goes down, doesn't really matter to me how we get there, or how it breaks down.
Now...how about enlarging that freebie time a wee tad.... ;-D |
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 GuspazGuspazPremium,MVM join:2001-11-05 Montreal, QC kudos:16 | reply to TSI Tina That makes sense (that the $8 rental was slipped into the contract by Bell even though it's not in the tariffs). And I understand the desire to itemize the $8... I'm willing to bend on that one, although you need to keep in mind that it's illegal to advertise the $52.95 price (in Quebec at least), as advertised prices are required by law to include all expected incidental fees. The advertised price must be $60.95, even if you itemize it on bills.
The $1.50 fee, though, has got to go. That's not a hardware fee, that's a cost-of-providing-service fee... It would be like if you advertised a price for DSL of $14.11 for DSL because that's the access tariff, and then added fees for the capacity charge, TSI's operating expenses, transit, etc. -- Developer: Tomato/MLPPP, Linux/MLPPP, etc »fixppp.org |
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 alienzzzKill Bell join:2011-02-17 Verdun, QC | reply to TSI Tina Any explanation as to why QC 10 Mbit DSL is $3 more expensive than 12 Mbit Ontario DSL? One of the reasons I switched to Ebox... |
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1 edit | reply to TSI Tina I don't think anyone has a problem with an itemized bill or details on how the price you pay breaks down
the problem is showing one price, and then having to look through other stuff to find the 'other' price (price + modem)
if you can avoid paying the modem fees, then yes, it should be broken down so that you can see the price with/without. but that's not the case - the modem fee, as you said, is always charged, so it should be a part of the advertised base price
anything else is a 'hidden fee' imo, it makes your ads intentionally misleading (24.95! with no hidden fees ... oh wait there's hidden fees, it's 26.whatever) and reeks of the shady Bell/Rogers s**t that we all tried to get away from.
just put the price including the modem, itemize it on the bill, that's transparency. hidden fees are not.
transparency is seeing a price and not having to search through asterisks or fine print to see what the REAL price is |
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 kovy join:2009-03-26 kudos:4 | reply to alienzzz said by alienzzz:Any explanation as to why QC 10 Mbit DSL is $3 more expensive than 12 Mbit Ontario DSL? One of the reasons I switched to Ebox... I don't think this is related to the topic... |
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 alienzzzKill Bell join:2011-02-17 Verdun, QC | @kovy it's not. But it's a question we have been asking many times, and they never answered it. So I figured I could try again. |
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 grunze510 join:2009-02-14 Cote Saint-Luc, QC kudos:1 | said by alienzzz:@kovy it's not. But it's a question we have been asking many times, and they never answered it. So I figured I could try again. It's the French tax. Because French words are often longer, it costs more to provide a similar service at a slower speed.  |
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 | reply to jibby said by jibby:I don't think anyone has a problem with an itemized bill or details on how the price you pay breaks down
the problem is showing one price, and then having to look through other stuff to find the 'other' price (price + modem)
if you can avoid paying the modem fees, then yes, it should be broken down so that you can see the price with/without. but that's not the case - the modem fee, as you said, is always charged, so it should be a part of the advertised base price
anything else is a 'hidden fee' imo, it makes your ads intentionally misleading (24.95! with no hidden fees ... oh wait there's hidden fees, it's 26.whatever) and reeks of the shady Bell/Rogers s**t that we all tried to get away from.
just put the price including the modem, itemize it on the bill, that's transparency. hidden fees are not.
transparency is seeing a price and not having to search through asterisks or fine print to see what the REAL price is Please, yes.
When somebody sees a sign that says in large print "FREE DOUGHNUT" and then smaller print one line below that says with purchase of a medium coffee, the thing that draws them in, is the FREE. The rest of the sign gets processed a few seconds later (or minutes, or not at all in some cases *sigh*).
When you see advertising on a bus that states. "High Speed Internet, only $24.95." One normally then goes ahead and assumes that that is the total cost. 99% of people don't then stop and think think... "oh is that dsl or cable, do i have to rent a modem too? what about distance to the co, i'm going to have to pay $7.99 more for the distance to the co and another $1.50 for an "activation charge"" (which btw must be re-activated every single month (really? just call it a rental cost and be done with it))
Please, whatever costs are required, mandatory, can't be currently bypassed or don't fluctuate depending on where your geographic location is in bell land, have it included in the cost in the advertising, listed on the website on the tables. Make it apparent and clearly visible to 100% of people. -- Hello |
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 Bhruic join:2002-11-27 Toronto, ON kudos:1 Reviews:
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| reply to TSI Tina said by TSI Tina  4 - We lowered the price. Even with the additional $8 rental, the total cost of service for FTTN 25 is less. (300GB was 67.95, 300GB is now 52.95service + $8 modem) Fine, it's still "cheaper", but why wasn't this announced in the email that was sent about the price changes? Why were so many people told that the modem rental would only be applied to new signups? Some of us planned our budget around the $52.99 price that was advertised, with no mention anywhere of the possibility of an unannounced $8/mth price increase. |
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 TSI MartinEscalations - Social MediaPremium join:2006-02-23 Chatham, ON kudos:11 | Hi Bhuric,
The prices were subject to change. Everyone, even employees were unaware that this $8 fee would apply until official prices came out.
I'm sorry you had planned your budget on a price that was subject to change and this is most unfortunate in your case. I understand how frustrating this may have been and how this may be an inconvenience.
Martin -- TSI Martin (Escalations) - TekSavvy Solutions Inc. Authorized TSI employee ( »»TekSavvy FAQ »Official support in the forum ) |
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 | reply to TSI Tina I'd like to chime in that I also have no problem with items being itemized on the bill, but the 'big number' that comes first when people see packages should be the full cost, with all mandatory rentals and monthly 'activation fees' included.
I think mandatory fees hidden further down the page, when there's not even an asterisk beside the base price, sullies Teksavvy's reputation. |
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 | reply to TSI Tina largest issue I have seen with this for current customers is that it was not mentioned in the price increase notice. In addition, Marc whom of all people should have had an overview of these changes and stated it would be waived publicly more than once in these forums, for existing customers. |
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 | reply to aereolis said by aereolis:said by jibby:transparency is seeing a price and not having to search through asterisks or fine print to see what the REAL price is Me three. For the invoices you can break down the prices as much as you want, down to a byte. However, it is the total mandatory price payable (ok, less tax) is what should be advertised. |
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 DavesnothereNo-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6 | reply to grunze510 said by grunze510:said by alienzzz:@kovy : it's not. But it's a question we have been asking many times, and they never answered it. So I figured I could try again. It's the French tax. Because French words are often longer, it costs more to provide a similar service at a slower speed. Careful, now !
Some of the folks here are sufficiently worked up about the other stuff that they might just take that to heart, winkie or no winkie. 
THEN you'd have a fire to put out !  |
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| reply to alienzzz said by alienzzz:Any explanation as to why QC 10 Mbit DSL is $3 more expensive than 12 Mbit Ontario DSL? One of the reasons I switched to Ebox... It's a tariff thing. Bell charges TekSavvy more for 10Mb/s cable in QC than they charge TekSavvy for 12MB/s cable in Ontario. Why? You'd have to ask the CRTC, they approved the tariffs and are the only ones that got to see Bell's confidential costing data. -- Taylor Byrnes |
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1 edit | On the Teksavvy site cant you just list the total cost of all required services/charges, then below Show the breakdown/explanation of the fees, and THEN the optional addons etc?
This would have the added benefit of exposing what bell is doing. If i'm reading this right... Bell is collecting rental fees for modems they arnt even renting out?
"Feel the burning stare of my hamster and change your ways!" |
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