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J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

1 edit

J E F F4

Premium Member

[The Call] So, I was on the phone with Rogers...

Naturally, none of us are too impressed with the recent price changes. So needing to save some cash, I decided to call Rogers to cancel my home phone (and go with a sip), and asked how this would affect my account. (Background, I am on a 70% discount on VIP cable) They said I'd lose any discounts that I currently have. I asked if there was anything that they could do? So..

The "analyst" (as they call customer relations specialists now) looked into my account, and came back about 20 minutes later with a new 1 year bundled discount:

VIP Cable: 20% plus no charge on HD Box
Internet: Upgrade to Extreme Plus, 50% discount, no modem charge
Home Phone: $10 off per month

(Edit: Meant to say Internet, not cable on second line)

Total cost comes out $3/month less than what I am paying now, and $12 less than what I would pay next billing.

I told that lady that what she did was considered good customer service.

Although I wish I was paying less, it is what it is. I still have my addiction to some cable channels, which are not basic nor OTA. I have 12 months of discounts to see if I need to plan further. I'm just happy I didn't have to eat this service fee increase, in fact, paying a bit less, plus an additional 10GB of usage. (I had 20GB insurance before)...

Overall, a decent experience...and no hassle for changing providers for now.
J E F F4

J E F F4

Premium Member

Looks like they already made my account changes:



Upload is at extreme plus now. Download is quicker, but, obviously that's speedboost too.

elitefx
join:2011-02-14
London, ON

1 edit

elitefx to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
said by J E F F4:

Cable: Upgrade to Extreme Plus

It's like a regular said here in another thread, upgrade at a discount then price hike, price hike, price hike.

You were between a rock and a hard place but overall it's still a win-win for Rogers. You're still on the hook for 3 services.

At least you're getting $12 off your future bills. If you had of gotten $12 knocked off the services you had when you called in THAT would have been a successful bit of wheeling and dealing on your part.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4

Premium Member

Technically only $3 if you don't factor in increases.

No matter which way I go, it would be hard to get SportsNet with decent internet for much under $110/month.

Still, factoring in the increase, it's a $144 savings over the year. So was worth the 30 minute phone call.

elitefx
join:2011-02-14
London, ON

2 edits

elitefx

Member

said by J E F F4:

Still, factoring in the increase, it's a $144 savings over the year. So was worth the 30 minute phone call.

You're absolutely right. My beef is that Rogers costs are the same for 25/2, 35/3 and 45/4. All they do is alter the modem config file. They tell us it's an upgrade but to them it's absolutely nothing resource wise.

And for 3 or 4 keystrokes all of a sudden it's this Great Deal for the customer. Complete and utter BS.

I mean, all of Rogers network runs at 75/10 minimum so all they're doing is piecing it off like a big rock of Crack. Anything less than 75/10 is a tiny piece of the Rogers pie.

mozerd
Light Will Pierce The Darkness
MVM
join:2004-04-23
Nepean, ON

mozerd to J E F F4

MVM

to J E F F4
If your Rogers Home phone costs you $30 per month + long distances charges + any add-ones you may have like Caller ID Voice mail etc. You can save a bundle by converting to VoIP which would cost you on average $10 [or less] per month. And VoIP is so much more flexible and loaded with features and capabilities.

I've been using VoIP for the last 5 years --- I've saved a bundle --- a very big bundle.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Then he wouldn't have got the discounts on other services.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4

Premium Member

said by sbrook:

Then he wouldn't have got the discounts on other services.

That exactly is the problem. You need triple play for decent discounts. I remove the phone service, as $30 a month, but pay $65 more a month for Internet and cable...so a net loss of $35 per month, minus VoIP service.
yyzlhr
join:2012-09-03
Scarborough, ON

yyzlhr to elitefx

Member

to elitefx
said by elitefx:

said by J E F F4:

Still, factoring in the increase, it's a $144 savings over the year. So was worth the 30 minute phone call.

You're absolutely right. My beef is that Rogers costs are the same for 25/2, 35/3 and 45/4. All they do is alter the modem config file. They tell us it's an upgrade but to them it's absolutely nothing resource wise.

That is not true, if more and more people got on faster tiers, Rogers would need to upgrade capacity by doing more node splits etc which are time consuming and costly.

elitefx
join:2011-02-14
London, ON

elitefx

Member

said by yyzlhr:

That is not true, if more and more people got on faster tiers, Rogers would need to upgrade capacity by doing more node splits etc which are time consuming and costly.

I submit this is a moot point. If Rogers is currently upgrading to 150/10 across the footprint then necessary upgrades have been done already. This fairytale "capacity" excuse has worn itself out.
bt
join:2009-02-26
canada

bt

Member

said by elitefx:

If Rogers is currently upgrading to 150/10 across the footprint then necessary upgrades have been done already.

No, they won't have been. That would be a big waste of money.
dueNorth
join:2001-12-17
Everett, ON

dueNorth to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
I got last week....

50% off Ultimate (75/2) 250 GA. free Modem
20% off Digital VIP free PVR
15% off old Grandfathered Basic Home Phone with free 250 N.A. L.D. min's.
All for 1 yr.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4

Premium Member

Seems that 1 year is all they will do. Great deal, btw. Always good to see customers fighting for a better deal.
yyzlhr
join:2012-09-03
Scarborough, ON

yyzlhr to elitefx

Member

to elitefx
said by elitefx:

said by yyzlhr:

That is not true, if more and more people got on faster tiers, Rogers would need to upgrade capacity by doing more node splits etc which are time consuming and costly.

I submit this is a moot point. If Rogers is currently upgrading to 150/10 across the footprint then necessary upgrades have been done already. This fairytale "capacity" excuse has worn itself out.

I think you're assuming that the Rogers network can handle every single customer uploading and downloading simultaneously at 150/10 speeds. That is simply not true. If every customer was using the internet at that speed, the network would simply buckle. Even Verizon FiOS cannot handle every single one of their customers uploading and downloading at full speed. Networks are designed under the assumption that only certain customers are going to saturate the network at such high speeds at certain times. If you open the gates for everyone to do that, the network would need significant upgrades to keep up.
Ree
join:2007-04-29
h0h0h0

Ree to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
Don't necessarily need 3 services to get a decent discount. Many got 70% off internet with only cable as a second (regular price) service.

So regular price on the two services would be $168.47 but I'm paying $76.77, which is approximately a 54% discount overall.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to yyzlhr

Premium Member

to yyzlhr
But customers DON'T all download/upload at the same time.

And if they did....if they did....and IF Rogers could handle this, everyone would blow through their caps within a few hours...maybe 16 hours or so...that's assuming Rogers 1 TB cap on those profiles...half that time if capped at 500 GB.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

said by J E F F4:

But customers DON'T all download/upload at the same time.

And if they did....if they did....and IF Rogers could handle this, everyone would blow through their caps within a few hours...maybe 16 hours or so...that's assuming Rogers 1 TB cap on those profiles...half that time if capped at 500 GB.

No they don't. But at peak hours which is 7PM to 11PM or so is when the most downloading happens and that's when congestion is fairly common with cable nodes. Caps are irrelevant. It's not about the amount of traffic transferred, it's about the aggregate sum of all of the users on the cable node. You can't sell everyone a 150 Mbps connection when there is only 600 Mbps to go around. Nodes can pass upwards of hundreds of houses in a neighbourhood.
34764170

34764170 (banned) to elitefx

Member

to elitefx
said by elitefx:

said by yyzlhr:

That is not true, if more and more people got on faster tiers, Rogers would need to upgrade capacity by doing more node splits etc which are time consuming and costly.

I submit this is a moot point. If Rogers is currently upgrading to 150/10 across the footprint then necessary upgrades have been done already. This fairytale "capacity" excuse has worn itself out.

There is no excuse for traffic caps. There is a limit to how much capacity exists on each node in your neighbourhood. Upgrading to allow being able to service the 150 Mbps tier does not mean they can go out and sell that tier to everyone. All broadband is provisioned based on over-subscription typically around 10:1 or greater. Meaning the aggregate of all of the users in the neighbourhood is 10 times greater than the capacity at the node. The assumption is is that not everyone is using their connection at peak hours and not everyone is downloading full tilt for the users that are. The more they sell the higher speed tiers the greater the chance of having congestion as they're allowing more users the possibility to consume more of the capacity that is available.

.e.g. You can have a 25 Mbps user downloading 3TB a month and have no real impact per se with regard to congestion on the node; the user can only consume 25 Mbps of the capacity. You can have 10 150 Mbps users downloading at half their speed tier and they will cause congestion.

RLBL
join:2012-11-26
Gloucester, ON

RLBL to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
said by J E F F4:

said by sbrook:

Then he wouldn't have got the discounts on other services.

That exactly is the problem. You need triple play for decent discounts. I remove the phone service, as $30 a month, but pay $65 more a month for Internet and cable...so a net loss of $35 per month, minus VoIP service.

This is not entirely true.

I do not have cable TV, nor do I have a home phone.

I called the other day and they gave me extreme + 80GB for the equivalent price of: extreme with a 25% discount and 80GB for free.

(I already had extreme at 25% discount for no reason aside from calling last year, now they threw in 80GB for nothing for a total 200GB cap)

My cost is $52+tax (includes modem rental). This was enough to stop me from looking elsewhere.
VHS
join:2008-11-17

VHS to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
If your tenure is long enough, you can easily get a better discount with only 1 service. My parents got 50% discount +free modem rental on extreme... they are a 15 yr customer. I got 30% discount + free modem on Express but I have been with Rogers for less than a year.

For TV, the best right now is 30% discount + free PVR. This is what I read from RFD

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook to 34764170

Mod

to 34764170
With 100+ houses passed on a cable segment today, the segments are overloaded, but we rarely feel that congestion. What continues to matter the most is the upstream. That has certainly improved on the 4 channel bonded upstream.

In general, once you exceed 10 Mbps, in normal internet browsing etc. we don't notice much the difference in speeds, so similarly, we won't see much in the way of mild congestion especially since we'll be hittiing the congestion limits of the path to the destination and the speeds of the hosts.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

said by sbrook:

With 100+ houses passed on a cable segment today, the segments are overloaded, but we rarely feel that congestion. What continues to matter the most is the upstream. That has certainly improved on the 4 channel bonded upstream.

That isn't 100% true. There are still nodes that Rogers has not split that do experience congestion and the upstream situation is still pretty pathetic even with the upgrades. Rogers cheaped out.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to VHS

Premium Member

to VHS
I have to call Rogers back up, now, because I am not sure if they said free HD box or free HD PVR box..big difference.

I do see that people get decent discounts w/o bundling, so maybe it will be worth it in 12 months to see if I can get something better..but if they are willing to give me 50% off of internet, 20% off of cable and 25% off of home phone plus free hardware, might not be worth the hassle to change.

That said, I got a quote for an antenna, high end was $380 -- I'd likely get everything except Fox (sucks) and NBC.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook to J E F F4

Mod

to J E F F4
I didn't say that there weren't segments that didn't experience congestion. Those that do are typically in areas where the cable plant topology doesn't permit the easy splitting of cable segments into smaller segments. Around Toronto, that's most common in areas that were served later by Shaw. Other areas where mistakes were made in estimating uptake ... for example in the areas of college and university housing there are far more people with internet than TV.

These areas are very expensive to split nodes effectively since it means major replacement of cable plant, and that gets wickedly expensive since it means digging up roads, yards etc. So, I wouldn't call it cheaping out.

The other areas that are having problems are new development since it's not being well planned because developers don't always provide enough notice to cable operators to do adequate capacity planning. (Same problem happens with many hydro services ... it's as if hydro, phone and cable are afterthoughts to the developers). So, Rogers goes in, installs cable on a makeshift basis then comes back later to fix the problems.

elitefx
join:2011-02-14
London, ON

elitefx

Member

said by sbrook:

These areas are very expensive to split nodes effectively since it means major replacement of cable plant, and that gets wickedly expensive since it means digging up roads, yards etc. So, I wouldn't call it cheaping out.

You guys make us living in East London feel like we're living on skid row. The only thing buried here is Gas lines. Everything else is hanging off poles. Hydro on the street and telephone/cable poles in the backyards. Running like a rocket since 1946.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Same where I live I have my own dedicated transformer on a pole too! Only hassle is that it's all a little too exposed like that over 15 km from the head end!
technocar2
join:2009-05-29
Brampton, ON

technocar2 to dueNorth

Member

to dueNorth
said by dueNorth:

I got last week....

50% off Ultimate (75/2) 250 GA. free Modem
20% off Digital VIP free PVR
15% off old Grandfathered Basic Home Phone with free 250 N.A. L.D. min's.
All for 1 yr.

What's your total home phone bill?

abitbent
join:2004-04-23
Brantford, ON

1 recommendation

abitbent to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
How sad is it we're all reporting back here, telling each other what great deals with managed to eek out of the big giant head or the great OZ.

Seems like a lot of dicking around. If they offered a good product at a fair price, they wouldn't need a retention department at all.

Sad state of affairs.

The monopoly is falling... just remember... someday soon when they are begging for more customers what they are making you do right now to get good value for your money.

dabonz7
join:2012-05-17
Ottawa, ON

dabonz7 to J E F F4

Member

to J E F F4
I got 30% off my High Speed Internet w/free modem
I got 30% my VIP cable /no charge for my HD terminal
And $10 of my home phone

so that made me Happy for 1 year

And no Cancellation fee cuz my contract exp in July/2013

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to abitbent

Premium Member

to abitbent
It is sad, but 90% of people won't do anything or know enough to do anything.

I have a co-worker that doesn't do much of the way of surfing the net, so she was spending well over $100 a month just for internet and home phone; I convinced her to go with Wind for he home phone and internet (she didn't have a cell phone) and now she's saving close to $60 a month.

I was talking with the ex today (my children's mom) and she's gotten a pretty bad deal with Cogeco...naturally, people choose the cheapest option, but on her internet she was going over by about $50 worth of usage every month. She told me what she had (Turbo 20) and I asked why she wouldn't select Ultimate 30. She looked it up and said "Why they hell wouldn't they tell me to go onto Ultimate, it's only $9 more a month?" And that there, is the issue with these companies.

Anyway, I'll call in every year if I have to to save the money.

I do the same with my satellite (XM) since they took off my favourite stations. Got them down to $18 every 3 months....