Shaw Rates up again - is Telus up as well?

[godfatherI]

Our July bill from Shaw arrived in the inbox yesterday. It was almost $10 higher. They bill a month in advance and the notice said that as of Aug 1st, our rate was increasing by $9.00/mth (plus tax). I am curious if any Telus customers are getting the same increase or staying the same.

We have tv/phone/internet with Shaw and have been bundled for years. You expect increases, but the service hasn't gotten any better. Ongoing issues with pixilation, black screens on the TV - the HD box reboots all by itself; techs have been here several times over the last year or so. It will now cost over $210/mth and we don't have the new 150 internet speed and just the home phone basic. Only the main TV is on the HD box, the other is still on a digital box so not getting the same programs as the main TV.

Thinking we may have to decrease our package, or look at Telus to see what they have. The increase was spread over all three services, so it wasn't just one service that jumped.

Any suggestions, or hints about the new smaller bundles. We watch a lot of sports programs; not so much for movies. Thanks for your help.

[Urban Cowboy]

Shaw has really been pushing the internet 150 to keep up with Telus who is expanding their services into quite a few new areas.

Talk to Shaw's customer service people about what they can do for you. I had them switch me to the internet 150 with phone and cable, got new upgraded router along with new HD PVR and my bill dropped by $10 with the price locked for two years.

They will suddenly find a better deal for you if they suspect you are about to jump ship.

[Jlabute]

Telus came to our door a week back and I told her that we had Shaw 150Mbps on contract, and Telus would pay the contract off and give us about 50% off for the first year. Doesn't answer your question but I just wanted to add this tidbit. Shaw screwed me a while back so I may switch.

[godfatherI]

Thanks for your responses JL and Old Techie.
Think the best bet is to call Shaw Monday and see what they can do with our bill, and if they aren't receptive, then maybe will call Telus. It's just getting too dang expensive; mind you this is our "entertainment", as neither one of us is very mobile, and are well past the age of being out and about on the weekends.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[kelownman]

I have been using https://can-com.com for over a now. They use Shaw's cable network but their prices are significantly cheaper than Shaw.

For example, Shaw's internet 5 cost $60 compared to Can-com Basic (5 mbps down, 512 kbps up) for $25

Shaw's internet 30 costs $80; Can-com (family pkg, 30 mbps down 5 mbps up) is $43

Can-com also has a pro plus 150 package for $70.

Their phone package is cheaper too

Shaw personal home phone $33;Can-com is $14.95 with unlimited canada wide calling

CanCom's TV packages are cheaper too but you have to buy the hardware, $200 per TV.

If you decide to use CanCom, message me to get a discount of $10 under their "refer a friend" program. I get $1 off of my bill for each referral

[Quixote]

It seems like Shaw have been making a lot of really weird decisions lately; at a time when people are "cutting the cord" on cable services at an increasing rate, they license a DVR platform from Comcast that lets you talk to the TV. While Telus switched over to a fully IPv6 network, Shaw is completely devoid of IPv6 sipport, and now it seems that Shaw are putting prices up at a time when Telus are getting really aggressive with their PureFIbre pricing, plus Telus are now offering speeds of 950Mbps - over six times faster than Shaw's fastest offering.

I agree with kelownman though - can-com makes so much more sense if you don't need/can't get Telus' fibre speeds, you'll get the same service as Shaw at a lower cost.

[godfatherI]

Finally got a chance to call Shaw to ask them how I could cut down my bill to something affordable; had been waffling about switching to their new packages, as we were on an old plan and once we change, we can't go back. This Aug 1st increase gave me the needed incentive.

After more than an hour on the phone with a CSR from Ontario, and a subsequent visit to the local office today to swap the ancient internet modem, we have a new package, faster Internet and a new internet modem with Wi-Fi. We basically only lost a couple of channels (ones we seldom watched anyway); and the theme packs we selected can be changed at any time, in case we decide it's not what we want. It dropped our cost over $30/mth and our internet is faster and I can now connect my iPhone to our wireless. So for now, I can save a few dollars and stay with Shaw. Hoping they don't throw any more increases on the bill over the next few months. Everything was done from the office - no tech needed.

I did check out Telus, but the new wiring wasn't available in our area yet and had difficulty trying to find a tv/internet/phone pkg that seemed reasonable.

[Urban Cowboy]

Finally got a chance to call Shaw to ask them how I could cut down my bill to something affordable; had been waffling about switching to their new packages, as we were on an old plan and once we change, we can't go back. This Aug 1st increase gave me the needed incentive.

After more than an hour on the phone with a CSR from Ontario, and a subsequent visit to the local office today to swap the ancient internet modem, we have a new package, faster Internet and a new internet modem with Wi-Fi. We basically only lost a couple of channels (ones we seldom watched anyway); and the theme packs we selected can be changed at any time, in case we decide it's not what we want. It dropped our cost over $30/mth and our internet is faster and I can now connect my iPhone to our wireless. So for now, I can save a few dollars and stay with Shaw. Hoping they don't throw any more increases on the bill over the next few months. Everything was done from the office - no tech needed.

I did check out Telus, but the new wiring wasn't available in our area yet and had difficulty trying to find a tv/internet/phone pkg that seemed reasonable.

Glad they were able to help you out.

Main reason I stay with Shaw is their Go-Wifi hotspots all over the place.

Telus is in the process of providing something similar, but haven't got near the coverage that Shaw does so far, and I have my devices connect to that a lot to save bandwidth on the phone.

Maybe next time my contract is up, but we'll see who offers better incentive.

[hobbyguy]

The experience with Shaw is similar to what I had. Careful whining and sniveling with customer service got me upgraded service (150), the phone service almost free, and a total bill reduction of over 30%.

My tactics were to be nice with them, but insistent. And speak to customer service, not the normal channels. If you get told no, just ask to speak to a supervisor.

[Bsuds]

just ask to speak to a supervisor.

Customer retention is the one to talk to.