Is this right? Bell Tv Related

[aepca]

I recently moved and Bell installs the dish for free when you move. It took 4 appointments and over a month before Bell finally did the installation. I get every excuse from poor weather to the technician from my area was fired. Anyways after they finally installed the dish, it didn't work properly. Half the channels were missing. So I had enough and I cancelled my Bell services and went to Shaw.

I know when I cancel I will get charged for an extra month which is still ridiculous but that is their policy so I will pay that.

Today I go online to check my online Bill and notice it is much higher than what it should be. I check the bill summary and they turned around and charged me $150 dollars for the 3 receivers installation at my new house. Can they do that? I don't believe they can turn around and charge me for something that was originally free just because I cancelled my services with them.

[ken0042]

Bell is quite infamous for strange charges. If they had $100 for every billing error they make........ wait a sec; they do.

Call, get employee ID numbers and names, and ask to speak to a supervisor. Call during the day mid-morning to get a better chance of getting a Canadian CSR. Explain that the install was supposed to be free, and on top of it the installer used a faulty LNB (that would explain 1/2 the channels.)

I think under their install program the 1st receiver is supposed to be free, and then it's $50 for additional ones. However if they didn't actually install the hardware correctly, they shouldn't charge you anything. Likewise if they never got you to sign for those extra charges.

[Madman]

ken is right with the way they charge for additional receivers - but even that description of what they install is a little misleading. (to me)

They aren't charging you to physically install the receivers, they are charging you to run additional lines from the dish or to hook up extra lines at the panel/switch. It is a complete ripoff how they do it - I mean really, how much harder is it to run 2 lines into the house from the dish instead of one? How much does an extra 50 ft of coax cost? How much harder is it to hook up a 4 port switch inside the house as opposed to 2 switches on the back of the dish on top of a ladder? What if the installer has to run a line from the panel through some walls and up a couple floors - is it still $50 per? Maybe I could see there being a charge, sure.

I moved into a new house a couple of months ago and threatened to cancel my service if they didn't waive the install fee - they couldn't remove the fee, but I did get 50% off my bill for 6 months, so that worked out for me.

[aepca]

Thanks for your help.

When the technician was installing the dish he never mentioned anything about the extra cost for additional recievers.

But I guess the bottom line is the installation wasn't even done properly so how can they charge me for that.

[Draug]

I am looking at moving in the next number of months ...

Is it required that Bell do the installation for me?

I can do it in the same amount of time, and can be sure to keep my original appointment.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Draug

I am looking at moving in the next number of months ...

Is it required that Bell do the installation for me?

I can do it in the same amount of time, and can be sure to keep my original appointment.

I think it's only required if you are renting. Myself, if I had more than one reciever, I'd take the extra cabling and switches from my old place and only have the installer set up the one receiver and do the rest myself. I've done my own installations since there is no one around here to do it, Bell just shipped me the dish.

[onetwo_threefour]

I just cancelled my Bell TV (Shaw's bundle is just so much cheaper, even if the channel lineup sucks comparatively) and I'm waiting for my last bill.

I'm dreading it because I'm sure I'm going to get hosed. The reason I cancelled was because Shaw offered me a free HDPVR to switch (plus the cheapness of the bundled services) even though I rent my Bell receiver. It was a pretty sweet deal, and the $40 per month savings is going to be great. I was already a little pissed at Bell, because in January, I called and asked if I could get my box upgraded from my current 6100 to one of the newer 6131's to be able to make a PVR. When the tech showed up, he had a 6141, told me that it was all they had in stock because the 6131's hadn't come in yet and that Bell didn't care which of the two they gave me even though I was told the 6131 (Not ragging on the installer, he's a good guy and convinced me to drop the whole thing). It was an issue for me, because I had been told that the 6131 would support a UHF remote while a 6141 wouldn't , and my setup demands it. Bell jerked me around a bit on it and I was supposed to sign a new 2 year contract for this upgrade to go through. Needless to say, I didn't sign the contract but when I called yesterday to cancel my service, the retention department rep immediately says brigthly "oh, I see you just signed a new 2 year agreement in January." She seemed a little taken aback when I said, 'actually, no I didn't sign the contract, because you were supposed to upgrade my receiver and it didn't work out."

So she told me about the 30 day cancellation policy, and mentioned something about a $20 adjustment on my bill, but I'm just waiting to see if they try to hose me with some ridiculous cancellation fee or something even though I never signed the new contract.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Bell is quite infamous for strange charges. If they had $100 for every billing error they make........ wait a sec; they do.

This made me laugh because it is so true. lol

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Draug

I am looking at moving in the next number of months ...

Is it required that Bell do the installation for me?

I can do it in the same amount of time, and can be sure to keep my original appointment.

If you are moving within 100 km of your current house, I would recommend doing it yourself. Even if you are renting, call them to tell them about the move after the fact.

My trick before I got good at aiming dishes was to carefully remove the cables; making sure not to touch the skew, aiming, angles, etc. Then at the new place there are two things to remember:

- Keep the mast level. As in use a level on 4 sides of the mast. If you don't own a torpedo level, go get one from Princess Auto for $5. (Unless it's on sale for 88¢.)

- When aiming the dish, have a receiver and a TV outside where you can see the signal strength. Then go slow. Move the dish a millimetre, wait 15 seconds. Another millimetre, another 15 seconds. This should get it within 5 minutes, but move too fast and you can easily miss it.

[Vulcan]

Another tip when aiming a dual satellite dish is to only connect the 91 degree transponder when first aiming the dish. This way you won't be picking up the 91 satellite from the 82 degree transponder by mistake and wondering why you can't find the 82 satellite.

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by Draug

I am looking at moving in the next number of months ...

Is it required that Bell do the installation for me?

I can do it in the same amount of time, and can be sure to keep my original appointment.

If you are willing to shell out $150 to have someone do the job for you I would say do it.

I just moved to Ontario and want Bell to think I am still living in the Weast region so I had my dish privately installed. I am hoving no issues..and I rent receivers.

Dealing with Bell is brutal. But normally if you pester them they will resolve the billing issues and often throw in a free month.

[csnarpy]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

I just cancelled my Bell TV (Shaw's bundle is just so much cheaper, even if the channel lineup sucks comparatively) and I'm waiting for my last bill.

I'm dreading it because I'm sure I'm going to get hosed. The reason I cancelled was because Shaw offered me a free HDPVR to switch (plus the cheapness of the bundled services) even though I rent my Bell receiver. It was a pretty sweet deal, and the $40 per month savings is going to be great. I was already a little pissed at Bell, because in January, I called and asked if I could get my box upgraded from my current 6100 to one of the newer 6131's to be able to make a PVR. When the tech showed up, he had a 6141, told me that it was all they had in stock because the 6131's hadn't come in yet and that Bell didn't care which of the two they gave me even though I was told the 6131 (Not ragging on the installer, he's a good guy and convinced me to drop the whole thing). It was an issue for me, because I had been told that the 6131 would support a UHF remote while a 6141 wouldn't , and my setup demands it. Bell jerked me around a bit on it and I was supposed to sign a new 2 year contract for this upgrade to go through. Needless to say, I didn't sign the contract but when I called yesterday to cancel my service, the retention department rep immediately says brigthly "oh, I see you just signed a new 2 year agreement in January." She seemed a little taken aback when I said, 'actually, no I didn't sign the contract, because you were supposed to upgrade my receiver and it didn't work out."

So she told me about the 30 day cancellation policy, and mentioned something about a $20 adjustment on my bill, but I'm just waiting to see if they try to hose me with some ridiculous cancellation fee or something even though I never signed the new contract.

This reason always baffles me, if you threaten to cancel at bell, they will happily give you an upgrade and lower your rate. I just got a free hdpvr with free hd for a year and 30% off my bill for a year. I didn't even have to squabble, they offered that too me right away. I just mentioned the shaw deal and they folded.

I don't know, i never have a problem with them.. guess its just me.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by csnarpy

This reason always baffles me, if you threaten to cancel at bell, they will happily give you an upgrade and lower your rate. I just got a free hdpvr with free hd for a year and 30% off my bill for a year. I didn't even have to squabble, they offered that too me right away. I just mentioned the shaw deal and they folded.

I don't know, i never have a problem with them.. guess its just me.

Well, when I called and told them I was cancelling because I was going to bundle my phone, internet and TV together to save having three separate bills and I would happily stay with them if they could compete, they didn't offer anything. I didn't even tell Bell about the the PVR. There's no way that Bell is going to offer me half price forever just so they can compete with Shaw's bundle price. As I said, they didn't even offer. (and yes I was speaking to a rep from the retention department).


BTW, the offer that I got for the free HDPVR was apparently a non-standard offer from the retentions department of Shaw. It's not an offer that is generally available, but they said it was sometimes offered as a winback to Telus TV customers who don't own their own equipment. At first the Shaw rep was surprised that I got the offer in my situation, then had check with his manager to confirm that the email I sent was a valid offer. Normally Shaw doesn't do winback offers to satellite renters apparently. Given the nature of the offer, I'm not sure if Bell would have matched it even if I had a different rep.

I liked Bell, other than the little issue I had in January, but without having competitive bundles in Alberta, they can't touch the pricing Shaw has bundled. The PVR was a nice bonus, and was the kick in the pants that made me seriously consider switching, but Bell didn't help their own cause when I talked to them.

I will admit though, the Shaw PVR seems to suck. It keeps screwing up reordings, or it won't let me tune to a different channel while recording. I've had to unplug it a couple of times this week to resedt it. I will probably call next week if things don't improve.

[fliguy]

In a Bell related question, does anyone know what channel Sportnet West HD is now located. I can't seem to find it since they re organized the channels. The program guide shows it as 849, but nothing but a black channel. I have been on the phone with them 4 times today and been told a different thing every time so far.

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

BTW, the offer that I got for the free HDPVR was apparently a non-standard offer from the retentions department of Shaw. It's not an offer that is generally available, but they said it was sometimes offered as a winback to Telus TV customers who don't own their own equipment. At first the Shaw rep was surprised that I got the offer in my situation, then had check with his manager to confirm that the email I sent was a valid offer. Normally Shaw doesn't do winback offers to satellite renters apparently. Given the nature of the offer, I'm not sure if Bell would have matched it even if I had a different rep.
.

I had a Shaw guy install my internet the other day and he told me that they would give me an HD PVR if I switched from Bell.

Right now I am renting the HD PVR from Bell. Should I try and get them to give it to me?

BTW. Has anyone had an issues returning receivers after you are done renting them? They keep telling me the return box is the mail. They've been saying that since October. Meanwhile I continue to pay $10 a month for the thing.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by Deelow

I had a Shaw guy install my internet the other day and he told me that they would give me an HD PVR if I switched from Bell.

Right now I am renting the HD PVR from Bell. Should I try and get them to give it to me?

BTW. Has anyone had an issues returning receivers after you are done renting them? They keep telling me the return box is the mail. They've been saying that since October. Meanwhile I continue to pay $10 a month for the thing.

I have a defective Bell PVR in my basement that I have had for 2+ years. Every time I talk to them, they tell me the box is in the mail. Atleast I'm not paying for the thing.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fliguy

In a Bell related question, does anyone know what channel Sportnet West HD is now located. I can't seem to find it since they re organized the channels. The program guide shows it as 849, but nothing but a black channel. I have been on the phone with them 4 times today and been told a different thing every time so far.

Not sure of the channel number, but yeah; unless the Flames are on and the game is being broadcast in HD, that channel remains black.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Not sure of the channel number, but yeah; unless the Flames are on and the game is being broadcast in HD, that channel remains black.

It may be a candidate to go full time when Bell switches to 8PSK in April as this is a better method of compression that will allow Bell to put 3 maybe 4 HD channels on each transponder.

The thing is, knowing Bell they'll put 5 or 6 channels on each transponder in order to keep their bragging rights of the most HD channels.