Shaw vs. Telus Cable TV

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

I found that I had to type the quadrant (e.g. SE) in the address field, and not select the quadrant from the drop down.

tried that...finally it just told me to call customer service

[3 Justin 3]

Thanks for posts, I think I'll phone tomorrow or Wednesday and pray for the best. If not I'll just go through different cs rep's until I get the right deal.

[fundmark19]

Good news telus has come back to me saying I can sign up! I get 25mbs in my area so It shouldn't be a problem for using tv and internet. I have been enjoying shaw extreme internet these last couple days but PVR anywhere makes my home theater/home automation set up way easier on the wife! I am excited and once/if it does get installed I will let you guys know how it is!

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

Thanks so much for this thread guys. I called Shaw last night and explained that I could get the same services from Telus for $105 with the PVR. That was maybe a *bit* of a stretch, but it was darn close to what I calculated. I was paying $165 a month with Shaw.

Lo and behold! I was transferred to their "save team" and was informed that I was eligible for a "special promotion" where they would upgrade my internet (Extreme with 15 mbps instead of 7.5) and maintain all my services (TV, HD channels and movies including HBO, lite digital phone) for $105 per month for a year.

I didn't want to switch (I will be swapping my PVR for a free new one as I get NHL Centre Ice) but that's a whole lot of money over a year.

Seriously, thanks so much to the advice in this thread. You guys are awesome!

[Mazrim]

I'm starting to wonder how long I should wait before calling Shaw back. It's been over 2 days now and I can imagine they're busy enough that they'll never actually get back to me. I don't want to push too hard obviously, but I'd like to get some kind of resolution.

[username]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

I'm starting to wonder how long I should wait before calling Shaw back. It's been over 2 days now and I can imagine they're busy enough that they'll never actually get back to me. I don't want to push too hard obviously, but I'd like to get some kind of resolution.

I call them back and just mention the deal telus offered up and see if they will match. That's what I did, and I had my "special offer" set up in less that 20 minutes on the phone.

[Mazrim]

Well yeah, I already did that the first time, but I was unlucky and got a "helper" who couldn't process anything, just pass the message along for someone to get back to me with.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Well yeah, I already did that the first time, but I was unlucky and got a "helper" who couldn't process anything, just pass the message along for someone to get back to me with.

just call back

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Make sure you talk to retention. I only sort of had to pretend I was gonna cancel when I talked to Bell.

In all honesty, Shaw could offer me unlimited PVRs and every HD channel for free and I'd say no. Their hardware sucks, their menu sucks, their channel ordering sucks.

I pretty much hate everything about Shaw.

Except for the fact that SN1 games are being seen by us Shaw viewers while you Bell guys are left out in the dark huh?

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Mazrim, call back.

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Good news telus has come back to me saying I can sign up! I get 25mbs in my area so It shouldn't be a problem for using tv and internet. I have been enjoying shaw extreme internet these last couple days but PVR anywhere makes my home theater/home automation set up way easier on the wife! I am excited and once/if it does get installed I will let you guys know how it is!

So far I love the service. The interface is slick. Picture quality is great. PVR anywhere and 2HD + 1 SD streams at a time are quite appreciated given that this is season premiere time. The internet speed is lower than Shaw and does depend on how many active streams you have running on the TV. For me this is not a big deal but for others it will be a deal breaker. My parents have Shaw and the difference between the two boxes is like night and day. Optik TV is fast, slick and easy to use. Their Shaw digital box service looks and operates like it was lifted from the color scheme of the old Channel 4 Broadcast news from 1985. The picture quality is just as good but I find the Optik service to be better overall.

Be sure to register for the remote recording. You can access your guide, set up recordings and manage recorded shows from any PC or an Apple iDevice. It does not sound like that big of a deal. However I guarantee you that it will come in handy when you forget to set up that Flames game/movie/documentary that you wanted to watch.

[fundmark19]

If only telus would call me back and tell me everything has gone through. Dealing with both these companies is brutal you just can't win

[Tolwyn]

Well, I'm very happy that I read through this thread yesterday.

I called Shaw this morning asking for a bit of help in reducing my monthly bills. I described how Telus was offering Optik HD, free HDPVR rental, etc. for about $90 a month. Further, I also indicated I've been with Shaw for 7 years with prompt payment, no issues or problems but with much lower services and higher cost than Telus (I have full digital TV, HD Plus, Home Phone Basic, and standard High Speed Internet). I asked if there was some way that Shaw could help me out in restructuring my bundle and reducing my overall monthly charges.

The Shaw rep was very courtesy and immediately pushed the retention deal that everyone has described above. $80.95 vs my usual bill of around $150 (with long distance) is awesome -- not to mention a free year rental of the new Motorola box!

I think the key would be not to outright threaten to leave and demand something but instead ask for some help in reducing the bill after all the years of loyalty.

Thank you very much everyone!

[teamchachi]

Originally Posted by Roast Beef

The internet speed is lower than Shaw and does depend on how many active streams you have running on the TV. For me this is not a big deal but for others it will be a deal breaker. My parents have Shaw and the difference between the two boxes is like night and day.

Your internet is slower than Shaw? I guess it depends on which package you got. I have Optik High Speed Turbo and I'm getting 24-25mbps download speeds with the TV off. I'm still in the 14-16 mbps range with a couple of HD streams going. The kicker? I get 2.5Mbps upload compared to 1Mbps with Shaw Extreme.

Agreed on Shaw. I've had Shaw, Bell, and Telus in the past 12 months. In each case I had the latest and greatest PVR. Telus PVR and UI is awesome. Bell's is pretty good. Shaw's is just flat out terrible. My wife begged me to get rid of Shaw (we had just switched from Bell and ended up going back to Bell for 9 months before switching to Telus).

[fundmark19]

I do enjoy how telus customer service answers phone within one or 2 mins compared to the 45 I have to seem to wait for shaw

**They may answer fast but everytime I call in noone ever sees what the person before did and this is getting slightly ######ed!*****


***edit 2 now telus is saying they can't see anything from the last person and that my phone call doesn't exist lol oh wow********

[Bob]

That Telus navigation menu thingy actually brought the receptionist at my job to tears one time. Of course, the trick is to just say "agent" right away to get to a live person, then ask to be transferred.

[mikey_the_redneck]

I am currently with Bell and Telus bundles (including TV) just became available in my area.

Is Telus Optik TV a satellite based service? I am under the impression it is....

Also, if you get this offer with the "free" PVR for one year, what happens after that? Do you have to buy the PVR outright or just rent it....thereby upping your bill? How much is the rent fee?

[FlamesKickAss]

no it is not satellite based. you get the free pvr on telus for 3 years

[teamchachi]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

I am currently with Bell and Telus bundles (including TV) just became available in my area.

Is Telus Optik TV a satellite based service? I am under the impression it is....

Also, if you get this offer with the "free" PVR for one year, what happens after that? Do you have to buy the PVR outright or just rent it....thereby upping your bill? How much is the rent fee?

Telus Optik is DSL based. They have rolled out a MUCH faster DSL service that gives you internet and IPTV. They have purchase and rental options. Rental price depends on how long you commit. 2 years is $5/month. 3 years is free.

Full details: http://www.telus.com/content/tv/optik/

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by teamchachi

Your internet is slower than Shaw? I guess it depends on which package you got. I have Optik High Speed Turbo and I'm getting 24-25mbps download speeds with the TV off. I'm still in the 14-16 mbps range with a couple of HD streams going. The kicker? I get 2.5Mbps upload compared to 1Mbps with Shaw Extreme.

Agreed on Shaw. I've had Shaw, Bell, and Telus in the past 12 months. In each case I had the latest and greatest PVR. Telus PVR and UI is awesome. Bell's is pretty good. Shaw's is just flat out terrible. My wife begged me to get rid of Shaw (we had just switched from Bell and ended up going back to Bell for 9 months before switching to Telus).

My profile is slower than yours. I get around 12-14mbps download with no TV running. With a couple HD streams running it drops to 3-4mbps. My upload maxes out at a paltry .83mpbs

A few weeks ago they were doing upgrades in the area. I should give Telus a call to see if the High Speed Turbo package is available in my area now.