Shaw rate going up again - Aug 2015 version

[TSXCman]

I had $50ish a month for 25mb/s net and basic cable with HD recording box. This lasted 5 months then my bill was $145. I called in and said I was cancelling, they aren't special (there are other companies out there), and I am not a fool to pay so much. They started trimming and applying discounts like crazy until I was down to $85/month with a downgraded internet plan.

I think I'm going to cancel and ride on some other companies promos for a bit, screw em.

[saillias]

Every time Shaw raises prices, I drop something from my service. First it was the landline, then I got rid of HBO/Movie Central package. Now I think I'll just cancel all TV. **** em. I'll go with Gamecentre for hockey and Netflix for everything else.

However I'm guessing they are accounting for this and will spike the price of internet not-so-gradually so that they get their TV money anyway.

[Erick Estrada]

Yeah it's probably going to come down to Shaw increasing internet pricing to make up for all the lost cable subscribers. That's the big problem with the Telus/Shaw monopolies as long as they are the only internet providers they have us by the balls.

[MacDaddy77]

I called and negotiated a fixed 2 year price with them back in the fall

I pay $116/month and have 50mbs internet home phone lite and full HD (no MC of HBO) also no family package.

I told them to pound sand when they upped my bill at the end of the last 3 year commitment ended and that i was happy continuing on as a customer at my current rate however any increase would prompt me to cancel all service immediately.

I had to go through probably 3 levels to get this but the 45 mins it took was worth it.

[Locke]

They just raked me over the coals for an increase last year!

[MacDaddy77]

if it's not a vioation I will post my bill (with personal info blacked out of course) for anyone to help negotiate with them.

Mods would have to confirm this

[The Yen Man]

Guess I'll be cancelling cable now. Probably just stick with Broadband 50 and the landline. Right now for just basic cable + sports package, internet, and phone costs me $160 a month. There's no way it should cost that much.

[PsYcNeT]

It's definitely getting ludicrous that 4 years ago I was paying $110 for the same package I am now paying $160 for.

That said I'm happy I still have BB100.

[Misterpants]

Just eliminated $70 off our bill by going down to basic cable. The retentions person I spoke with started to go through all the channels to see which packages I could add on so as not to miss out on any of the ones I regularly watch and it came to...a big fat zero. There is sweet FA on most of those channels. We had HBO and the Movie Channels package because of Game of Thrones and yet there was never any movie I wanted to watch! It's inexplicable how all these movies I want to watch roll through the theatres yet there is never anything to watch on 4 channels of movies.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

It's definitely getting ludicrous that 4 years ago I was paying $110 for the same package I am now paying $160 for.

That said I'm happy I still have BB100.

In August once this new price increase in effect, the Internet 120 service will cost slightly more than the Broadband 250 service cost in August of 2014. So speeds at about 50-60% offered at a slightly higher price. With a cap only 80% of what was previously offered. That's pretty brutal.

[jammies]

$150-160 a month for premium cable and internet is not really expensive. I've blown more than my monthly cable/internet budget at a single Flames game, or going out for dinner, or to the bar, and I doubt I'm the only here, or even in the minority with that. Grind them for deals, sure, but much of the outrage is laughable, $3-6 a month is little more than covering inflation.

[Finger Cookin]

What about a 2.5% price increase for around 50-60% of the past service level? Please advise what the acceptable outrage level is before chortling ensues. I don't want to press my luck.

[jammies]

I don't know, how do you feel about getting 1000-2000% more speed than you could get in 1999 for the same price, or, in inflation-adjusted dollars, less? Or does that not matter, but Shaw figuring out their network couldn't sustain 250 meg speeds, or sustain a price designed to promote that service and not to reflect its long-term costs, does?

I get it, people want more for less, and never less for more. My point is that it's not really overpriced for the value even after the raise, so histrionics over cutting your cable over a few bucks is disproportionate. Cut your cable because television is 99% crap, sure, cut it because it used to cost you $147 and now it's $152, well...

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by jammies

I don't know, how do you feel about getting 1000-2000% more speed than you could get in 1999 for the same price, or, in inflation-adjusted dollars, less?

I'm not sure, you haven't told me yet. I will say I don't remember if my internet dl speed was around 8 mbps, nor if it was around $90/month, in 1999. That's a long time ago.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I'm probably cutting the cable cord too and just keeping internet.

I have 150mbps for $99. I got Netflix for $9, and I'll get Gamecenter for whatever. What's the point of cable?

I've heard Gamecenter doesn't air the playoffs. Is this accurate? I haven't researched it yet. It was never something I noticed cause CBC was always the place to go for playoff hockey (HD, over the air rabbit ears)--plus the Flames never really went anywhere while I had Gamecentre.

But this past season I didn't subscribe, and now that Rogers has taken over HNIC, it became evident to me that not having cable is going to be a problem with regards to the playoffs. CBC didn't follow the Flames-Ducks series this year <!>.

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

I've heard Gamecenter doesn't air the playoffs. Is this accurate? I haven't researched it yet. It was never something I noticed cause CBC was always the place to go for playoff hockey (HD, over the air rabbit ears)--plus the Flames never really went anywhere while I had Gamecentre.

This year, they've unblocked playoffs on GC. I assume it's part of the Rogers strategy.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

I've heard Gamecenter doesn't air the playoffs. Is this accurate? I haven't researched it yet. It was never something I noticed cause CBC was always the place to go for playoff hockey (HD, over the air rabbit ears)--plus the Flames never really went anywhere while I had Gamecentre.

But this past season I didn't subscribe, and now that Rogers has taken over HNIC, it became evident to me that not having cable is going to be a problem with regards to the playoffs. CBC didn't follow the Flames-Ducks series this year <!>.

You can literally get any game on gamecenter without any blockages, except if you're in a market with regional deal with TSN or RDS

[Yellefan]

Anyone else getting really crappy internet speeds in the evenings on Shaw lately? Can't even watch netflix right now, so brutal.

Fine in the day though.

[gottabekd]

Saw this "article" linked today (even thought it is old), and I thought it fit well in this thread:

Nation’s Cable Companies Announce They’re Just Going To Take $100 From Everyone
Offering no justification for the action aside from their own desire to do so, executives from the nation’s leading cable companies announced plans Wednesday to take $100 from every one of their subscribers. “At midnight EST tonight, we will deduct exactly $100 from each of our customers’ accounts and, frankly, there is nothing that anyone can do about it,”...

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Yellefan

Anyone else getting really crappy internet speeds in the evenings on Shaw lately? Can't even watch netflix right now, so brutal.

Fine in the day though.

Yes, even my wife has noticed it. I just assume it's because Shaw noticed we cut cable around the same time our downloads went way up so they're like, "Nope, can't have any of that now" and throttled the connection.