Do we realize that it is the Canadian consumer who is getting screwed in this Rogers takeover of Shaw Communications? It would leave Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus free to rape and pillage in the Canadian 5G world. You can feel the change in attitude already. It is a new arrogance.
I got my first dose of this new arrogance earlier this month. I tend to be a frequent flier on the Bell Canada help line. This month’s bill included notice of a coming rate hike but I was on a four-month quest to get an item taken off my bill. It was a $20 per month charge for a 4K PVR. Bell wants to charge me this $20 over 60 months This is the device that records television programs for you. Whether it is worth $1200, with or without interest, is not the argument. The problem is that I do not have one. I have a working 3K PVR that does the job just as well as the 4K model. I like it because I know it is paid for.
Why Bell sent me the 4K model has been a bit confusing. Plugging it into the maze of wires for remote television and Internet service was the challenge. I failed at plug-in 101. A service representative had to come and rescue my installation.
He was a very knowledgeable person and he quickly noted that the television signal was not plugged into the system hub. How it got unplugged I have absolutely no idea.
His second question was why, for two pre-historic television sets, I had a 4K PVR. He plugged in the old 3K that I was sending back to Bell (despite that I owned it after 60 months of payments). Since I now had a fully functional system, I accepted his suggestion that he take the 4K model back to Bell for me. This is why I have been trying to get it taken off my bill for the last four months.
And that is when I met the new model Ma Bell. She reminded me of my grade three school teacher who terrified us kids. If the principal had not come in and took me up to grade four, that teacher and I where in a fight to the finish.
This was not your usual mealy-mouthed, ‘we are here to help’ type of Bell employee. This was a new tough-minded, ‘Let’s duke it out,’ person. She said I got my 20 bucks back in the Internet credit of $25 per month. She acted as though I was cheating the widows and orphans who have Bell stock in their portfolio. And they were not about to move the credit to the television bill as opposed to the Internet bill.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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