I am working on a new blog post about my recent disconnection from Rogers Cable. But, I thought it would be good to re-post one of my popular post from the old Blog space in the meantime.
(originally posted on Banana Boat Blog on Wordpress Sept.1, 2008- 1:29 pm)
I was driving on the QEW, coincidentally in a some traffic on a highway, and I saw the new ad campaign billboard for Rogers High Speed Internet "The Fastest and Most Reliable. Period."
So, I reminisced about my year long struggle with Rogers about their High Speed internet Cable.
In August 2007, I decided to make the leap or some might call it run away, escape from the poor tech support service from Bell Sympatico. (3 tips: When calling Bell Sympatico help line. Always call 2 times in a row to cross reference there story, get a Mac so they can't blame you for a virus and call repeatedly, follow up and don't wait to escalate the problem to a level 1 tech) Being mildly technologically savvy, I notices a slow down at night so being a long time Bell Sympatico customer (aka Proactive) I called Rogers Tech line, they were surprisingly pleasant and attempted to help me for the next month or so. They were also very candid in the fact that the problem was in my area and their responsibility and they proved it by refunding me the price that I was paying for the internet.
I diligently, kept tabs and speed checked to see when the problem would be fixed. I would call monthly and explain the scenario after a 20 minute conversation they would realize that it was their issue and return or credit my account for the lack of proper internet. After, 9 months I decided to pay for internet service and got a DSL line with YAK, I got tired of my 56k modem speed at nighttime. At that point I realized something amazing… I don’t need 8meg download the 4-5meg from Yak was just fine. The internet is pretty streamlined and Flash based and I would rather have a slightly slower but consistent service than a bi-polar one.
Finally, I gave up on Rogers “High Speed Cable” they never did resolve the issue in my area and understood why I was canceling, I returned the Modem to them and wrote them this snail mail letter in hopes that they would realize the lack of vigilance and response to a known issue.
Dear Rogers Cable,
Last year, August 1st, I decided to switch from my Bell Sympatico High-speed internet account (########) that I had since the inception of DSL in 1999 to Rogers Cable High Speed internet. I have been a long time customer of Rogers Cable, for many years enjoying quality programming like Rogers HD and The NFL ticket package.
Unfortunately, my experience with Rogers High speed Internet was not one that I would recommend to any of my friends, family or peers.
I work from home as a freelance Film & Video Editor and my ability to communicate on the internet is essential to the success of my work. When I initially received the service it seemed faster than Bell but I soon realized that it was an unstable, inconsistent and delivering less than the minimum required speed that I purchased. My 7-8 meg package was most of the time dipping down to 725 kbps which is a little faster than a 56k modem.
I proceeded to contact Rogers Tech Support /Customer Support for the next 9 months here is a log of the calls.
4 August Natalie (wsr02028431)
22 August Daniel (713 kbps dfr00053341) Known Server Problem in the area
24 August Peter (wsr02031728) 24-48 hours the problem should be fixed
28 August Susan-Supervisor (noted problem)
29 August Thash – Supervisor (ongoing problem noted)
29 August E-Chat Rogers.com (B226 George *rude via chat and less than helpfull)
30 August Marc (issue in area congestion, Known issue, technician are aware)
4 September Arvin (wsr02045040) credit for 2 weeks
12 September Cody (Dfr00052241 & wsr 02055296
19 September Natalie (update on status of repair)
26 September Abdul (refund for lack of proper service)
12 October Sasha (Refunded internet charge)
14 October Paul (ongoing issue in the area)
7 November Peter (credit refund for lack of proper service)
12 November (dfr00053341 & wsr02055296)
13 January David/Terra(billing) (tier 2 office, unresolved tech issue in area)
18 February Dudley (refund lack of proper service)
1 April Sarik,Ramon, Jeff (wsr 02239690)
4 April David (dfr00053341)
23 May Jason (refund 2 billing cycles)
31 May Amy/Greg (Cancelled my Service)
I must say that I was impressed with quality of the Customer Support Line.
However, despite the Customer/tech supports general concerns and efforts to keep me as a customer in April I subscribed to a DSL service in hopes that Rogers would soon finally fix the “unresolved issue in the area” in the interim. Unfortunately, I finally had to cancel my cable Internet service and enjoy a more stable constant and reliable connection from your competitors.
I believe it is important to note this experience has made me doubt on the reliability of Rogers Cable in rectifying a major problem in their system in a reasonable time span. Moreover, since I am involved in the media industry and many of my clients come to me for recommendation on a variety of technical issues. I could not professionally recommend any of Rogers’ services because of the lack of back end technical responsiveness to a major technical issue.
Finally, I have lost any loyalty to Rogers and I am currently reviewing my Cable package options with your competitors since they now also provide HD programming and the NFL Ticket. I was also going to transition my business cell phone Package to Rogers when my contract was up with Bell Mobility in anticipation for an iphone. However, I am more than willing to wait on healthy alternatives to your iphone package from your competitors.
Sincerely,
Anthony K Baird
gorillaproductions.ca
I never did here back from them, I guess they don't need my business. Unfortunately, I have to endure their Cable service for one more season of football. However, as soon as we move, in the very near future, I will be canceling my cable service and discouraging my friends and peers from purchasing anything Rogers because if your unlucky enough to have a problem they don't fix it.
Anyways, Back to the QEW Billboard. "The Fastest and Most Reliable. Period. Well, I went to their site to see how they can claim this with a straight "face" and they put a link to a CBC marketplace news report on internet speed where they were put in a head-to-head speed battle with the big boys of high speed (Telus, Bell Sympatico & Shaw). Rogers...You should not be proud of beating those "competitors". In the report, they are the lesser of the evil High speed internet providers not a badge that should be worn proudly (I am the best of the Bad Companies). CBC should have thrown in a smaller company like TekSavvy or Yak to see how a real David versus Goliath Battle ends. All this to say Rogers Cable High Speed service was inconsistent and slow, not reliable, period.
Don't Just Read this Post, Check your internet speed regularly, Post a Comment with your Rogers speed. I am sure that someone at the "Big House" monitors the web reviews of there service. Let Big Bro know that your checking up on him too.