Deciphering my Rogers cable bill
We got our first cable bill here yesterday. We are used to having the VIP digital cable package plus the movie networks (TMN). That first package includes a lot. . .a year into living at the last condo the building made a deal with rogers so that everyone would get cable included in their condo fees plus they'd all get free digital cable boxes. We already had ours so it didn't make a difference, but our monthly bill did go down a lot, like maybe $60 or $70 less. We were only charged for what was not included in the condo's plan, which was the movie channels. I LOVED having a cable bill that was only $22 a month.
So when we were preparing to move here I called and asked them to just move our services over. I had an itchy feeling I should verify what those were, and the cost, but was so swamped in packing and preparing everything for a move in a week's time (remember we got this place at close to the last minute and then Richard paid $425 for us to get it a week early. . ) that I didn't want to bother with the nitty gritty and just hoped for the best.
The bill we got yesterday was very different from our bills of yesteryear. I actually said, "holy sh*t" outloud when I saw it, they are charging us about $140 a month for just cable, not including internet or anything else!
So I scrutinized the bill to see how it broke down:
$63.47 VIP digital cable (one package up from basic cable)
$16.95 the movie network channels (a must-have)
$3.00 Superstation pack (called a third time to ask about this, they are ok )
$1.99 Timeshifting theme pack (ditto)
$41.99 Pick all Specialty Channels
$2.00 magazine (no choice with this, I tried to cancel it a while ago.)
$2.99 digital services fee (this didn't exist before; complete BS!)
- $11.09 VIP discount (don't know why, but ok)
I was curious what the hell "pick all specialty channels" meant. After the website barely gave me any info after much hunting, I called them and it turns out there are a tonne of channels you normally pay for individually or in "theme packs", and this "pick all" thing meant I got all of them! So I wanted to know what those channels were. The agent helped me find the list on the website. It was a big grid of logos, meanwhile the channels already included in the VIP package was presented as a list of the channel names. So I had to take some time to compare the channel listings and hung up with the agent.
Most of them overlapped. There were several, less than 10, that didn't. Out of those, we only ever watch 4. All but 1 we watch rarely.. that one is MSNBC, which Richard loves and watches for at least an hour everyday. So that one was worth keeping, but the hundred or so others, we were essentially paying for TWICE as they were already included in our cable package. Seriously, what kind of BS is this? Seriously ridiculous. The other channel we'd want to keep, cause we watch it maybe twice a month, was Discovery Civilization. (All the other Discovery channels were already included in our VIP plan.) So I called and cancelled the "pick all" thing and instead am paying $2.69 each for MSNBC and Discovery Civilization -- that is $5.38 versus $41.99 a month!
They only allow you to cancel services at the end of a billing cycle though, so we're stuck paying for it this month. When I said we never had that package before, it never showed up on our bill and I had asked to move over our current services, she said the building had that as their group plan and it was my responsibility to confirm what we were getting with the agent. . . .I grumbled internally but don't really want to get in a huff over $40.
Though when I have the time and energy I may call back and find out more about Timeshifting and superstation pack, cause I have no clue what those are and for all I know they are already included in our VIP plan as well! I would not be surprised.
Update: did and they are worth it. Not already included in the VIP package after all.
So when we were preparing to move here I called and asked them to just move our services over. I had an itchy feeling I should verify what those were, and the cost, but was so swamped in packing and preparing everything for a move in a week's time (remember we got this place at close to the last minute and then Richard paid $425 for us to get it a week early. . ) that I didn't want to bother with the nitty gritty and just hoped for the best.
The bill we got yesterday was very different from our bills of yesteryear. I actually said, "holy sh*t" outloud when I saw it, they are charging us about $140 a month for just cable, not including internet or anything else!
So I scrutinized the bill to see how it broke down:
$63.47 VIP digital cable (one package up from basic cable)
$16.95 the movie network channels (a must-have)
$3.00 Superstation pack (called a third time to ask about this, they are ok )
$1.99 Timeshifting theme pack (ditto)
$41.99 Pick all Specialty Channels
$2.00 magazine (no choice with this, I tried to cancel it a while ago.)
$2.99 digital services fee (this didn't exist before; complete BS!)
- $11.09 VIP discount (don't know why, but ok)
I was curious what the hell "pick all specialty channels" meant. After the website barely gave me any info after much hunting, I called them and it turns out there are a tonne of channels you normally pay for individually or in "theme packs", and this "pick all" thing meant I got all of them! So I wanted to know what those channels were. The agent helped me find the list on the website. It was a big grid of logos, meanwhile the channels already included in the VIP package was presented as a list of the channel names. So I had to take some time to compare the channel listings and hung up with the agent.
Most of them overlapped. There were several, less than 10, that didn't. Out of those, we only ever watch 4. All but 1 we watch rarely.. that one is MSNBC, which Richard loves and watches for at least an hour everyday. So that one was worth keeping, but the hundred or so others, we were essentially paying for TWICE as they were already included in our cable package. Seriously, what kind of BS is this? Seriously ridiculous. The other channel we'd want to keep, cause we watch it maybe twice a month, was Discovery Civilization. (All the other Discovery channels were already included in our VIP plan.) So I called and cancelled the "pick all" thing and instead am paying $2.69 each for MSNBC and Discovery Civilization -- that is $5.38 versus $41.99 a month!
They only allow you to cancel services at the end of a billing cycle though, so we're stuck paying for it this month. When I said we never had that package before, it never showed up on our bill and I had asked to move over our current services, she said the building had that as their group plan and it was my responsibility to confirm what we were getting with the agent. . . .I grumbled internally but don't really want to get in a huff over $40.
Though when I have the time and energy I may call back and find out more about Timeshifting and superstation pack, cause I have no clue what those are and for all I know they are already included in our VIP plan as well! I would not be surprised.
Update: did and they are worth it. Not already included in the VIP package after all.