I was fucked over by Ted -- and I think I like it.
I thought Royal Bank were the biggest nickle and dimers out there.. but I think Ted (who has Madd Dawg in his basement away from Billie) is pretty high up there.
Here is how it went down: - My Original 10% VIP had to be given up in order get Digital. I couldn't even "try" Digital without losing the VIP. - Losing the 10% VIP meant I will never get 10% off cable. In otherwords, if I don't like Digital anymore - I cannot just have plain cable (all of it) and get 10% off - VIP means I get the 1st Digital box for free (*Read the scam below) - Just as I go to change plans I determine that they have screwed people with VIP Digital over by removing the Specialty Channels. To get those you must get the "ULTIMATE" VIP which gives you MOVIES and Specialty Channels. Otherwise to get all the specialty costs $37.99 (HA!) - So VIP today gives me ZERO discounts on cable (but I get a free digital box*) plus 10% off Wireless and 10% off Internet. - I read about the new 15% choose your own bundle crap. That is a load. You have to commit to 2years (but it appears you can move vertically within the tier - I could still get 15% off and not have digital) - If I get internet with Rogers, and want to bundle TV + CELL and not Internet, I lose the 10% off the internet. The other two are 15% off each service - So I read the 15% and notice something about the 15% off the cell plan is "BASE PLAN AND AIRTIME ONLY". Egads did I screwup royally? Can't be. I figure the Digital VIP says the same thing.. my original VIP gave me 10% off ALL WIRELESS COSTS not just a base plan. - I review my old bills (another scam - I get them electronically.. stupid ass SOB doesn't look at them.. and SOB Ted and Co do a number). Up to Oct 2003 I get 10% off the entire wireless plan. Then Nov 2003 - it goes down to $4.50. What is that? That is my "BASE PLAN of $45". The guys changed the "contract" IMO. I called and the woman said "it was an error in the system and they corrected it". Imagine - Ted is losing on an $80/mth package - about $2-4/subscriber per month for YEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRS!!. LIES!!! That is fraudulent. But we are talking from November to now - so that is $36 to worry about? No idea how to handle that issue but I will not bother.
So where are we? #1 - Picked up last Tuesday a digital box (now in the bedroom) #2 - Friday I picked up a PVR unit ($19.99 + $1.99 service fee - that is the scam that ensures that even if you buy the box - you are forced to pay $1.99 still). The stuff is so new - contains an 80GB harddrive. I would never think of buying that. RENT! #3 - Rogers enters my domain Tuesday PM to install Rogers Internet Express (same as yours). I have cancelled my Easynews ($10US/mth) service as of today (YOUR statement of improved service since our problems last year + hearing Rogers adopted Giganews = GOOD DEAL). So I will be software/movie/porn and music free for 1 1/2 days (I am already itching). That is a funny one - FutureShit offered 1st month free plus $100 gift card. Their ad mentions nothing about $39.99 - so I have submitted their ad to the advertisement council for review (misleading consumers). There is actually a website for that: http://www.adstandards.com/en/standards/submission.asp
So I opted for Rogers online -- I get 3mths at $24.95 plus $10 rebate. With F*****Shit, I had to commit to 6mths. Not with Rogers online. So I will try it out a few months before deciding what to do with Bell. If Bell supported Newsgroups - I would keep them. But Kastelco said the newsgroups are far faster with Rogers. So we will see.
My reasoning for the PVR - you can watch tv or watch tv w/PIP (poor with PIP.. but it works) - you can watch 1 and record another program - you can record up to 2 programs and watch nothing - you can record up to 2 programs and watch a prerecorded program
For $22 I think they are still giving them away to get people encouraged to use them. I figure it is worth the money. The digital out into the VCR is a pain in the neck. And it was giving us problems. Handling tapes has been a sore point. Hundreds of tapes unlabled (except the kind I watch late at night.. when no one is watching.. those are labeled jussssstttt right - yeah baby). If the PVR works out fine - I probably will return the other digital box (they credit you "$8.95" so technically the single box being PVR = $11 + $1.99)
Lot of time for TV? Nahhh. My wife watches a fair bit - she stays at home until the little one hits grade 1 - a few years off. She wanted some of the specialties - she likes Court TV (don't ask). Part of this whole digital stuff is - Ted is screwing us over. The cost to flip in a digital box is around the same -- not including the specialty; movies or PVR. So I say .. why not? For $2 more I get another set of US stations from the west - don't have to put up with Buffalo BS. I may opt for more stuff.. we may get by on the extra US stations and 5 specialties. We automatically get the Canadian Timeshifting included. It just made sense. I can always take away stuff and still will have more than we had. Granted not every TV .. but...
Rogers SCAM -- they "include" in our VIP service the digital box as a discount (they say that so they can ream you easier in the future). But what is funny - they do not discount BOXES -- yet when you sign up for the bundle (15% off) - they are actually discounting the entire bundle (which includes the box) at 15%. That is technically wrong based on their statements of not giving you discounts on equipment.
The Digital stuff is "ok". I heard a lot from my brother - the first night I turn it on, there I am - what a stupid ass -- watching what was on - "The Brady Bunch" - the episode when the maid hears the children talking bad about her and she wants to leave. Funny part in that one - Mike (the gay husband), says "I know why Alice wants to leave.. ever since we merged our families together, we never gave her a raise - that has got to be it - she is now cooking for two families". (Of course she says that isn't the reason). Only in America folks!!!
Anyways I almost called Kastelco to dig up the Boss and play "50Million stations and nothin on". Yes a lot of it is crap. But the problem is - we are in that "for just a little more". I have all the cable today, so why not spend a bit more and get the digital. We don't go to movies - the trend in the US is to wait for the DVD - cheaper than going to the movies. Next is to improve our TV and sound. I think this is a step in that direction.
I have found the quality to be a bit "washy" and some of the west coast stations are poor due to the feed. My buddy has ExpressVu - I want to visit and see how that is. Bell rents a PVR for $30. That one gives you what Rogers does, but also TWO remotes - one for UHF - so I can have that in the bedroom and then just run a cable from the living room to it. Technically that is enough TODAY. We are either in the living room or bedroom or kitchen. So as long as I can get each of those with a dupe from the PVR - I am fine.
Louis mentioned "broadcasting" TV. Well I found it. Here we only have 2.4GHz but in the US they are already selling a 5.8GHz -- with remote extender. Remote extenders alone are $90 here. http://www.avtechsolutions.com/s_vavs5811.htm
Now if that could have 1 TRANSMITTER and more than 1 RECEIVER. That would be great. This would help with the "wiring" plus get us to the bedroom and perhaps the basement - still with one digital box - they sell remotes that work on these - so that isn't a problem. I can actually get the TV in the kitchen to work and aim the remote to the living room without an extender.
So I figure (A) it is good to try out the PVR - if we like it and we do go to ExpressVu we could just get their unit; (B) I could lock into rogers 15% plan - CELL+TV only though (forego the $5 savings with Internet not to be tied); (C) I could always ratchet the tier down - get ExpressVU for two TVs and Rogers for the rest of the house (at a lower price);
Regular TV alone isn't enough for us. Being able to record stuff we want is far more important. Now I can watch Oprah (bad for men) at 7:30 -- that is worth the price of admission.. and still watch Jeopardy at 1030pm if Marketcall sucks.. or tape market call at 10PM and watch it at 1130 after Nightly Business report.. blah blah blah.
But in the end.. we are renting this stuff. So I am not tied down and forced to love Ted. One thing though (HA!! just ONE he says!!).. loyalty is out the window - go for the deals and services that make sense. My VIP only saves me about $9/mth. So juggling that into the 15% savings and going for ExpressVu isn't the end of the world. When the Cell was $9 and the internet was $5 and cable was about $4 - that was a bit more. And none of this "future" crap either. If I need more channels for the boys - so I decide then on what to do -- buy a box - rent a box.. whatever. But for today, I am a lot closer to doing what we want and being happy with it. Rogers still has the advantage of "analogue" throughout the house whereas ExpressVu isn't. But if I can bundle the stuff at 15% off - and still have Rogers (basic + CNN) + ExpressVu - the cost probably is minor compared to what "we want".
My life (Not as glamorous as the President - no thongs being pulled at me I am afraid...) #1 Got my Elder book you mentioned, last week -- Amazon is a joke. They tell you it takes 2 weeks to order via their "free shipping". I got it within 3 business days. I have a site that keeps track of $5 off coupons if you wanted it.. #2 I picked up from the Library couple of weeks ago "Trade your way to financial freedom" by Van Tharp. Not sure if you read it. Pretty good so far. Talking about objectives, goals, thinking about a system to use etc. Section on money management - entry to and exit from the market - but I am not there yet. I like the book because minute one isn't about "follow these indicators" to make money. More on the thinking and planning side instead of merely the execution. A huge sore point for me. A funny part I just read was "plan for the unexpected". He made mention of an asteroid crashing between the US and Europe. What would we do? Think about it and run over the scenario in your head. Well that is far fetched - but then again, the book was written in 1999. Imagine - if we would have thought about "what if a terrorist strike happens in the US?".. Interesting. When done I will read Elder's.
#3 Also picked up from the RHPL - Pring's Market Momentum. Good too - but on the T/A mostly.
Sorry for the novel.. I am venting.. but you asked.. I love Ted. I love Ted. I love Ted. Wonder when he will tap into the Water; Hydro and Gas markets.. I love Ted.
Today I had an agent of Ted in my home. Nice guy. He took one look at my setup and almost fainted. I guess most of his customers are a little less tech savvy (meanwhile I feel I am low on the pole myself).
Anyways, I planned his visit for optimal effect. I was able to get the main splitter (2 way then feeds off into a 3 way) and the main area where the TV/CPU are connected w/2 way -- updated. He gave me a new "3 way" at the box, then a new "2 way" at my TV/CPU - gave me a few patch cables - and checked the signal in the kitchen and bedroom. Saves a second service call under the heading "wiring" (this was "high-speed internet install").
Anyways, the net is installed. Read HERE for the news changes I was inferring. According to Newsbinpro, I am getting those numbers (256Kbps) (Newsbinpro gives you that number plus "KBps" - I am sure the various measures were the marketing side of computers). You are allowed 2 channels for downloading - and Newsbinpro gives you that ability where Agent (the one I love and use 247) does not. Maybe down the road. The point is - I am hitting the MAX speed for the newsgroups - therefore, it appears my speeds are back to what they were summer 2003.
Kastelco: Easynews is still far faster by far (even with DSL) than this - but 10GB for $10US/mth - is just a bit more than I want to spend. As long as I queue my jobs up, ensure my HD has space, I will just let this run 247. So it takes a day versus 4 hours, I am not sitting on this all the time so that should suffice. But I was getting about 14-16GB/mth with the promotions they had. I would never hesitate to give them my business again.
As long as retention is excellent with Ted, then the speed is not a huge factor. But last year - I was queuing stuff up and by the time it got down a bit on the list - the post was gone (because my speed was pathetic). Further - if the stuff craps out you don't want to remember it a day later and lose the post.
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