Ask me anything about Rogers

[Prue]

Hey! I just wanted to update the thread to let everyone know I am no longer working for Rogers. I decided not to work for my final year at university so that I could enjoy teachers college!

Hello fellow Smart Canucks!

Well this was another great idea from Boo! As I am sure some of you already know from previous posts I have made, I work for Rogers retail. I actually began selling Rogers about 11 years ago while working for Radio Shack which is an affiliate of Rogers. Then about 5 years ago when I decided to return to university I switched from the Radio Shack to the Rogers side of the company (the parent company of RS owned 800+ Rogers stores as well) and I have been dealing exclusively with Rogers products and services ever since.

The purpose of this ‘ask me anything’ thread is provide you with a place where you can ask me anything you may want to know about Rogers. Feel free to ask me anything pertaining to Rogers, and I will give you an answer. If by chance your question is something I don’t know the answer to, I will do my best to find an accurate answer for you within a couple of days.




Also for a very good Rogers FAQ section (cellular only) visit the link to Howard Forums listed in this thread:
http://www.forum.smartcanucks.ca/showthread.php?t=11694

[bcteagirl]

Great idea thanks

[maceyr]

Would it be possible to get a special voice plan from Rogers without signing for the three year contract? I've read lots about plans that give you this and that but you have to sign for a 3 year contract. I don't want to do it and I'm not interested in getting a free phone since I buy my own unlocked phone. I'm more interested in a cheap monthly plan that I can make some calls without paying close to $30 after all SAF, fees, etc.

I am currently on their emergency $10 plus fees (20+20 mins) plan which still costs $15 after the $5 discount.

[Prue]

Hi Maceyr.

There are ways to get a better plan without a contract, though pretty much all plans will cost more than the emergency plan! Where you are on the emergency plan I assume that you are a long time customer in good standing (this plan tends to be restricted to such customers), so Rogers is likely to be very accomodating. Just a couple of weeks ago I had a customer come in on the emergency plan who was in the same type of situation your in and a compteting provider had offered her an amzaing plan with no commitment if she switched, provided she did not need a phone. She called customer relations and they offered her an incoming call plan which is normally restricted to 3 years, with no contract ($25/month + monthly access fees & taxes). There are a variety of plans available through customer relations as retention offers that are not available through a regular sales channel which they will likely offer you a choice of.

If you decide to do it, now is actually a good time because local number portablity just came out and you can tell them not only is the offer you received great, but you also get to keep your number! Companies are are going to be trying very hard to keep existing customers happy now that this service is offered.

Just to let you know, be sure you want to do this first. The emergency plan is great for people who don't use the phone a lot, and it is very difficult to get!

If you need the number for customer relations just let me know!

[frem]

Hi, this is my first post.....I have VIP cable from Rogers and want to use a component video cable so to get better quality picture. The digital receiver you get with VIP service doesn't have component video output, and I have to pay more for a receiver with coponent video output. Why can't I get a receiver for the same price to use my VIP service with a component video output?

thanks,
mike

[Prue]

Hi Frem & welcome to SC!

Right now you cannot get the receivers with component video out for the same price because only the high definition units have this feature. As far as I know, Rogers is not considering adding component jacks to the standard definition terminals, so to use component you would have to upgrade your terminal.

If you have a television that is HD, I would advise you to upgrade to an HD terminal anyway. It's well worth the extra money! The price of the HD terminal rental is $12.95/month, but you would only pay the difference between the terminal included in your package ($4.49) and the HD terminal fee!

[emjay]

I'm pretty sure I pay the lowest amount possible for cell service at Rogers. I have $10+tax deducted automatically from my credit card each month for pay as you go. The sales pitch urged $20 but I request $10 and got it.

It's only a good choice if you really don't use the phone much because it's 33 cents a minute (if I'm remembering right).

Emjay

[Prue]

Yes if you don't use your phone very much pay as you go is a great option. Just a little tip if you want to save a little $ - there is a $100 card that lasts for 1 year, so rather than $10/month which equals $120 you can buy this card and save $20 a year! (Includes approx. 303 local minutes if you are on the anytime plan)

[frem]

I don't have a HD TV, but I am considering buying one for the increase in picture size and hopefully picture quality. I'm still not sure if I'll spend the extra money on HD programming yet, maybe when more HD stations become available. Wouldn't I be better off buying a receiver with component video output rather than paying the extra $8.46 = tax / month?

thanks again,
Mike

[bug]

I'm pretty sure I pay the lowest amount possible for cell service at Rogers. I have $10+tax deducted automatically from my credit card each month for pay as you go. The sales pitch urged $20 but I request $10 and got it.

It's only a good choice if you really don't use the phone much because it's 33 cents a minute (if I'm remembering right).

Emjay

There is (or was?) a cheaper pay-as-you-go from Rogers. $100 top-up every year, which works out to less than $10 per month. The cheapest rates, in my opinion, are either the 25 cents/min for the first 5 mins and then 15 cents after that, or 39 cents/min during the day and 1 cent evenings/weekends. These rates are only available with a minimum top-up of $20, and my yearly $100 top-up satisfies this. In the fine print, I've noticed it says minimum $20 top-up PER MONTH. I don't know if this was added after I got on my plan though, so the $100 yearly top-up might not qualify for the cheapest rates anymore.

[emjay]

If I buy a $100 card and decide to switch to another Rogers plan, am I able to get my balance credited to the new plan?

Thanks for your help here. I have lots of questions for you...

[Prue]

I don't have a HD TV, but I am considering buying one for the increase in picture size and hopefully picture quality. I'm still not sure if I'll spend the extra money on HD programming yet, maybe when more HD stations become available. Wouldn't I be better off buying a receiver with component video output rather than paying the extra $8.46 = tax / month?

thanks again,
Mike

Oh, if you buy an HD tv then you need to get the HD terminal! I upgraded to HD in December and I can hardly bring myself to watch non-HD programming now!

There are actually quite a few HD stations available now and more are being added all the time. As for buying a receiver with component out, that will of course work but the problem is your gains will be miniminal. An HD tv, needs the 1080i resolution to deliver to you the full capabilities of your HD television! However, if your not sure you want to spend the extra dough on an HD box, normally when you buy an HD tv, you can receive an offer for 10 months free of an HD PVR rental and ten months free of all the HD programming. I bought my HD PVR but I used the 10 month rental for my mom who also has an HD tv!

[Prue]

There is (or was?) a cheaper pay-as-you-go from Rogers. $100 top-up every year, which works out to less than $10 per month. The cheapest rates, in my opinion, are either the 25 cents/min for the first 5 mins and then 15 cents after that, or 39 cents/min during the day and 1 cent evenings/weekends. These rates are only available with a minimum top-up of $20, and my yearly $100 top-up satisfies this. In the fine print, I've noticed it says minimum $20 top-up PER MONTH. I don't know if this was added after I got on my plan though, so the $100 yearly top-up might not qualify for the cheapest rates anymore.

Yes the $100 card still qualifies. What this means is that if you run out of airtime, you cannot add a $10 card, you need to add a $20 or higher.

[emjay]

I'm not sure if it's best to post my questions separately or together. Feel free to break apart the message if it's easier to reply that way.

1. How much does it cost to rent /buy personal recorders and are these separate boxes or integrated with the digital boxes? I see the recorders mentioned on the Rogers site but I don't see prices.

2. Last fall I ordered 2 cell phones online. I got 6 delivered to me by UPS. I was charged for all 6 on my credit card. I returned 4 phones. I got refunded for 3. I spent over 15 hours on the phone trying to get the final refund. Eventually I was transferred to Customer Care and told they would look into it with no promise of timelines. I spent so long on the phone because the reps all said they can't make outgoing calls, so I had to stay on the line to wait while they investiaged the matter (from scratch, each time I called). Three weeks ago I had an email (after over 5 months of silence) saying the refund would appear on my credit card statement within 5 business days. It has not.
My questions are:
Who do I contact to get my refund? and
Who do I invoice for my 15 hours of time wasted? I kid you not--I do want to invoice for this and I assume it needs to be someone fairly high up in the hierachy. I realize you may not know the answer to this one, but any suggestions would be welcome.

3. Last fall I renwed my cable tv/internet contract for 2 years. They made me promise to commit to two years. I agreed on the condition that the price stays the same throughout the term (otherwise, why would I?). Two reps told me the price would stay the same as the amount they were quoting me. A month later, I got notice of an increase. Who would I contact to deal with this problem?

Sorry my questions are not a little more fun. I've had a rather unfortunate few transactions with Rogers in the past half year....

And again, thank you for helping us here. It's great to have you providing answers.

Emjay

[Prue]

If I buy a $100 card and decide to switch to another Rogers plan, am I able to get my balance credited to the new plan?

Thanks for your help here. I have lots of questions for you...

Your welcome, glad to help!


Yes if you use the $100 card you can still switch plans and have your balance credited to your new plan!