Discounts expiring

[kells79]

My package expires July 1st.  I decided to call Rogers to see what my options were.  I asked the service rep, I’m looking for in and around the same channels I have for around the same price.  It took me countless phone calls throughout the years and many, many charging issues to deal with at Rogers to get the rate I am at now.  To my surprise the best I was offered is over $40 more than what I pay right now with absolutely no better service to me? 

So, let me get this straight.  I pay for years, every month in credit.  I spent the better part of the first year with rogers on the phone with them to fix up their charging mistakes.  But now years later my contract is up so screw your well-paying, patience customer you now get charged more!  Wow is all I can say.  I would think it would be the opposite and your customers who are long standing and never miss a payment would benefit from that.  It’s no wonder more and more people are leaving the big communication giants for the little guys.  There is no more customer retention or service anymore.   Happy I'm looking into this well before my expiry date so I have enough time to shop around. 

***EDITED LABELS*** 

[OLDYELLR]

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@funnybunny wrote:

the only thing I need a phone # for retention and even thow 2 people came to help nobody can give me a phone# ...it's a taboo subjet

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Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've seen a specific number to call. Usually a customer will call to cancel a service or ask for a discount they feel they're entitled to and when the agent can't help, you ask for a supervisor, then manager, etc.  Eventually this should lead to Retentions where you may be offered some kind of incentive before you cancel the service or account.

[funnybunny]

"Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've seen a specific number to call. Usually a customer will call to cancel a service or ask for a discount they feel they're entitled to and when the agent can't help, you ask for a supervisor, then manager, etc.  Eventually this should lead to Retentions where you may be offered some kind of incentive before you cancel the service or account."

Yes ok fair I get not posting in publicly but how about....

"Hi mr or mrs xxyy were here to help and our retention team will gladly help you from Monday-Friday from 9-5 ..so when is a good time to call you so we may assist you?"

See it's so much easier as the company is offering customer service and not the client. It just shouldn't be this difficult.I understand I might not deserve the welcome gift of a tablet but I think I should have a fair price..What's a fair price well something that's around 3% a year or the same as cost of living increase??

So let's say I have a 3 year bundle now if I get apples to apples I could expect to pay around 10% extra while still being able to negotiate a fair new contract.

As a marketing ploy to get new clients I get the need to have good prices and even a welcome gift to entice new clients..problem is you need to keep them happy and satisfied after the first contract to expand the customer base,if not as a company you are gaining newbies at lower prices while alienating your loyal customers.

[BS]

There are no direct numbers accessable to the consumer anymore. Just one single main number. I was trying to get the accessability team recently. Had to just pick a choice and get them to transfer. They had to find it in their directory. Took 10 minutes.

How I get directly to retentions listen through options be sure that you put your home phone number as the account you want to talk about if on a different phone.listwn through all the options about wireless devices. Then wait for either changes choose the appropriate service. I actually now go to option 5 cancelations. Explain that you have already talked to other departments about your ending promotion and you haven't had success. Stay away from the discussion of new customer prices. Except to rant you are waiting your breath. Stick to what is the best they can do with your current mix and then talk about are there any new promotions that could help you. Ask them to consider reducing features in your mix. Know what you want channels and add ones two tvs etc discount a terminal maybe full channels on your data but ask them to builds various offers. Then I say I have to think on it. Read those all out put the quote on file and then I do a chat and ask for full details on the quote. Usually 10 days or 30 days. If quote differs from what you understood report a concern emphasize the time you spent and if need be go to office of president.

Be sure to ask if there are any expiry dates on the promotions.

I have the advantage them at I can legitimately say that cancelation is an option some or all services but after 26 years I want to stay but I have legitimate budget limitations. I honestly acknowledge my disability of PTSD and need for patience on both sides.

If you can I would call in representing your in laws. They just have to tell them you are doing it and pass the phone. Then finish out that portion of call knowing the details of their plan and then open up discussion of your plan.

And I always finish with quote clarifications and I will think about it. And then I all back when ready to cancelations.

So no number but I get to the right people right away every time. Some times I get changes who are more limited at times, and I ask for transfer. I use a speaker phone and fortunately I can take typing dictation.

Have them read the notes they write not what they say they will write before you finish. Document date call and wait time I'd number for the call and name of person.

Horrible way to have to do this but this is what they make us do now. I believe they don't want this to be easy and a certain number of people aren't concerned what they pay they just go ahead. I don't have the cash flow so I have to do the dance and the dance keeps changing. Month ago new offers were two year fixed discount on retail prices two years ago it was fixed price no changes until end of period now it is back to one year. Few months ago internet was moved from 60 Mbs 200 GB cap to 75 and 500.now 75 gone with 60 unlimited instead.

I can honestly say I hear your frustration and have lived similiar. I hate this new model of business and I don't need all the new technology. That is why one of my options is just pull it all fo wholesalers voip and digital antenna and over the top internet media providers. So try that number pattern to get cancelation customer relations retentions.

Take the weekend of enjoy your services or go out and do other things and a longer term employee who works days and weekdays.

[OLDYELLR]

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@funnybunny wrote:

"Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've seen a specific number to call. Usually a customer will call to cancel a service or ask for a discount they feel they're entitled to and when the agent can't help, you ask for a supervisor, then manager, etc.  Eventually this should lead to Retentions where you may be offered some kind of incentive before you cancel the service or account."

Yes ok fair I get not posting in publicly but how about....

"Hi mr or mrs xxyy were here to help and our retention team will gladly help you from Monday-Friday from 9-5 ..so when is a good time to call you so we may assist you?"

See it's so much easier as the company is offering customer service and not the client. It just shouldn't be this difficult.I understand I might not deserve the welcome gift of a tablet but I think I should have a fair price..What's a fair price well something that's around 3% a year or the same as cost of living increase??

So let's say I have a 3 year bundle now if I get apples to apples I could expect to pay around 10% extra while still being able to negotiate a fair new contract.

As a marketing ploy to get new clients I get the need to have good prices and even a welcome gift to entice new clients..problem is you need to keep them happy and satisfied after the first contract to expand the customer base,if not as a company you are gaining newbies at lower prices while alienating your loyal customers.

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For sure Rogers needs to be more proactive in retaining existing customers and wooing new ones. You get new ones by offering temporary killer deals which are not available to existing customers (but, of, course, will expire in 6 or 12 months).  As for publishing a direct phone number for retentions, in my opinion (and obviously Rogers) that would be a complete disaster. People would be calling 24 hours a day to haggle over what they're paying.  

[funnybunny]

Thanks...there's a middle ground and I think if anybody has a contract at some point if the client is interested a call a couple of months from the end should be made by the business to ask what is your intentions and if anything can be done to keep your loyalty while keeping you up to date on promotions.I don't see anything on the site for existing customers.I would sign a 3-5 year contract today with a 500$ penalty to have stability in fair pricing and service.

[Pauly]

The problem originally posted by the OP was that they were concerned his or her package was expiring soon and did not know what to do. I was the one who provided some clarity that packages do not expire only the promotions and there was a lot of misunderstanding in how cable tv packages work but provided some clarity to better help the OP for future discussions. A lot of people then commented about new customer deals vs. Existing customer which is indeed true and it was never like that in the past but cable has also changed drastically for the better yes but also people are upset that the costs have become unaffordable the only way to stay with cable is to negotiate a better deal aka promotion or leave and go to the competition which many of them have fixed pricing for new and existing customers. It does not mean the conversation has gone off topic they are all valid points and related to the OPs question to better help him or her make a concious choice

[OLDYELLR]

I guess the answer is if the promotional deal is just barely affordable, don't take it, because you know you'll lose the discount in 6 or 12 months.

[funnybunny]

My current contract (bundle) was 3 years and was affordable..problem is where are the new contracts for existing customers?

We seem to vanish after 2 or 3 years now or of no importance?!

Promo 3 months I get it and don't want it!

Stability for Rogers and the client on long term contracts that have clients and the infrastructure in place already for long term costs little in workforce because nothing has to change except the contract end date seem to be a win win as long as the clients has a fair deal.If you need to give to much to the newbies to get them in the door but the loyal customers get to pay for it..it's not fair.

My bill could be 15$ less a month if they didn't give a Tablet to the newbies while still giving them a 2 year contract at a price that I supposedly can't get?

Where I live Rogers had to do a viability report and put the lines in about 300ft or so..we are 2 that might leave in a couple of months and nobody else on he street that uses Rogers...Now after that if Rogers ends being competitive the viability part seems to be of little importance.Infrastructure in place with no clients?!

And I bet in 6 months we'll have Rogers at the door or sending flyers telling us now Newbies again that they have nice packages for us and we can have a nice Tablet with it too...we just need to leave for a few months or a couple of years to get it?!

Just thinking about it is nonsense to me!

[Pauly]

Ive worked in marketing in my past career. No body who works for big companies like Rogers, or Telus or Shaw or whoever wants to admit but the goal of those promotions is to make you become a customer and once your a customer you will enjoy the product so much that u will still be happy when the price goes up to regular price. We all know this is not necessarily true but the big companies have done all the calculations and even with giving some promos they still make profit. Yeah it sucks but if people want it to change get a job high up in mid to upper management and present your case of lowering prices to the board and pray they accept it.

[jays77]

I think a lot of people would be content (not necessarily happy) paying the regular price if they felt it was a reasonable price and that most customers with the same service were paying the same price.

Of course I would expect that the more people paying the regular price, the lower the regular price point would be with annual increases closer to the inflation rate that they are now.

I'm fully aware that that ship has sailed and the days of one product one price is probably gone for good. Unfortunately, many of my generation are just not comfortable with the barter system and we will be the rubes paying full price or just moving to new carriers.

[BS]

Thanks everyone for all the discussion.

I will close off my points of view with a comment on @jays77 

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@jays77wrote:
I think a lot of people would be content (not necessarily happy) paying the regular price if they felt it was a reasonable price and that most customers with the same service were paying the same price.

Absolutely agreed.

Of course I would expect that the more people paying the regular price, the lower the regular price point would be with annual increases closer to the inflation rate that they are now.

I'm fully aware that that ship has sailed and the days of one product one price is probably gone for good. Unfortunately, many of my generation are just not comfortable with the barter system and we will be the rubes paying full price or just moving to new carriers.

I don't mind negotiating when a framework for negotiating exists - I know the model for dealing with a car dealership and I decide whether I negotiate or not - my basic car with 4 wheels a motor and gets me from point a to be safely does not exist in the new car market, it is all like the ad I watched the other day - up to $7000 off the price of the new SUV - so there is room to work and the $7000 is probably on the top model and the proportional discounts are dependent upon the level of product you are interested in.



The game in the car industry is well established, the ship of the basic car has sailed, so I actually buy only used cars.

But back to the current discussion - merely an example of a model of barter that is manageable -

You go in, work with one person, and spend the time, or just walk away.

I don't have the patience for the insane process of I don't know what price points I am working from, except for the new offer, I can look at the regular prices, and know the price I am going to, to we never end up there, but we should be able to do this in one call - as was said, one fair price for all.

But it is no different for any company, but I can get the good old days, by going to my local wholesale provider (not the techsavys and so forth, those are the more well known - mine is a computer, communications and tech shop who also carries wholesale access to the big players, and has a hosted VOIP - as their techs say, who use the product line - they have never had prices increase in years, if anything, decrease).

So I will play the negotiating game one more time in July, but I am not putting a lot of work into it - my budget defines what I can pay, and if the offer from Rogers is like last time - we won't touch the retail price, we will discount on bundles, and how about you remove things like your speciality theme pak, the one channel and HBO - those are the key stations we watch, so I will consider maybe the starter - I own my box - or since the ship has sailed, I don't have to jump ship, I just wave goodbye to it as it sales to where ever it is next taking its customers.  Between health, finances, and looking for an easier life, not a more complex one, I don't need this anymore.

And we all make a decision and move on -  It is a real gamble that the companies are playing and I am sure they have a massive data mine to base those statistics on and they can see very quickly what each marketing change model results in.
Bruce

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[BS]

I am hoping my experience of reviewing my expiring term of discounts goes as easily for others as did mine.

I was not looking at any changes right now, as we are in the middle of deciding just what can we afford to drop of non-essentials across our whole family budget, not just Rogers as the income side of budget is about 1/3 of what it was just 2 years ago.  So I decided to find out what extending the same servie package with all identical features as is would be.

In our case, because of timing of our BCB on the cell phone side, that was not impacted.

The increase of last year to the retail prices before discounts was added in, but the process was easy, done from a FB cmessenger chat, and finalized on the phone.

I have never used FB messenger before, but the phone wait was over 1 hour, and chat was not connecting at all.

They did an excellent job of laying out and comparing how nothing on the plan was changing, and the end of super channel, as the past replacement for Shomi also still ends the end of September.

So we set up a new term to 12 months out from yesterday, then he left it as a quote.

Some miscommunication on the phone, the following day, as the staff had not looked closely at how the discount promotions had been set up to maintain our long distance home phone, and she first thought I was being moved to local home phone, but after a deeper look at the settings, she found that she was miscommunicating, as she had only looked at I was getting the same services for the said price, but she was thinking of the wrong home phone option, that was built into the price.

Emphasizes the importance of getting all featues stated to you before verbally agreeing.

So I hope that this is a move to make things easier for those who are looking for extending or working with their expiring discount terms.  Mine was painless, although I did suggest that they could just have easily have created on the bill what the rate would have been if I change nothing if I call in for the current discount term compared to retail prices - I am sure some people pay retail prices, same as people pay sticker prices on cars with dealers you know negotiate price cuts, additional services and reduced marketed costs like warranties, and maybe freebies you didn't expect.

One thing to be aware of - the DTA availability of a broader set of channels is not being pushed out at the change right now.  No date for that soft code push out is identified for new customers, and changing plans as confirmed by the tech support team.  The product change department was not aware of this fact.

One thing I did not get which I got previosly was the detaild summary of all services which I received back in March with a minor change - I only saw the change in the TV package which had no changes, just term date changes, so I have to wait on the bill.  Can't be bothered to follow-up

I am actually going to spend less time with Rogers and on here in general - fighting over issues has worn me out, and this is an opportunity to practice an important skill - don't sweat the smaller stuff and I don't have to speak up for everyone and for everything I feel has been wronged in some way.

Have a good summer.

If I end up moving on from my service mix to a "new world" of entertainment models due to money, I will update.  Change in our budget has to occur, but at least I can focus on the overall budget and not spend any furhter time on extending packages then is really necessary which is appreciated.

Take care all, Bruce  Hope others find this shift I experienced compared to even 6 months ago.

Bruce

[Alexsebastian21]

Best Cable / Internet plans right now? can anybody help me ??

I don't know if this is the right sub for this, but I've seen similar posts before, so I thought I'd try. My Rogers cable/internet bill just jumped up $100/mth on me after my previous deal expired. Just wondering if anyone else has been able to secure a good deal for internet or cable recently.
To be honest, I don't really need cable, so I'm happy to let it go if I can't get it for dirt cheap or as an inclusion with a better internet plan.
For internet, I'm hoping for at least 100mbps and at least 200Gb.

Any suggestions?

[RogersAli]

Hey @Alexsebastian21, 

Welcome to the Community 🙂  

I can certainly see how that would be upsetting, no one likes to see unexpected charges on their bill. Getting the best deal to match your current needs is important and I am confident we can find an option that will work for you.  

Just send us a PM @CommunityHelps. 

For more information on our Private Message system, take a look at this page.

Looking forward to hearing from you. 

RogersAli 

[Webster01]

I thought I would stick my recent experience with Rogers on here for the benefit of others.  Back on August 10th with discounts expiring I managed a new 2 year deal for slightly more money but with slightly improved product.  My old discount expired on Sept. 30th so I had the new one start Oct. 1 thinking the billing would be moving with the service change.  Guess what it didn't.  I now have a bill for $50 more than I thought I would have for this month.  The reason being according to Rogers is that the billing software is not very robust and can only react to the plan in effect at the time the billing was prepared.  Of course Rogers would like me to pay them the extra $50 this month with their promise that my next bill will reflect my new discount for this month and next.  But since they tell me my $50 over payment this month will result in an $80 reduction next month and they have quoted me two prices for my package the one  I accepted and a lower one I think I will just pay what I agreed to for Oct and see what they come up with for November.   I thought I was being proactive in making arrangements for a new discount well ahead of time but I got fooled.    Just FYI.

[funnybunny]

I just renewed with Rogers on a bundle plan for 2 years.Now what is fasninating is how we,the members that have been loyal have absolutely no promo's well we have one which I was disqualified for even thow my internet 70 would've been upgraded to 150.

Now I will pay 22$ or so a month more with less channels but higher speed internet which isn't higher in speed at all..it's the same.Same modem doesn't give you higher speed if they can't even give you 70mbps,it will not give you 150 but you pay for it anyways.

For the channels,they have changed them so you need more useless things and buy extra to keep what we had before,even thow the # of channels is the same,the quality and the line up is a disadvantage...but they change the packages often so they think you believe it's something that needs to be done while my neighbor has the same old package I had for an extra year.

All in all,it's acceptable but I had to fight for what the newbies get on a silver platter.

[Gdkitty]

All the companies are this way.  Its draw you in with the really special pricing.. then back to normal afterwards (unless  you re negotiate something.
Really the only way to get the BEST pricing, would be to switch companies every 2 years 😛

As for your internet..  Pretty much any of the standard modems now, should be able to handle up to around the 150-250 plan.  If it is a modem issue, your modem should be switched to one of the newer ones, there would be no cost difference (its included).
Beyond that.. if your not even getting your 70, then its something else.  Its a signal issue, etc in the area or at your house specific.  Having a tech out should be able to get this resolved.

(I have pretty much perfect signal, after having a bunch of different tech visits.  I can pull the 500mbps plan consistently with no issues)

[funnybunny]

Yes all companies are this way.For the modem,i upgraded 3 years ago to this one and the mbps went up by 10.

Yes I can get 70mbps if I am plugged in the modem but who does that today in the era of wifi and 4k and smart TV.

I have 40-45mbps prior and after the upgrade,it's enough for me and I don't need more than that,problem is i'm paying for something I don't need or want because that's what is offered in the bundle,but the products do not perform to the level they advertise...(up  to 150mbps)..so in essence I can put up to 1Gbps and i'll still be getting the exact same thing.

The signal hasn't been perfect in our area but they will not upgrade the line for a few customers.

[ChanPatr]

The discounts I received last year are expiring at the end of next month. So I contacted Rogers using Facebook to see what new discounts could be offered. 

I currently have Ignite 300u and Digital Premier Cable TV for $136 (includes taxes)

The agent tells me Rogers will no longer be offering any promotion discounts on Digital Cable TV and I would need to upgrade to Ignite TV. So that means all the digital cable TV boxes I own will need to be replaced. Furthermore, they no longer offer Ignite 300u so I’ll need to go up to Ignite 500u

So after crunching the numbers, it came out to $200 (includes taxes)

Ignite Premier - $174.99

4 Additional boxes - $32.00

Discount - $30.00

Taxes - $23.01

The Ignite Premier includes Home Phone. As I already have VoIP, I told agent I didn’t need Home Phone Service but there would be no savings by removing it.

It appears Rogers is pushing existing clients to upgrade by discontinuing current services but not providing much incentives in the process. 

[-G-]

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@ChanPatr wrote:

My discounts I received last year are expiring at the end of next month. So I contacted Rogers using Facebook to see what new discounts could be offered. 

I currently have Ignite 300u and Digital Premier Cable TV for $136 (includes taxes)

The agent tells me Digital Cable TV is no longer offered and I would need to upgrade to Ignite TV. So that means all the digital cable TV boxes I own will need to be replaced. Furthermore, they no longer offer Ignite 300u so I’ll need to go up to Ignite 500u

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As far as I know, Rogers has not announced that they will be discontinuing Digital TV.  Did they perhaps mean that the system no longer has any discounts that can be applied to new or existing Digital TV subscriptions?  What did they say would happen to your Rogers TV and Internet if you did nothing after your term discount expires?

[ChanPatr]

That’s correct ... they would not offer any discounts for digital cable TV service. So if you don’t switch over to Ignite TV, you will end up paying full price to remain on digital cable TV service once your existing discounts expire. This is how Rogers are going to make people switch over to Ignite TV.