"&#-6164;a carte" packages
Vicky, I also just got off the phone with a CSR.
I can confirm everything you have said above.
Here are a few more details:
In order to get A LA CARTE programming you must purchase a BASIC package (all french and english canadian netowrks) for 25$. This is basically a skinny version of digital standard which is normally 34$ but without the non-network channels like Treehouse, W network etc.
Once you have this new BASIC you can choose one of the A LA CARTE or "Top" packages listed in the previous post. A "Top" package is basically a package with pre-selected channels in it. No changes can be made to "Top" packages, so you have to like what they have selected for you otherwise you can go to A LA CARTE and select your own channels.
I was told that the "favourites" pack includes the following: TLC, Military, BBC World, CNN, CNBC, Golf, A&E, BET, Fox News, Spike, HLN, Teletoon Retro, CTS, Miracle, MTV2, WGN, Bite, CMT and MuchMusic all for 5$. The "favourites" is a 5$ add-on to any A LA CARTE package and cannot be purchased alone.
I was first told that the new Quebec programming platform is only available to new customers on a 2-year contract. I spoke to rententions and they allowed me to switch over.
I also confirmed that any 30% or 40% retentions discount will "stick" even if I am on the new platform.
I was however told that any "Quebec attack" receiver rental credits would not "stick". It was difficult for the agent to determine if the receiver credits I had were considered "Quebec attack" credits (I guess there are tons of receiver rental credits). Again, a rententions supervisor confirmed that in my case the rental credits would in fact "stick" but I caution everyone to get a confirmation on this before switching platforms.
In the end, I opted for the Best of the Best package which is essentially all the theme packs (english & french) + Movies + 5 HD themes.
The cost is: 25$ Basic + 60$ Best + 11$ Movies + 15$ HD = 111$.
I originally had: Digital Standard 34$ + 7 themes & Movies 49$ + HD 15$ + two Pick & Pay 5$ = $103.
New: At 111$ with 40% discount = 66.60$ + 3$ digital service fee = 69.60$
Old: At 103$ with 40% discount = 61.80$ + 3$ digital service fee = 64.80$
The difference is a whopping 4.80$ more to get every single theme pack (SD&HD) + Movies and Superstations.
It looks like a great deal for Quebec to either beef up their programming for almost no increase, or get rid of unwanted channels and save some money.
They kept reminding me that if I left the "Theme Pack" platform there is no way to go back to it. YMMV with retentions if you are an existing customer and want to go to the new platform. I would imagine a lot of folks from other provinces will want to switch over, so I expect retentions will be getting a lot of calls.
Good luck to all, and please feel free to ask me any questions. I spent over 45 minutes with BellTV today, so I pretty much have all the info.
By the way, if you have TSN and TSN2 in your A LA CARTE or Top package you WILL get TSN and TSN2 in HD if you have the Sports HD theme.
*** And don't forget, the prices I mentioned above do not include the 10$ bundle discount!!!