Another BEV price increase?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Granite
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has anyone here written a letter or sent an email to bell re the new $3 charge? i recently signed a new contract and got a free 5900 for 24 mos, but am pissed off that the $3 fee was not mentioned when i re-signed. they need to know that this type of price gouging is not acceptable, especially when a contract has been signed. what's to stop them from making it a $5 fee?

couple of points to consider:

bell recently removed aeroplan rewards for onebill users (eff Jan 08)

bell removed free timeshifting of US networks and added a $1 fee

no major programming has changed (ok... i'll give 'em playhouse disney)

anyone thought of an online petition against this?
 
It's not gonna last forever... They're probably desperately trying to keep sub numbers up until the sale happens, then the discount well will dry up.
 
I rewired this house with $40 for all new wire and $10 for new phone jacks. The wiring here was literally "twisted pair." Some ancient cloth covered stuff with crumbling insulation. I haven't even seen that stuff in over 40 years. I'd love to see Bell try to charge for fixing that junk. The fact that it wasn't replaced years ago is negligent, especially considering the wiring upgrades ordered by the CRTC over 25 years ago. :confused:

As for troubleshooting, I have enough know how to eliminate the house wiring and phones. With a two wire system, that's pretty simple.
 
Fort my part I remove Super Ecran from my programming and i leave Bell for the Telephone and the Internet.
 
Bell stopped provisioning pulse dial lines years ago. All new lines are touch tone and include the touch tone charge, even if pulse dial phones work on them.
 
This is not a hidden price increase. If you have service through BELL in scertain areas, you're already paying it in the cost of your monthly service.
It's a tarrifed item based on rate centres. THe Home Phone CHoice Packages have one listed price plus an additional cost if you are in one of the areas where the rate centres are a bit more. (I belive Oakville is one of those places but don't quote me on it) It's not a hidden charge. It should be quoted when the price of you line is quoted and it doesn't apply to all areas of Ontario.

Nem, who has no witty remark as he is too tired
 
Satellite TV is unregulated in terms of fees charge to the customer.

Bell started down a road about three years ago "Keeping it simple" -- a slogan, and premise, I admired. They stuck to their guns, too, with Bell ExpressVu at least, in delivering a stated service package for the price advertised.

In summer 2004, Basic Satellite TV was $25: for this you got 100+ channels and had to buy a receiver. You could rent one for $2.50/mth. Then the price went to $27 and then the rental to $3. OK, so $30/mth for basic service.

Three years later it's $35 (they'd added in US network time-shifting although you can decline that $1 fee) and you get a rental receiver. In 26 days that increases to $38 minimum service.

Where's the money going? More TV? Here's an excerpt from the Q2 2004 Jun 30th financial report:
ARPS per month increased by $2 for the quarter and by $4 on a year-to-date basis to $49 for each respective period compared to the same periods last year. Higher ARPS resulted from the introduction of the $2.99 system access charge effective April 28, 2003 and a higher number of customers paying the additional receiver charge fee. On a year-to-date basis ARPS was also impacted by the $2 to $3 rate increase on specific programming packages introduced on February 1, 2003. These increases were partly offset by lower pay-per-view revenues.
​
"Average Revenue Per Subscriber" increased $2/mth in just the previous 3 months partly due to the $2.99 system access charge created in Apr 2003.

Fact source:
http://www.bce.ca/data/documents/reports/en/2004/q2/2004q2-qr-en.pdf

Yet in their "explanation" that, for 2008, a $2.99 system access fee was brand new and required for Jan 1, 2008, Bell claims:
Please note that commencing on your January 2008 bill statement, a monthly $3 digital service fee will apply to certain programming packages.

ExpressVu is Canada's leading digital TV service provider and is the last major digital provider to add a digital service fee.
​
Fact source:
www bell ca/support/PrsCSrvTv_DTHHelp_priceIncrease.page?ADV=ON_CDN_EN_FAQ_RateNotification

Still keeping it simple? No, not so much.
 
It must be nice to have options like you guys are talking about......

I would love to ditch Express Vu, but I cant get Rogers or See the Star Choice Birds.
 
In recent years, Bell has had annual increases on Jan 1. According to their latest financial report (Q3 ending Sep 30), ExpressVu customers, on average, are paying $6/month more than Sep 30 2006 (average bill: $60). This is a combination of increases for "legacy packages" which went up quite a lot; current packages which went up around $3 in Jan IIRC; more people moving to HD at higher priced rentals and programming packages as a result; and less upfront discounting ($120 off this year; $300 off last year at Xmas time as an example).

I think Bell notifies customers one invoice ahead so the details should be posted in the next couple of weeks.
 
Here comes the new fee, same as the old fee. :rolleyes: (All due respect to The Who. :D)
 
See my rebuttal post (follow the other link).

Yes they warn you it may apply; yes they provide a link to a web page that you can enter your postal code to see if it will apply. Yes, I used the link. It said NO it didn't. But the charge still appeared on my bill. That was the essence of my warning....

I have lived at the same place for 15 years without the extra charge; the charge only went on trying to use the new 'package from bell'. The charge was removed when I removed the package.

'Sneaky' would apply if it was intentional; perhaps I am overreaching. Incompetent communication comes to mind when it comes to communicating complex marketing packages.
 
Does anyone know if DTV or Dish Net have similar miscallaneous fees as BEV or StarChoice?
 
I think Bell wants to push some more subs to find the alternative. It makes me pause to think.

(bold acronym idea stolen from dirtyjeffer)
 
I believe that Dish Network charges you a monthly fee for a PVR and possibly a multiple receiver fee.

They are all the same, cable companies and satellite companies all get greedy.
 
and i'm 100% sure the new card will get hacked just as quickly as the other new ultra super secure card did.
 
Whatever the reason, for the last 4 years for me Expressvu is less expensive than Rogers would be even without this years 30 % discount . TV subs are too expensive
 
their ARPU also increased last year by $6, and they attributed it to the price increase as well...perhaps they could increase ARPU by offering better bundle packages, to entice customers to move up to higher end programming, instead of their "new" tactic of charging more, and giving nothing new (in some cases, less).

Rogers has increased ARPU through new programming packages, bundled services like the Super Sports Package, enhanced features like OnDemand, and through creative marketing like their simple bundles (multiple services).
 
This $3.00 Digital Service fee is BS, to compensate I'm going to gas LEAFS TV they're horrbile to watch anyways. BELL also charged me 6% GST, but OOH they're working on it for next month, like they didn't know about the change for months in advance...LOL
 
Online petitions are useless. Bell will only respond to one thing - hordes of customers cancelling due to this new cash grab. And even then, they may not care. They'll just spend more money to attract more new customers and then add another fee like a "DBS spectrum services fee" to pay for all the marketing. They prove time and time again that they have little regard for existing customers. Bell counts on the generally apathetic and complacent nature of most Canadians to line their pockets.
 
i have a bundle from bell from many years ago...for my home phone, internet and tv service, i pay just under $200...i just signed up with Rogers to switch everything to them, and am getting the same package with them for about $160...i will also save about an extra $5 off my cell phone plan i have through them by having all 4 services with them...i will now have access to On Demand and local OHL games on the local community channel that they are broadcast on here...the special pricing lasts one year, and it will go up by $25 after that...but then my 15% discount will kick in, and bring the price back down close to where it was anyway, keeping it quite competitive...i am trading in my 9200 and my 5900 to get 2 free 8300 HDPVR's free for two years...after two years, i can always re-evaluate my options...i won the two receivers from Bell anyway, so they didn't cost me a penny anyway, and both of them are acting up (skipping to live/end when playing back recorded programs and stuttering problems on the 9200) so getting rid of them is no loss to me.

oh, and having someone available 24/7 is nice too, since i work M-F 8:30-5 now, i can't call bell when they are usually open the only hours i am not easily available.
 
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