Satellite TV Review: Bell TV

I voted somewhat satisfied only because I have only been a new customer (less than 2 weeks) and have not received a bill yet.

I made a lot of calls to customer service asking alot of questions before I signed up. I was very impressed with how courteous the customer reps were. There were a few times when I got some inconsistent information but it might have been because I was talking with a rep who thought I was living in a different region of the country.

When I did sign up, they made an appointment to install the next day and they arrived within the estimated 3 hour time. Bell also agreed wire up the satellite for 4 outlets even though I had only purchased 2 receivers. (They promised over the phone that they would not charge me for the extra 2 outlets).

With a sale of $149 at Best Buy and a $100 progamming credit as a new subscriber, I figure that I will only pay about $49 for each of the two 6131's. I was looking to spend about $300 per comparable receiver if I stayed with Eastlink cable. Shaw would only agree to the installation of two outlets.

Picture quality has been great. Even the SD channels look very crisp (of course, I am coming straight from analog cable and went from a 32" cat tube to a 46" lcd). Signal has been good and the receiver with an EHD converting them to PVR have worked flawlessly. I did not expect that I would use the PVR as much as I have been (It has been 20 years since I last videotaped a program). It may be hard to give up the HD movie packages after the free 2 month trial period expires.

So I am extremely happy, so far. However, I am still waiting for my first bill comes. Hopefully, I will get all the credits and freebies that were promised on the phone and there are no billing errors!
 
  • BEV installed December 2006.
  • Using 6150 HD receiver on a JVC LT-40FN97 40" HD TV
  • Installation was quick and very well done.
  • PQ on this installation is excellent.


Service level is 99% (vitrtually no drop-outs or artifacts due to signal)
Of course, this is Bell GM and as such you are dealing with a virtually brain-dead entity. Phone calls were long to be answered; staff were confused about services and features; it took 3 calls to get HD ordered because (are you readu for this ??) the Order Entry system had crashed and was not available (for 5 hours!).

But, love the nearly 40 HD channels!
 
The level of service I've encountered with Bell products, in my opinion, is horrible. I have the 3200 dual tuner receiver and have been a customer for over two years.

Pros:
  • Lots of channels & variety.

Cons:
  • Programming can only be downgraded on a certain date every month, leaving long waits at times.
  • Customer service is horrible. Wait times are long and accents are hard to understand.
  • Horrible signal strength - about 70% on sunny days and service always goes out during rain, even the lightest wind knocks the signal out and leaves us with no television.
  • No "favorites" package - I'd rather see a combination package of great channels like StarChoice has than pay $8 per month for subpar packages that include one channel I want.
  • Billing problems - what's with the whole pro-rated billing concept?
  • Price increases - Prices started at $25 for the basics (correct me?) and $5 per theme pack, and look where they are now.
  • Unreliable hardware - The receivers lock up frequently, especially when accessing the interactive Weather Channel.
 
I've had expressvu since June 1999. I've had them all as far as receivers go, 2700's, 3100's, 5900, 6100, 6134's, 9242..
Before that I had *Choice, they were solid at the time, but Bell was ahead of the curve vs *Choice so I left.
Bell has been fairly good over the years, pretty competative for price, I've had my share of billing issues, always resolved but can take time or was compensated with a discount.
Weather outage are few and far in between, a properly aimed dish (honestly hitting 100% isint hard) will minimize the chances of the signal going out, although when theres a down poor, she'll go with it..
PQ is maybe not to everyones standard but I've had personal experience with Shaw's HD service, which was just horrendous, Telus TV is not bad but soft.
I highly recommend Bell but its not for everyone, if you have lots of TV's, cable is always a easier choice.
The equipment they use is beyond any other provider in the country with maybe exception to Telus TV, they really got something good going on these days. But never less, the equipment is easy to use but maybe its my bad luck but I dont think I'd ever recommend the 9242, although I love the box, I'm on my third one.
Besides the slightly pricey startup cost, its a good provider for TV.
 
Purchased / rented 2 6100 receivers and 1 9242 receiver.

Bell mention a company called QX West (or similar sounding name)
1st tech bell hired to do the install
-Activated receivers
-Added 20'-30' of coax to the pre-wired cabling for a 10' run
-Left remaining cable dangling (not very professional for a multi-million dollar home)
-Plugged in & terminated the 4 cable runs to the switch
-Did not terminate or plug in the cable runs to the TVs (either end).

2nd tech to arrive (few days later)
-Did not show up

3rd tech to arrive (a few days later)
-Took photos of the outside cabling - did not fix issue - agreed that it was a crappy looking install.
-Connected and terminated cabling to TVs (both ends)
-Informed us that the 9242 required 2 coax for proper operation
-Told us the original installer would fix exterior cabling issues on his own time

Called Bell, talked to many many people
-Would not exchange 9242 for 6100
-No where on the box does it state requirements, no where on the web site does it state requirements ("Dual Tuner" is not a requirement). At no other time did a sales person or installer mention this.
-Finally a supervisor said he would exchange the 9100 for a 6100 at no charge, but there would be 2-3 week delivery time. I told him to call back in 2 hours so I can see if this is acceptable with the owner.

1.5 weeks later
-No word from anyone, not the Installers or Bell

In the mean time I ran extra cabling to meet the requirements of the 9242.

Called Bell again
-Shown my frustration
-They gave me the name of the Installer company "QX West" in Cochrane, Alberta. So far I haven't found their phone number. Will probably call Bell back to confirm.

Called Bell again
-They will not give me the companies phone number
-Confirmed the company name is "QX West"
 
extremely dissatisfied

overpriced

very poor programming, use to be overkill with forrest rangers, now its trailor park boys

and serious lack of HD content and to top off the lack of HD content, out of all the HD channels i HAD, 3 CBC and 3 CTV channels??? didn't even watch one of them, why do i need 3?

i refuse to pay such a poor service
 
I am a former BTV customer - I've had it since sometime in the late '90s, and just recently cancelled. Why? Because BellAliant (NB) wired us up to FibreOp and I got a sweet deal - $99 a month for home phone, 25 Mbps internet, and digital TV. When retentions called me back to ask why I cancelled, I told the guy this and he just said "um... well, I understand.".

Will I go back to Bell in the future? Absolutely - we are actually selling our house and moving - if we end up in an area with no Fibre, I will most definitely call them for an install.
 
We have had Bell for....well since they started there dish program. Been a long time.

At first it was great, prices were reasonable.

Now, i find there prices are terrible, you want 1 single channel out of each package, there for must pay 5$ for a pack of channels were you want 1.

I find it very terrible on how they have there channels listed in packs to order.

Customer service is getting bad for bell in General.


Positives? Not much BUT there HD, i love, channel selection is great, and the clarity is very nice.

Overall, if they could get better support (speak ENGLISH!) and lower there prices a tad, maybe change the way there good channels are bunched up with crappy ones, it would be better.

OHHHhh and give some existing customers some deals once in a blue moon would be nice too.

If your new to bell they almost do anything, once your with them, don't expect anything free or discounted!
 
the name of the company is QX technical services, head office is in Winnipeg, MB.

been having some issues myself, and working with a qx employee getting things sorted out.
 
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