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Rogers Communications Misses Me and Wants “the Opportunity to Earn Back My Business!”

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Wow. A VP of Rogers Communications personally wants me to be a Rogers customer again. I know because he sent me a letter. Well, when I say “letter” I guess you might call it an ad on cardboard. And when I say “personally” I guess I should admit it’s addressed to “Resident” at my address not to my name. I’m not quite sure why it took him so long. After all, we cut our cable service in mid-2013, almost a year ago. It’s a very Canadian letter. It says, “We know you had your reasons for leaving Rogers.” Well, that’s certainly true. Having our cable costs increase 53% in fewer than 10 years was one of them. Another big one is that we weren’t getting any channels for that money that we watched that we couldn’t get for free using an Over the Air antenna. The letter continues by saying “If you’re at all open to reconsidering your decision, please let us know.” And it lists a toll-free number to call. Really. They think I want to phone them to chat about their various packages? Do they not remember that they told me I had to get a lawyer’s power of attorney before they would let me talk to them to cancel our cable service that was in my husband’s name? I did quickly check their website. They’re not advertising “pick your favourite 10 channels for $10.” Until they are, it’s highly unlikely I’ll be calling them. There are at least 2 other reasons, too:

1: What Rogers Spends Your $25-115 Internet Connection Fee On: Duct Tape and a Very Long Stick

Photo of Rogers Cable Up and Through Trees Look for the white duct tape tree then follow the cable up to the top left of the photo. In the neighbourhood where I walk to work, I’ve been watching white and black duct tape rings appearing on the trees. It’s not to repair ice storm damage or to trap Emerald Ash Borer larvae. It’s just Rogers “installing” and repairing its cable lines for high quality telephone, TV and internet access. Photo of Cable Up Tree Trunk That’s right. Their lauded service includes running a cable, probably coax by the look of it, from their in-ground box loosely across the grass, then up the nearest city-planted street tree. The cable is attached to the trunk with two bands of duct tape. Then it winds through the branches and arcs over to another tree, this one belonging to a homeowner. Then it arcs over again to the house it is servicing. Photo of Cable on Street Lamp I’m not at all sure the city knows that Rogers is using city street light poles for its cable. Yes, eventually Rogers will send someone out to properly run these cables underground. They will even slice through various homeowners’ asphalt (at the end of the driveway owned by the city) to do it. Based on last year, I expect them to get right on it in about 6 months. Photo of Cable on Grass Notice the artistic tripping hazard of the cable on top of the grass. Yes the ground has been thawed for two months, long before this loop was run. In the meantime, your high speed internet access and digital TV is at the mercy of lawnmowers, falling branches, passersby with some attitude and a hockey stick to reach high overhead, and your neighbour who might decide to take down the tree that is serving as a distribution pole. Photo of cable on grass and up tree Not my idea of “best in class” service. Rogers “fine print” says for their internet packages they charge: “a $14.95 one-time activation fee, and a one-time installation fee (Self $9.99; Basic $49.99; or Professional $99.99).” For their TV packages it says: “One-time installation fee of $49.99 may apply.” These prices were on their website on May 12, 2014. Photo of Cable Street Lamp At a Different Location

2: Rogers NETFLIX Speed Is Also Not a Plus

In a strange timing coincidence, there’s also an article on the CBCNews site today in which NETFLIX reports that the average download speed for Rogers customers was 1.67 Mbps. By comparison, Bell Fibe averaged 3.19 Megabits per second in April 2014. We don’t have a NETFLIX account although we’ve considered getting one eventually. If Fibe is really almost twice as fast as Rogers that would be an important factor in picking a data provider.

Sorry Mr. Perrotta but I Won’t Be Calling Soon

All things considered, I don’t expect to be giving Rogers the opportunity to earn back our business any time soon. Photo of Eastern Cottontail My relative’s pet rabbit loved chewing through the phone line inside the house: I hope this wild Cottontail doesn’t like Cable!

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Join In Do you do Rogers? Or have you come up with an acceptable alternative? Please share your views with a comment.

Why Would Someone in the Snowbelt Pay $200 000 or More for a House and Not Buy a Snowblower?

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People amaze me. They will spend over $200 000 on a house; they will spend over $2 000 on a week’s vacation in the sun; they will spend $5 000 on realtor fees. So why won’t they budget for and spend a $1 000 dollars, or less, and buy a snowblower?

Shovelling Snow is Healthy Exercise

Yes. Yes it is.

It’s also a pain in the *(&”^ to have to take that healthy exercise at 4 a.m. so that you can clear your driveway in time to go to work.

And it’s even more fun to arrive home after work to spend over an hour just trying to chip through the ice wall left by the city street plow before you can get your vehicle off the road for the night.

We have a snowblower and we have a large selection of shovels for the various kinds of snow that fall near Lake Ontario. And when time permits, we shovel. And when we’re in a hurry, or ill, or exhausted, we let the snowblower deal with it.

Snowblowing is Good Karma

When you have a snowblower you can help more than just one neighbour without starting to feel resentful. We routinely clear the city sidewalk for about 8 houses. There’s another sane homeowner who does the next stretch down to meet us.

And unlike city sidewalk plows, we don’t leave 2 horrible windrows across your driveway. We turn our chute to the front to cross your driveway, then throw to the side again.

We also have been known to clear that **&& stuff the city plow dumps in the ends of driveways for several neighbours. Sure we could shovel the stuff out by hand for them, but it would literally take hours. Even with the blower it’s common to take an hour and a half. No one has one of those skinny single driveways around here!

The Relative Cost of Investing in a Snowblower is a Flake in the Wind

Everyone I’ve talked to justifies not buying a snowblower because “they cost too much.”
OK. I’d believe that if they weren’t living in a house worth over $200 000 with granite countertops and Jacuzzi tubs. And if they weren’t jetting off to Cuba or Mexico for March break.

In other words, yes, some people can’t afford one. But there are a huge number of people who just don’t bother to buy one.

If you’re planning to buy your first home, why not consider budgeting for a snowblower as part of the closing costs? After all if you’re going to have to pay $1 000s for the land transfer taxes and $1 000s to the realtor (who sold the home in only 9 days!) and probably even $1 000 to the lawyer handling all the papers, is it really that onerous to spend $1 000 or less on a piece of equipment you can use for more than 10 years?

Let’s say your new home costs $250 000. And your preferred snowblower costs $1 000. That’s less than 0.5% of the cost of the home.

Consider Buying a Snowblower in Common

To save even more money, you can be like several people who live near us. They bought a snowblower jointly. That can bring the cost down to about $350 for a good-sized monster shared between three homes. That’s less than a family weekend at Great Wolf Lodge.

What About Snowblower Maintenance Costs?

Well, in our case we’ve had to buy a spark plug twice. That’s in the 14 years we’ve owned it. We’ve also bought gas and oil to run it. Your blower may vary.

Are Snowblowers A Type of Health Insurance?

As you get older or less fit or whatever, there’s another intangible benefit to a snowblower.

It could save your back.

It could save your life.

How much do you pay for home insurance a year? How often has it benefited you?

Perhaps a snowblower should be considered just another type of health insurance.

Pardon Me – The Plow Just Passed

I’ll have to stop rambling now. The city plow (plough?) just went past and I have to go rescue a few frail  neighbours—and the one who thinks it’s reasonable to let their teen stay inside playing Minecraft while they shovel.

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Do you have a snowblower? (Canadians who live in Vancouver are excused from this discussion.) Do you use it for the forces of good or evil? Please share your experiences with a comment.