FEB 1 changes (EVU)

[sam2]

I think some of this has been covered before. I happened to be in a AV shop today when EVU rep came in.
Changes to min sub now locals + 2 themes (min $20/month)
Credit reduced to $75 (new subs) + have to keep big package for 1 month after credit gone.
Stand alone receivers 3100/5100( no dish ) available March 1.

Thats all I remember.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Looks like BEV will be making more money this month!!! Who in their right mind would invest in SC right now with all that is going on? Way to go BEV!! Smart Business Decisions!

[SatMike]

"Who in their right mind would invest in SC right now with all that is going on?"


Well I've had some of their stock for awhile now. I'm not sorry either. I wonder how many BCE stockholders can say the samething?

[Skyway]

I disagree!!

Bell deal:

$199 system, $99 installation, $75 program credit, 90 day waranttee on install(some dealers extend it to 1 year)...$79 basic install if moving...Minimum $20/month subscription costs..$9.99 holiday fee..$29.99 equipment transfer fee...

Starchoice deal:

$249 system(currently available for $199 at many retailers), FREE basic install, $150 program credit, Lifetime service and support for the dish, FREE install if moving, $15.99 minimum subscription costs... No cost for holiday disconnect...no cost for equipment transfer...

I try very hard to take a neutral position, but these are the facts! Facts the customers need to know to help them make their decisions...

[SatMike]

How can you argue with that?

Look, the guy even has bell on his van.:)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I probably should have rephrased what i said differently in that "Bell will not lose as much as they were".. and they will continue to grow even with these FEB 1 changes and make more off of the growth... they have the momentum now and looks like a pretty good business move to make more money per activation. They may even break even by next year!

[Skyway]

It might be hard to see but the printing below Bells Name/Logo on the Van in this picture is Starchoice...and there is a picture of a SC system and a picture of a Bell system on the other...

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Rumor has it that as of Mar 1. SC will be charging a Extra $5 fee for second receivers. Now I'm not sure if this includes the 3rd, 4th or whatever, but briefly talking to a CSR after a customer call, this is what was said. I'm sure all dealers and customers will have an update in Feb ahead of time.

[XBR_II]

Good grief, I hope that doesn't come about. If it does, I may end up dropping my subscription back to "Gold". Most subs, myself included, would consider this to be a nasty slap in the face.

[QualityIsJobOne]

IMO it is a smart business decision to charge a monthly fee for extra receivers! Bring it on! It won't bother me a bit. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

[Bent]

I just called (and got through), they confirmed the $4.99 increase for subs with two or more receivers, but there is a silver lining. only 4.99 even if 4 receivers, and full replacement coverage on all existing receivers (even receivers past their waranty period) for life.

Take that Evu!

[SatMike]

Well isn't that special. Sounds good to me too.

[jconnor]

QIJO, can I have your job? Or one like it where I don't care about charges?

I have a 2nd receiver which gets used only once in a blue moon. It would kinda suck to pay extra just to keep it active.

[QualityIsJobOne]

....The extra fee for multiple units will have no impact on us.....We have one 421B with no plans/need/interest in more receivers!

Cheers!

BTW- Brace yourselves for more charges! I have a hunch that with the crappy financials of both BEV + *Choice, they are planning more charges to come.

[Bent]

And I'm more than willing to pay an extra 5 clams to get lifetime waranty on my two receivers.

401B and 401

[XBR_II]

OK, I'm still not thrilled about paying and extra $5.00 + tax each month for my two additional receivers but at least the lifetime warranty on the hardware softens the blow somewhat. (It still smacks of that extra outlet charge that annoyed a lot of us who were formerly with cable.)

Will BEV follow suit? If they don't, this extra charge may very well hurt StarChoice's competitive position.

[peternm22]

So is it $4.99 for each additional receiver? So if you have 3 receivers, you need to pay $9.98 extra?

BTW, this sucks.

Peter

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Satellite TV is becoming more and more like cable Tv /forums/images/icons/frown.gif

[XBR_II]

No, it appears to be a flat $5.00s per month for all additional receivers. See Bent's post above.

[peternm22]

XBR,
That is good to hear... I just wanted to clarify.

Peter

[GOD]

Hmmm...let me add a little something to chew on . First off , this comes from a CSR , 2ndly , is it for existing customers or new ones or both ? Personally...I don't think they should change the rules in the middle of the game , thus I really do hope that it will only be for new sub's and not existing one's . Plus I've heard the purchase price could[which is not would be] be lowered on extra receivers if this was implimented . I don't think anything is set in stone...just yet , so let's not jump the gun for a change LOL .

[Bent]

actually, I had heard the same story from two seperate CSR's after reading Techgal's post.
and they indicated that it will be retroactive to old subs, self-install subs, and non-SS subs as well.
I'm not trying to jump the gun, but I do support the idea of waranty on my receivers for 5 bucks additional.

[Bent]

I think we should drag this thread over <a target="_blank" href=http://www.canadian-tv.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&amp;Board=Offtopic&amp;Number=30598&amp;page =0&amp;view=collapsed&amp;sb=5&amp;o=7&amp;fpart=1#Post30640>here</a>

[Satellite_Expert]

No way - even Charlie won't be so naive as to offer lifetime service on an Echostar product.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Will BEV follow suit? If they don't, this extra charge may very well hurt StarChoice's competitive position.

<hr></blockquote>

StarChoice doesn't have a competitive position now, so it's kind of hard to hurt it.

25% of new subscriber acquisitions for a company that used to have an over 50% market share. It's hard to see how they could drop that further.

However, I assume that, like Bell's increases, this will be for new subscribers only. If it's for old ones, there are going to be a lot of angry folks. $60 a year to get a "warranty" on something that costs around $150 new?? I suppose that's fair.


If you also think it's fair to pay $12,000 a year insurance on a $30,000 car.

Compulsary extended warranty. Even Future Shop doesn't have that much gall.

[GOD]

...no but Bell will !

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Don't see why you'd say that. It's not BEV CSRs saying they're going to start charging existing subscribers, or even new ones, for multiple receivers, it's the StarChoice people.

Of course, there are so many new activations at BEV these days (StarChoice cheerleaders insert obligatory insistence that no BEV customers actually pay for services here) that it's hard to get through to a BEV CSR to hear them say anything!

They stopped emulating StarChoice's "unique" way of doing business at least 400,000 customers ago, so there's no basis for assuming they'll introduce this charge. It's not that they don't have the gall to imitate SC in this, it's that they're too smart.

Too bad no one ever explained to Jim Shaw that the idea of digital television and the so-called 500-channel universe was that the channels would attact niche audiences.

Not the provider.

[Todd_Sandrock]

So, subscribers without extra receivers and not paying the $5.75 per month DON'T get free lifetime coverage? Or they do, but they don't have to pay for it, as it's been subsidized by people owning multiple receivers and paying into the plan?

I assume they'll cover power surges and lightning strikes, right? Meaning folks like me who paid ~$100 for high end surge protection will also be subsidizing those who now have no incentive to protect their own equipment.

[eyeroll]

I have two receivers. If I wanted an extended warantee, I would've bought one. Sounds like I'm out $70 a year for insurance I didn't ask for on an electronic device with no moving parts.

BTW, if a 921 goes out, I assume it will be replaced with a shiny new 921, right?

Todd

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Can anyone tell my how S.C. warranty works? Will I be to take to a local dealer or will I have send it away and pay the shipping costs? I'd like to have the color on 921 guide fixed (think I'll wait till march)

[Todd_Sandrock]

Sorry...I'm venting on a rumour. I'll save my vent for if and when it's fact.

Sweetly,

[Teacher]

Hey QIJO, given your frequent lamentations about your poor stock performance, I'm not sure about your judgment on a "smart business decision". Kidding.

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif
Paul

[GOD]

I agree Todd...I think they are just throwing some ideas around right now , why , I dunno , but I honestly think they should only apply it to those without a phoneline connection or to new subs . Existing subs SHOULD not be subject to this IMO .

Newbie...you might be the only one here that thinks Bell will not have a 2nd receiver charge . I firmly believe they will mirror each other in these methods to generate more revenue . I've said it long before any CSR ever mentioned it . So...it's not a Bell vs SC thing for me . I think it only makes "cents" for both companies to do this . Dish and DTV both do...are they cable companie's ?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ok lets say the part of life time warrenty is true(I personal dought it thought,it would cost SC big time in the long run).Now lets say year from now someones receiver catches fire(GOD FORBID THIS FROM HAPPENING)and they find it was because of a basic circuit found in every single SC receiver thats out in the market and in peoples homes.Now the agence which does the recall on these product safety orders SC to recall every single receiver SC sold.Now how many subs does SC have in 2003? Lets say 900,000.Now imagine SC has either have to replace or repair every single receiver and in the mean time also woory about not being sued for damage and loss of life due to their faulty receivers.

I honestly can't see any company not even BEV would offer a life time warrenty on their receivers.In fact I've never heard of any company offer life time warrenties on anything on eletronics,Not Sony ,not JVC,not RCA,not any of the other eltronic manifactures.Not even makes of BUD rceivers offers that on their equipment.If SC offers a life time warrnety on their I'll be the final nail in their coffin(in my opion).It'll just cost them to much in the long run and the loss will make BEV's loss look like a Jerry Lewis Telethon.

PEACE UP TOM /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

P.S This just a "wild suggestion" and does not necessarily mean it will happen.

[Skyway]

I think it would be a profitable decision for Starchoice...

I don't have any numbers, but from my experience I would think a lot of customers switch providers when their equipment breaks down after the waranttee is over...They are ussually angry and disappointed..

Starchoice pays about $760 to aquire each new subscriber to their service...How much is it worth to them to keep a subcriber that has been paying faithfully for years..If they loose that subscriber they are going to have to pay another $760 to aquire another new one to replace that subscriber...that doesn't even take into consideration the bad press that this unhappy sub could generate...

A lot of the bigger companies will do just about anything to avoid having unhappy clients going around telling everyone they meet how much they hate that company or how that company mistreated them, even if the clients demands are unreasonable...

[**DONOTDELETE**]

&gt; I just called (and got through), they confirmed the $4.99 increase for subs with two or more receivers

Sucks! What about people like me who use TWO RECEIVERS per one TV!!! Even tho my tv is dual tuner,
I need 2 receivers with DTH to use my tv's PIP.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

What BEV genius failed to see that hiking charges for new subs will
only push even more new DTH users to those grey-coloured skies in the south.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I plan on buying a new receiver every 2 years or so as the technology gets better... im sure everyone in 5 years will have a new receiver anyway... will they still honour that lifetime warranty if i sell it to someone?

DAK

[Satellite_Expert]

Exactly - all local independent dealers in my area are now selling grey. Many didn't want to, but so many of their long term customers wanted it. Some are keeping BEV/SC for sports/local news only.

Most estimate that the other guys sales are at least 50% higher than BEV + SC now. Most say it's due to programming choice. Just look at your IPG during primetime on basic packages - how much programming choice is there on Cdn Satellite?

[GOD]

Whoa...Ski Bunny , are you saying you called BELL and asked that question , or was it Star Choice ? I'm confused as I thought it was only SC doing this .

[**DONOTDELETE**]

God, I was quoting a previous poster ( hence my post's right-angle-bracket, &gt; )

I haven't heard that BEV is charging for extra receivers like SC and DTV. But, just wait, BEV has
proven very resourceful recently at hiking charges - especially for new subs and their new packaging.
(Clearly, prices for new subs is significantly more attractive with SC than BEV now)

As a dealer, do you think it is fair for someone to pay extra for a second receiver, especially if
both are used for just one TV? (in order to use PIP or record/watch different programs simultaneously)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Newbie...you might be the only one here that thinks Bell will not have a 2nd receiver charge . I firmly believe they will mirror each other in these methods to generate more revenue .

<hr></blockquote>

BEV doesn't have a history of hitting people with charges that don't accompany a change of service. They still have people on pre-Nimiq packages.

Perhaps BEV will add it on someday, but I don't think StarChoice will still be a competitor when and if they do. Right now they won't do it to existing customers and they're already getting 3/4 of new ones. This will only drive that number highter. They have little to gain from implementing it now except driving customers to StarChoice.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

It's only tv .

[Spaceman_Spiff]

If it's $5.00 for any extras and not $5.00 each it's not so bad, especially if it means you get receiver replacements if they fail.

[HammerJoe]

Well If you paid $140 for any of your receivers you find fair to pay the $5/month?

I don't think *c will start replacing receivers when something new shows up.
Is it viable for any company to replace receivers which costs hundreds for every customer???

[HammerJoe]

If you sell it I suppose the warranty goes with it because you wouldn't have &gt;2 receivers.