So Shaw has decided in their infinite wisdom that they are going to start charging overage fees on internet access. So far this is a "pilot program" just in Edmonton. This is a load of crap. They feel that we should be happy with a 3-25GB cap increase and then be happy to pay more on top of that if we need more! And don't bother asking them why their upload speeds are so low. They don't think that consumers need more than 1Mb upload (or less depending on which plan you go with). Their fastest upload package is 3Mb... That's a little better, but it's on their fastest service which is almost $100/mo. Ya.... That's not going to happen.
So, after talking to a Shaw CSR about these overages, and having to sign up for more data (with 3 gamers, and 3 heavy downloaders in the house, we burn through our cap pretty quickly), I asked for a way to file an official complaint about this overages scam. She told me that they've been getting a lot of people lately complaining about the overages and are looking for a way to voice those concerns/complaints, so she gave me a website that goes to a complaints section. Here is what I wrote.
My issue is with the new 'overages' charges. This is nothing but a money grab for Shaw. With the cost of equipment going down there is no excuse for this. Especially since Shaw pays pennies per GB on internet to begin with. I think that Shaw makes enough money that they can afford to increase caps or hey, why not offer an unlimited option? That'd be a great feature! And no, changing to a higher internet plan is not an option!
Pretty straightforward do you think? Well, this is the reply that I got.
We do need to put a limit on this at some point to avoid having customers overusing the internet. This can cost us quite a bit in actuality. We did also increase the caps for each package recently. We increased the cap on High speed lite from 10GB per month to 13GB per month, High speed from 60GB per month to 75GB per month and Extreme from 100GB per month to 125GB per month. Just like with any other consumable product, if you want more, you should expect to pay more. We cannot go out to eat at a restaurant and request more on our plate and pay the same amount. This is something that we have tried very hard to avoid and we feel that this will be the solution. If we let our customers know, ahead of time, they will have the opportunity to upgrade if needed or use less bandwidth if they cannot afford the higher packages. Again, we’re sorry that you feel that this will not be a positive change but we are certain that it will prevent users from abusing available bandwidth, ultimately making the experience of using Shaw internet much better. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Ya, that's a load of crap in my opinion. Why is it that other ISP's in Canada, North America and around the world can offer much much higher caps, or unlimited bandwidth and faster speeds. I've got friends in the US who have downloads that are 4x as fast as what I have, and 10x the upload and pay no more than I do. Why is it that the US, Europe even Australia can offer much faster internet speeds, yet Canadian ISP's cant?
The biggest answer to that lies with the CRTC. They seem content on setting up rules, regulations, etc that will benefit the companies and not the consumers. Why can't the CRTC do more like the FTC in the US, where they seem to be actually TRYING to help consumers. But that's just a pipe dream eh.
My advice to any Shaw customers, is to call Shaw and complain to them about these overage fees, and the fact that they seem content on trying to screw over customers. And to demand that our internet speeds and prices are more on par with what those in the US get.
