Shaw Cable has come in and out of my life over the years. One of the perks of not being locked into a contract is that I can come and go as I wish. And I do. Sometimes it’s for economic reasons. Sometimes it’s for amount of usage. Sometimes I just do or don’t wanna have cable. This last go around, highlighted a particular question for me around customer service: How much information should a company tell you about their service costs and charges ahead of time?
Here’s a breakdown my situation:
1) I had internet only, which comes to about $80 a month.
2) I added basic TV for just shy of $20 and a collection of channels for $35 (both monthly)
3) When I got my bill, it came to almost triple what I’d been spending. TRIPLE.
For the casual observer, they could assume the math would be 80+20+taxes=150ish? Maybe 160ish dollars?
Oh no, there’s costs around changes in the middle of a billing cycle and costs around projected use over the coming month, and I’m sure there’s an activation fee in there somewhere…should I have been aware of all this prior to my upgrade? It certainly wasn’t mentioned to me when made the changes.
Operator: “Absolutely sir, I can make those changes for you. Are you aware there are costs associated with making this switch?
Me: “Why no good sir/ma’am. I had no idea. But thank you for being so concerned about me and my interests. I will make these changes AND pay this sum. Jolly good.”
Well that didn’t happen. A quick scan of their website did direct me to the below video on how to understand your bill. It’s a great idea (though the video is a little dated) but didn’t really help me.
http://youtu.be/rOiCo7GxvU8
When I discussed the matter with the Shaw Cable representative, they were really helpful in trying to explain the charges. There seemed to be a bit of guesswork on his part as to why but he wanted to reassure me that the bill was correct. Of course I didn’t have a problem with the math, I had a problem with the unbelievable jump in cost. He didn’t really seem to have an answer for that.
So what would have made me happier about this experience and possibly enticed me to keep my cable with Shaw?
1) First Contact – When I first signed up for a cable box in the Shaw Store, the clerk I was dealing with barely acknowledged me for the first few minutes. They worked on my account, they talked with their fellow staff but didn’t even say hi to me or notice I was there until they had a reason to engage with me. Not a good start to this new relationship.
2) When I called to tell them I was cancelling my account due to the perceived monumental jump in cost, the clerk was really matter of fact about it. They didn’t try to engage or ask questions about my concerns. From a customer service aspect, they were efficient in getting me out of my contract…so that’s good. But they really didn’t work to keep me either.
When I’m signed up and using Shaw Cable, I’ve usually been pleased with their level of service and the personalities of those I’ve dealt with. I’m just looking at this as a missed opportunity to educate me and engage on my obvious shock and concern. So now I’m back to Internet only, more money in my pocket…and less shock and concern.
How has your experience been with your local cable company? Shaw or otherwise?
5 Comments
Hey Russel – My names Sean Kershaw, I’m the Community Manager (http://community.shaw.ca) and also work on the Social Media team here at Shaw.
First off, we’d like to apologize for the experience you had and also thank you for providing us with your feedback via this article. I think you hit the nail on the coffin with what should have been done in regards to a) First contact, b) Your customer loyalty and c) Working harder at deciding what packaging worked best for your needs. Some great lessons to be learned here.
Moving forward I’d obviously love the chance to correct the situation and review your account details again. Please contact me anytime on Twitter or email me @ shawsean [@] sjrb.ca and I’ll ensure things get turned around for you.
Cheers,
Sean
PS – I think it’s time we review our “Understanding Your Shaw Bill” video and do some updating.
Hi Sean, thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your comments and feedback. It’s always good to know a company is “listening” even if it’s more on social media than in person.
Out of curiosity, what happens to comments like these? Do they get escalated or is your response and engagement the start and conclusion? I’m just always curious at what companies do with criticism/feedback.
As to “correcting the situation”, I will certainly follow up. I’m not sure how it can be corrected but that’s more for you to answer, not I.
Thanks again Sean.
No problem at all Russel,
We personally handle these cases from start to end to ensure all the right eyes are on it. In this case we’d want to share your feedback with the appropriate teams in your area so additional coaching/training can be provided. Learning from our mistakes is what we’re aiming to do.
As for correcting the situation, please email me (address in original reply) your contact details and the best time to connect and we’ll.be in touch to review things further. My apologies ahead of time if I don’t reply until Monday (hope that’s okay), I’m off on the weekend.
Cheers,
Sean
Thanks Sean, I’ll email you tonight.
Good to see the process being examined, my concern is the online isn’t the same as the in store, isn’t the same as the call centre. My experience above and interaction with you seems to demonstrate that.
That’s a fair assessment Russel and I’m glad you mentioned it. To touch on that a bit more we’ve just launched our Customer Experience teams nationally that are responsible for ensuring all of our platforms for customer support are aligned and providing the same level of service. I’ll also be making sure your experience and feedback is shared with that team.
Cheers,
Sean