Shaw Cable: A Customer Service Power Play

Posted on October 25, 2010 Written by 12 Comments

My dad recently signed up for Shaw Cable’s plethora of TV options. The PVR, the HD, the Movies on Demand, the blah blah…so he’s getting used to dealing with not only the new technology but the new service departments that go along with it.

Last Saturday was UFC 121 and the family was really looking forward to a night of fights (Hey, that rhymes. You can use it, I’m sure I just created that saying). My dad did what he needed to do for pay per view only to realize he’d rather have it in high definition. So he signed up for that as well. Would Shaw notice that he had signed up for the same event in different formats? It’s not like he could/would watch both.

Better safe than sorry, he called Shaw service to explain that he’d like to cancel one. You would think that wouldn’t be a big deal. You would. The service operator’s response: “we’ve noticed you’ve done this before so I’ll do it one more time for you but next time we’ll charge you.” What now?!

Two things:

1)   My dad is a pretty smart guy and if he’d done it before it probably happened months prior. Not on a regular basis.

2)   My dad hadn’t even seen the event yet. It’s not like he was calling after the fact to not pay for a service he’d seen.

phone 150x150 Shaw Cable: A Customer Service Power Play

1) My dad had brown hair before he called. 2) This isn't my dad.

So my dad asks for a correction to a mistake and his response from Shaw Cable is a threat? Here’s where the cable company misses the point. My dad doesn’t have a love for them. If they had tried to charge him, he not only would have canceled his service with Shaw (that’s months of lost funds, including future UFC pay per views.  Take that “no contract”) but he would have told everyone he’d ever meet to go with a rival company. Is that what you want Shaw?

Here’s a question Shaw: Does it cost you anything to cancel a service?

Here’s another question: In comparison, how much does it cost to lose a customer?

Work with me, not against me. With the amount of competition out there, companies don’t have a power position in their customer relationship. Truthfully, they never did. Take note, build a positive relationship with your customers or they’ll use that power to go somewhere else.

Shaw Cable: A Customer Service Power Play
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  • Myth Wright

    Only problem is many services to come with a contract, especially telecoms. Once they have the contract you are merely an annoyance.

  • Doug

    I have a Shaw cell phone and when my contract was just about due I received a call from Shaw wondering if I was going to renew. The person who called was so nice I almost felt compelled to forget the last phone call we had from them. We had spent a month in Mexico and neglected to arrange payment for a bill that would come due when we were away. Within a week of arriving home I was on the line with this b–ch from Shaw who berated me about the missed payment. She was so rude and obnoxious that the conversation stayed with me for days. This was the first time we had ever been late with a payment…total oversight on our part but…needless to say no new contract with Shaw.

  • Russ

    Shaw does not provide cell phone service anywhere yet, nor does it require contracts from customers for any of its products or services. Are you Sure you were Dealing with SHAW?

  • Anonymous

    Hi Russ,

    Thanks for sharing your dad’s experience. I hate when things like this happen. Front line reps are supposed to be empowered to make things right whenever needed, but getting alignment to that message, well, that’s a challenge. And then it’s the customer who suffers in the end. For a customer with a single cable box, it’s physically impossible to watch both orders at once, and any agent should be able to see that and turn around the billing. I’m going get some messages out around the office and try to get everyone on the same page before the next UFC.

  • http://www.theupsell.com Russel Lolacher

    Doug – I wasn’t even aware Shaw had cell phones but being yelled at is never “good service.”
    Jay – Empowering should be an opportunity for staff to really help the customer, not patronize and lord power over them. Thanks for taking the time to respond Jay. Most of my experiences with Shaw have been positive ones but I couldn’t let this one slide.

  • Akmcswiney

    Sorry to hear this.  We have been a loyal Shaw customer for over 20 plus years but no more.  After an agonizing wait of 53 minutes on hold to be told that the business dept was not in on Saturday.  I am now without NFL Sunday ticket as the CS Dept is unable to override our business status.  But I only agreed to internet being classified as a business.  At no time whatsoever did I agree to all my residential services being classified as such.  Anyway, so fed up as we have had many issues which have remained unresolved by Shaw Cable.  Now we are with Bell which already has proven themselves as superior as the download speeds are significantly faster and “yes. Virgina there is customer service!!!”

  • Dave Forsyth

    Russel, His Dad & Shaw Cable
    I’m probably your dad’s age & I just got off the phone with Shaw customer service. It took them 43 minutes to answer the phone. I said to ‘Sarah’, “Imagine if everyone you called took 43 minutes to answer their phone!” Think about that! Why is Shaw so different from everyone else? Of course, it wasn’t Sarah’s fault (something we should all remember) – it’s Shaw management; the guys who make the big bucks!They bought Mountain Cable in the Hamilton area & thought they could add all that revenue without investing in additional staff to handle the change-over of services. That’s management 101. Where were their heads?Now Shaw Cable has 392 complaints on http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Shaw – (including mine from a few minutes ago) & it will take a generation or a corporate name-change to recover from the anger they’ve stirred up.Generally, there’s only one cable company in any given area (great idea if you want to abuse your customers) so it’s difficult to just drop your service but make people angry enough and they’ll find a way. I actually know a guy who put up a tower with 3 digital antennae and he gets free TV – not because he’s cheap (well, not entirely) but so he doesn’t have to deal with Shaw Cable. With a basic cell phone package & an alternate internet service, he avoids Shaw altogether.And, it wasn’t that much of an investment, when you consider that I’m paying Shaw about $2160 a year for internet, phone & TV.C’mon consumers – fight back. Call or write to the CRTC. Cable companies only exist because consumers complained to the CRTC that Bell had a monopoly. Now it’s time to make the opportunist cable companies accountable.PS – Mountain Cable (before the takeover by Shaw) was one of the most competent and customer oriented businesses with which I’ve ever dealt. Congratulations to the late MOUNTAIN CABLE! I miss you!

  • Cookt88

    Hi Russ,

    It actually does cost shaw when you order a pay per view whether you cancel it before it starts or not, as soon as you confirm the order the company bills your provider who ever it is not matter what.

    I do agree the rep should have explained this or done a better job explaining but I dont think they were that out of line, I think as customers we need to take more responsibility for our own actions and not depend on the provider to take care of our mistakes.

  • Tony

    SHaw doesnt have cell phones or contracts, your probably thinking of telus…

  • David

    Bells top dl speed they offer is 25mpbs, shaws is 250mpbs, the rest of what you said i agree with.

  • DezsoDezso

    You are so wrong about why cable company’s exist, read up on why and how was crtc born to begin with.
    Shaw pretty much invented cable in Canada!
    You guys are so jumpy to complain about a service provider, any one of you have ever sent a complaint for a network or a station, programming pretty much suck most of the time, running old shows over and over agin, 90 minute move plays for 3 hr cause all the commercial.
    Most of you work for a living, any one of your company sells its product less than its cost to buy?!

  • DezsoDezso

    Yea make Bell a mega giant, that will help us for sure.