Well, the title on my last thread need changing!! I'm NOT sticking with Starchoice.

Unbelievable!! Simply un-fricken-believable!
Sorry for the long rant but maybe someone will learn from this.

So I went ahead with the Rogers win-back promotion offer since I managed to negotiate keeping my DSR500. This allowed me to compare video and quality side by side. So the Rogers tech came, ran some new line, hooked up the stuff and left. The PVR is only single channel (the dual motorolla model isn't working yet in NB so they haven't given it out - what a novel idea!) but guess what! It works!! No hangups, no problems, no resets! Bonus... More importantly, the video and audio quality are just fine and dare I say just as good as Starchoice. On hd I can't tell the difference. On the SD channels I analyzed closely I can only tell a difference in colour saturation. Clarity is actually similar. Perhaps this is not the case for all channels but that doesn't really matter to me. The colour saturation looks different with SC being actually darker and more red? if that's what I'm seeing. I ask the family to tell me what images they preferred on several of these channels (without saying what source was) and they actually preferred Rogers lighter images on SD....go figure. I can't tell a difference in audio at all and really, its hard to judge since every program and channel seems to be different. Audio seems just as good on Rogers.

And HD, well, there's lots of hd channels and being able to record hd on a PVR with no glitches, well.....sweet.

And bottom line, I never had to trade the DSR500 and my monthly bill will be cheaper for similar programming (except extra hd) for two years. There's that Rogers on Demand thing to but I'm not necessarily interested in that but some may see that as a selling point.

Ok, interesting you say..and you ask, so what did Starchoice do when you went to cancel? Just wait.

I'm a fan of Starchoice. Starchoice formed in my backyard of Lincoln New Brunswick as the brainchild of some smart people. It was sad to see them pick up and move from their home turf and move on - but business is business right? I've been a long time customer and I remember the few times I had to call them (because there really was few problems with *C) I wouldn't have to wait at all to talk to a friendly CSR or I would only have to wait a few minutes. I've noticed wait times get longer and longer over the last few years - double and tripled as an average actually. What's going on here?

I called this morning to cancel. No need for two tv service bills at home. So I end up calling from work and being put on hold for over 11 minutes before I gave up. Maybe it was too early? So I called again an hour later and waited again 12 minutes before an answer (these hold times are getting longer!). CSR answer and get same routine...then transfers me to the heavy hitter authorized to what it takes to keep their paying customers happy. He ask me point blank why I wanted to cancel and what my new deal was. I told him about the hdpvr deal and that quality was similar for less money. So he offered my a $120 credit on purchase of the 530. I basically told him in nicer language that the 530 was a piece of junk and until *C came out with a working PVR I wasn't interested. Then he unloaded the biggest piece of bovine excrement this side of the St. Lawrence River. He said the 530 has never had problems, he has one, and he's never heard of any problems with it. And to boot, that there is no problem with the software and that all pvr software is the same in every pvr just like windows in a computer. Well holy crap it was hard to be civil. The 530 is a 'beautiful version' he said and is the best pvr in the world right now. I kid you not. Unbelievable.

So I continued to cancel. I am now supposedly unhooked.

I fear for Starchoice if they hire people like that that are that dishonest or truly are ignorant and believe in alternative universes. A company cannot and should not treat its customers as idiots!

If I was a 530 owner, spent that kind of money on equipment, and never had it work properly BECAUSE of software upgrades that the COMPANY provides...well, I'd be in lawsuit mode people! I'll say it again... you 530 owners are patient and must have alot of faith!

Now, barring some catastrophe with Rogers service, I could be back with *C but not as a pvr owner despite what some deluded CSR's have to say.

And coincidently, Rogers 1-800 service has improved immeasurabley. I've had to call them many times over the last few weeks and never had to wait long...and yes they were very helpful with ALL my rogers services and seemingly honest. So maybe they took a page out of *C handbook from several years ago? Things change I guess.

I fear for Starchoice if they hire people like that that are that dishonest or truly are ignorant and believe in alternative universes. A company cannot and should not treat its customers as idiots!

No I don't think it's that. They're just salespeople, that's all (though that might be considered the same thing!!) They don't have any day to day experience o of the real issues and just spout the crap they're told to.

Add to that you'll actually never watch less television than when you work for one of these companies. Partly because of the shifts and in no small measure because watching the TV reminds you of work. So you can pretty much be sure that these people never push their equipment to the limits and probably don't see as many issues. So they might even be telling the truth....from their point of view.

The rest of us know better though..... :)

...They don't have any day to day experience o of the real issues ...Add to that you'll actually never watch less television than when you work for one of these companies. ... So you can pretty much be sure that these people never push their equipment to the limits ...
Last time I checked, even the director of marketing didn't have a DSR530, so that gives you some idea just how committed they are to what has the potential to be a great product.
No wonder absolutly no one there has a friggin' clue about anything.
Too bad, because like a naughty child, the 530 can become a wonderful thing if nurtured and raised properly, so in this case, if the kid turns out bad, it's the parents (*C's) fault.

Just the other day I ran the demo of the DSR 530 on Star Choice's web site, and I have to say it's quite a machine as it's portrayed to be. Had I not read the various posts on this site I would have been tempted to buy one. As it turns out, I bought a DSR 315 and will run the Star Choice feed through my DVD recorder and get my DVR functionality that way.
By the way, as I was talking to the CSR about an installation date I mentioned the problems that people were having about the 530, and interestingly enough she didn't disagree.

I'm sorry but 45minute wait time is unacceptable. I don't think evil Bell has that long of waiting.

Whatever happend with *choice picking up after the second ring? This was approximately hmmm a year or so ago?

whats happened?

I'm sorry but 45minute wait time is unacceptable. I don't think evil Bell has that long of waiting....
My wife spent over a week calling Bell over some issues.
She NEVER EVER did get through.
Finally after several e-mails and putting a STOP on Credit Card auto-pay did she finally get their attention.
When the recording stated their call centre hours of operation, she called the moment they opened in Eastern Canada and they said all lines are busy.
If she called 45 minutes before the call centre closed, the recording would say they are already closed, or worse yet, leave you hanging thinking you have snoball's chance in h3ll of actually getting through, eventually, sometime and then a new recording saying they were now closed.

How friggin' assinine is that?

While 45 minutes on hold is not much fun, you did get through and get the issues resolved.
Now if that were 45 minutes using the call back feature, then that's a piece of cake to tolerate.

During the first year of the 530, almost without exception when I called during the evening, I would get in, report the problem, have it confirmed or resolved and back out during a 3 minute commercial break more often then not.

Pick a off peak time to call if your issues can be handled then.

Perhaps Cellarboy can update us on best practices and times to have a pleasant experience at the call centre, which I believe is 24/7/365, not like some other National providers.

Perhaps Cellarboy can update us on best practices and times to have a pleasant experience at the call centre....

11pm MST on New years Eve? Only joking (short wait times, but a sure-fire guarantee that the CSR/TSR is NOT going to be in a pleasant mood!) :)

Typically, the best times in my experience were usually between (all MST) 6am and 8am, 2pm and 4pm and 8pm and Midnight. Sundays and usually pretty quiet too. Not the most wonderful times to call for easterners, but they typically were shorter wait times in the past due to shift overlaps.

Worse times to call -- anytime the eastern provinces have any sort of bad weather. Check the national weather forcasts and if there's been snow in Ontario, find something else to do! :)

I've had to call in a few times recently and wait times have been pretty high (for Starchoice anyway) overall. Unfortunately, from what I hear, the company seems to be getting hit with the same issue as most employers in the Calgary area, namely a shortage of people. Sadly in a job where most new hires don't last 6 months (what? people don't want to work crappy hours and get shouted at for a living???), unless they can keep pumping new staff into the system (they were training something like 30+ new operators every three weeks about a year ago to fill seats), staffing levels go down and the wait times go up.

as a non-bilingual sub, I've found that there are many more CSR's in the French speaking caller que (sp?) who speak English than there are available English speaking CSR's... if the wait seems long, I hang up and call again, selecting the French speaking options... They've always been able to speak English without any problems with me understanding them or them understanding me... result - shorter wait times. :p

It is getting harder and harder to keep up with the number of installs from *C. The installers are routinely getting 7 or 8 jobs a day. The wait times for installs is going to increase and the demand on the installers is going to increase. With no pay increase I can only imagine that more and more installers will move on to other things. The "tone" of the average install has become increasingly more negative and most installers I deal with are pretty tired. I guess customers still expect fast service and it just can't happen these days. I am postponing at least 3 or 4 calls everyday. Can't find anyone to work here. It is too bad but Fast service is becoming a thing of the past. I just concentrate on good service but not so fast these days.

The wait times for installs is going to increase and the demand on the installers is going to increase.

Depending on the area you live, most urban customers can have their system install date within three to five business days.

Depending on the area you live, most urban customers can have their system install date within three to five business days.

Assuming the don't screw it up the first time. And the second time ...

About that time I think I'd be trying a self-install.

Hearing about the wait sometimes for installs, I can see that sometimes living rurally can pay off! Where we are, there's only one place that does the Star Choice installations. We ordered a second receiver from Star Choice at about 3pm on a Wednesday, they sent through the order to the installer (who was going to bring the second receiver and install the second line). We called him the next morning, on Thursday to see if he could come that day and he did. At about noon. So, less than 24 hours from order to install. Pretty good I think.

The Hans

Hi everyone. I'm a Star Choice tech support agent.

I remember when I first started working at Star Choice, we'd be worried about seeing a queue of 30 people... Nowadays its normal for the queues to be hovering around 70-80 people for 10 hours straight. Average wait time can easily hit 30-40 minutes. Why is this in such stark contrast to what things were like a year ago?

Here's a simplified breakdown of the problems, and a simplified breakdown of the solutions we're working on.

As most of you know, Star Choice's main call center is in Calgary. There's a major workforce shortage throughout the province of Alberta, meaning, as much as we try, we can't seem to hire enough people to fill all the chairs. What has the recruiting department been doing about it? Well, with extremely competative wages, a new benefits plan that kicks in after about a month, and the promise of plenty of hours per week, its definitely a great place to work... problem is, there's still not enough people who walk through the doors with resumes in hand. It seems like EVERY DAY the agents are getting spammed with offers for overtime hours. And many of us are willing to work overtime because there's a huge need for it. Last Saturday I worked a 12 hour shift. Its weird watching the sun both rise and set while you're still sitting in the same spot taking calls... While we understand its inconvenient to be holding for that amount of time, its not fair to take it out on the agents. We're doing everything we can to minimize wait times. Also keep in mind that if you're holding for a technician, the average call handle time for troubleshooting will range from 5 to 15 minutes. We strive to achieve a first call resolution, so our callers don't need to phone back on several occasions to try and fix the same problem. If that means taking longer steps to resolve the problems for our callers, so be it. It should also be noted that our client base has grown steadily every year, while our workforce hasn't been able to grow at the same rate.

Also, to address another issue regarding service calls and work orders:
Star Choice subcontracts local installers to ensure that we've got installer networks all accross the country. Obviously we can't have installers in every single town in the country, but generally speaking, if you're in need of a service call, we can usually have a service guy booked in a space of 2-3 days. Please understand that because we contract these people, we have absolutely NO CONTROL over their schedule. If John Doe does our installations and service calls for the town of Edgewood, BC and he likes to have his weekends free, then John Doe is going to have his weekends free... We can't force him to be on call 24/7. Aint gonna happen.

I hope this helps to clarify any concerns regarding hold times and installation times.

Thank you Star Choice Tech for your simple explanation...

Much appreciated insight. Keep it coming!

Ouser

Yes, thanks for the comments StarChoiceTech.

From the call-in customer point of view:

- Anyone who is having a technical problem, has already tried to call several times, and has finally waited on hold for nearly an hour to talk to you, is probably not going to be in the best mood. Rationally they realize that it's not your individual fault - but it is *C's fault for not planning or investing sufficiently in customer support capacity.

- Personally I have always found *C's tech support to be patient and helpful. That tells me that management is giving them the message "satisfy the customer". That helps make up for the long wait times, and makes the interaction easier for everyone. They still screw it up as much as anyone else's technical support, but that's a fact of life that I can accept as long as they're genuinely trying.

- The only thing that irritates me a little as a reasonably understanding call-in customer is when the tech support guy is jumping to wrong conclusions and not hearing what I'm saying about the problem. I'm an engineer with reasonably good technical understanding of most problems, and I do my best to describe them clearly and succinctly, and not jump to any conclusions myself. I'm happy when the tech support guy I'm talking to "gets" the problem right away and clearly knows more about it than me. Conversely I'm unhappy when he doesn't get it, and insists on telling me things that I know aren't so.

- I have to admit that I sometimes play it up a little how annoyed I am about a service problem because I know that *C can do stuff like giving out free PPV, but they won't unless I make it clear that I'm an upset customer. I never get personally annoyed with the guy I'm talking to though - that would be counter-productive! ;)

- Anyone who is having a technical problem, has already tried to call several times, and has finally waited on hold for nearly an hour to talk to you, is probably not going to be in the best mood. Rationally they realize that it's not your individual fault - but it is *C's fault for not planning or investing sufficiently in customer support capacity.

The lack of bodies really isn't Starchoice's fault. As I've mentioned previously and Starchoicetech reiterated, Calgary has a MASSIVE workforce shortage. Literally every single 'entry level' position in the city is starved of people willing to work those positions. Unfortunately, and some Starchoice CSR/TSRs might find this a little insulting, but the company is competing for employees with every single retail and fast food joint out there and currently EVERY ONE of those places have signs outside desperately looking for staff. Drive thrus are being closed and hours shortened. It's seriously like every young work able person has figured they can really do better than these job are and have decided to stay away in droves and older folks are too smart to work at these places!!

And fast food joints don't have their pee breaks scheduled by computer either, unlike Starchoice employees!! :)

So, bar beefing-up the Montreal call center (which I believe they've said they are going to do) or opening-up a third call center, there really isn't anything they can do to improve the horrible situation. Bumping-up wages and benefits will only help so much. It's inherently a tough, often unpleasant job and the people the job attracts don't tend to stick around very long. If only the company had done more to keep the staff they had when they were fully staffed, instead of improving things once the horse has bolted, this thread might not have had to take place! ;)

- The only thing that irritates me a little as a reasonably understanding call-in customer is when the tech support guy is jumping to wrong conclusions and not hearing what I'm saying about the problem. I'm an engineer with reasonably good technical understanding of most problems, and I do my best to describe them clearly and succinctly, and not jump to any conclusions myself.

I've learned the hard way that when you ask for help from a technician in ANY field (ie auto mechanics, computer issues etc.) you approach them with the symptoms but not the solutions. Trained CSR's and tech's may follow a routine, but they are looking at systems to diagnose. I'm usually wrong when I try to self diagnose.

The lack of bodies really isn't Starchoice's fault.

It was SC which closed down the Lincoln, New Brunswick call centre and relocated it to Calgary where the emplyment situation has been up and down but no stranger to the many ups. No, it's not their fault about the employment situation but it is their "fault" regarding wher they locate a call centre. The relocation, of course, was only to suit Shaw's base there in the first place.

Hi everyone. I'm a Star Choice tech support agent.

I remember when I first started working at Star Choice, we'd be worried about seeing a queue of 30 people... Nowadays its normal for the queues to be hovering around 70-80 people for 10 hours straight. Average wait time can easily hit 30-40 minutes. Why is this in such stark contrast to what things were like a year ago?

Here's a simplified breakdown of the problems, and a simplified breakdown of the solutions we're working on.

As most of you know, Star Choice's main call center is in Calgary. There's a major workforce shortage throughout the province of Alberta, meaning, as much as we try, we can't seem to hire enough people to fill all the chairs. What has the recruiting department been doing about it? Well, with extremely competative wages, a new benefits plan that kicks in after about a month, and the promise of plenty of hours per week, its definitely a great place to work... problem is, there's still not enough people who walk through the doors with resumes in hand. It seems like EVERY DAY the agents are getting spammed with offers for overtime hours. And many of us are willing to work overtime because there's a huge need for it. Last Saturday I worked a 12 hour shift. Its weird watching the sun both rise and set while you're still sitting in the same spot taking calls... While we understand its inconvenient to be holding for that amount of time, its not fair to take it out on the agents. We're doing everything we can to minimize wait times. Also keep in mind that if you're holding for a technician, the average call handle time for troubleshooting will range from 5 to 15 minutes. We strive to achieve a first call resolution, so our callers don't need to phone back on several occasions to try and fix the same problem. If that means taking longer steps to resolve the problems for our callers, so be it. It should also be noted that our client base has grown steadily every year, while our workforce hasn't been able to grow at the same rate.

Also, to address another issue regarding service calls and work orders:
Star Choice subcontracts local installers to ensure that we've got installer networks all accross the country. Obviously we can't have installers in every single town in the country, but generally speaking, if you're in need of a service call, we can usually have a service guy booked in a space of 2-3 days. Please understand that because we contract these people, we have absolutely NO CONTROL over their schedule. If John Doe does our installations and service calls for the town of Edgewood, BC and he likes to have his weekends free, then John Doe is going to have his weekends free... We can't force him to be on call 24/7. Aint gonna happen.

I hope this helps to clarify any concerns regarding hold times and installation times.

Hello,
I've been a Star Choice subscriber for nearly two years, and am very happy with your system. I just got a DSR 530 as a gift, and am new to DVRs. Can you suggest a good "How to use" guide for the DSR 530? The manual seems to assume a level of expertise that I don't have yet.
Thanks,
Carl