The manual which comes with the 530 is virtually useless. The on-line manual at the Star Choice site is much more helpful. By the way, the Quick Reference Guide for the remote control for the 530 incorrectly states the function of the DVR buttons. The symbols on the buttons correctly corresponds to the function of similarly marked buttons on a VCR or DVD player; the descriptor is wrong.

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.

Well I can't disagree about that, but we're not talking about a company 4 or 5 years ago, we're talking about the company as it exists today. A little over a year ago the call centre in Calgary was able to be well staffed and (most) people were quite happy with the wait times. The local situation has changed in ways that are (mostly) out of the control of the company. We should be fortunate, given how cheap Shaw is, that the call centre didn't end up in India. I guess micromanagement trumps cheap in Shawland.

The only thing they could have (and should have) done is to have made efforts to keep those people they did have in their employ, instead of treating them like unimportant, expendable drones. We might not have been in this situation if they'd figured that out a year ago.

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?The reason you are getting so many more calls now is because of the garbage DSR530 DVR that you have released. Customers are likely annoyed because they shelled out close to $1,000 for a piece of equipment that is riddled with flaws. It's a lot of money, and when people spend so much they expect quality and service to go along with it.

As for the shortage of workers in Calgary, the way to fix that situation is to open up a call center in a city where there is no shortage. Halifax is always looking for work - why not open a call center there? You would have polite representatives as well as enough people to handle the calls for less pay. Dell just opened up a call center in Ottawa and plan on opening more here. Why? We have the workforce as well as the technical expertise here in Ottawa. It was a smart move on Dell's behalf.

These issues, especially working 12 hours of overtime constantly are very indicative of lousy management. Although I have always found people on the *C help desk friendly, I have had to wait long amounts of time and on occasion I get someone who has no clue of what to do to fix the problem. I realize the people on the phones are doing all they can. The problems that you described have solutions. *C for whatever reason just doesn't want to implement solutions. Unfortunately this makes for a lot of sour grapes when customers call, and you guys unfortunately are going to get the brunt of it all. Perhaps this is why management doesn't do anything about it? Maybe they don't hear about the issues or care about them. You guys are the ones taking the calls and the cranky customers so it is no skin from the backs of management.

Opneing a call center in Halifax would be a great idea!
However Shaw saw fit to do just the opposite and close their call center in Halifax instead ;)

Or was that the one in Fredericton...?

The reason you are getting so many more calls now is because of the garbage DSR530 DVR that you have released.

I think you have an over-inflated estimated of the effect the 530 has on call volume. They certainly get 10 times the call due to weak batteries in remote controls than irate 530 owners. If memory serves though, 530 owners understandably cause more of a fuss!! :)

Or was that the one in Fredericton...?

Do you read any of the previous posts in the thread?

It was SC which closed down the Lincoln, New Brunswick call centre and relocated it to Calgary

If memory serves though, 530 owners understandably cause more of a fuss!! :)

Okay so if you bought a machine that cost you $699.00, or $599.00 or $549.00 and the machine crashes a fair bit, how would you feel? The Bell 9200, Rogers PVR box all have their funny little idiocyracies, but none come close to the quality of the 530, so lets have a little compasion here. Guys like Kevin270 have convinced me to move away from that product, I will accept some inconvience, but not what the 530 throws at you. Not also to mention 2 to 1 ratio in HD channels avialable and climbing......:eek:

Okay so if you bought a machine that cost you $699.00, or $599.00 or $549.00 and the machine crashes a fair bit, how would you feel?

Gee I guess the smiley completely missed you, didn't it?

I understand how 530 owners feel -- I am one. I'll even go one step further and say I actually quit my job at Starchoice in large part because I was sick and tired of the company using customers, first with the 500 and then the 530, as beta testers and expecting the front line staff to fend off complaints. So please don't suggest I don't understand how customers feel because I put my money where my mouth is, in a futile attempt to display some employee disgust towards the treatment of customers. And I made sure they were aware of it.

I certainly don't disagree with the opinion of the 530 that Kevin270 has, infact I mostly AGREE with him. However there are people who actually love the device and enjoy the experience. God knows, my wife isn't one of them, but then she could crash the computers in a nuclear reactor from a mile away. Myself, I wish it was better (it's 1000% better than at release though), but it causes me less hearburn than my crappy wireless router, that's for sure.

The issue in regards to these boards though is that for some people it is the ONLY thing they seem to post about. It's tiring and some people will naturally rail against such posts, especially people who don't share the same opinion or experiences (or even just to get a rise from particular board members).

Negative opinions should certainly never be frowned upon, but they should move the discussion along, not keep going over the same points repeatedly.

I'll put my bit in when I was with SC 2 years ago.

I am a biggie for PPV/On Demand over going out to the DVD rental store.

So I was being overcharge, not getting authorization on it, the receivers crashed, I was replaced 3 times with 2 week wait periods. They gave me 2 PPV credits for ALL of the hassle and weren't that friendly with me, despite the "SC has the best Customer service" claim, I never felt it that way.

I ended up taking the dish down myself and disconnecting the receivers and having a heated discussion with the guy at Radio Shack and eventually got refunded.

Then when I shut down the account over the phone they were very crusty with me.

Yeesh, after that I was totally anti-satellite and went to digital cable, then I finally took the leep of faith to BEV because of there 9200/most HD. Hopefuly I will have a good experience with them.

Gee I guess the smiley completely missed you, didn't it?

Negative opinions should certainly never be frowned upon, but they should move the discussion along, not keep going over the same points repeatedly.

LOL, yes it did, so i stand corrected, I have had a good experience at StarChoice, and negatives at Bell, but what I want is more HD, a progressive company in that area. I do not see it at StarChoice, heck, I `am leaveing my Dish up and of course will own the equipment, I may be back in a couple of years when I pull the plug(that is if the wife can handle another move..lol...well no not lol:eek: So I contemplate leaveing with a heavy heart, I just see more of what I want faster at Bell.

I think alot of problems people have is that they think they need to be "loyal" to a company. Companies aren't "Mom & Pop Shops", they have hundreds of thousands to millions of customers. And all companies care about one thing: Money.

I mean just because you have had good service with a company doesn't mean you have to have a "heavy heart" about switching to a better deal.

Its business! If that company wants to keep you they need to improve!

This is not directed to you personally canada45, its just a general comment about feelings consumers seem to have for their companies. No one should feel loyalty to a multi-million/billion dollar company.

Cheers! :D

Its business! If that company wants to keep you they need to improve!



Exactly - there is ZERO reason to purchase a 530. $500 gets a better HDDVR + 2 SD receivers from Bell with much more HD.

The Shaws are merely pulling profits from SC and not investing enough back into the business for it to remain competitive. You only owe them for programming services used - nothing more.

Exactly - there is ZERO reason to purchase a 530. $500 gets a better HDDVR + 2 SD receivers from Bell with much more HD.

The Shaws are merely pulling profits from SC and not investing enough back into the business for it to remain competitive. You only owe them for programming services used - nothing more.

But if you're already with Star Choice and are happy with your programming package (as I am), the 530 is a good choice. I've only had mine for a few days, and so far it has done what is expected of it.

And THAT is as valid a reason as any to stay.

Now IF your starting from scratch, then the excercise and analysis is more complex and must include a larger variety of things from HD content and quality, SD compressions, equipment reputation and current bugs status and history of resolution, programing packages and pricing to any customer service experiences, (Mostly on the Bell side as you may have has 'issues' with landline or wireless, wheras it's unlikely you had 'other' products/services from *C.

I do not expect a respnse to this or to deteriote into the reasons, merly indicating what 'factors' could/should come into play in generic terms for ANY television provider. Rogers and other cablecos included.

I think alot of problems people have is that they think they need to be "loyal" to a company. Companies aren't "Mom & Pop Shops", they have hundreds of thousands to millions of customers. And all companies care about one thing: Money.

I mean just because you have had good service with a company doesn't mean you have to have a "heavy heart" about switching to a better deal.

Its business! If that company wants to keep you they need to improve!

This is not directed to you personally canada45, its just a general comment about feelings consumers seem to have for their companies. No one should feel loyalty to a multi-million/billion dollar company.

Cheers! :D



Shoppers tend to fall into two general categories: transactional and relational.

Transactional shoppers are focused only on today's transaction. They're willing to deal with a company they may not know or trust because they've done the research and consider themselves the expert. The only fear of a transactional shopper is that they might pay more than they had to pay. Transactional shoppers enjoy negotiating and are looking for the lowest-cost provider. These are the types of shoppers that you only see when you are having a big sale, and they will spend as much time as necessary negotiating on price. They are bargain hunters.

Relational shoppers consider today's transaction to be one in a series of many. Relational shoppers don't enjoy comparison shopping or negotiating. They are looking for a company who is an expert that they can trust. Their only fear is of making a poor choice. Relational shoppers consider not only the money, but also the time that a transaction will take. Consequently, relational shoppers are far more likely to be repeat customers.


So westmanguy, you think we should all be in the first category, but the fact of the matter is, that's pretty unrealistic. If someone feels loyalty to a company then that company has somehow attracted a relational shopper... and perhaps you can guess what kind of customer the most successful companies in the world have built their business(es) on?

Shoppers tend to fall into two general categories: transactional and relational.

That's a good analysis. Is that from some specific sales and marketing course or business book?

But it seems to me that shoppers would normally be a blend of these two archetypes. Like me, for example. I do keep an eye on the offerings Shaw, Rogers and Bell to see if there's a significantly better deal to be had there. I'd be prepared to dump Star Choice if the economics were compelling, and loyalty wouldn't be a factor. But there's some inherent reluctance to switch because it's a time-consuming hassle, and my overall experience with *C over several years has been at least satisfactory. Good customer service builds up some goodwill. On the other hand I expect some consideration from Star Choice in view of all the money I've paid them over the years. For example I'm annoyed when I see them offering much better deals than I'm getting to sign up new customers in Ontario. That smacks of exploiting the complacency of the current customer base to finance expansion (not that we don't do that in my business ;) ).

That's a good analysis. Is that from some specific sales and marketing course or business book?

But it seems to me that shoppers would normally be a blend of these two archetypes. Like me, for example. I do keep an eye on the offerings Shaw, Rogers and Bell to see if there's a significantly better deal to be had there. I'd be prepared to dump Star Choice if the economics were compelling, and loyalty wouldn't be a factor. But there's some inherent reluctance to switch because it's a time-consuming hassle, and my overall experience with *C over several years has been at least satisfactory. Good customer service builds up some goodwill. On the other hand I expect some consideration from Star Choice in view of all the money I've paid them over the years. For example I'm annoyed when I see them offering much better deals than I'm getting to sign up new customers in Ontario. That smacks of exploiting the complacency of the current customer base to finance expansion (not that we don't do that in my business ;) ).


The gist of that theory comes from a guy named Roy H. Williams, who is a radio advertising guru with a couple of best-selling books under his belt. I've read many different opinions on this subject; his is simply the one I happen to agree with the most.

You are right, it is not a black and white issue. Like you, I am also on the lookout for a great deal. But when it came right down to it, I was more willing to wait for Starchoice to come around then I was to change satellite providers and maybe save a few bucks. So now that it looks like the 530 is more stable and the price has come down, I'm getting one tomorrow.

So now that it looks like the 530 is more stable and the price has come down, I'm getting one tomorrow.

Just a note that touches on the 530 and customer service....

It does appear that the 530 is relatively stable after the CC update (August, I believe) However, with the winter power outages upon us, another possible snag is manifesting itself.

The unit is always on. This is nothing new you say, my stereo just goes in standby when I turn it off. The 530 is much more complex and can actually be viewed as a computer that is always running. Would you pull the plug on your computer? Not if you want it to boot properly.

When the power fails, a 530 does not shutdown, it crashes! Usually when the power is resored it will boot back up and fully recover. The off time it will crash in such a way as to not be able to fully boot. I think someone called this "the blue flash of death". The blue lights continue to cycle and no other lights come on.

If you phone Starchoice the first question will be "did the power fail?". At first you think they familiariy with this is an acknowledgment that there is a problem that they are working on. Then they appear to be reading the company line that it was a power surge on your end that did in the unit. And guess what? Power surges are not covered by warantee. But to show how good they are they will replace it for $199. If you push really hard they may talk to thier manger to split the cost with you and only charge you $99. If you talk really nice they may cover it for only the shipping fee.

The "power surge" excuse sounds very scripted and you may sense that they do not fully believe it themselves. Technically there is a moderate surge when a load is removed from its source but any modern equipment is designed to handle it.

For Starchoice the "power surge" theroy is a plausable "red herring" that appears to work quite well for them.

Word on the street is the true source of the problem is still in the code that does not handle a unpredicted shutdown as well as it should.

What is the answer?

A UPS will ride out the short outages but you are still faced with no way to gracefull land the unit before the UPS runs out of battery.

The important thing is not to let Starchoice sweep this under the carpet or pass the blame.

This may be one of the most expensive pieces of electronic equipement you own. It has certainly proved itself to be the most fragile. This is an issue that will eventually kill your box.

Please find a fix!

AIO BEV, rent and have a full warrenty for the life of the rental, no up front costs and more reliable. That is what Iam thinking of doing, not to mention more HD channels.