What happens to all the CSRs they hire for the 3 month busy period when its over?
They have to lay off a bunch of staff and thats no good either.

I'm sure like many companies, they have part-time workers who they can recall, provide extra hours or less hours as the need arises.

well here is the thing. busy season for them is usually summer time. coinkydinky its also NO school season for many part time employees that can go full time hours now. But also consider this into this crappy equation is that call centre churn (people quite/hire/die/misc. etc. hehe). is pretty high. average call centre agent in north america stays only within 12-18 months at best.

Kevin: fixes on the 530's. haha good luck buddy. Motorola is the manufacturer and as they get feed back from you than to SC than to themselves, its lengthy enough, now lets produce a "patch" to accomodate those requests, than more things arrise, than more than more. hard for them to keep up. but here is my beef with that is. If i had just spent $699 boners on something that is still half ass and that needs consistent patches, why bother releasing the thing. I have sold a billion PVR's from bell when they first came out and the units have always been nothing but a pleasure to sell and use in my future shop stores that i've worked at. Bell can do it, but SC or should i say Motogayla can't do it. why not? Can't possibly imagine the source code for a product like that is that different. i dunno.

oh and kinda off topic. just found out that the remotes are back in stock for a little while. Get your orders in while they are hot and available. these things are rarer than Playboy bunnies in your house.

quick add*.
When it comes to escalation, the steps are csr, csr supervisor on the floor, than manager than good luck. Usually the csr supervisor will solve the issue for you. In reality if you think long and hard about whatever the issue is, you can go cry to Jim Cummins himself (vp of the company) but if there is nothing else the csr sup can do than there is nothing else. aka. Installer being a dink. can they do something about that? sure to some degree. but if the installer is the only one in the region, well doesn't that suck donkey dick? If your also making "demands, stupid demands, idle threats." haha good luck. Best way to approach things is to be "civilized", for those that are uneducated, please let me explain it in a lamer's term (easy language). BE NICE. yes there are things that bother the piss out of me too but me going on a anal rampage ain't gonna help me solve anything but to give me a fat nerve on my forehead and perhaps an anurism (sp?)... ok im just repeating here, but believe me i've heard it all working in a sales environment (retail) for many years. Plus everyone LOVES to be a telephone TOUGH GUY. hahaha...

Quick story from today: called them about a pay per view order issue today. long ass wait times, must of been busy, but agent was very polite and solved it for me and gave me a free pay per view for next time! sweet! They did however tell me that now all customers MUST call in and add a pay per view pin number to help against unwanted movie orders. GREAT idea, that way no more PORN added unless its mine! hahaha. You guys should go and do that if not already done. so SC gets another positive feedback from me. Im sure i'll bug them again this month for something else and i'll keep you guys posted.

i do not remember reading anywhere in here that people were being tough guys to the CSRs. i suppose some might be but anyone knows if you start shooting your mouth off to anyone you will get nowhere. it only makes you appear out of control and unstable. the best way to handle the CSRs is to ask them questions such as "why are you guys selling this machine that doesn't work?" it would be interesting to see the responses if you asked them several really good questions like that. they will likely get very angry at the line of questioning while you remain as calm and collected as can be. that is when you say, "do you always get upset when someone asks you a question relating to your line of business?" make sure you get their name first though and then record the call so that if they lose it with you, you can nail them good. hahahaha

Yeah, and you're suggestion is that much better. :rolleyes:

The CSR's have nothing to do with the production, creation, maintenance, or sales of any of the receivers. If someone asks to buy it, the CSR's can't say "no, I'm not going to sell it to you".

Star Choice trains their staff pretty well, so I highly doubt anyone would loose it with you.

I'm afraid your feelings are misdirected....

... I have sold a billion PVR's from bell when they first came out and the units have always been nothing but a pleasure to sell and use in my future shop stores that i've worked at. Bell can do it, but SC or should i say Motogayla can't do it. why not? Can't possibly imagine the source code for a product like that is that different. i dunno. ...
Perhaps, but I was quite amused when I tuned to the BELL ExpressVu channel that indicates a SOFTWARE UPGRADE for the 5100/5800/5900 family of DVR's to correct TIMER PROBLEMS.

My good god, how long ago was the 5100 introduced??

Is it STILL or FINALY that they are just sending out patches to fix a problem several years later.

I think I've seen more new DSR5XX code since it's release then all the years I've used a 5100 P.O.S. (Piece of $#!^)

Maybe *C doesn't communicate too well, but at least they can HEAR us and are DOING something.

i think people are hard on starchoice because their product does not work. who cares about bell or acme pvr company. i didn't give bell my money. i have been reading through these forums and from what i understand these problems have existed for a long time. these are not new problems. i'm not sure why some think that starchoice is doing a good job at fixing them when nothing has realy been fixed. or why people would think that sometimes before christmsa the machine will start magically workng.

Perhaps, but I was quite amused when I tuned to the BELL ExpressVu channel that indicates a SOFTWARE UPGRADE for the 5100/5800/5900 family of DVR's to correct TIMER PROBLEMS.

My good god, how long ago was the 5100 introduced??

Is it STILL or FINALY that they are just sending out patches to fix a problem several years later.

I think I've seen more new DSR5XX code since it's release then all the years I've used a 5100 P.O.S. (Piece of $#!^)

Maybe *C doesn't communicate too well, but at least they can HEAR us and are DOING something.



I Feel sorry for people that work in call centres, i know I could not handle customers screaming at me all day long, and still keep my cool, my ex girlfriend used to work for a telephone company in the usa, they had something like 15 million customers, could you amagine the wait time for those customers. I dont think customers and the companies really give enough respect to the agents that have to take in all the companies policies. And if you get a bad agent, maybe they are just having a really bad day, we all can relate having a bad day at work,:rolleyes:

i agree with Satellite on this one. U figure just because someone can answer a question they will get frustrated and piss on you?
again, i think your feelings and logics are misguided on that.

and good point HTF. (hometheatrefreak). some days are just rougher than others. its bound to happen.

I think the same issues arise with any new product or technology. I remember hearing the same kind of complaints about RIM when the BlackBerry hit the market and don't even get me started on early adoption of VOIP.

I personally haven't had any issues with customer service at StarChoice even when I first subscribed 6 years ago and had problems with the surround sound my 401 receiver. After trying a number of things, they agreed to replace the 401 with the 405.

i agree with Satellite on this one. U figure just because someone can answer a question they will get frustrated and piss on you?
again, i think your feelings and logics are misguided on that.

and good point HTF. (hometheatrefreak). some days are just rougher than others. its bound to happen.


thanks romers 69, you know bell customers are also saying there demands,
and say if you will not do this, i am going to starchoice, example, my cell phone sucked, i called in may and asked when get i get a new phone, they said july, called in july to confirm, they said they have a new policy, i would have to wait another 6 mnths, i said ok, here is the situation, my phone does not work well anymore, would problably cost the company more to fix it with my warrenty, i understand that companies can change policies, WHAT CAN WE BOTH DO to help me out, the csr was shocked that i stayed calm, she thanked me, went to her a sup, i ended up getting a new phone a few days later...People have to learn how to act there age, and be more proffesional. I have realized that being calm, and nice,will make the csr's so more relaxed, and they will give you more then what you asked for....something to think about....

People have to learn how to act there age, and be more proffesional. I have realized that being calm, and nice,will make the csr's so more relaxed, and they will give you more then what you asked for....something to think about....


If all else fails take matters into your own hands. I followed the advice of a post from a few months ago and took my 530 to *C headquarters and had them give me a cheque for me money. Then I went to bell and bough the 9200.

I have a problems with it since then, it rebooting by itself and then not being able to find the signal again - but I phoned bell they walked me thru a work around it didn't work so the next day they sent out a new one and everything has been fine since.

Good luck to all.

If all else fails take matters into your own hands. I followed the advice of a post from a few months ago and took my 530 to *C headquarters and had them give me a cheque for me money. Then I went to bell and bough the 9200.

heheh - I guess it helps if you live in Calgary!

People have to learn how to act there age, and be more proffesional. I have realized that being calm, and nice,will make the csr's so more relaxed, and they will give you more then what you asked for....something to think about....hmm, in other words suck up to the csr's people! i can understand people getting upset. some people get so far into the point of frustration that they feel like exploding. it has nothing to do with acting their age, it is all to do with getting screwed by these big companies who don't give a damn about the little guy. almost anybody I speak to about bell has some story to tell as to why they left them. most people i work with don't even have bell for their home phone service anymore. the americans have always been smart when it comes to customer service. american companies really know how to treat their customers. just look at sears and wal-mart. you can take anything back to either one of those stores even without a receipt and they will issue you a refund. as a result, sears has been in business for more than 50 years and still going strong. meanwhile canadian companies like eaton's, simpson's, woolco, and dozens of smaller companies have gone out of business. now the hudson bay company is complaining about low profits. in my mind i think canadians have a lot to learn from the americans when it comes to setting policies that affect the customer. they need to step back and realize that there are competitors just around every corner waiting to get in. look at vonage for example and primus. both american companies that will soon take over telephone service in canada because bell is sticking to their guns that you have to play hard ball with customers. it should be interesting to see how it goes. in the meantime, i can easily empathize with people who have been burned by these big companies after paying a lot of money for something that does not work or does not work properly. word of mouth travels far and it is the customers who do not complain that you need to worry about. those are the people who will just leave. that's right! they will leave and you will be left wondering why.

if bell was run and operated the way sears is operated, i would not be with starchoice right now, i would be with bell.

On the other hand, you can argue it's far easier to be profitable in the US as the concentration of people (your market) is exponentially bigger.

Americans seem to be friendlier by nature, but I wouldn't say I found customer service in general to be superior to Canadian customer service while I was in the US this summer. What I did enjoy was the same fast food resturant 4 blocks apart, with both locations packed all the time. There are just enough people to sustain that.

I was trying not to say anything but the saying "The squeeky wheel gets the grease" comes to mind. Being calm and rational at first works but when dealing with someone that refuses to understand the situation and is just flat out wrong, you sometimes need to get aggressive otherwise you get walked over and they will continue to do the same to the next person. Most people do not want to get yelled at so will do as much as they can to avoid it. Here is my story that I will keep short.

I was moving from one place to another in Edmonton. My work at home requires that I have internet service. I called about a month before I was moving and tried to book a moving date with Shaw, hoping for the 1st. It was a busy time for them so I got the 5th. I could manage with this and planned to go back to Calgary where I had internet there from the 1st to the 3rd and then take a couple of days off so Shaw could install. The 5th comes and I take the morning off work and wait for the installer. No installer by noon, so I call. They say that the key to the building was with another installer and so they can't get in. Ok, I'm thinking, meet and get the key and she says the same thing. She says they will try to meet and he should be able to get there in the afternoon. Perfect. 5PM rolls around and guess what? Yep, no damn installer. I call again, the CSR reads over the details and said they missed each other and they are both gone home for the day. So I suggest that an installer working past 5 since I know they work past 5 come over. She says there is nobody doing installs anymore. I told her that techs work past 5 and to please please get someone to do the install. She puts the call in queue for something or another and says hopefully someone willl pick it up. Fine, let's hope.

I call back at 10:30PM since I realize this is hopeless and ask to have a supervisor call me back to discuss this issue. No call back.

Next morning, no go so I call back and have another CSR. She says that she can only book me in again for the next available time slot --- the 11th!!! Still rational at this point I explain that I should not be the last on the last, I should be first in the morning. She says no, she can't do that. Now I'm getting angry. I'm sure my tone is not pleasant at this point since she wont budge and she wont let me talk to a supervisor. I tell her that if she was at Superstore with all her groceries on the belt and the till broke down for a second, do they put you at the back of the line or do they fix the till and continue with you? Seems logical right? She doesn't get it and just refuses to understand that I am being punished because these idiots can't get organized. Now I start to yell, suddenly progress..."let me talk to my supervisor".....still no go.....more yelling and explanation, a couple shots about Shaw and poor customer service...back to the supervisor....and bingo, we have a winner. Install scheduled for the next morning.

My lesson was learned there. Get aggressive if you don't want to get screwed. I could probably give you 10 more examples of this in my life as well. Sometimes people just need to understand and they need a good push to help them along. Just my 2 cents.

R.

Yelling helps sometime, but only when its a valid issue you're yelling about.
If you're angry that its 11:30 at night and Star Choice can't get an installer out until tommorow sometime to realign your dish, all the yelling in the world isn't going to get your problem fixed.

I would suggest that Star Choice's customer service is geared in such a way that your experiences with Shaw don't happen. Star Choice CSRs know right away its notfair to make you wait another 5 days for service, so try to get it fixed without any yelling. That way everyone goes away happy!

Sidenote: Why is it so hard to get a supervisor on the phone?
CSRs in general are often looked upon poorly when they get to the point that they "need" a supervisor - they're seen as having failed at their job by not being able to reason with the customer and at least partially fix their issue.

The CSRs at Star Choice have been great so far and likely I will never have to call them. I have no idea why it is so hard to get a supervisor on at Shaw....very odd.

Everything that you are saying Satellite is correct...if someone is going to be upset, yet better be 110% sure that you are correct. :)

2 weeks my DSR 500 started flashing from green to red on the HD channels only. The F2 SD channels were fine. So I called and 1 master reset later everything was fine.

Tonight, the only HD channel I could get was 292. So I called again and another master reset fixed it. The SC tech immediately said that was a hassle so they were going to send me another unit at N/C.

BTW, I reached a tech on the first ring. Super service.

that is good service if they are doing that for you. it does sound like they are struggling and perhaps acknowledging that their machines are buggy. i am glad that you are getting looked after. i can only hope that they would do the same for me should i ever have problems like that.