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Leaving Cogeco, Complaint and Rant Thread

293K views 480 replies 176 participants last post by  TJCams 
#1 ·
I may be moving into an area of Hamilton that is served by Cogeco. I am absouletly apauled the lack of HD available in such a big city.

This is the list of HD channels carried by Cogeco in Hamilton

Citytv
CTV
CBC
SRC
SUN TV
ABC
NBC
CBS
FOX
PBS
WGN
Discovery HD
TSN HD
Sportsnet HD
HD Net
TMN HD
Moviepix HD
PPV HD

This puts Cogeco in a distant 3rd in Hamilton compared to the other two cable companies that have operations in hamilton. Even Source Cable, which only served about 18, 000 homes has way more channels. What gives? How long could it possibly take to upgrade Hamilton? Have they even started to upgrade Hamilton yet? I noticed during the summer the eliminated 4 analog channels. I haven't seen anything major added since they did this.

Judging by other threads it appears Cogeco is also very slow in updating other areas of the province as well.
 
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#2 ·
It really is disgusting. So disgusting in fact that I've done my research and will be switching to Bell TV this week. I will be paying the same price for triple the amount of HD stations, and even a bunch of analog stations we don't have here in downtown Hamilton. It's hard to beat them for broadband though. Just the other day I was downloading at over 1 MegaBYTE per second.
 
#3 ·
I also live in Cogeco land and am equally disgusted with their HD line up. Fortunately there are much better alternatives unless you're in an apartment or condo. Also, Hamilton Mountain (some areas) is serviced by Mountain Cable, not Cogeco, and they seem to have a pretty good HD lineup. You might want to move there ;)

-Mike
 
#4 ·
I’ve also been putting up with the same crap. Unfortunately for me the only thing I really watch is sports and with Bell to get even close to what Cogeco offers in the Super Sports pack is going to cost about $500 more per year. If Bell had anyone with a brain in their management team they would offer a similar sports package and appeal to a huge segment of the market that is fed up with Cogeco’s pathetic HD offerings.
 
#5 ·
I subscribed to digital cable + HD with Cogeco in Hamilton at the beginning of July and when I asked about the missing channels they told me my area will be upgraded soon. I called again in September and was told work was currently being done in my area and it should be finished by the beginning of Octorber because they don't do ANY upgrades in the winter. Needless to say, I haven't received any additional channels yet. I wish I could atleast get TSN2 in HD =\
 
#7 ·
Also, Hamilton Mountain (some areas) is serviced by Mountain Cable, not Cogeco, and they seem to have a pretty good HD lineup. You might want to move there
I live on the Mountain right now and my local cable system is Source Cable. It's HD offering is far better then what Cogeco has to offer and much better price. Source Cable even has those Hi-Fi HDTV channels (if thats your thing). There is one pocket on Hamilton Mountain that is served by Cogeco. If you live North of Fennal, South of Concession, West of Upper Sherman and East of Upper Wentworth, that area is served by Cogeco. It just so happens that I may be moving into that exact area.

I just think it's funny how two companies that are a tiny fraction of the size of Cogeco can offer a much better product.
 
#9 ·
Not many more HD channels here in Windsor.. and besides that, I don't know why I even bother subscribing to their HD services anymore. Most of the time I end up switching back to the standard-def channel because the audio on the hi-def channel cuts out... just cuts out, sometimes for just a second, sometimes for as long as 30 seconds.

Another problem with the hi-def channels is that the video (and audio) often lock up during sports... I wonder if this is intentional or something, it was particularly bad during the world series.

I might cancel the service if this nonsense keeps up through january.. it's testing my limits.
 
#10 ·
Cogeco Complaint Thread

I am in Milton and for at least the past month, our Cogeco cable and internet service has been absolutely appalling. Cable television is constantly off and on and even when it's on, the quality is often quite bad yet internet seems to function most of the time (although it's not without it's ups and downs too)...

I have spoke with some of my neighbors and they have the same problems. It often takes cogeco up to 2 weeks to send a technician out to attempt to remedy the situation. When the technician leaves the problem seems fixed, then after a day or 2 goes by it's the same old story again.

Has anybody else had this bad of an experience dealing with Cogeco?? I am curious how many other people are having the same issues. I am really fed up with these jokers.
 
#11 ·
Truthfully, your comments seem out of the ordinary. The Cogeco forum certainly gets complaints but negative comments about service are quite out of the ordinary. Perhaps the problems are simply within your area?

Judging from your username though, I suspect you really just came here to vent.
 
#13 ·
I am in Chatham and had nothing but terrible pixelated HD for the last 6 months. My internet speeds are about 2% of what they are supposed to be at times. When I called to complain they told me there is node congestion and nothing will be fixed until they upgrade some infrastructure. But that isn't scheduled to BEGIN until January of 2009. At the rate Cogeco works I'll be lucky if that is done by January 2010. They did give me a $40 credit for the next 12 months but thats besides the point. We entered into a contract where I pay them $44.95 a month (and they can raise the prices whenever they feel like it) and they agreed to provide me internet service at 10 mbps. Of course they throw in their disclaimer that speeds fluctuate but but 0.2 mbps is not "fluctuating". And throw in the Super Sports pack that they haven't fixed in 3 freaking years and ya there is a reason to be more than frustrated.
 
#14 ·
Usually my experience has been good with their customer service, but recently I called about my internet going down every night for a couple hours and they set up a service call for wednesday between 8-noon. i waited and waited and nothing so I call and they say their not sure what happened but they say they can send someone this saturday between 8-noon. Needless to say I was pretty pissed.
 
#15 ·
Same thing happened to me a couple months ago when I called to complain about the pixelated HD. They scheduled an appt for say Tuesday night or whatever. They just didn't show up. I called the next day to see wtf was going on. They claimed that I cancelled the appt. I said BS ... one thing led to another and they finally admitted that they cancelled it because they claimed "there was nothing they could do". When I inquired as to whether they thought it might be reasonable to call if they were cancelling so I wasn't waiting around for 4 hours, they claimed that they did and left a message. Well they most certainly did not. This company is a f'ing joke.
 
#16 ·
Not to trivialize anyone's problems, and I certainly have my own complaints about Cogeco, but it's a bit harsh to say the company is a "f'ing joke". Mistakes do happen, things fall through the cracks, maybe the frontline people don't have all the info at their fingertips and they were misled by what they saw on their screen (re. thinking that you cancelled the appt.) It's inevitable, any large company where things have to go through multiple departments is going to mishandle things once in a while. By that standard, every large company is a f'ing joke.
 
#17 ·
While I would agree if these were isolated incidents but I have customer service and service level issues on almost a monthly basis that NEVER get fixed. You mean to tell me that they don't employ engineers that monitor their network and can't see "node congestion" issues coming years in advance? You can guarantee they do .... plus the fact that they *******ize certain areas for 2-3 years after upgrading their major centres and still have the balls to charge them the same price. Its bad enough that they charge the same prices as Rogers for their best services available for what is definitely an inferior service.
 
#18 ·
I got so tired of the crappy HD service (lack of all the HD channels, pixelation, simsubbing with inferior quality) that I cancelled it and sent the HD box back.
Can't say I have missed it that much. Primtime shows mostly suck so we watch DVD/BD instead.
I even phoned about getting my HD access fee reduced as I wasn't getting all the channels. They told me I was getting all the channels that were available in my area...which seemed to defeat the whole purpose of reduced fees.

Of course, they keep telling me that my area is 'slated for upgrade' but it never comes. The prices go up every year though.....
 
#21 · (Edited)
I have to say that I rarely ever have any problems with my Internet, and the Digital Cable is mostly good (save for simsubbing but Cogeco can't really do anything about that). My biggest complaint is with the Super Sports Pack; it's the most expensive package offered and by far the lowest quality of any channels. I don't care if the problems originate with Rogers either; you sell it, you service it. Certainly Rogers isn't to blame for not being able to properly label the channels or get the games in the on-screen guide.

Cogeco never seems to screw up taking my money, so I give them 100% accuracy there.
 
#22 ·
Man get real. Don't give me that crap about the fluctuation of speeds. There is a huge difference between getting 8 mbps when its supposed to be 10 and getting 0.2 mbps. They upgraded me to the ultra high speed for free ... I tried having the tech explain to me how if a 10 mbit request can't get through the line how the hell is a 15 mbit request gonna get through? Of course it can't and doesn't.
 
#23 · (Edited)
*My Thoughts On Cogeco*

The FACTS about Cogeco, My own experience.IMHO

Cogeco keeps raising their prices,anyone not in an upgraded area are subsidizing the ones that are. What if anything would motivate Cogeco to upgrade areas if everyone is paying the same price. I was actually lied to by a tech support rep, He told me that my area is upgraded but the HD channels are not yet available. This is the excuse he used as to why I was not getting a discount from the $5.99 monthly fee. A while back I was told by a rep that there would be a discount coming, that was in the summer.

Cogeco is subing Global HD & E HD taking over American HD channels,guess what people......I do not get those 2 channels in my none upgraded area, the big problem is you miss the beginning of your shows. (I have a call into the CRTC to complain about this, they will get back to me next week).

Recently if you have The Movie Network you now have HBO Canada,guess what people.....I now lost MpixHD , the only show I was interested in that I did not already get was Real Time With Bill Mahr. Now do you think we will get a discount on TMN....LOL I think not.

Since this is my first post, I will just tell you all that I am an experienced user A/V is my thing. I am renting a 6416 which after returning about 3 other boxes they finally got a tech to come out with a brand new 6416. I have the cable hooked directly into my box no spliters & have a very good signal coming in , it has been checked. I have no problems with my Internet,just had a modem replaced but it has been very reliable, I have the Lite version.No provider ever makes exact claims as to speed even with DSL,they say UP TO 10mbps,I am getting what they claim.Go here if you want to test your speed...

http://www.speedtest.net/

I have had sound dropouts very annoying when you are trying to watch your recorded shows. For a while there were constant dropouts breakups with TMN HD.

One thing they should do immediately is give all none upgraded areas Discovery HD & HDnet free of charge. I will be sending an email to Cogeco,& check out DSL reports & post there too.I am tired of talking to CS TS people as they can do nothing.The last time I called The TS guy agreed with everything I said, then Lie #2 from a rep, he actually told me that Mpix & MpixHD is getting cancelled,thats after I told him I now lost that HD channel.

Before the last Firmware upgrade I also had that annoying hard drive problem going to 100%, there is no excuse for all this Tivo has been out in the States for a long time, this is not new technology. They charge around $500.00 or so for these boxes,I have told them this many times ,before you release products & services do some extensive testing , that means Motorola & the people who do the firmware,(they must be hiring people from Microsoft.)

When you look at what is available in the States It just makes you drool, they are light years ahead of us.Even the Bell PVR has advanced, & is a lot cheaper at around $199.00 on sale.I think its time we all said it,WE ARE MAD AS HELL & WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE,stand together & cancel the $5.99 HD access fee. Send them a clear message.

I know that TV is not the most important thing in life,its just the principle of the thing, I want to get what I am paying for otherwise it defeats the whole purpose of having Cable in the first place.

I have been using an HDMI connection to my HDTV for a long time,recently I decided to switch it to Component & Coaxial Digital output from Optical,after reading what some of you said that HDMI is not supported by Cogeco, I also tried analog audio, but this made no difference the dropouts happened regardless. I tend to do my own testing to rule things out. In the year 2008 saying that HDMI is not supported is just ridiculous, & unacceptable, they also did not include an Optical cable in the box,does that mean that Optical is not supported, I think not,As far as I am concerned there is either a signal coming out ot the HDMI jack or not.You can not just blindly accept everything Cogeco feeds you.

I am going to leave it connected with Component as there is no difference in quality

It was mentioned in these forums that there could be some handshake issues with the HDMI, concerning HDCP, & the Cogeco DB I think we all have different systems, Tv's for example, I have a Panasonic LCD,& from day one I was using HDMI.
 
#24 ·
As another Milton resident, I would have to say that my experience with Cogeco is somewhat different. Cable reception and Internet reliability are generally good. We have phone service with them, and I cannot recall any problems. It could be the problem is within your neighbourhood.

We get regular calls from Bell to switch over to them, and they can't come anywhere near the price.
 
#25 ·
mt99808, why are you angry at me? Calm down. I'm just a residential customer of Cogeco. Nowhere in its marketing or advertising does Cogeco guarantee a rate of 10Mbps service. They will advise customers of a DTR of up to 10Mbps, but that's as far as they will go. Whatever your personal deal is with Cogeco is, of course, none of my business and I can't and won't comment on it.
 
#26 ·
Ctaver wrote:

I know that TV is not the most important thing in life,its just the principle of the thing, I want to get what I am paying for otherwise it defeats the whole purpose of having Cable in the first place.

---

Thats what I mean, I don't watch TV 24/7, however in a situation where you are provided a 24/7 service; it should be available WHENEVER YOU WANT IT. I don't even have the HDTV packages, I have basic cable with a few extra channels. I feel even sorrier for the people who are paying more for the HD service... My neighbor pays for the NFL sunday ticket and a few other sports channels and he is experiencing the same issues I am. It appears I am complaining more than he is (I actually had a field tech out this past week), but the fact remains is that nothing seems to really be getting done about this.

UPDATE: I had a tech out this past week to attempt to repair my service. It worked fine for almost 24 hours! Then it was back to the same pixelated choppy service. The other day when the tech stopped by, he told me that nothing could be done immediately to repair the problem (apparently the local pedestal which supplies the service to my community is damaged and needs replacement)... When I called customer service, they could not even give me an estimate as to how long it would take to resolve the matter.

Myself, and at least 2 other neighbors (that I know of anyways) are having the exact same problems you would think they (Cogeco) would be all over it trying to fix the problem... however it's been almost 4 days now and nobody I have talked to on the tech support crew can even come close to telling me what the problem really is or when it will be fixed.

Most of the time the internet works great (thank god)... however there seems to be something with the Cable/TV service which they are not telling me about. And I am demanding to know.
 
#27 ·
I know this might take a little bit of time to figure out, but if done properly you can state your case and get the money you deserve back. I should note that it's probably a good idea to be nice to the person you are speaking to (not too nice), but show them you are angry but willing to come to an agreement.

1.) figure out how long you have been paying for the service you aren't getting.

2.) calculate how much they (Cogeco) owes you for not receiving the service offered which you are paying for.

3.) be precise and ready to back up your claims with numbers (times, dates, etc) when you call.

4.) if you are nice enough (i.e.: don't just scream at them telling them how much they suck, etc).. you can usually come to some kind of compromise on the situation and get your money back.

One thing tech service people don't like are a**holes... they can (and will) make sure you are their lowest priority, therefore making you wait even longer for a resolution.

Another note: try talking to neighbors who are or may be in the same situation as you. a lone person with problems may be overlooked, but if a whole neighborhood complains it may get done a little faster. If everyone starts demanding money back they will take notice.
 
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