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Home Away From Home Program

207K views 306 replies 94 participants last post by  dosgringos 
#1 ·
Not too long ago there was an announcement that Shaw Direct had canceled their Home Away From Home program, posted on Digital Home at http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/3559/279/. HAFH, explained below, would henceforth only be available to customers already on the program.

I recently asked Contact Us at Shaw what the program was all about, and the legalities of receiving Shaw in the U.S., and got this reply today:

"Home Away From Home is a program offered to our customers who are looking to stay connected to Shaw Direct (previously Starchoice) year round. The purpose of the program is to ship a second dish and self install kit (if necessary) to a 2nd residence within Canada so that customers can continue to enjoy Shaw Direct programming while on vacation (at the cottage, RV, etc.) You can have both your primary residence and vacation residence all under one account. One account = one bill.

HAFH is NOT to be used for watching programming at two locations simultaneously. You are responsible for ensuring us that the programming is being watched at one address at a time, not both.

$99 plus tax one time charge to cover the cost of the dish. $13.99 shipping fee for dish. Receivers purchased at regular Cash and Carry price . Thank you for choosing Shaw Direct.
Raj, Shaw Direct"
 
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#135 ·
Called yesterday- I have HAFH, but no new channels.

I got the 'callback' option- 90 minutes later a CSR called me, after a few minutes he transferred me to HAFH specialist- the hold message said exceeding 60 minutes waiting time. I hung up.

This is not good, I am not happy. Seriously considering abandoning SD, and I hve been so patient waiting for the new bird, new channels and HD guide.

I will try again, but then Im done.
 
#136 ·
Ripping their Hair Out

This is literally what the rep told me. He also said there were two guys beside him in the same position. I took this to mean that there were 3 of the in the HAFH department at the time. I was on the phone with him over an hour and he genuinely seemed as disgruntled as me. Said he only found out about changes abouy two hours before they went into effect. Reason given was HAFH was not a sustainable business model. My suggestion is not to call about this program. Your account will be flagged. Notwithstanding the fact that I am registered in the program, they claim that I am not (due to their own incompetency in not being able to find older registered customers), they want me now to "register" again even though the program is cancelled. They don't seem to realize the irony in what they are asking.

Rep also said huge incoming calls due to new LNB, new channels and cancellation of HAFH program.
 
#138 ·
Received this from Shaw today in answer to my question about HAFH:

"On May 30, 2013, Shaw Direct discontinued “Home Away From Home” one of our longest running programs. This program offered you the chance to receive service at two locations under one monthly bill anywhere in Canada. Moving forward we would like to continue to offer you the option to have satellite television service at your cottage/RV with our new “2nd Home” program.

The primary differences between the “2nd Home” and “Home Away From Home” program are twofold. The first is that customers will now be required to set up a secondary account for their vacation property. We will, however, be offering services at the vacation property that mirror the primary residence but at a deeply discounted price. The second is that we are now allowing customers to enjoy their programming at both locations simultaneously.

We certainly understand the impact that this adjustment in policy may have on our customers as well as the frustration, confusion or concern that may result from it. We are glad that we were able to provide the Home Away From Home service at no charge for as long as we did, but we have recognized it is not sustainable in its current form. The new program will allow us to provide similar benefits at a price that is more representative of the costs related to offering services at a second location. We are currently the only service provider in Canada to offer our customers the opportunity to access programming at an additional vacation property at a discounted rate. Services may also be temporarily suspended at your vacation property while not in use, provided the primary residence remains active.

Please be assured we are here to support you through this transition and to offer an honest and open dialogue relating to any concerns you might have. Could we have your account number if you have further questions?"
 
#140 · (Edited by Moderator)
New Charges Home away from Home ?

Have not been on line for sometime so may have missed some info

Understand Shaw are now going to charge for home away progamme, 2 residence 2 fees, currently offering 50% discount for 2nd residence

Service will no longer be available south of the canadian border, so my 3month Florida visit no Canadian tv

Would appreciate what info people have on these topics
 
#141 ·
New Rules

In a nutshell,

* if you are a new customer to HAFH, you have to pay 75% additional to what your current bill is

* if you are an existing customer, you have to pay 50% additional to what your current bill is

* apparently, not available at all if you are in the U.S.

* if you registered for this program many years ago, they don't even know that you are currently on the program, apparently because the method used now is different from years ago, so you are likely in the clear - suggestion: keep mouth shut and remain ignorant of any changes

* they don't want you using two locations at one time so if you do have two locations, it seems that they will be happy to shut down one location and you can avoid additional fees this way

Personal thoughts:

* if you set up your own dish, they still have no way of knowing unless you tell them

* not sure how they plan to implement this or roll this out

* shutting down one location while leaving another active would be a nightmare for weekend campers or cottage goers - sitting on hold a minimum of one hour each week and then doing the same when you get back home

* Shaw Direct seems to be going the way of Bell - inept CSRs, CSRs who don't speak English well, limiting service to one location only, clueless CSRs who don't even know what channels they offer

* Shaw Direct is quickly losing whatever edge they may have had - they are way behind in channels, twice a year rate increases, unacceptable "hold" times when calling, lack of knowledge of CSRs (likely due to poor or little training) and lack of experience due to high turnover.
 
#144 ·
What I was told today, with the "NEW" program, its 2nd home is what they call it now, you are allowed to have both locations running at the same time.I was also told that you can have 6 receivers at home and another 6 at your 2nd home for that discounted price... but as you mentioned, I was also registered with home away for home, but they have no record of it...

The other thing CSR told me, was that you can only have it active for a weekend, month or all year if you wanted too. It will be prorated. There working on a phone and online options. But, still to have to pay even half, for taking one receiver with you in your RV, its not worth.
 
#145 ·
So do you have to own the second home or can it be a friends place? Rules seem somewhat ambiguous at best and they've left themselves open for a lot of problems. i.e. my friend and I can now share an account and pay less than if we each had our own account. They should make this more clear so people don't steal.
 
#148 ·
I spend some time in Florida during the winter and I have suspended my Home Away From Home program for the summer. When I return in the fall and want to re-start, what should I do?
By the way, in Canada I live in a building which only allows Rogers cable, so I would not be able to get Shaw Direct even if I wanted to.
 
#149 ·
Leesnurg, it does not sound like you would even be in th HAFH program because your primary residence does not have Shaw Direct. Does SD even know that you are using the service in Florida? I assume you are billed in Canada and just on a vacation suspension. If this is the case, do nothing and never mention where you are getting service or you will be cut off.
 
#153 ·
When I started Shaw Direct, I mentioned that I was bringing everything to Florida. Although I don't know if they kept that original request. Whenever I contact them I have to use my Canadian phone number. My only concern is - when I re-start in the fall, what do I say if I am asked why it was "suspended for the summer"? Also, even if I get everything re-started, I presume I still will not get the new channels.
 
#156 · (Edited)
This really po's me. I just had a new lnb and receivers installed at primary. My new hd channels kept disappearing. Took 3 calls to find out they were removing them on purpose as their way of flagging my account and forcing a decision on the hafh location. I said no thanks and will look at all options.

That said, if I get a new lnb at hafh location to match my primary and take down a receiver I'll have activated here at primary, is there any way shaw would even know? And no I would not feel bad about it. I cannot be in two places at once so the service will only ever be consumed at one location at a time. Simply saves someone the hassle of hauling along a receiver and dish when going to the weekend location

As the previous poster notes it does not pay to be honest so why bother.

I'm also wondering if my other dish and receiver will continue to work at hafh location, just without the new channels.
 
#158 ·
I've been thinking about this the last couple of days, and I get madder thinking about it... I am not going to tell them them I've gone it's a receiver in the trailer.. If they really push to get me to use there new 2nd home program, I will use it, but only if I can suspended my home service as know one would be here anyway..

Talk about more money. I do not qualify for the 50% off because somehow, me being honest about it before and registering with HAFA, they have no record of it. So only 25% off.. A joke!
 
#159 ·
So thinking out loud here...if one were to pay the discounted price for a second location AND be diligent about suspending EACH location when not there, the ability to lower the total cost exists as compared to keeping the one account going year round. Unless they bump the cost to full price at the second location if the first location is suspended. Even then though, the total cost would be the same as before. Of course the way things are at the call centres lately, it won't be easy to be diligent.

As to the 50% or 75% rates and whether the HAFH was on record, I would think there may be ways to argue the 50% rate successfully. Have them look at total number of receivers on your account. See if there is any record of them having sent you a dish in the past or two upgraded LNB's at the same time. Of course if you currently have receivers with two different V codes active that pretty much says HAFH though not conclusively.

If you have an existing HAFH that they won't acknowledge with the lower rate then 0% extra for the second location is what they are choosing.
 
#160 ·
I am on chat right now with Shaw Direct, apparently you cannot suspend your main account. Only way to do this is to start a whole new account.

From Chat:
No the main account does have to stay on while you are at your second home as well, as the second home actually runs off the programming of your main home. If you were to open a second account completely for you RV, you would be able to suspend the account while you are not using it, but you would pay full price for the second account rather than the discounted rate.

This is a money thing not necessarily a CRTC thing
 
#162 ·
"Of course if you currently have receivers with two different V codes"

Can you explain what this means. If I have matching lnb's at both locations, will the v codes match.

Also - anyone have input if my service would continue to work as it was at my hafh location sans the new HD channels? Or are they going to disable that receiver somehow?
 
#164 ·
I've been in a few meetings with the sales management and technical management for Ontario with Shaw, and have been told that they do have methods of checking the location of a receiver based on the new xKu LNB and location numbering (similar to Bell's methods with locations).

In all honesty, I am not too sure how they are going to be doing this - but the fact stands that they say they can. Are they trying to scare people into going straight? Maybe. Is it a legitimate tracking method? Again, maybe.

Now, if you're not a fan of signing up for their 2nd Home package, go ahead and get an LTSS at your cottage or what have you. You'll get a fancy new elliptical dish, xKu LNB, older receiver, and 5 or so channels! AHEM.
 
#175 ·
Not according to 'SomeTech':

I've been in a few meetings with the sales management and technical management for Ontario with Shaw, and have been told that they do have methods of checking the location of a receiver based on the new xKu LNB and location numbering (similar to Bell's methods with locations).

In all honesty, I am not too sure how they are going to be doing this - but the fact stands that they say they can. Are they trying to scare people into going straight? Maybe. Is it a legitimate tracking method? Again, maybe.
 
#165 ·
V-codes tell the receiver what channels it can tune and what number they are on, and how to tune them. The latter varies based on the LNB setup you have.
So yes, if you have the same LNBF type at your main and vacation homes, you don't have to have it changed as you move receivers between each.

Anyhow, my belief is that TV subscriptions license content for the address, not the user, which is why they had to change the HAFH program, so licenses get paid for both addresses.
 
#166 ·
In line with classicsat's post, the v-codes on an LTSS are vastly different than that of a standard programming package. By getting an LTSS, you will be getting the elliptical dish with an xKu LNB. Now, if Shaw does have tracking capabilities, every legitimate customer and cheater is S.O.L. If Shaw does not have the tracking capabilities they say, get an LTSS and work out the rest yourself.

Shaw's not a bad company. They've had their hand forced in part with regulations. The 2nd Home package was almost an overnight change - the planning of it was very short.

Smart people will always figure out a way around regulations or programs. It's just a matter of time.

Personally, I will be utilizing the 2nd home program myself. It's not all that terrible when you're looking at only paying 2-3 months at 150-175%. Now, for people that use a second location more often than that, it really is a blow.
 
#167 ·
Anyhow, my belief is that TV subscriptions license content for the address, not the user


And that my friend demonstrates how outdated the model is. I can see this holding true if the content provider needs to build infrastructure to your address to carry the content. That is no more true on satellite tv than it is for satellite radio. It's an old model and adds to the reason why netflix and hulu are the future. You pay for the content anywhere anytime. The infrastructure and the content are separate. Guess I could always pay for Internet at my hafh and connect to my shaw direct through a slingbox and in addition access netflix and other content I download. Guest going down that road I would just cancel SD altogether and stick with online content. I fail to see why the traditional cable providers and crtc push a model that belongs in the 20th century.
 
#168 ·
I have a friend in Oshawa, with three kids, who did just that: no cable, no satellite...everything by Internet. What's important to note there is that THREE kids are learning this is how you get content. The cable and satellite companies better pay attention to this....their future-funding is flying away....
 
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