Gateway pre-purchase questions

[lcann25]

Are part numbers the same as serial numbers? He sent me pictures of stickers on the bottom of the units but they just have the model and part numbers. If I do need serial numbers, where should I tell him to look?

[JasonB]

The serial number on my portal is on the back above the ethernet port. There are stickers all over the bottom and back of the gateway and more than one of them says serial number (S/n) on it. Be careful... and make sure they match when you show up, and get Shaw to put a note on your account that you enquired about them. This kind of purchase is always tricky. Trying to call Shaw during the purchase is problematic (long wait times)

[Jetranger]

Call Shaw and tell them what you are doing. They will tell you which of the serial numbers they need and if the equipment can even be sold to you. You could also do a concierge chat online when you go to pick up the equipment as that is usually much faster than waiting on the phone.

S/N stickers are on the back of my Gateway and it's probably going to be the 'MCard' # they will want for the Gateway and the 'SN' number for the Portals. My Portals have the stickers on the bottom and the back with the same numbers. Call Shaw, they'll sort it out for you.

[lcann25]

Well, I'm not sure if there is a specific department I need to talk to or what, but I just talked to some girl and told her I was wanting to purchase this system and told her I had all the serial numbers but she really didn't seem to care, she said just to call for an install appointment once I have them at my house and they will come and hook them up.

[GamerGuy]

I bought my boxes (London Drugs) and tried to do the same. I called early, and told a rep the serial numbers. (As I was instructed to do when they learned I was buying the hardware from LD.)

The tech came to do the install, and had no clue I didn't need hardware so he had a Gateway and Portal in hand anyway. He mumble hating when they do that...as he had set up the hardware he had before hand to help simplify the process. The install ended up taking several hours. (Poor guys get paid by the job not the hour to. Old way = <10 minutes for an install. New (Gateway) way, is muuuuuuch longer.)

[lcann25]

ahhh ok, I went on to the shaw website and clicked on the new equipment activation and chatted with someone online, I gave her the gateway serial number and she was able to verify that the service was terminated, and she also verified the 2 serial numbers of the portals saying everything looked fine, so Everything looks good.

[Jetranger]

You need to confirm that the boxes are 'released from the account' of the selling person or you won't be able to add them to your account. Even if there are no outstanding charges, the above step is important. Also, there may be additional complications as GamerGuy mentions. You should make sure when you book your install, if you do buy this 'used' equipment, that there is a note on the Work Order that says you already have the hardware.

[lcann25]

Jetranger,

The guy is no longer with Shaw, he moved to a remote location that does not have Shaw access, so would they still be locked to his account?, The person I chatted with on the shaw website said there would be no problem with me purchasing the equipment and activating it. You guys are starting to scare me and I think it may be better to just do the rent to own thing.

[Jetranger]

You asked what you needed to know in order to make this work. Based on my own experiences with Shaw and purchasing used PVRs and cable boxes, I've explained what you should do to ensure you have 'covered your bases' and should lead to a problem free install. If you would feel better doing it all through Shaw then go that route. Sometimes 'piece of mind' is priceless.

[TechGuy8]

@Jetranger is correct. The current owner needs to give Shaw permission to release it from his account before the new owner can activate the purchased box.


@lcann25,
Ask Shaw again whether the owner had released them to the new owner. If no, the CSR will tell you to contact the seller to call them.

Good luck.

[PaulB]

Originally Posted by Jetranger

If you have at least two services with Shaw, the equipment will be 'warrantied for life' so that shouldn't be an issue. Just make darn sure Shaw says it's OK for the equipment to be sold to you and that the owner releases them from their account.

I'd be careful about assuming Shaw will provide a lifetime hardware warranty to devices purchased second hand.

After getting a Gateway system, I loaned my old Motorola PVR to my in-laws. During the process of transferring the device from my account to theirs, the CSR made it clear the lifetime hardware warranty only applied to the original owner (me) and would not be extended to my in-laws, even though they have three services with Shaw.

We had a brief discussion over the distinction between "loaning" and "selling", but as far as he was concerned, once the hardware was taken off my account, and added to someone else's, I ceased to be the owner and thus the equipment was no longer covered by any warranty.

Given that different CSRs seem to provide conflicting information on a regular basis, this may, or may not, be Shaw's official policy with regards to second hand hardware. I'd recommend getting the warranty status of the equipment confirmed if it is a major concern.

[Jetranger]

Given that the oldest Gateways are only just now approaching a year in service, there is still at least 2 years remaining of the original 3 year warranty that Shaw offers, IIRC. It used to be that Shaw offered 'lifetime warranty' to 'triple play' customers only but with the introduction of 'Shaw Friends' it is also clearly stated in the 'benefits' of being a 'Shaw Friends' member. Any equipment that is added to your account, especially if it's still under warranty, is certainly included in that coverage.

I have confirmed this several times in the past by speaking with Shaw and it has also been confirmed here by Shaw employees. Still, if the purchaser has any doubts, it is certainly worth mentioning and also discussing with Shaw prior to making any purchase of 'used' equipment.

Be aware that not all CSRs know or correctly understand all the terms of the different 'benefits' that go along with the different 'groups' Shaw has (Triple Play, Shaw Friends, Etc.) so don't get discouraged if at first you get an answer that disagrees with what has been described here. Just ask for some confirmation from a supervisor or from the Technical or Service department.

[cdncableguy]

The reason you have to make sure that the seller has released the equipment from his account to so that Shaw can ensure that the equipment is not stolen. If the seller hasn't released it then Shaw has no way of knowing that the equipment isn't stolen.

To me this makes total sense. I have had some customers mad at me when I couldn't activate a pvr that they got from their buddy, but how am I to know where they got it from?

[Cio-Pao]

I think gateway is different with the conventional pvr's or dct's interms of re-activating it on a different account.

My understanding is that gateway needs to go back to the warehouse to de-provision it and run series of tests on it to check it's condition (whether if it can be re-deployed or not). I think it's the same thing with phone modem (DPT), warehouse makes sure that it's de-provisioned or disassociated from the old account, it passes all tests, etc. Unlike the old pvr's all we need to make sure is it's released and removed from the old account to activate it on a different account.

[Jetranger]

Gateways don't need to go back to Shaw once they have been activated. There will still need to be a Tech visit to ensure the MoCA filters go in the right place/s and to ensure proper signal levels. The rest is just keystrokes that can be done while the install is happening.