Skysaxon wrote: The audio dropouts and pixellation are still sadly there at Shaw.
Not to deviate from the topic too much, but I find that comment to be very interesting, indeed.
Two years ago, I was forced to drop Star Choice, which I liked, because I'd purchased my first HDTV. Unfortunately, the condo complex where I live still did not have the elliptical dish, so all of the programming was still SD. The only option I had at the time was to go with Shaw Cable. (And yes, I was aware that both companies were Shaw-owned. Still, it had been my experience that the problems with Shaw Cable I'd read about in forums like this one were non-existent with Star Choice).
So, reluctantly I made the switch. Right from Day One, many of the HD channels I received featured audio dropout every one to three minutes on the average. This made viewing sports, documentaries and musical concerts difficult to watch without becoming increasingly irritated.
Whenever I called Shaw Cable (which, for awhile, became a weekly routine), I'd receive the same story: yes, we're aware of the problem and are working on it. No, we're not able to estimate how much longer it will take to resolve. And ... (this is the one that made me decide to dump 'em as soon as I could) ... every other cable company has the exact same problem!
So, I lived with it, growing increasingly unhappy. Shaw tried to mollify me with an offer to knock $9.00 off my monthly bill until the problem had been fixed. I accepted that for awhile, but would far rather have paid the $9.00 and receive a clean, uninterrupted audio signal.
Luckily for me, Novus came into the building some six months later, and I immediately made the move. (Of course, I first questioned them about the ongoing audio problem. The sales people were completely unaware of it, and put me in touch with the head technician. He, too, claimed that this was something they'd never experienced). And with that, I took the plunge into Novus-Land.
Well, waddya know? It was true! There were no audio dropouts to be heard! I chalked it up as possibly due to Novus's service, unlike Shaw Cable's, was being delivered via fiber optics. Whatever the reason was, I much preferred it.
I'm amazed the problem as described still exists for some with Shaw Cable. A buddy of mine is still with them, and he's said it's pretty much over at his end. If so, it surprises me to read there are folks that still seem to be wrestling with it. But either way, I didn't like the cavalier response from Shaw about all cable companies being in that same boat. Novus proved them to be bald-faced liars in this regard.
In fact, I'd occasionally pose a question to the rep I happened to be talking to at SC: if every cable company was having this same problem, then why aren't they all working together to fix it? The replies were always uncertain and vague, the query obviously unanticipated. To my way of thinking, it's only logical that competitors in the same industry need to put aside their differences to resolve a common problem.
Anyway, for myself, that's neither here nor there anymore. But if I didn't have the Novus option, and Telus hadn't come into the building soon after Novus did, I'd be stuck with Shaw Cable's inferior service and nowhere else to go.
My apologies for going on in this fashion with very little to offer beyond my own personal frustrations. But it's been with me for quite some time and I believe it's been healthy for my psyche to purge the poison, so to speak. But if people find they are still beset with audio and/or video interruptions on a regular basis, be it with Shaw or any other outfit, they have every right to kick up a fuss. At the very least, you should get a few $$$ off your monthly bill.
P.S. What's the secret of properly quoting a previous message in a thread?
