My family became Shaw customers when I was only ten. That was twelve years ago. Barring a brief period of time when my fiancée and I lived in a place that already provided with SaskTel high-speed internet, Shaw has been my ISP for all of that time. To say I’ve been a loyal customer for over a decade is a bit of a stretch, since I’ve only been paying myself for the last year and a half, but nonetheless, my decision to choose Shaw came from my parents’ trust in your company, and in your service, who have been paying you for more than a decade. And yet, both my parents and I, and the rest of your customers, were not made aware of the sudden shift to usage-based billing starting two days ago.
I must say, I’m a bit insulted. You’re more than willing to phone my wife at all hours to let us know about your cable and phone bundles, but are quite reluctant to inform us about a major change to the way that we will billed. It feels a bit underhanded. But that’s not the biggest problem I have.
My problem, is that I live on the internet. I don’t need cable; I pay for Netflix. My phone is divided between my cell, social networking, and sometimes a bit of Google Voice. I do my banking online. I can even do a lot of my shopping online. I’ve even considered getting Google’s new netbook when it’s finally out for the world to consume. But now you’re changing all of that.
Look, I understand that you have a business to run. Services like Netflix take away from your business. You need to recoup the cost. Charging for usage ensures you are getting your money for the service you provide, and if I need more, you get more. Okay, sure. I won’t get into all of my issues with that. Other than the fact that, rather than charging me fairly, you are gouging me, but charging me dollars for what costs you cents. And only a few cents, I might add.
No, the problem I have, is that this “UBB,” this choice of billing, in essence, cripples competitors., it cripples small businesses, and it cripples new technologies. In an age where more and more people are “living” on the internet, this choice of metering the internet is undeniably destructive. There is no more value to services like Netflix. Tired of customers switching from cable to internet-based television? Then just crush the competition. Small businesses also get hurt. Let’s consider a personal example for a moment. I am part of an improv comedy group. In an effort to get ourselves more well-known, we post our shows online for people to see. Well, putting up those videos takes up a lot of data, and who will want to watch them when they’re paying extra to do so? Suddenly, a powerful advertising source is lost. And then the new technologies. Look back at Google’s netbook. Cloud computing becomes expensive beyond belief when our data usage gets capped, and we get gouged for every bit and byte beyond the cap.
And so here we are. I’m angry. Your cash grab has left me appalled, But, you don’t really care very much, I imagine. Well, except that the CRTC ruling is likely going to be flipped. And, luckily, I can easily switch over to SaskTel. They don’t have any plans to switch to usage-based billing. And when your customers leave you for them, I think they’ll be sure to avoid the same mistake you made.
Goodbye.
F. David Schultz
Saskatoon, SK
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Encourage you to move to SaskTel.
ReplyDeleteHave always used SaskTel for moral reasons. They are local.
Shaw piggybacked on all the existing infrastructure which SaskTel developed for over fifty years. Shaw was then able to charge less expensive plans offered only to profit making centers rolling out to "the rest" if profitable. They will inevitably raise tariffs (whether transparent or hidden). That is their raison d’être - PROFIT.
SaskTel is part of our community. Not perfect by any means but allows me to maintain some shred of illusion around the idea working for "the people"