2/12/2010

Programming Change

Posted by with 5 comments | in
About five months ago, I spent some time exploring our utility bills in great details.  In particular, I was looking to reduce costs of our TV (Bell) bill.  At the time I wasn't able to find a better deal for the programming we were receiving, and we were splitting the bill 5 ways - which significanly reduced the individual expense.

Shaw has been trying to woo exisiting phone/internet customers to become tv customers as well.  Before now, it hasn't been worth it to switch.

I won't get into all the details of the negotiaion - but I will share with you the end result. 

For a total price of $35.60 this is what we will get:
  • Price guarantee for 12 months
  • Free rental of their HDPVR
    • PVR is a duel tuner with 160G hardrive
  • Includes Digital TV package
  • Includes 13 HD Basic channels
  • Includes 18 HD Plus channels
  • Includes HD Time Shifting
    •  East and West feeds of ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC HD channels in most markets 
The regular price for this package is $69.95 plus $19.95 for rental of the HDPVR.

The cost to cancel Bell's service early is $150, and our contract end date isn't until July.  I did call and let Bell know about Shaw's offer - I told them that if they could come up with a discount equal to or greater than $30/month ($150/months left in contract = $30); however they wern't able to be competitive with Shaw's pricing.

We currently pay $78.12 for Bell - the difference between that and Shaw is $42.52.  So, in the next 5 months we will save $212.60.  After the cancellation fee - we still save $62.60 (taxes included).

We're happy with the programming that Shaw will offer, and the savings is worth it!

5 comments:

  1. Kim12 February 2010 at 06:56

    Sounds like Shaw is giving you a great deal!

    Are the savings still going to be worth it after the 1 year price guarantee is up? And is the price of the pVR always going to be free?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jessie12 February 2010 at 07:13

    After the one year, the price will be comparable with Bell. So I think that come this time next year... i'll be on the look-out for another good TV deal. Shaw will likely extend the pricing or do something else to keep people from bailing after 12 months.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mom12 February 2010 at 07:57

    I am really surprised that Bell did not ante up. But cash is cash.

    ReplyDelete
  4. jordan12 February 2010 at 11:35

    Im really looking forward to the switch as Shaw is more user friendly :)
    I think overall after 12mnths itll still be cheaper to have all three services combined to have better savings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog23 February 2010 at 06:29

    Jessie, You've got the right idea about what to do a year from now. I literally call Shaw every year and renegotiate some form of deal, they're always willing to work something out!

    ReplyDelete

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