There oughta be a law!

[c9]

When we moved, I switched our Bell service completely over as-is to the new place. We're getting a pretty good deal, so I figured what the heck.

Bell didn't show up when they promised, so I wasn't here. The electrician let them in, and Bell's technician decided that our wiring was too old, and he put in a new demarcation box (where the line enters the house). He also wired up one jack only. In the basement. So we could only hook up our phone, internet, etc downstairs. I called Bell to get the scoop on new jacks, and was told they cost $99 for one, and $55 for each one thereafter. Holy cannoli! While I was trying to schedule the technician to come back, my cordless phone started to beep because the battery was low. I warned the agent that I'd have to call back, and asked what ticket number I should quote. He said "it'll just be another minute." And then I went dead. So I didn't call back, and fumed instead.

Then Vincent reminded me that the various phone/internet/TV companies in Canada are engaged in a huge war right now, since number portability* just started. So I called Rogers, and they got me a great deal that would have saved us almost $100 in the first four months -- primarily due to one thing: Bell charges you through the nose for new jacks, and Rogers charges just $10 a pop. Crazy!

I signed on to the Rogers deal for phone, long distance, and internet. I determined though that we would eventually be paying more, and the savings would be eaten up unless we switched back. So this morning I called Bell and asked if there was some way to fix this situation because "I really like working with Bell and would prefer to stick with our current setup."**

They cut me a new deal that involved a 50% discount on the new jacks (still pricey really) plus a discount on our internet if we sign a 24-month contract. I ran the numbers*** and figured that we will still be saving money -- both in the short term and the long term. As long as Bell doesn't pull any surprises. But sheesh!

So anyway, we should have more than one phone jack next week. Finally!


* Number Portability means that Canadians can now change phone companies but keep their phone number. This was seen as a barrier to competition, since people like to keep their phone number.
** Not entirely a lie: Rogers blocks unencrypted BitTorrent traffic, while Bell doesn't. Woo!
*** Can I just say how royally fucked it is that I needed to create a big spreadsheet just to figure out which deal is better for us? I mean, I understand why they make it complicated, but for petele's sake! (teehee)

Comments

[thespos]

I ran into the exact same issue when I bought my house. Phone jacks all over and yet they would only turn on one. I ended up turning them on in the kitchen, my office (for the DSL), my bedroom, and my family room (for the satellite TV updates), but there were still four more jacks around the house in places of varying convenience.

I bought one of those four cordless phones with one base dealies, and used them in the places where I didn't turn on a jack. My mother ended up doing the same thing in her house, turning on only two (one for the PC in her office, and one for the cordless phone base in the kitchen).

I remember a time when they turned on all the telephone jacks and all the coaxial jacks for cable at once, and didn't try to charge you on a per-thingie basis. It really sucks.

I'm glad you figured out a solution, tho... it's such a stupid thing to have to go around and around with people about.

[rostin79.livejournal.com]

new jacks meaning installing brand new ones? or taking ones already there and setting them up on your phone line?

If it's the latter, ti's actually not that hard to do it yourself. Just unscrew the set up one, look at the wire and color placement, and mimic that :)

[c9.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the existing jacks are not workable -- well, the jacks are, but the wires aren't. I'd have to run new wires from the existing jacks (no problem) through the house (no problem) and connect them at the demarcation point (problem!). I looked in it and it ain't within my current knowledge.

Once I see what the tech does on Monday, it will be pretty close to within my capabilities in future though.

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

We got lucky when we moved into our house. The phone jacks came pre-wired for the first and second floors, but there was nothing in the basement. But we didn't want to pay the Bell crazy rate, they even charge you a fee for hooking up the wire at the demarcation point to the wiring inside your house.

So our alarm guy used to work at Bell for years, he said he would hook up the Bell wire to the house and install as many jacks in the basement as we wanted for no extra charge. So we got him to put in a few.

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing* that this is a tariffed service, meaning that "incumbent" Bell is only allowed to charge you what the CRTC will let them charge. Meanwhile "newcomer" Rogers is allowed to drastically slash their prices in order to seduce you over as a customer. These rules are designed to prevent Bell from crushing poor little start-up companies like Rogers, which last quarter turned a greater profit than any other communications company in Canada.

God, I'm starting to think like them now. :)

*not a legal opinion

[c9.livejournal.com]

Probably. They present it as "we're not responsible for the lines anymore" which is true, but Rogers is taking the hit on it to win market share.

It's similar to the restrictions on Air Canada, which still has to play by different rules than WestJet, despite the theory being that it's a private company.

*shrug*

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

It's really comparable, actually. Air Canada and the incumbent telcos each have to be competitive in the juicy markets like Toronto, but still have to service the high-cost no-profit markets, like Goose Bay and Thunder Bay and pretty much anything else that ends in Bay. It's an insane business model.

Not too get too capitalist about it. The free market and the state market each make sense as an economic theory--but they're cousins. When you breed them, the results turn out retarded.

[c9.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome metaphor. I plan to steal it.

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

I should really start writing these down.

[bartok.livejournal.com]

I'm getting shudders of horror as memories of the Aliant Slave-Pits come flooding back from reading that.

I prefer my new world of working on the IT side of the one major completely un-regulated incumbent in New Zealand. When raping a population it's best to be on top.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

We had a similar problem when we moved in, and solved it by just not bothering with such old-fashioned things as wires. We have a three-handset cordless dealie that works fine and while our single jack is in the basement, that's where the wireless router is, so it's all good.

I suppose if the office weren't in the basement, I probably would have just run a cat-5 line from the basement to wherever the computers were and put in a switch at that point.