Shaw technical issues

[This was written and happened during the first week of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs]

Where do I begin? I guess it all starts with a technical glitch I have endured for many years. Sometimes, I'll turn on my TV and Shaw cable box and....... black screen no audio. Switch channels - perfect. Switch back - problem solved. Odd, but the fix is simple and quick.

But what is the cause? Bad signal? Bad hardware? Bad cabling? Who knows? Technicians have come numerous times for this and other issues and the problem persists. But this is just the start. It gets better.

I watch hockey. Specifically, I watch Montreal Canadiens games whenever I can get them, which unfortunately for someone living in YYC, is not very often, thank you NHL greedy bastards. Oh, sure, I can watch all the Habs games I want for a measly $300 a year. F that.

Anyway, on the rare occasion that I can get a Montreal game, I usually record it on the PVR because I'm not typically home in time to catch the face-off. 7 times out of 10, it works just fine. But 3 times out of 10, it randomly doesn't record anything. Nada. Black screen, no sound. This happened most recently on Tuesday night, game 2 of the Montreal/Philadelphia series. First game recorded, second game did not. No rhyme or reason.

So I contacted Shaw. 60+ minutes I will never get back. They tried a few excuses from their script (or imagination, hard to tell which). "You are not able to record live sporting events." Uh, no, that's not true. I do it all the time. Next? "You are not able to record 'some' live sporting events and this is not a Shaw issue, it's a business issue of the broadcaster." Nope. What else ya got? "The game has obviously been blacked out." Uh no. There are no blackouts during the playoffs. Nice try though. "Ask your hockey loving neighbours, they will tell you it's true." He actually said that. He's in Pakistan btw.

So obviously I'm not going to get to the bottom of why some games record and some randomly don't. Then this next thing happens.

This morning I decide to try another attempt at recording a live game because there's a chance I won't be home in time. I turn the TV on at around 8 am and access the channel listings guide built into the box. I know for a fact that the game is being broadcast on both CBC and Sportsnet West at 5 pm MST. In the guide, CBC is showing as broadcasting something else at 5 pm. Sportsnet West is showing as broadcasting nothing at 5 pm. Not "TBD" or "To be announced", nothing. So even an attempt to record the time slot results in an error, "Unable to record nothing" or words to that effect. I go online and check a multitude of TV listings sites and they all say the same thing - there's a live game at 5 pm on both those channels.

Time to call Shaw again, because I can't set up a recording if the guide is misinformed. I'm told that there's nothing wrong with the guide. I explain that it does not match the online listings anywhere. I'm told that they're looking at an online guide and it's showing what the Shaw guide is mistakenly showing (not the game). I ask, what site are you on? [tvtv.ca] I look for myself, it's the game on both channels. I say "How is it possible that you and I are looking at the same website and you see no game while I see the game? He asks how I got to that page. We walk through the steps together. He sees no game, I see the game. I ask, "Are you in Canada?" No. "Can I speak to someone in Canada?" No. It won't make a difference anyway. "Please explain why you can't see a game listed and I can." He could not. We're done here.

I happen to have a friend who lives nearby who used to work for Shaw. I call asking if he has any connections in the technical support area at Shaw. He does not, but he asked what was wrong. I tell him the whole story, including my past history. He asks one question? What kind of box do you have? I tell him I have an older Motorola box. Then he tells me something that I should have guessed but found too incredible to believe. Shaw is not interested in fixing any issue that might be related to older hardware, older technology. If I was on their most modern hardware (at a much higher cost), I might not have the issues at all and I would most certainly get more attention for the problem. I should get BlueSky or whatever it's called now, he says.

Unfortunately, Shaw doesn't have many options to choose from. You want a package? You can have Limited TV for $25 per month. Yeah. Wait for it. No box. 20 channels, 4 network channels (CBC. CTV, City, Global). That's it. No American networks. No HGTV. No TLC. It's like ordering a $25 appetizer and they toss a stale English muffin on your plate.

You want more? That'll be $95 per month for up to 114 channels. What exactly 'up to' means, I don't know. But that's no premium channels. Sigh.

[Update to answer some questions I got from some folks]

Telus plays the same sort of game as Shaw with their offerings. Optik TV Lite is only $25 per month. That gets you CBC, CTV, Glocal, City and Fox. Woo hoo! PVR rental $15 extra. Wireless box $5 extra. Plus they take their $150 pound of flesh for the install.

You can also choose to pay an extra $7 per month for an add-on that adds ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and CBC News. So now we're up to $52 per month for less channels than you'd get in a Super 8 motel room.

They obviously are just using these shit offerings as leverage to get you to go with the full meal deal. For $160 per month you get a whole bunch of channels and theme packs, plus the hardware is free and they throw in Netflix, Prime, Crave and 300Mbps internet. So I mean, it's a great deal, but we were getting hosed at $100 a month for Shaw before. If we were home watching TV all day, that would be one thing.

I would be willing to pay per hour if we had all access. Because we watch maybe 2 hours of broadcast TV a week.