Categories
Customer Service

[UPDATED] Alert: Rogers confusing Montreal with Montebello, charging customers long distance

Rogers, meet Google Maps.

[UPDATE MAY 10, 2010: Just got off the phone with Rogers after receiving my new eBill, complete with another $20+ in fictitious long distance charges stemming from calls I apparently made in Montebello. I escalated the matter to management. I told them about the hits this blog is getting from people typing “Rogers Montreal Montebello” in Google as proof that this is a serious problem. They reimbursed the charges, again, but told me the issue has continued into the next billing cycle.

If this is happening to you, please post your comment below. I’m getting hits now on an almost daily basis from people with this issue.]

Just got off a 31-minute phone call with Rogers customer service after getting charged $22 for long distance phone calls. Apparently, there is a billing glitch where calls made in Montreal are being charged as if there were made in Montebello, Quebec, a quaint little town near the Ontario border 90 minutes from the big city. The only reason I found out about it is by looking through the detailed list of my calls after seeing my monthly charge was too high. Amazingly, some of my calls made throughout the month were being charged as if I made them from that wonderful town. Sometimes there was as little as four minutes between calls I made in Montreal and supposedly made in Montebello! See below:

Montreal to Montebello in four minutes. I don't drive that fast.

So if you notice your Rogers bill is too high, double-check every single charge, and make sure it isn’t continuing into the current billing cycle, as it did with me. Obviously, Rogers isn’t going around crediting people if they don’t take the time to call. On the positive side, at least they’re not Bell.

Categories
Apple

Apple iPad: If you call it a big iPod touch, you don’t get it. (Full Review)

The iPad and its six-app dock

One of the things I’ve read the most during my few days with the iPad is random bloggers and tech writers calling the iPad a “big iPod touch.” After spending almost a week with the iPad I can tell you one thing: Those people clearly don’t know what they are talking about.

Categories
Apple

Apple iPad is pretty darn neat, says blogger using WordPress on the iPad

Well, after half a day of waiting in a Best Buy parking lot in Vermont, I’m a very lucky Canadian who now has an iPad. It’s sitting on my lap as I type. Stay tuned, I’ll have more on the iPad this week right here on the blog and on CTV Montreal.

Categories
HD Retail

Don’t spend more than $10 on an HDMI cable, EVER!

From the people at http://www.mint.com, the best infographic ever on why you should never buy an HDMI cable at Future Shop or Best Buy, especially Monster cables.

Budget Planner – Mint.com

Categories
Retail

Huge technology sale at Jean Coutu this week

In case you need to stock up on tapes to record episodes of Magnum, P.I., Jean Coutu is having a big sale this weekend. Be warned though: There’s a limit of six VHS tapes per customer.

LaserDiscs and 8-Track tapes should be on special this week as well.

Categories
Social Networking

Google Buzz: One month later

What a difference a month makes. A day after Google Buzz launched, I posted my initial impressions and included a pic that showed the enormous Buzz chatter in Montreal in the hours after its launch. Well today, one month later, I decided to log on and see what the Buzz was downtown:

Hello, anyone?

Pretty dead, as you can see. Once again, it appears that Google’s algorithm-based methodology has let them down, and now they’ve got to figure out a way to turn Buzz into something people will use regularly. My own Google Buzz feed now seems to consist solely of reposts from people’s linked Twitter accounts. Buzz has the potential to be huge in social media. However, it seems as if Google might be stretching themselves too thin here. They have so many products and services, it seems as if every time they launch a new one it sits in neglect for months before changes and tweaks are made. Except for some privacy changes made a few days after Buzz’ launch, Google hasn’t done much with it.

I still like Buzz, but Twitter’s simplicity and head start are keeping it ahead. Twitter has also always had a problem retaining users, with about 60% of people who sign up abandoning the service within a month. I thought Google’s built-in legion of Gmail users might take up Buzz in a big way, but so far, it’s proven to be more of a nuisance for them.

Categories
Smartphones

Motorola Milestone: Full review

The Motorola Droid, and its hard-to-open box. Be careful, one false move and your new phone will pop out and fall on the floor. Luckily, this one landed in my lap.

The Motorola Milestone ($199 on a three-year contract with Telus) is much-needed and welcome competitor in the fight to dethrone the iPhone from its dominant position in Canada’s smartphone wars.

The Milestone is the same phone sold as the Droid south of the border. This naming confusion is symbolic of Motorola’s failure in fighting the iPhone. They are fighting one of the most powerful brands and iconic devices ever, but they make the awful decision to market the Milestone under different names in different markets. It’s a lot harder to build worldwide momentum for your product if you’re trying to sell something called the Droid in the U.S. and the Milestone in Canada and Europe.

Naming issues aside, Motorola has a great product on its hands, mostly thanks to the quickly improving Android OS.

Categories
Smartphones

WordPress for Google Android not that bad, says blogger typing on Motorola Milestone

My Motorola Milestone review unit arrived this afternoon, and I’m putting it through rigorous tests as we speak. Android’s WordPress App is pretty solid, although typing with the keyboard is not fun so far.

I’ll have a full Milestone review (Running on the Telus network) at the end of the week.

Categories
Social Networking

Google Buzz: 24 hours later

The Buzz from Downtown Montreal, just 24 hours after launch.

Google’s new Buzz, its latest foray into the social media sphere has landed on gmail accounts everywhere. Despite launching yesterday at 1pm on a few desktops, Android smartphones (version 2.0 or higher only!) and the iPhone, there seems to be quite a bit of activity by Montreal’s Buzzerati.

My first impressions: Google Buzz, while late to the game, isn’t too late, and I think it will be a hit. While some may feel needing a Gmail account will hamper Buzz, I couldn’t agree more. The fact that so many people already have Gmail means Buzz has an installed user base in the millions. By activating Buzz, Google will automatically suggest Gmail users you know that you can follow. Surprisingly, I found its suggestions to be pertinent and convenient.

The Buzz Web App for iPhone and Android 2.0 phones is impressive, although I have seen some bugginess on Apple’s iconic device when trying to view maps. That aside, being able to localize Buzz is impressive since so many people are using the service already. Doing the same thing with Tweetie on the iPhone can be a big letdown when you see so few people around you tweeting.

I don’t see this as competition for Facebook just yet, but I think the folks at Twitter should be quaking in their Levi’s right about now. Google infrastructure and security is simply too strong to be hampered by the “Fail Whale” and spam that has continued to hurt Twitter.

Categories
HD Television

How to watch CBS, NBC, FOX, & PBS in HD for free

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (I'm with Coco) in glorious free over-the-air (OTA) HD.

A while back, I wrote about what a mess it is getting HD programming in Montreal. It’s either very expensive (Bell and Shaw Direct) or almost non-existent (Videotron). The local options are so bad that I came very close to going grey-market by paying for DirecTV with the help of a friend with a US address. While the costs are similar to what you would pay with a Canadian cable or satellite company, the amount of quality HD channels available with DirecTV provides much more value.

At the end of the day I decided that my television viewing habits didn’t warrant the big up-front and long-term costs associated with any satellite option. While I love TV, I just don’t watch enough of it to warrant an $80-a-month subscription. I’d much rather spend a fraction that cash for unlimited internet on a mobile device (iPad, anyone?) and figure out a cheap solution for a little TV watching now and then.