Why people complain about Rogers

People love to hate Rogers. More so than any of their competitors. If there was a list of companies people bitch about the most, I would like to think that Rogers would be in the top 2.

Rogers has a long history of being hated. It started way back in the cable TV days when they would sell you services because you didn't ask not to have them. The controversy struck again over their high-speed Internet offering, which offered max speeds but bandwidth was shared throughout the neighbourhood, which basically meant that if everyone was surfing at the same time, you'd never reach your full potential.

Their customer service and tech support staff have never been favourites either. A group so notorious for following their step-by-step procedures, that if you ask how they're doing today, they'll likely answer with: "Is the modem on", followed by: "how many green lights are flashing".

We could talk about the TSN2 fiasco, but that in itself could take a while.

Which brings us to the system access fee. The most hated $7 on the planet. Not only is this fee a burden on your wireless account, but they charge you on your Home Phone account too!

Once upon a time, if you asked what a system access fee was, Rogers would tell you it was a fee mandated by the CRTC - a statement that disappeared pretty quickly once people started calling the CRTC to learn more.

This morning, the Toronto Star reported that Rogers has decided to get rid of the pesky System Access Fee on all wireless accounts. My first thought was that this would pave the way for the other providers to follow suit. My second thought was: "Now how will they pay for the Toronto Blue Jays?"

Another couple seconds of reading quickly wiped out any feeling of joy I had just experienced.

While the $6.95 System Access Fee is going away, Rogers, in true form, is adding $5 on to each of their base plans and charging a "regulatory recovery fee" which ranges from $2.46 to $3.46 depending on your province.

But don't worry - you'll also receive 3 new features "valued at $11" as part of your $5 fee increase. You'll also be more satisfied as a customer because your bill is much clearer - or so say Ted's people.

Rogers recently increased the monthly price of their cable and Internet services and now they're at it again by removing $6.95 from your bill and replacing it with $6.46 to $7.46 in other fees.

...and that, is why people complain about Rogers.