Like too many people, I am probably taking too much of my share of Internet bandwidth. I do it late at night when most of you here in North America are NOT using the bandwidth. But still the same, I recognize that I could cut back on my usage of what's available.
My internet service provider is Rogers Cable, the same greedy folks that sell me my cable package. They want my telephone (which I do use) and my cellular (which I don't and won't use) business too. They have barely-literate, recent immigrants call me regularly to A) confirm to me details of my Rogers account and then B) to sell me one of the two services above that I don't buy from Rogers. Of course, if they were ACTUALLY from Rogers, they'd have my account details in front of them. I hang up. I'm long since given up on telling them to take me off their phoning list. Then, I try to go back to sleep.
I stay with cable Internet for two reasons. I don't have to run a program to get ONTO the internet (and later, to get OFF). This is annoying. I also find that cable internet has a much higher rate of up-time than the Bell alternative, Sympatico. Both monopolies are soul-sucking profit machines who would, if allowed by law, go after gold fillings in corpses. They rarely, if ever, try to do the right thing first. They do a lot of grabbing, hoping not enough of the population notices. If it's not tied down, they feel entitled.
So, do we have an understanding about how I think of these companies? I stay with each company's core businesses, because I believe that if there is any expertise left in these two monolithic hulks, it's how they made their first gazillions. I hate them both, Bell a little bit more. And that might be changing.
I got some actual real-life, in the mailbox on the side of the house, mail from Rogers two days ago. It was a warning. I was over my download limit in each of the last three months. Probably true. I don't dispute the numbers, each of which was about 25 per cent over the advertised limit (well, the changed limit ... it WAS unlimited when I agreed to the account). It warned me that continued overuse would result in a surcharge starting in June. Fair enough. Time enough to dial it back down to their idea of a reasonable limit. And the surcharge was reasonable if things got hectic during a given month.
I should point out that downloading includes use of products like CrossLoop and its ilk, wherein I spent a lot of time helping family members and others with problems remotely. It doesn't account for the complete overage, but a good chunk of it. I was glad that I had the option to pay a surcharge and continue on with THAT practice. I was going to have to limit silly downloads without a purpose.
Okay, tonight/this morning, I get an email at two of the three accounts I have under my Rogers umbrella informing that I had reached 100% of the 95 GB monthly usage allowance provided. Well, that's just patently absurd. They also provided a link to check out my ongoing usage. Okay, time to see if maybe somebody's been piggy-backing on my wireless router, having broken my WEP pass phrase.
And therein lies the reason to consider the switch to Bell. No, not because of any more lenient limit. If Bell doesn't have one, they'll have one an hour after Rogers' goes on line. Nope, the whole frigging (there's that curse word I like so much) deal is really all designed to get me to accept On-Line billing from the foul friends at Rogers. I can't access http://www.rogers.com/keepingpace unless I register for on-line billing. [What follows here is a whole lot of curse words normally reserved for driving alone in traffic on a rainy/snowy day with drivers who just got their driving licenses 20 minutes before].
15 minutes go by ...
Okay, now that that's worked it's way through my system., thanks for bearing through my long tirade. I will sleep on it and await the return from an email I sent to the kings of negative optioning. If the answer is not satisfactory, I will set up three days of my life to await switchover to Bell Sympatico. One day to expect them, one day to complain they didn't arrive and threaten a pox on their house, and the third day to get the internet switched over.
Any wonder why blood pressure medicine remains the hottest selling pharmaceutical on the planet? Wonder if Teddy Rogers owns some pharma stock?
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