Angry about ads on Rogers Yahoo email
November 20 2008 by Ellen Roseman
People are angry. They say Rogers has no right to add advertising to their email. It’s another cash grab, one that is most unwelcome.
Rogers says it’s similar to what you find on Hotmail or Gmail. But these are free services, unlike the Rogers email that costs about $50 a month.
Have your say on this issue here. Also feel free to comment on the CRTC’s decision today not to stop Bell from throttling Web traffic for its wholesale customers.
BC
Nov 20 2008
I am outraged by Rogers’ decision to add advertisements to their Rogers/Yahoo mail page.
I already pay a considerable amount of money to use their email; in no way should I be forced to pay to watch advertisements and to have the ads take up space that could otherwise be used for composing messages and managing mail folders.
Rogers technical support advises that there is no way to shut off the ads, and to make things worse if you close the ad box on the right side of the screen, it reappears when the page refreshes. Absurd!
If you are aware of any way to bring pressure to bear on Rogers to end this practice, I would be grateful if you could share it.
Many thanks for your help, and for your excellent columns in the Star.
Kevin
Nov 20 2008
A year after Rogers ambushed websites by inserting ads into companies’ web pages, alerting subscribers when they reached 75% of their allotted bandwidth usage, Rogers has now ambushed their premium subscribers by inserting ads within the interface pages of premium subscribers to Rogers Yahoo! Mail.
And we’re talking about advertisements you would see as a free subscriber to Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail and other popular web-based email.
Members of DSL Reports.com are outraged over Rogers and Yahoo! to take such action to force advertisements upon their premium subscribers.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21426474-Webmail-now-has-adverts
One member who wrote Rogers seeking answers as to why Rogers and Yahoo! have take this action was only worthy of receiving the response, “Advertising content is commonly included in other popular mail services such as Hotmail and Gmail. Rogers and Yahoo! have jointly introduced advertising content to the Rogers Yahoo! Mail Service.”
Rogers fails to realize that Hotmail and Gmail are free and are ad supported. Premium subscribers to Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! and other popular web-based email who pay a yearly fee see no advertisements.
Clearly it’s none other than a money-making market for Rogers and Yahoo! to force advertisements upon their premium subscribers.
This abuse that Rogers is forcing upon their customers is leaving premium subscribers asking the question: Where does it end?
Premium subscribers to Rogers Hi Speed who pay up to $54.95 a month and choose to use Rogers Web mail now have to be content with “inline adverts all over the bloody page”, reports one DSLReports.com member.
If this is the progress, equalization, security and communications that Rogers provides, I question their purpose and viability.
Brett
Nov 20 2008
Keven writes:
>A year following Rogers ambushing websites
The use of the word “ambushing” is not only inaccurate but disparaging and uncalled-for. Rogers was sending important and relevant service alerts to its subscribers through their browsers.
>by inserting advertisements into company’s web pages alerting subscribers when they reached 75% of their allotted bandwidth usage
Again, they were not advertisements. They were informative and useful messages, and were presented ABOVE the Web page, not within it.
>Rogers has now ambushed their premium subscribers by inserting advertisements within the interface pages of premium subscribers to Rogers Yahoo! Mail.
Providers of free Web-based e-mail servers have always displayed advertising as a way of paying for the service. Google does this too; why are Rogers and Yahoo! evil for doing it if Google is not?
Robert
Nov 20 2008
Thought you might want to know about a new way that Rogers has found to abuse its customers.
For portability sake, I switched from having an installed email program to just using Rogers Yahoo webmail a couple of years ago, and I enjoy it. But last week, they decided to inject ads into the e-mail window.
So now I have to scroll through my folders when I want to file something, because one corner of the screen has ad links. And a large box at the left of my screen continually flashes through a series of ads.
Not only is it distracting, but if you log in from a computer with a lower resolution screen, it leaves a much smaller ‘middle’ part of the screen free to actually do email.
Here’s what I wrote to Rogers:
I am already paying for my Rogers internet services! In a free email service, ads would be acceptable, but I do not want the visual clutter of advertisements in my paid service.
Nor do I want to continually have to click the little button that hides individual ads, so please don’t suggest that option.
How can I turn off the new ads that are showing up in Rogers Yahoo Mail?
And I don’t just mean on the right side - I also have issues now that I have to scroll to see all my email folders, because there are ads below the list of folders!
——————————————————————————————-
Dear Rob,
Thank-you for your email. We strive to provide you with the highest level of customer support, and hope we can be of assistance in addressing your questions.
We understand your concern with the new advertisment on your email page.
Rogers and Yahoo! have jointly introduced advertising content to the Rogers Yahoo! Mail service. As you may know, advertising content is commonly included in other popular mail services.
If you prefer not to see any advertisements, you have two options:
1. Use a local (POP3) mail application (such as MS Outlook Express). In order to setup MS Outlook, Express or Vista Mail, please visit http://rogershelp.com/ocf and select the tab “One Click Fixes”.
2. Setup your mail application manually via all common “POP3″ mail applications, for more information visit http://rogershelp.com/pop
Your feedback regarding this feature is greatly appreciated.
If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.
Sincerely,
Rogers Hi-Speed Internet
Electronic Support Group
——————————————————————————————–
To quote your email: “We strive to provide you with the highest level of customer support, and hope we can be of assistance in addressing your questions.”
You have failed on both counts if I cannot continue to use my webmail without wading through Rogers’ ads. I don’t want to move from a flexible webmail interface to an installed client.
Where can I forward my complaint for escalation? Do you have an Office of the President, ombudsman, etc.?
——————————————————————————————–
Dear Rob,
We apologize for the delay in responding to your email. We are currently receiving higher email volume than normal, and are attempting to answer all email as quickly as possible in the order they arrive.
We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience.
As our intention is to always improve the level of service we provide, we thank you for providing us with the details of your concerns with our Rogers Webmail. By reviewing your email and the details of your account, we can identify areas for future improvement.
We have escalated your email to the Office of the President. An Operational Assistant will attempt to call you within 24 hours to discuss this issue with you.
We apologize for any delays in the meantime.
Sincerely,
Rogers Hi-Speed Internet
internetsupport@rci.rogers.com
KC
Nov 20 2008
I don’t believe people would be upset today, as they are, if Bell had been honest from the beginning and provided wholesalers 30 days’ notice of their intent to throttle wholesale customers.
The fight for an unthrottled internet would have continued, but there would not be this animosity and hatred towards Bell. Bell cries fowl to the CRTC and the CRTC gives into Bell every time. It’s just not fair. A lot of upset people on DSLReports:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21453525-CRTC-ruling-coming-Thursday-Nov-20~start=220
I’m leaving Bell completely. I refuse to give Bell any more of my business. Bell is greedy, selfish, dominating and couldn’t care less about their own customers, including their wholesale customers.
I called Rogers this morning and am having my phone ported over from Bell to Rogers, and I subscribed to their Internet.
Rogers is not without its faults. However, Rogers is wholly Canadian owned and operated, isn’t outsourced to India and doesn’t throttle wholesalers.
At least Rogers isn’t involved in the dirty scheme of things that Bell is doing.
The CRTC is partners in crime with Bell Canada. Just goes to show that the Government of Canada doesn’t work for the people, but for corporations offering fat payouts.
Charles in Vancouver
Nov 20 2008
@Brett:
>Again, they were not advertisements. They were informative and useful messages, and were presented ABOVE the Web page, not within it.
Brett, there is no difference. In order to insert content above, beside, inside or underneath a web page, a third-party must intercept a user’s request and add content to the HTML as if it came from the original server. Imagine if I phoned my mother and the phone company intercepted her side of the conversation and faked her voice to make it sound like she was giving me important news about my long distance plan. If I ask for Google, I should get Google, and what appears in my browser should be nothing but what Google sends me. There is no excuse for breaking this.
>Providers of free Web-based e-mail servers have always displayed advertising as a way of paying for the service. Google does this too; why are Rogers and Yahoo! evil for doing it if Google is not?
The key word is *free*. Rogers e-mail addresses are not free: you pay for an internet service that includes access and e-mail. I accept ads on Hotmail and Gmail because nobody else is paying them to provide my service. If I pay Hotmail extra money they take away the ads. I would expect that if I pay an ISP for my Internet service, they will give me ad-free e-mail.
Ram
Nov 20 2008
I am not a huge fan of Rogers and loathe many of their practices. I have Rogers Internet but do not use their email, so this issue personally doesn’t affect me.
Technically, they have not violated their contract with the customer, i.e. they still provide email free of charge, but have diluted the customer experience.
While providing 5 email addresses is free, providing web-based access to the emails isn’t. I believe the customer pays for the 5 email addresses in their monthly bill, but not the web based access to it.
But the average non-technical customer cannot see the distinction between getting an email address and getting web-based access to it. So, when they see the ads in the web mail, they get upset.
Rogers as a business should appreciate this nuance and must have respected customer’s expectations. I feel the negative publicity this issue received will far outweigh the ad revenue.
My personal suggestion would be to never to use the email ID of your ISP. When you change ISPs, your email goes away with it.
Either use a paid version of Yahoo/Hotmail or use Gmail. Gmail’s ads are less intrusive and also you’re allowed to keep a copy of the email in your local computer free of charge.
Lior
Nov 21 2008
If you use Firefox you can block these ads using extensions like Adblock and Noscript. Personally I don’t use Rogers email but I can sympathize with other subscribers. They should be criticized in the media for this. If there will be enough negative publicity and backlash they will likely revert.
dshan
Nov 21 2008
Another thing that Rogers started recently (within the last 6 months, maybe?) is that whenever I typed the wrong URL, I was sent to a search engine by Yahoo with an advertisement.
I’d rather get a 404 error rather than being sent to some lame search engine with ads all over the page. Something like the following:
http://www20.search.rogers.com/search?qo=thestars&rn=j44wqyGTsGAl_pB&rg=
Very annoying, indeed.
Mike Macdonald
Nov 22 2008
It is interesting to see the “defensive posture” of some emails for both Rogers and Bell. In fact both are part of a high priced, low quality oligopoly and could care less about your thoughts. They do the things they do because they can!
On internet throttling, I suggest those wholesalers complaining should get together and create an alternative to Bell’s network. Investing is better than whining and when you sell a service that brags about your ability to hog bandwidth, you should own the bandwidth.
Let’s see more competition and everybody wins….except Bell and Rogers!
Geoffrey in Toronto
Nov 22 2008
For those really irked about this and not getting anywhere with Rogers customer service, take note that Ted Rogers has a listed telephone number. I’m just saying.
Riscario Insider
Nov 23 2008
Why would you use your internet provider for email in the first place?
You are advertising for them and making it difficult to transfer to switch to internet provider in the future. What do you gain?
You can easily get a permanent free email account like Gmail. Better still, you can buy your own domain name and have a friendly, unique, professional-looking email address like you@yourdomain.com (or “.ca” if you want more choice).
DJ
Nov 23 2008
Despicable, cowardly and underhanded. That’s a concise description of Rogers, the same outfit that brought us negative option billing of cable customers a few years back.
I received the same cut-and-paste messages from those poor tech support flunkies who sweat over hot keyboards for Rogers in Hyderabad. Imagine the volume of utter vitriole they must be enduring in response to this, Rogers’ latest blatant money-grab.
It’s interesting to see how Rogers’ PR wing is monitoring boards like this one and posting “support” for Rogers’ position under guises such as “Brett”. We’re not stupid, folks. Go away.
In an online chat with one of Rogers’ hapless CSRs, I laughed out loud when he informed me that these unwelcome ads are meant to “enhance the Rogers Yahoo email experience.” Bwa-ha-ha!
Here’s what I’ve done - and it’s really the only recourse we have as disgruntled Rogers customers. I’ve emailed every Rogers contact I could find to tell them that, as a result of this enhancement of my email experience, not only am I cancelling my Rogers internet and switching to another provider, I’m hacking back my Rogers cable services to get rid of all those little extras I’ve tolerated them tacking on over the years. I’m sorely tempted to cut the cable altogether and switch to satellite outright.
Bloated monopolistic companies like Rogers understand only one thing: losing business. But to make them feel an impact, we as customers have to take action in significant numbers, not just whine to one another.
Affected Rogers Customer
Nov 23 2008
A few things I’d like to set straight:
- The low-bandwidth, low-real estate, text-based ads in the FREE gmail service are NOT comparable to the large graphic panel introduce to Rogers Yahoo webmail that is part of PAID service. The former do not hinder usage and the latter do.
- Smug statements like “you shouldn’t use an ISP email anyway” miss the point for existing customers. Sure, you are right .. but it still doesn’t make it fair for a customer receiving service X and for price X to have their service level effectively downgraded to service Y. Add to that the time and nuisance of moving emails and contact to another service (which I just did).
- Rogers has underestimated the value of the webmail service to its customers. Yahoo webmail is one of the “top 3″ services and stands alone as being the most intuitive “easy to use” interface. Although gmail has some more powerful features, yahoo webmail is the perfect solution to many mainstream users. Rogers has unilaterally yanked the rug out from under its users who like me saw the ad-free webmail as something of real value that comes (or came) with the paid service.
- Ads are really not even the issue here - it’s the fact that they were implemented in a way that is completely distracting and breaks the laws of user interface design. The icons on the left hand side are downright embarrassing. They “broke” it. It would be an issue even for a free service! So when this “millstone” is added to PAID service we have this fiasco.
I too have had my issue ticket escalated to the Office of the President and I am a little heartened by the seeming change of tone (maybe, just maybe they are listening?).
Kevin
Nov 24 2008
DJ wrote: “Bloated monopolistic companies like Rogers understand only one thing: losing business.”
Actually, they don’t. You can take your business elsewhere if you want, but as P.T. Barnum once said, “there’s one born every minute”, and chances are, these bloated monopolistic companies like Rogers will snap them up before they know what hit them.
Take it Upstairs
Nov 24 2008
Okay, we’re all incensed. Time to take effective action.
I received a highly-engaged and apologetic callback this afternoon from “an assistant in the Office of the President” after sending the following message late Sunday to Ted’s personal Rogers email address (which I am sharing along with the addresses for the top two Rogers execs responsible for Rogers Yahoo webmail).
The droid said he wanted to flesh out my position and include it in the input being considered by Rogers’ SMT. We’ve got them on the run; I think they sense they’ve made a colossal error in judgement, but we as customers need to keep hammering them if we’re going to force a climbdown.
To: trogers@rci.rogers.com
cc: terrie.tweddle@rci.rogers.com; jhaitsma@rci.rogers.com
Ted - If you do not remove the new ads from Rogers Yahoo email within 30 days, I will cancel my Rogers internet AND Rogers cable accounts effective Dec. 31, 2008.
Do not add advertising to a paid service and call it “an enhancement of the customer experience.”
Thank you -
XX
(I included my home phone number - a Bell account, BTW…)
Craig
Nov 24 2008
You really have to love Rogers support, trying to tell us this is an enhancement. It’s very annoying and I had to revert to classic mail and it’s still bad.
This is totally unacceptable. We pay for Rogers service and even until 2 days ago, had this on their website:
“With Rogers Yahoo! Mail, you can also:
Write and send messages from Rogers Yahoo! Mail using your other email account’s address.
Send messages up to 20MB in size
Send email without the Rogers Yahoo! promotional text at the bottom
Enjoy an uncluttered Mail experience, with no graphical ads.”
Of course, they just recently removed that last line (it was there on Friday, Nov. 21).
I complained to the CCTS, which promptly replied it was out of their scope, since it was “internet content”. I did not accept this and stated that Rogers was violating an agreement of service, quoting that last line.
I don’t care whether Rogers removed that message or not. It was on there when I signed up for another year with them, so they will honour it as I am forced to honour all of their contract terms.
Rogers Promotes Pedophilia
Nov 25 2008
Is this an outrageous claim? Not at all. I am deeply offended by a Lavalife ad that Rogers has wilfully placed on the express.rogers.yahoo.com home page.
The ad consists of a list of what I assume are fictitious nicknames of females advertising on Lavalife, three of them strongly suggestive of child sex: babyblonde23, sexy sweet chikita and french chiquita. Do these monikers not suggest that the users are underage? Is chikita/chiquita not Spanish slang for “little girl”?
Not only is Rogers forcing unwelcome advertising on its email users, it is permitting ads that not-too-subtly promote pedophilia. I do not want to be subjected to advertising by Rogers on services I already pay for - but I REALLY don’t want to be subjected to advertising by Rogers that is suggestive of child sex.
This is the mark of a company that is not only consumer-hostile, but either ignorant or tolerant of unlawful and abhorrent behaviour.
Gene
Nov 25 2008
I use webmail in settings where POP3 is blocked and/or traffic and internet access is expensive (when traveling or at sea). Now they waste my time and money by pushing me into waiting for another ad to load. I’m not even mentioning that the content of the ads are completely irrelevant in these settings.
Recently, when on a sea cruise, I had to battle constantly with an ad from an American credit card company asking me to sign up. How wise is this marketing?
I plan to send a letter (regular mail) to their complaint department at 323 Bloor St in Toronto. I know no other way of reaching them.
Suzanne
Nov 26 2008
I have also sent an email to Rogers. advising them of their abusive and invasive advertising tactics. I have advised them that I will be looking for email alternatives, contacting their advertisers to let them know the negative impact their ads are having and I will never purchase any products being advertised through Rogers email.
We must continue to contact Rogers and the companies advertising on its website. We are customers and we have the right to reverse this invasion of privacy.
R. Humpleby
Nov 27 2008
Customers have rights too! One of those is to move to another ISP!
I finally gave Rogers the big push, sack, boot, and all those other nice words. Having seen the service degrade over the last few years with no reduction in cost, I took the plunge.
No more Yahoo BS, unlimited bandwidth, and no more having to spend hours negotiating the robot answer machine. The feeling I got when I called my new tech support and got through to a human after only a few rings was one of the best feelings I have had for a long time. My speeds are comparable and best of all, it’s nearly $30 a month cheaper!!!!
Having tried every way there was to get sense out of blodgers, I gave up. No more “this is it, take it or leave it”, “and by the way we are going to treat you like dirt while we are at it.”
You have options, people. The only thing Rogers had going for them was reliablity. You could rely on the fact that they didn’t care.
Contacting Rogers is, I can tell you, a total waste of time. Vote with your money. It’s the only way.
Sylvain
Nov 27 2008
What the hell is going on with you Rogers? Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to bring up new features (like advertising) with consulting?
I am paying for mail services not to see bloody advertising.
Give it at least the option to disable it.
Anyway, I am looking for another mail provider and will be switching.
Alex
Nov 27 2008
You have to love their canned response. Everyone I know who has complained are getting the same response:
“Thank-you for your email. We strive to provide you with the highest level of customer support, and hope we can be of assistance in addressing your questions.
We understand your concerns regarding the new introduction of advertisements on your Rogers Yahoo! Webmail mailbox.
Rogers Yahoo! Mail is a complete web based email service which you can access from anywhere. You can send and receive mail immediately as you surf the web and feel safe knowing that you are protected by advanced SpamGuard Plus and email attachment Anti-virus.
Advertising content is commonly included in other popular mail services. Rogers and Yahoo! have jointly introduced advertising content to the Rogers Yahoo! Mail service.
The advertising content is now part of the Rogers Yahoo! mail experience and cannot be disabled within Webmail.
If you prefer not to see any advertisements, you have two options:
1. Use a local (POP3) mail application (such as MS Outlook Express). In order to setup MS Outlook, Express or Vista Mail, please visit http://rogershelp.com/ocf and select the tab “One Click Fixes”.
2. Setup your mail application manually via all common “POP3″ mail applications, for more information visit http://rogershelp.com/pop
Your feedback regarding this feature is greatly appreciated and will be considered for future revisions.
If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.”
What a crock of !@#$. I pay a fortune and they tell me to suck it up. Well, I know what I am going to do. They are not the only player on the street.
I don’t know what Bell and others offer, but Rogers needs to feel this. Especially in this economic climate, they should do more to keep customers, not make us angry!
Linda
Nov 28 2008
I can’t believe they’ve found yet another way to bombard us with advertising. All I want to do is read my email in peace after paying to use it.
This is crazy and they’ve got you either way. You have to have your services bundled with Rogers in order to save money, so you pretty much have to keep your email/internet with them and they take advantage of that. Enough already with the endless advertising everywhere!
Geoffrey in Toronto
Nov 28 2008
The really hilarious thing in all this is that one of the ads that comes up on the side is for Blackberry service from Telus, a direct competitor of Rogers. Perhaps someone should tell Ted he’s directing his customers to the competition.
Alan
Nov 28 2008
At one time I was pleasantly surprised by Rogers. I saw this unique capability to manage email from any PC with minimal fuss and maximum workspace. I no longer needed my Outlook program.
The only thing that was tough to work with was the inability to add subfolders. But I figured Rogers was a “With It” operation. They would add that soon and make a stronger product. So I compensated by adding more folders, many more folders which I was willing to scroll through until such improvements came.
But instead, not only do I now have to contend with advertising (that I swear never to buy from as a principle of its sheer annoyance), but it has further reduced the size of my folders view by 25%.
If this doesn’t change, I’m moving to more practical options.
To quote:
If you prefer not to see any advertisements, you have two options:
1. Use a local (POP3) mail application (such as MS Outlook Express). In order to setup MS Outlook, Express or Vista Mail, please visit http://rogershelp.com/ocf and select the tab “One Click Fixes”.
2. Setup your mail application manually via all common “POP3″ mail applications, for more information visit http://rogershelp.com/pop
JP Thornhill
Nov 29 2008
Rogers and Bell do what they can do to screw with people because the CRTC, in their wisdom, protects them from competition and lets them get away with these abusive behaviours.
Jumping to Bell from Rogers? No problem. Jumping to Rogers from Bell? That’s OK too.
It’s called oligopoly, Canadian-style!
S Robinson
Dec 1 2008
I, like everyone here, find the ads very annoying.
What can you do???
File a complaint with the CCTS — deluge them with complaints if you will;
here is their address. the filing of the complaint is done on-line and only takes 5 minutes:
http://www.ccts-cprst.ca/en/
Tom Gifford
Dec 2 2008
Here is a copy of my email to Rogers on Nov 19, 2008:
I am not feeling very happy about the advertising on my email page. I have lost the space on the right side of the screen and the space on the left side where my folder names are dispayed. Not only have I lost this valuable real estate on the page, but I am now confronted with constantly changing distractions each time I check another email header.
I feel that configuring the page should be my responsibility. If I want space for ads, I will add the advertising module to my email page, but if I do not want to be bombarded and lose space on my page, then I should be able to turn them off. Please let me know how I can get my precious spaces back to use for folder and email display purposes. I pay over $500 a month to Rogers and feel I should not have these issues forced on me.
Certainly there should be advantages to having Rogers Extreme for as long as it has been available. Maybe customers with the Lite internet should be subject to advertising. How would you like someone forcing ads in your face for something you are paying for? Be honest.
If you want to make money off email ads, how about sharing the profit with us? We should get paid for each ad that appears on our screen and make it optional. This way some people would choose to have the ads and others would choose to not make money from them.
So in summary, let me know how to get my screen cleaned up and professional looking again. I really hate to switch companies after more than 10 years of continual loyalty.
Tom Gifford
President of Gifford Automotive Inc.
and notice how old my email address is… It used to be tgif@home.com and then it was changed to tgif@rogers.com.
Ask yourselves. Do we value Tom Gifford as a supportive customer? Or is bombarding him with unwanted ads more important?
Here is their reply on Nov 22, 2008:
Dear Tom Gifford,
We apologize for the delay in responding to your email. We are currently receiving higher email volume than normal, and are attempting to answer all email as quickly as possible in the order they arrive.
We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience.
As our intention is to always improve the level of service we provide, we thank you for providing us with the details of your concerns with our Rogers Webmail. By reviewing your email and the details of your account, we can identify areas for future improvement.
We have escalated your email to the Office of the President. An Operational Assistant will attempt to call you within 3 business days to discuss this issue with you. Please refer to case number C5209803. Alternatively, you can feel free to call in to our Office of the President at 1-888-764-3771. You will need to ask for Hi-Speed Technical Support and then ask to be transferred to the Office of the President.
We apologize for any delays in the meantime.
If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.
Sincerely,
Gigi C.
Rogers Hi-Speed Internet
internetsupport@rci.rogers.com
KMM54983111I114L0KM
***Today is Dec 2nd and I have not been called by anyone at Rogers.
Ted Rogers died yesterday at the age of 75. I appreciated his vision and leadership. I do NOT appreciate the ads that are changing my attitude towards recommending Rogers as a provider.
Kara Biner
Dec 4 2008
It’s bad enough that Rogers-Yahoo has inserted advertising into their webmail client but now when I mistype a web address I get re-routed to a Rogers page that also features advertising. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. I used to recommend Rogers to friends but no more. They’ve crossed the line.
DJ
Dec 5 2008
Me again. That drone from the the Office of the President of RCI called me back again yesterday.
Basically he said Rogers is not going to back down and provide a mechanism for opting out of these unwanted, arbitrary ads. So it looks like we’re stuck with being distracted from our work by Lavalife porn, Telus efforts to lure us away from Rogers, moronic video game ads, etc etc.
But as a consolation prize, Drone-boy offered to arrange for me to have $5 a month knocked off my total Rogers internet bill.
Hey, you know what - this is not a bad deal. But only if this ad-recipient discount can be picked up widely across what is clearly an immense disgruntled Rogers customer base.
Let’s say Rogers is generating ad revenues of $600,000 a year through this exciting new enhancement of the customer experience that we all appreciate so much. If just 10,000 incensed customers demand the same $5 a month discount I’ve been offered, this clever scheme will become revenue-neutral for the Rogers corporate pigdogs after a year of enhancing our customer experience in this way.
If 20,000 happy customers take up Ted’s progeny on their earnest make-good offer, it will snowball into a big ugly red scar on the Rogers’ P&L sheet. Let’s do this.
Call, email or write Rogers today and demand YOUR $5 discount - and tell your friends to do the same!
Tom Gifford
Dec 5 2008
Hello again,
I finally called Rogers as per the instructions in their email. I am currently on hold, listening to elevator music. The technical support gentleman had to review my case and is now trying to find someone to explain it to. He asked me to hold for several minutes.
So here I am, wasting my time and his, holding. . .
I have Dexter on the line now. He has not read my case. He says he is in the same boat as me and he is sorry. He says he has received a few complaints as of this time. He is recording complaints and they will make a decision sometime in the future.
He has just suggested I switch to Outlook Express. I said that option was unacceptable as I use many computers during the day and always have my webmail open when I am on a computer.
I asked him about Yahoo Mail Plus. He has not heard of it and is checking now… more waiting on hold.
OK, Dexter or anyone around him has not heard of it and cannot comment on it.
I made a few suggestions to him:
1) Rogers customers can get paid 1 cent for every ad that appears in our email and the total is deducted from our monthly bill. We would have the option of having the ads displayed and getting no money each month as well.
2) Rogers pays for our yearly subscription to Yahoo Mail Plus if there are no advertisements showing on it.
I feel I pay about $6,000 a year to Rogers and $20 a year should be very little to them to keep me happy.
Dexter says they are monitoring complaints. At some time in the future, they may review the complaints, but corporate decisions have never been reviewed after only one month.
I think they are hoping what few complaints they have had will reduce in time, so that no changes will be necessary to implement.
Dexter, his boss Bilal Sajid and his boss Michel Abdul all report to Edward Rogers, the CEO of the company. He really left me with the feeling that not many people are upset about this issue and that there would have to be a major response for them to do anything about it.
He did say he appreciated my suggestions and would pass them on. Time will tell. But it will be months before anything is even considered.
Tom Gifford
Dec 5 2008
hmmm.. just read DJ’s post about getting $5 off a month.
I called Dexter back and he knows nothing about this. He also said I could NOT have $5 a month off my bill and I could not talk to his boss about it. He said that was final.
Sure makes me feel special and appreciated by Rogers….
NOT
Tom Gifford
Dec 5 2008
I just signed up and paid for Yahoo Mail PLUS. It cost me $19.99 for the year.
Believe it or not, all ads are gone and my full page is restored to the way it was before Rogers changed it on Nov. 14th.
I have called and asked for my $19.99 to be deducted from my Rogers account each year.
If they want to make me happy again, they will comply. If not, I will find it hard to recommend the Rogers/Yahoo email to anyone.
DJ
Dec 5 2008
Tom, I’m a few days and a couple of Rogers-management levels farther into the customer complaint cycle than you are.
I started with Rogers technical support/customer service and eventually (very patience-trying) got my complaint jacked to the Office of the President.
You too should be able to incite a high-level response if you email trogers@rci.rogers.com with your demand.
If that doesn’t yield a satisfactory outcome - or at least a matching $5 discount offer - I will post the name and direct phone number of Drone-boy.
DJ
Dec 5 2008
Ah, now the veil is lifting…
This is starting to crystallize as a Rogers-Yahoo cash-grab conspiracy, not just a mere Rogers customer disservice initiative.
Yahoo is in dire straits and desperately needs cash - how better to get it than to cut a deal with Rogers whereby those of us who flee Rogers’ email advertising have to shell out 20 bucks a year to Yahoo to get our clean screens back?
But Tom, what will you do when Rogers catches on and generously decides to enhance the Yahoo Mail PLUS customer experience with the advertisements you’ve been missing?
Kendra
Dec 5 2008
I too am disgusted with the advertising blitz in my Rogers email.
Talking to Rogers seems to do no good, so I have contacted the companies that are advertising, telling them why I won’t purchase their products/services.
It may not help but it makes me feel better!
Tom Gifford
Dec 5 2008
DJ, I talked to Dexter in the office of the president today. They never responded to my second email as they said they would. When I called and got Dexter, he said my letter was on someone elses desk and he didnt know why I had not been contacted. He then said he would handle my situation instead.
I find it ironic that Rogers claims to protect us from spam in our emails and then decides, without asking us, to inundate us with blatant graphic spam on both sides of our email pages. Then after several weeks and emails, I have to find out for myself that there is an inexpensive alternative to this intrusive spamming. All I had to do was upgrade my yahoo/rogers email account to a yahoo plus account and voila, the spam graphic ads were history.
Rogers also claim it was a joint decision between yahoo and rogers to add the spam to our email…then why does yahoo not put it on their plus email page? When I upgraded and paid yahoo my 20 dollars, there was a question asking me why I was upgrading. I responded because Rogers had added graphical ads on my email page.
Why were the staff of the office of the president unaware of this solution?
Why did they give DJ a 5 dollar discount per month and refuse the same to me?
Tom Gifford
Richard
Dec 6 2008
Hello, I have a better one than that.
I have been having issues with trying to send email from a paid account for over a year and my email still does not work with Rogers. Furthermore, I was told my email address was not connected to my account!
Then after months of complaining, to this day my email is still not working right and I have to use a third party email because the one I paid for does not work.
Also, Rogers throttles the bandwidth for users only because some people use file sharing programs. But for me, I use a voip phone and my calls get dropped all the time, nor can I hear people on the calls I make.
I pay for my voip service and imagine if i had to call 911, heaven forbid. In an emergency situation, I cannot rely on my phone service because of this throttle issue.
“Sorry, I can’t call the police, my phone doesn’t work. If you live through this, please thank Rogers.”
Steve
Dec 8 2008
I recently complained to Rogers about ads in my web mail, after being told to use Outlook, which made me even angrier.
I finally received a call from someone at Rogers to discuss my displeasure. She was very good and listened to my complaint and I was told I would recieve a 20% discount off my monthly internet charge for the next year.
I told them that I would accept that, but still wanted the ads gone as I pay for my service. I was told it would most likely not go away, but would be revamped as to not be so intrusive.
Anyway if you have complained, you may get a phone call to discuss things and get offered a discount.
Rebelx
Dec 9 2008
Rogers is a joke. Ever since Shaw was taken over in our area, we’ve seen the service go downhill… cutting services, increasing rates.
I’m seriously going to look at another alternative soon, perhaps tekksavy.
Tom Gifford
Dec 9 2008
Just got off the phone with David at Retention/SafeGate at Rogers. He listened to my story and made a decision to give me 20% off my Extreme Internet (instead of the 15% I get for being a VIP customer) for one year.
He also saved me $4 a month for 4 months on my Hi Def Programming. The two discounts will offset the $19.99 US I paid to upgrade my email to Yahoo Mail Plus for the year.
I will have to call each year to see how to offset the cost of the annual fee, but at least I feel compensated for this year. Things change so quickly in this business, who knows what will happen to Yahoo and Yahoo Plus mail a year from now.
Cheers for now and thank you, David, for listening to me and doing something about it.
Randy
Dec 11 2008
The forced ads are driving me nuts, along with the automated pop back feature for each new email you look at … and no option to keep the ads turned off. They hog the screen and are very distracting when trying to read mail.
The Rogers tech support cannot provide any help … one actually told me to try Outlook Express … he should be fired.
I have been making a note of those advertising, like the Bay and Zellers, and I am boycotting their stores. If they think forced ads will entice me to buy from them, they are dead wrong.
If the forced ads continue, I will look for a new service provider.
Andrew Paluch
Dec 13 2008
I am very angry with Rogers adding advertisements to my Rogers and Yahoo mail page. I do not want to view your commercials next to my emails Rogers! You have crossed the line again.
Rogers, I pay enough money to use your service/email,and in no way should I be forced to view advertisements that take up 25% of my screen space.
Rogers support tells me that there is no way to shut down the ads..well this to me is robbery! This is not Hotmail or any other free email hosting, where I would expect to see ads. THIS IS A PAID SERVICE. PAID by the user.
Even if you offer me a 100% discount, I still don’t want these ads and pop ups in my rogers/yahoo email account.
If someone knows how we can fight this please let me know or post a comment.
Email; paluch2112@gmail.com (not a rogers account) Andrew Paluch, from Mississauga.
Bob L
Dec 13 2008
I didn’t know about the ads until I accessed Rogers.Yahoo from out of the country. Naturally, it slowed the process down.
The reason I hadn’t noticed before is because I use “Mailwasher” program in conjunction with Outlook Express. That way, I can retrieve my inbox email subject lines from Rogers without actually accessing the site. I can then decide what to download with Outlook Express and delete the rest.
I never go to the Rogers.Yahoo email site. I’m sure there are other ways to do the same thing without the ads. That said, I have also sent an email to Rogers.
Unfortunately, in my area, there is no other alternative to Rogers for high speed internet.
Tom Gifford
Dec 15 2008
Hello Andrew,
As I reported earlier on Ellen Roseman’s Blog, I upgraded to Yahoo Plus Mail for $19.99 US a year and the ads disappeared and my clean page was restored instantly.
I then contacted the Retention/SafeGate department of Rogers and they found me discounts on my bill to more than compensate the $19.99 US for the year.
If enough people do this, Rogers will most likely look at their choice to hijack our email page.
Sumi Aota
Jan 3 2009
Did Rogers Yahoo! remove the ads?
There are certainly no ads when I log in, in either classic mail or new mail views.
nick oliarnyk
Jan 19 2009
I’ve switched from Rogers to gmail. Yes, they do have ads, but not nearly so obtrusive as the ads from Rogers. Are they not making enough money?
L.N.
Feb 3 2009
Sumi, what is your secret? I still have flashing ads on my Rogers email site. I phoned to complain and was told by a customer service person that it was due to a virus on my computer. She then said that she was looking at her own Yahoo email and there were no ads on her site. The technical support person I spoke to at least admitted there were ads, but said they were impossible to block.
Ernie Bardocz
Feb 7 2009
I only read the first three or four comments and am in agreement with all that I see. I am outraged with the audacity that these people have in forcing us to see their ads on a service that I pay for.
While the technician for Rogers was (as usual) polite, he said that his hands are tied.
A prime reason for using Rogers Yahoo is that they offered anti-spam (and other services) in this plan. I can only assume that this was so they could corner this market for themselves. It won’t work! I am investigating other security services and going back to Outlook ASAP!
Hopefully this will help those of you who decide to “stick it out”. For those of you with less patience, join me and let Rogers Yahoo know what is happening.
Anna
Feb 9 2009
I had a sick feeling the day Rogers changed to Rogers Yahoo. Does anyone use Yahoo search engine? I’ve found they produce abundant commercially angled search results.
I too have Hotmail and Gmail accounts, and I haven’t noticed ANY ads on them. I even revisited them just now to check. Perhaps they are subliminal and not blatantly flashing as in the Rogers domain. They remind me of the Honest Ed signs on Bathurst.
My last email to Roger’s I compared these ads as being akin to someone entering my home, uninvited, plastering ad posters on my walls and politely saying, ‘there’s nothing we can do about it’.
Maybe Rick Mercer can do some skits on this topic??? I’m going to visit his website next.
Do they read our subject lines or email too, so as to know what kind of ads to paste on there????? And offering schemes to people who are worrying about their financial status??? That is nasty to prey on a market that is hurting.
It’s all quite creepy.
Who wants the free Norton anyways? I’ve bought Norton over the years on my own, so I’m doubly peeved.
I even mentioned to Rogers I may start a Facebook for unhappy Rogers email customers. But actually, there is already one started. (Disgruntled Rogers Yahoo! Mail Customers Unite)
To that I say, “Yahoo!”
Who knows, maybe if enough of us put our heads together, something may change.
Angry, Irritated and Creeped Out,
Anna
PS: Are some of these replies on here from Rogers?
dinu vela
Feb 23 2009
Please add an option to get rid of the banner that pops up to the right of my Rogers E-mail program. i pay for your service, it does not need to be supported by advertising.
Jonas Smith
Feb 28 2009
I telephoned Rogers to complain about their ads in email. I am paying for this service, otherwise I’d get a free email!
They responded by saying that it was Yahoo that did it…. I am not paying Yahoo. I am monthly paying Rogers. Their contracts with Yahoo are not my responsibility.
They push and push…until we yield. And we do…
Harold Smith
Mar 5 2009
Now the main spammer is Rogers itself!
I make a point of first, not looking at the stupid ads, and second, boycotting them. Anyone advertising with these abusers would never get my business!
Netcruiser
Mar 8 2009
Complaining to Rogers will not accomplish anything. As I see it you can do one of 3 things:
1. Convince Rogers to change their policy?
This is not going to happen, so give up. Rogers does not care what a minority of users think, especially if it is all rhetoric.
2. Cancel your Internet service.
This too is not going to happen. Rogers knows they have you hooked, just like they have had you hooked with cable TV. Also, if you happen to have a Rogers bundled service – Cable, Internet, Cell phone, Home Phone – they really have you HOOKED.
3. Switch to a free email service.
This you should do, because it partially cuts the tether to Rogers. If a lot more customers did this, Rogers may take notice because they would see a reduction in their advertising revenue. Customer complaints they don’t notice.
I have been using Rogers internet for 10 years and they have demonstrated that they do not care about what the customer thinks, or wants for that matter, after the contract is signed. (In fact, they don’t even deliver on what they promised when I signed up, but that is another story.)
So why don’t you view them as a service provider, period. Use their Internet service, but don’t use their home page as your home page and get a free gmail account.
If you use Firefox as your web browser, you can set your gmail account to be completely ad free. I never see ads in my gmail account nor do I see ads in my Firefox web browser.
Netcruiser
Mar 8 2009
Ernie Bardocz
A prime reason for using Rogers Yahoo is that they offered anti-spam (and other services) in this plan. I can only assume that this was so they could corner this market for themselves.
Good Comment!
Jon
Mar 8 2009
I’ve been using computers long before the term “internet” began…. and my answer to all this is to do as i do… no matter how many “flashy” the adds are on the screen in front of me, I have learned to “zone” them out… I don’t even notice Tv advertising any more
The crappy ads are here to stay… if we all ignore them, they will have to try other ideas (as the ads cost money).
Netcruiser
Mar 9 2009
“I have learned to “zone” them out…”
That attitude is precisely why Canadians get the service, the prices and the government they have.
No. You do not “zone” out. You must take a stand. Unfortunately, as is the Canadian way, the majority will whine about it and do nothing.
Suzanne
Apr 8 2009
As stated before, I will never purchase anything from any company advertising with Rogers in this intrusive manner.
I am going to switch to a gmail account to be completely ad free. I had considered switching my blackberry account to Rogers, but that will never happen now.
Molly - Laptop Tests
May 26 2009
I’m not a client of Rogers, but if I were one I would also be not satisfied with such a service. People do not pay money to get spammy advertisements, but for high quality of service and do not get what they want. It’s not fair…
kevin
Oct 16 2009
What is it with the R rated advertisment for an R rated movie beside my email? Great for my 7 year old to watch while I get the pics from Thanksgiving opened from Grandma.
Your company is a real class act—-NOT.
Harry Beast
Oct 30 2009
Echoing and adding to what Netcruiser said above, if you use Firefox and install the Adblock Plus add-on, you can enjoy an ad-free web experience on Rogers, Facebook and most other sites.
Or for a few dollars, you can use AdMuncher with any browser, and it has some excellent additional features - trial is available.
Also, you can configure your Gmail to receive your mail from other POP mail addresses i.e. your Rogers mail, and have a much better time.
I think I will start doing that because, ads aside, the Rogers Yahoo web mail interface is painfully sluggish at times. Was looking for a way to help that, but think it is of no avail…
Suzanne
Nov 6 2009
Rogers, you have reached new heights of arrogance and total disregard for your cutomers.
Do you really think by creating a permanent sidebar interfering that I will read or support the ads/advertisers. NEVER!! I will never ever support or read the ads.
Thanks for Harry’s info. I will definitely follow up.
Dan
Jan 23 2010
still dumb
Tom
Jan 27 2010
If you are using Internet Explorer, The Simple Adblock (http://simple-adblock.com/) program works almost as well as AdBlock Plus does on Firefox.
Leighsa
Jun 16 2010
I was furious with the ads in Rogers, followed by the cancellation of the free Flickr account for Rogers subscribers, AFTER we got hooked on the freebie.
I had my case escalated and heard from them numerous times, but nothing changed.
Now is the time to make my move. I’m canceling my Rogers home phone, cable and internet.
I saw a bus ad for Teksavvy yesterday. I’ve done some research and they offer both phone and high speed internet.
For TV, I’m going to buy a TV antenna and go over the air (OTA), and stream the rest via my new Teksavvy internet connection.
Goodbye, Rogers. I won’t miss you.