Reaction To Rogers New Quickstart Menu Seems To Be Negative…. Why? [UPDATED]
I have to admit that I haven’t seen the new Rogers Quickstart menu as of yet, but clearly it’s rolling out and it seems to be getting a negative reception. Here are some comments that were posted to my blog entry on the subject:
“now we see it since yesterday. this is totally a piece of garbage.”
“I hate this new feature. If they don’t make a way to disable it, then I am switching to satellite.”
“Truly horrible feature! How do I disable this crap?”
At first, I figured that these were isolated cases. Then I noticed this post on Digital Home Canada with similar complaints about the Quickstart menu. Not to mention this post on DSL Reports that seems to have a fair amount of negativity to it.
I have requested a comment from “my best friends at Rogers” on this, but in the meantime can people who have seen the Quickstart menu post a comment to this story and tell me in detail why you don’t like it? Or if you do like it, please tell me that as well in detail.
UPDATE: Rogers has sent me this comment:
We feel Rogers Quick Start menu is an improvement to the interactive programming guide that Digital TV customers currently use to find the TV listings.
It allows customers to quickly and easily find the TV content they want to watch. The Quick Start menu puts everything all in one place, giving customers an easier way to access the latest shows, news, sports, and weather. It also allows them to see the best in On Demand, see a listing of channels currently in free preview and even play games.
We’re passing on all the feedback on QuickStart to the team so the service can be improved in the future.
January 18, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I have the new quick start. It should be called slow start as it takes me longer to get to the channel I want. It’s terrible. Both my wife and I hate it and want it disabled ASAP.
January 20, 2010 at 5:59 am
I like the “we feel” comment from Rogers. You know what? It does not matter at all what they feel is better, it is what the customer thinks is better! Oh, wait, this is Rogers, forgot. Then again the same can be said of Bell. Here is what I say about both:
People hate both Rogers and Bell (mostly for poor customer service), but they just pick the one they dislike the least, at the moment, to use.
January 20, 2010 at 10:29 am
We hate it. Rogers should have consulted with its customers as to what they want. Now we have to hit the guide button twice and still scroll through a bunch of channels on the guide that we don’t subscribe to. It would be more helpful if Rogers would give the option to disable it and also allow us to exclude the channels from the guide that we don’t subscribe to; these would be more useful features. Any new channels added to the line-up could automatically appear in the guide so the subscriber is aware of the new channels and then exclude them from view on the guide.
Rogers keeps saying they have the favorite button but I like to use the guide and not flick through channel after channel with the favourite button.
January 20, 2010 at 9:32 pm
For those who do not have the guide I’ll tell you what it is.
Its this new screen that pops up when you press the “Guide” button on your remote. That’s right, when you try to go to your channel guide you get a completely different and irrelevant screen. You have to press guide a second time to get to what you wanted to see in the first place, the channel guide.
I called Rogers. There is no way to turn off this new “feature”.
January 20, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Rogers better make a menu option to disable this, or they will not get into my wallet any more. Cramming in features I don’t want and charging me more for the privilege. I don’t care what your focus groups say, or how much your middle managers need to justify their existence. Concentrate on running a solid network, and use my money to pay the content providers. This garbage must stop.
January 21, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Agreed, make a menu option to allow you to not be forced to go to what basically a screen trying to sell you rogers services.
Also, when using your PVR it no longer allows you to see the program giude if you are recording 2 things at once.
Complete garbage. My cable bill went up how much to pay for the R & D for this lemon?
January 21, 2010 at 8:01 pm
This is not a feature, its a hindrance – the only thing Rogers has accomplished is making finding a channel to watch MORE difficult.
Nice statement Rogers, we can always count on you to make the most counter intuitive decisions. I mean honestly, did ANYONE test this piece of crap before it was pushed out? I tried and can’t find a single positive trait in this horrible system.
Well, at least Bell has 3G phone service now… looks like I can finally tell Rogers to @#%! off completely!
January 21, 2010 at 9:19 pm
What a piece of garbage!
I called Rogers and the CSR explained that there was no way to disable it. She also said she doesn’t mind it since she doesn’t watch much TV –yes, she really said that. She also said that with the new menu I could pick to watch 6 news channels at a time, of course I can also do that much quicker by simply tuning directly to channel 179. Rogers, admit it, you f*cked up and remove this piece of garbage please!
January 23, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I agree with all the posts listed here. I gave this new feature a week to see if it would grow on me but I found that I just got more and more aggrevated. I’ve tried out the features and concluded that they aren’t useful. Now I have to skip this screen every time I want to view the guide. It’s really annoying that I can’t disable this. Rogers please do the right thing and give us the option.
January 23, 2010 at 7:48 pm
I hadn’t looked at the new features until now, and wow – that’s weak. Who wants to have their kid watch 6 channels at once. Yeah – that’s what we really need to do to our kids.
Adding another layer of ‘interaction’ is known in UI design as excise. It doesn’t add value for the majority of users who simply want to take a look at a couple of channels.
Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone who likes this.
January 23, 2010 at 8:14 pm
we hate this stupid feature, if i cannot cancel it, we will switch back to bell.
January 26, 2010 at 1:42 pm
had a call from rogers about my bill yesterday
once that was done i asked him about the quick start menu
he told me he dosent have rogers cable but should have it
so i phoned rogers and asked if there was a way to diable it
they told me no
this is absolutely no use to me and you cant even pick the the 6 channels you want
on demand is no good as it only has a few show that i would never watch
dont have the TMN now as it went to crap when they brought in HBO
think everyone should get CTVs Pat Foran at Consumer Alert to get this out and stick it to Rogers they did the same thing last year with the internet
CALL ,EMAIL,SNAIL MAIL rogers or blog or make YOUTUBE VIDEO about this quick start menu AND LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THIS
i guess the money that it cost Rogers to make this quick crap menu is the reason for the lays off at city tv and the loss of the new at noon
cant think why anyone would like this new feature whens theres much more that they could have done
January 26, 2010 at 2:58 pm
It would be nice if Rogers would release a guide that was responsive and personalized to an individuals subscription model. I hate it when I turn to a channel only to tell me call 1888… to subscribe the channel. With the quickstart guide I now have a slow as molasses interfaces that sorts and categorizes all the channels I don’t get. Thanks for the value added service dumb asses.
I suggest the people at Rogers visit a Bell store and test drive Bell’s TV Guide and start from there.
August 24, 2010 at 12:50 pm
1888 to subscribe to the channel? no problem! select the get more tv option in the qsm, channel packages in green should be ordered through your tv in white means you already subscribed and in grey means subscribe to the channel by calling rogers @ 1-888-764-3771 or at rogers.com
January 28, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I saw your post on the Rogers help forum. After talking with Rogers they basically feel that there is a silent majority who like the quick start menu. The negative feedback would have to be truly overwhelming for them to listen. They would also likely need to be an impact on their bottom line. If there is even a small up tick in OnDemand usage because of this I’m guessing that they are going to call it a success.
January 28, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I was told that I was the only customer to ever complain about this new menu. In fact, I was told that they have received calls from customers praising the new menu. I told them that I was amazed that someone took time from their day to praise this feature that was designed to generate extra money from the consumer. I also told them that it would make sense to put this feature on the info button. I spent twenty minutes on the phone. I spoke with 4 different people, the most that they could offer was to put my input into their feedback. My favourite part of the experience was when I asked the customer service supervisor if he found the feature annoying. His response was that Rogers wasn’t available in his area!
January 28, 2010 at 4:24 pm
My letter to Rogers…
I would like to lodge a complaint regarding recent changes in my cable
service, specifically the “Quick Start Menu” which appears when I press
the Guide button on my remote. This “Quick Start Menu” is not quick at
all as I find it very inconvenient. Now if I would like to view the TV
Guide, I must press the Guide button twice in order to view it. This
does not contribute to a quality viewing experience as I am now forced
to view a menu which does not have features I would ever use prior to
viewing the channel guide. I have no need for the new menu features such
as watching six similar channels at once, discovering which channels are
HD etc, games, or reviewing my call log. This menu might be more
acceptable if it was activated by another button that I do not use for a
specific function. I have been informed by a customer service
representative that this feature cannot be turned off and find this
unacceptable. I would like to request that this feature, as with any
other setting available with the Rogers cable service, be available to
be disabled through each cable box by the viewer. I would find this
setting most useful and would be thankful I could utilize the Guide
button for its initial intended use. I look forward to a timely response
to my request and look forward to speaking with you.
Their response…
We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience.
Please note, there is no option to revert to the old guide or delete the quick start menu. We appreciate hearing from our customer’s regarding ways we can improve our service, and have forwarded your comments to the appropriate department.
Translation…
We don’t really care what you think or want; you get what we give you and tell you to like it… despite the fact you basically write our paychecks.
SUCKER!!!
January 28, 2010 at 4:29 pm
forgot to mention, that the supervisor said, “y’know you just have to press thh button twice, right?” I told him that I realize this, that I’m not retarded, and if it only happened once after I turned the box on it wouldn’t be so bad………….
January 30, 2010 at 10:27 am
I hate this new feature. I mostly watch movies – but I do not purchase “OnDemand” movies. Why? Because I have blueray for movies I want to rent/purchase and I don’t subscribe to HDTV on Rogers. So if I want to get to the channel line up for movies I have to press Guide, wait for their new menu and then press Guide again. Their favorites channel option is useless since its only a toggle between all the channels I have in my favorites – a horrible way to see what’s on the other channels.
Even if I were to use this quick start, I’d have to first select “What’s on” then scroll down to the final entry for “TV Mix” then scroll to either “Kids”, “News” or “Sports”. Since I’m an adult, the first I don’t care about and the News and Sports packages are rarely viewed by me – I’m a movie guy/specialty channel guy. I can’t even see what’s on the specialty channels there!
This menu is total and complete garbage – and there is no way to disable it.
Rogers – want to have something useful? Allow me to have multiple custom guides where I can only see the channels I want and screen out the garbage I don’t purchase (and NO on demand channels either). Heck, let me setup my own guide myself. Bell has this option – why don’t you? I’m seriously considering switching to Bell now for Roger’s TV. What useless garbage they push on us….
I hate it, I HATE IT, I ***HATE**** IT.
January 31, 2010 at 4:07 pm
They got rid of it in my area, Bowmanville, which is right outside Oshawa, which is an hour from Toronto.
February 4, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Really?? For how long did you have the menu to begin with? Did you just wake up one day and it was gone??
January 31, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Please Get Rid of the new quick menu and stop mucking around, leave well enough alone, stop with the moving of the channels and whats the point of having 900 channels if all thats on is crap. I wish there was more compitition. (then you might actually listen to what your customers want)
maybe I should cancel cable and read more, or play with the kids.
just a thought
February 1, 2010 at 5:25 pm
I called, they said it wasn’t possible to remove it, was put through to tech support, then the call was disconnected.
I called back, downgraded from VIP Digital Movies Plus ($106.41) to VIP for @ $60 per month. Told them when they get rid of the quick start menu we’ll upgrade the package again.
February 2, 2010 at 9:24 am
Well, it is gone for me. Here is a video I made as fast as I could. No editing, just filmed and straight upload to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VhndZW_8c8
February 4, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Just gone?? In what area do you live?? I pray they phase it out in the rest of Toronto soon!!
February 5, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I live in right outside of Oshawa. And I was on TMN On Demand (The Movie Network On Demand) when it said press the ‘A’ Key, so I did, when nothing happened. so, I pressed it like crazy until I gave up and went onto the guide which was when I realized it’s not there. And it hasn’t came back since!
February 2, 2010 at 11:22 am
I agree with the masses, the new feature is a more of a hassle than a convenience, I have absolutely no use for it, and now it just takes longer to get to the guide menu which is by far my useful. Either give an option to disable it, or have it be opened by pressing guide a second time.
Yeah the “We feel” line made me laugh…
February 3, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Please note that if you want to see the new garbage menu, you just press the Menu button on the remote. So why the hell does it also appear when I press the Guide button? I want to see the program guide, not some dufus menu. This is duplicate functionality.
And you have to wait for the screen to appear. You can’t rapidly press Guide twice. Any professional user interface designer will tell you how horrible that is. It’s not that you have to press the button twice with a pause in between, it’s that you have to press the button twice as many times as before! A different, but important spin.
I STRONGLY recommend all the complainers contact the Office of the President at this URL:
http://your.rogers.com/contact/complaint.asp
Click Step 3. I had to fax the bozos because they don’t have an email address. You have to fill in some form, although I guess that will work. I tried using the Contact Us form on another page and it didn’t give me any acknowledgement it was accepted.
February 4, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Excellent post Tom… After using the Step 3 complaint (used the web form), I actually received a call back from someone.
The person stated that a majority of persons that were contacting them had nothing but negative things to say about the new feature. She also stated that if the responses continued to come in that something would have to be done about it.
That being noted… anyone who reads this post and feels the same, please take action by using what Tom has provided to voice your displeasure.
February 6, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Looks like Rogers is finally listening!
http://www.digitalhome.ca/2010/02/rogers-to-change-quickstart-menu-after-customer-complaints/
February 9, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Thank you complainers!
February 13, 2010 at 12:35 pm
They actually brag about the cheesiest games you can play on this quick start menu, that looks like was created in the 1970″s?????………..the whole thing is stupid, stupid, stupid….I compare it to the Jay leno Prime time idea at 10:00….wow what a bright move executives are making…….The executive that came up with this idea should be fired for not keeping in touch with what the average consumer really wants….
February 14, 2010 at 2:21 pm
It’s just advertising. Money money money.
February 15, 2010 at 9:28 pm
ok so heres what we should do now is start phoning or emailing companies
that are useing this quick start menu for advertising ….stop useing there products or services untill they stop there advertising on the rogers quick start menu….there just adding to the problem
February 17, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Ugh. I came across this blog entry while searching for a way to turn off this ‘feature’. The menu is terrible and I have yet to find a use for it. It was on and my wife and I hated it. Then, Rogers disabled it for a few days and we were ecstatic! Now it’s back again. *sigh* Add us to the list of Rogers customers who are considering a move to Satellite because of it.
February 20, 2010 at 12:14 am
I find the new quick start menu very irritating. I use the guide to find all my programs – now I press guide and it takes me to the quick start menu and then I have to press guide again to get to the guide! How is it possible that anyone with an actually functioning brain thinks this is a good thing? Everyone I know hates it. I have not heard one positive response. Of course, I don’t know anyone who works for the Rogers development dept either.
March 4, 2010 at 9:30 am
[…] thought you’d love it. And while many do, some of you told us you didn’t like having to press “guide” twice to get to TV listings. We appreciate your […]
March 4, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Looks like Rogers has listened… Pushing guide now let’s you (hold on to your hat) view the guide! A second click of the guide button gets you into the Quick Start Menu.
March 6, 2010 at 11:59 am
I understand what they are trying to do, but it was poorly implimented. For example. If you know what you want to watch and you know what time it’s on, the new guide gets in the way. This is how I do most of my watching. I don’t sit down and decide I need to watch the History channel all of a sudden. I usually have a purpose or goal in mind (a specific show I want to watch). I’ve seen other companies try to put “lipstick on the pig” as it were, but this is lick applying the lipstick with a shotgun…. just bad form!!
March 6, 2010 at 12:00 pm
By-the-way… who watches On Demand on a HiDef TV? It’s all 4:3 crap. I can download better quality.
May 22, 2010 at 9:27 pm
BTW,
You can change the guide so that pressing “guide” actually–shock–brings up the guide! Press “Guide”, to bring up the “Quickstart”. Select “Self Service” at the bottom of the list”. Select “Change GUIDE Order”. Select “TV Listings first”.
Next time you press “guide” it should load the guide! FYI, Rogers, these are NOT “features”! Painfully terrible user interface, speed, quality.
August 1, 2010 at 5:02 pm
i am better tan you cheapies
what’s on, see everything in a place
fun & games, play games
on demand, watch movies and shows,
daily essentilas, see weather ad a tv mix
self service,fix problems
and launch guide, see all chanels
i love the quick start menu!!, thanks rogers!
August 24, 2010 at 12:43 pm
2 more options added to menu,
what’s on, see everything in a place
fun & games, play games
on demand, watch movies and shows,
daily essentilas, see weather ad a tv mix
self service,fix problems
launch guide, see all chanels
GET MORE TV order new channels into your package, like movie network and super channel
and what’s new, see everything that’s new in the menu
i love the quick start menu!!, thanks rogers!
August 24, 2010 at 12:44 pm
what’s on, see everything in a place
fun & games, play games
on demand, watch movies and shows,
daily essentilas, see weather ad a tv mix
self service,fix problems
launch guide, see all chanels
GET MORE TV, order new channels into your package, like movie network and super channel
and what’s new, see everything that’s new in the menu
i love the quick start menu!!, thanks rogers!
September 17, 2010 at 10:50 pm
you can disable it, you hit guide and scroll down to self service and go to change order of guide and make it come up first and accept and your home free.
September 4, 2013 at 10:47 pm
I don’t like the new menu!! It’s not “quick” at all. I have had to reboot my box twice in two days because when I click on the TV show menu or movie menu it says “No videos available” when I reboot, then it works. Rebooting takes about 10 minutes and I find it annoying. So please change it, or I will be changing companies! Thank You