38 Replies to “Never Aggravate An Engineer”

  2. Because I also had a problem with Rogers, I too avoid them like the plague. They cut no slack at all.

  3. I used to have an Excel 800 number, and had a bill of 48.48. I sent a check for 48.46 and never paid attention, I also cancelled as I didn’t need it anymore. I got a notice for balance owing .02 cents. That was 4 yrs ago, and it is now with a collection agency and the bill is now 4.85. What has it cost them in postage to keep sending me a bill, and what has it cost the collection agency.

  5. Umm, would they still cash this cheque? e^(pi*i) is still 23.14i where i could be interpreted as 1 (i’m sure the engineer meant i the irregular number) and the euler^pi number is rounded. Therefore,
    0.002 + 23.14i + 1 = 24.142 or $24.14
    Sounds about right for a Verizon bill if I recall.

  8. ACE, continuing a laborious explanation: In the electronics business, we use “j” rather than “i” to avoid confusion over “I” for current.

  10. The cheque is actually worth nothing.
    e^(ipi) = cos(pi) + jsin(pi) = -1
    the series is worth 1
    and then 0.002.
    which is effectively worth $0.

  12. Yes, Thomas Kyle’s interpretation is correct as he is using the proper radian formula. I am no engineer but I figured I’d take a stab at it anyway.

  13. The background behind this is that the people at Verizon were having trouble with their decimals..
    They thought that $0.002 == 0.002 CENTS

  14. Isn’t ‘i’ the term for the imaginary number, which is the square root of minus 1.
    Then, you have ‘e’ which is 2.718 etc etc. And pi, which is 3.1415 etc etc.
    So, you have .002 plus e, with the exponents of the imaginary number times pi, plus 2.
    I’m not a mathematician…

  16. I too have had billing problems with Rogers. Their people were tremendously arrogant as I tried to straighten it out. After a few months of arguing, they saw it my way. Trouble is I wanted to switch to their internet and their home phone and to their wireless. Now I wonder if I can find other smaller providers who can give me better service. I am locked in with their cable.

  17. Rogers is pretty much unavoidable in urban environments. They’re the only GSM provider in canada, which is really useful if you do any sort of travelling (your phone will just work everywhere, though the bill is going to suck). Depending on your neighbourhood and what you’re doing, they’re likely the best option for TV and internet and provide very good combination packages.
    In rural environments (like Muskoka) Bell is your only option (no cable plant, ergo no Rogers) but they are doing a decent job in some locations with providing DSL and ExpressVu is decent if you can see the satellite.
    Canada doesn’t have small providers (Rogers bought them all).

  19. In a progressive blog all the bloggers would have have had degrees in sociology, and no one would have figured out how much the cheque was worth.
    It’s a pity WNB didn’t make the amount an imaginary number.

  20. I don’t know is all folks know this – put we have phone number portability now in Canada. You can move cell, land-line and VOIP numbers where ever you want.
    We have 2 numbers that we can move from Rogers now (not on a plan) … and we will be moving them to PC (Presidents Choice) in the next couple of weeks. My kids have another year on plan … when that is over they are moving also.
    I hate paying the 6.95 + .75 (911) charge for each phone per month for nothing … I’m not doing it anymore.
    BTW: Every time you say you are switching (after waiting on hold … to better serve you) they sweeten the deal they are willing to give you.

  22. All I can say is join the VONAGE revolution. $19.99/month for 500 minutes anywhere anytime.

  23. Ural, my poor dude: the 6.95 + .75 (911) charge for each phone per month isn’t for “nothing.” It’s tax. You will still pay it, I’m afraid.
    (Okay, okay — taxes are for nothing. I know. But you’ll still have to pay.) Cable TV fees are more than half tax, too, and nobody knows it. (Every French station on basix is an .80-cent per month tax on every one outside Quebec.)

  24. A few years ago I had to install new power poles for my farm. It became necessary to move the telephone lines as well as cablevision(Rogers).Telus quoted $75 (reasonable) but Rogers wanted $600. So I installed Star Choice and then told Rogers to come and take their cables off MY poles. The manager came out “to see what all the fuss was about” and suggested that they could move the lines for nothing. He said” sure as hell we’ll take down the lines, you’ll move out and the next person will want them back”. I replied he could do whatever he wanted because I had put in sattelite. So went to the expense of moving the lines but lost a customer.

  25. Rogers is the Cargill of communications. Had a fight with them, [ false overcharge], and enlisted BC consumer protection branch help.
    Problem cleaned up. Got a phone call from some Rogers exec after one year of stonewall treatment.
    [They threaten your credit standing.]
    I politely informed him there was nothing to discuss, as Rogers AT&T, Rogers sugar and anything else Rogers was permanently barred from any business with our family forever henceforth. = TG

  26. God created Engineers….
    Then they created the Earth.
    Would that be the “Boots” from YT? Whose wedding I attended in his backyard……under the midnight sun?
    cheers buddy

  27. Rogers kept billing me a certain charge month after month despite numerous calls. Eventually I canceled home phone, fax and business lines and moved to Vonage. Vonage has been down a few times, which sucks, but long distance is free in North America and only 2 cents a minute most other places. I pay less than half what I used to pay.
    I’ll drop Rogers wireless when it’s up too. Their 25mb limit on the Blackberry plan is robbery.

  28. I knew about the I Hate Dell website, so I thought. . . . I wonder if there is a . .
    * I Hate Rogers * website?
    .. . . WOW! Whaddyaknow. = TG

  29. I knew about the I Hate Dell website, so I thought. . . . I wonder if there is a . .
    * I Hate Rogers * website?
    .. . . WOW! Whaddyaknow. = TG

  30. owl:” … You will still pay it, I’m afraid.”
    Well, actually your wrong. The 6.95 is a non-government “system access fee ” – this is how a $20 plan is really a $26.95 plan. The 911 charge only applies to a couple of provinces … BC isn’t one of them. So my Rogers $20 plan actually costs me (with tax) $31.30.
    If I switch to Virgin Mobile my monthly cost is $20 + tax = 22.60. Voicemail and call display, each a $6 hit on Rogers is included … or Rogers offers you a package for $10.

  31. Euler’s formula states that given any real number θ, and given that i² = -1, then: e^(iθ) = cos θ + i sin θ, which in the case of θ = π, is known as Euler’s identity: e^(iπ) + 1 = 0 (which many consider to be the most beautiful formula in mathematics).
    As Thomas Kyle noted, the sum from n equals 1 to infinity of 2^(-n) is 1. Therefore, as John Lewis first noted above, the cheque is for $0.002, or 0.2 cents.
    It is my understanding that the cheque will not be cleared because it does not satisfy the constraints for standard cheques as defined by the Canadian Payments Association – http://www.cdnpay.ca

  32. ‘Hey’ posted: “Rogers is pretty much unavoidable in urban environments. They’re the only GSM provider in canada, which is really useful if you do any sort of travelling (your phone will just work everywhere, though the bill is going to suck).”
    We bought GSM pay as you go phones from T-Mobile in the US. Got them unlocked. They work (on roaming, 50 cents per minute) in Canada on the Rogers network. Bought UK T-Mobile SIM chips for the UK (which also work in Canada but don’t even think about it about $5 per minute with roaming fees). We use the UK phones for quick trips to other European countries but if we are going to be someplace longer, we’ll buy a SIM chip for that country.
    Yes, we don’t have a single number, and yes, our cell phone numbers aren’t local (mine is MN, dh’s is CA) but we didn’t buy the phones so the world could call us, we bought them so we could text each other and our kids and also have phones in case of emergency.
    And total cost for the US phones? A new RAZR, US$100, unlocking US$35, activation US$20. Once we topped up with $100 (which we did right away) the credit is good for one year and any top-up in any amount from now on in, is also good for 1 year. So we only have to get to the US once a year to top up our phones.
    (The UK phone number was $12 and credits never expire but those phones have to be used once every 6 months in order to keep our number active.)

  34. Oh ya, brilliant move Einstein….
    I guess he never thought that Verizon might have some engineers working for them too?
    By the way, I switched from Verizon to Vonage. Apart from getting Verizon to release my number to Vonage, and apart from dealing with customer service at TWO phone companies everything is just fine with Vonage.
    But I don’t like the idea of packet switched networks for real-time data. Circuit is still the way to go….when the price gets realistic.

  35. ural:
    You are correct about number portability – I just dumped FIDO (i.e. Rogers) this weekend and moved to Virgin Mobile. $10 per month plus 10 cents per minute (I’m not a heavy user) including call display and voice mail and NO SYSTEM ACCESS FEE.
    OWL: The telcos Bell, Telus and Rogers all like to make you believe the system access fee is a government tax but it isn’t. At least Bell Mobility in their website has the honesty to admit their $8.95 monthly charge isn’t a tax. See the following link:
    http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1797/135/

  37. Dumped overbilling, incorrect billing, double billing Rogers last month. I am now a very happy MTS cellular customer. One screwed up company. The End

  38. texas canuck,
    Thank you
    You said what I have been thinking throughout the whole thread. Thank you
    VL

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