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Guidelines for Selling (and Buying) a used Rogers Set Top Box in Ontario

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Notes by 57: When purchasing a used STB:

(These instructions also apply to most other service providers)

1. Call Rogers with the name of the seller and the STB serial number before purchase. This is to ensure that it's not a rental and is properly in Rogers system (as a third-party STB) and is allowed by Rogers. If the seller will not provide the serial number, walk away from the deal. Have the seller show the STB in operation if possible. This is especially important if it's a PVR because the iHDD could be bad. Record a channel like CP24 for a few minutes and play it back. Make sure the iHDD doesn't make any strange noises like "clicking sounds" as this can be a sign of a hard drive about to fail. If they can't demo, then the price should reflect that.

2. Ensure the seller deactivates the STB or tells Rogers they're selling it so that you can then activate it.

3. You must call Rogers when you get the STB home to authorize it.

4. You must have the cable properly connected and a good signal to the STB for it to function/boot.

5. Sometimes another call by the seller is required after the buyer has the STB in his possession and is trying to activate it (due to Rogers Computer issues - there must be some difference between the "check" and the "activate" steps in Rogers' computer system). Sometimes, if you call to activate, and the CSR says the box has not been deactivated, if you know the seller has made the call, if you insist that it has been deactivated, the CSR will often activate the STB without another call by the seller.

6. You cannot use a STB that is not a Rogers Ontario STB.

See also the following link showing the active STBs. No good purchasing one that you can't activate, but you'd know that if you called in per step 1.

Guidelines for Selling (and Buying) a used Rogers Terminal in Ontario - Page 7 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

7. In the event you wish to incorporate the STB into a WHPVR (Whole Home PVR) setup, you will need to find a CSR who is capable of entering the box into their system properly. This may be difficult now since most CSRs are now trained on Ignite, not WHPVR. WHPVR activation may no longer be possible with IgniteTV now on line.

8. Sometimes we get questions about "moving" a STB from one subscriber to another without calling Rogers. This is against the Terms of Service with Rogers, they can find out (monitoring location), and both people could be in trouble with Rogers.

9. Note that there are some smaller Rogers areas in Ontario that utilize Motorola STBs. In those cases you need to purchase the correct Motorola STB(s) and it doesn't have to be a Rogers box, but beware of scam sellers. You cannot use SA/Cisco in a Motorola area, or vice versa.

10. If the seller is not a "customer in good standing" (bills all paid, etc.), then Rogers may have a lien against the STB, so calling Rogers before purchase, as discussed in point one, is very important.

11. Since many people are migrating to Ignite, it's often difficult to test a box at the seller's location if digital cable service is no longer available there. You are therefore taking a risk if the seller is not someone you know or trust. One option would be for the seller to deliver the box to your home, have him/her wait until the box boots and operates properly, then exchange money... If you go to their home, they are also less likely to sell you something that doesn't work... Do not purchase from "curbsiders." Prices should reflect the fact that Rogers will be phasing out digital cable and you may wish to consider switching to Ignite yourself. Legacy Digital Cable may not be around much longer with everyone migrating to IgniteTV, so you should consider migrating to IgniteTV rather than purchasing a used box. The end date for Legacy Digital Cable is currently rumoured to be January 2024.

12. Digital Terminals (DTA-50) are usually considered rentals and should not be bought/sold.

13. One other suggestion when you get a new box is to always go to Settings - scroll up one to Troubleshooting and do a Factory Reset. You can then set up the box the way you want by scrolling through all the settings. (Navigatr firmware)

14. Any recordings left on the box will be viewable by the new owner, so delete them if you don't want the new owner to have access to those recordings.



Today I wanted to know whether it was possible to sell Rogers Digital Terminals to other Rogers Customers and what the rules were surrounding the transfer of ownership.

I searched the forum and found lots of threads discussing the buying and selling of equipment that was previously used on other cable systems (typically U.S. systems or Videotron) but no single thread focused on equipment being sold from one Rogers subscriber to another.

Most of this information is noted in other posts but in the interest of putting it all in one thread and making it easier for members to find I have created this thread.

The purpose of this thread is members to discuss an issues surrounding the buying and selling of Rogers equipment to other Rogers Customers. In order to maintain the usefulness of this thread, PLEASE DO NOT POST questions about trying to activate NON Rogers equipment on the Rogers system or trying to activate Rogers equipment on other cable systems.

I contacted Rogers today and here is what they told me:
  • Rogers Customers can sell their Digital terminal to another Rogers subscriber;
  • Unlike some satellite companies we know, there is no service fee to de-activate (seller) or activate (buyer) the Digital Terminal;
  • The CSR recommended the seller advise Rogers of who is buying the box (along with the serial number of the box being sold) in order to eliminate any problems for the buyer when activating the used terminal;
  • Extended Warranties, if purchased by the original owner, are NOT transferable.
Please feel free to add any tips or additional information.
 
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#28 ·
Just as an FYI, an open box item typically indicates that the item has been sold and returned, or used for a demo. It is no longer "new". Since Rogers says that the STB is already on someone's account. This suggests that the item was sold to someone, activated on their account and returned to TD without deactivation.

Nevertheless, you should be able to straighten this out between Rogers and TD, or you should be able to return it to TD as mentioned above (without cost). I do not know how this item was represented to you, however, that is the reality of open box, and anyone purchasing open box should be receiving a significant discount.

Please advise how you proceed.
 
#30 ·
Rant, but on topic.

This deactivation and reactivation process sure can be painful. I've purchased two used boxes in the last month.

Box # 1: Seller had cancelled the account but hadn't specifically deactivated the box. However, I and the seller tag-teamed on the phone with Rogers and after about 20 minutes of back and forth, the box was successfully transferred to my account. However, when I got it home, it didn't work. It showed up as unauthorized. So Rogers zapped the box and... nothing happened. Waited 15 minutes and nothing. Called again, and they zapped again, and nothing happened. I was then transferred to technical support who did that again, and then it worked.

Box # 2: Seller had cancelled the account but hadn't specifically deactivated the box. Before I got there he called Rogers to ensure all was in order with his account. I got there, called with the serial number and was told the box was still owned by him, despite his phone call a few minutes earlier. So, he got on the phone to deactivate the box. I could not activate the box on my account right then and there because I already had a full-house of boxes on my account, but the CSR said all was in order, and there was a note on the seller's account that the box was sold to me. I got home, deactivated one of my (broken) boxes, and tried to activate this new used one. Nope. Still owned by the seller. I said to the CSR if he checks the account it will show a note saying the box was deactivated and was to be sold to me. The CSR says the note is indeed there, but nonetheless the box wasn't deactivated by the previous CSR. So, I said if he sees the note there then just to complete the process, but his supervisor said he couldn't. Finally, I had to call the seller to ask him to call Rogers yet again, for the 3rd time. This time the box got deactivated. But then I had to call back to activate the box. They activated the box, and zapped it. Nothing. Still unauthorized. Waited. Nope. Called back and they zapped it again. Nothing. So they transferred me over to technical support and then it worked.

BTW, when I deactivated my original broken box, that brought me from 5 boxes to 4. However, when I tried to add the new box, they said I had maxed out my 4 outlets (on my VIP account). So, they couldn't add another box. I told them they just deactivated my old broken box not long before that in order to add the new box, so they asked for the serial number of my old broken box again to confirm this before they would allow me to add the new box. Finally when they added they new box, they charged me a $50 Technician Install Fee, and then promptly refunded it.

Buying a used set top box really shouldn't be this complex. This seems like a conceptually simple process, but yet it can be a huge time waster, not only for the seller and purchaser, but also for Rogers' own customer support line. I guess the good news is the CSRs were polite, but still, I wasted several hours getting all this sorted out. I wouldn't have bothered if only Rogers retail boxes were $120 cheaper, but their current retail pricing encourages us to look at buying used.
 
#31 ·
I think the confusion comes from the fact that when you activate a deactivated purchase box on another account, the system will ALWAYS display a message saying something to the effect that this box belongs to another account, are you sure you want to override this? This always throws off the rep, as most customer care reps don't often deal with box activations and aren't aware that this message will pop up regardless of whether the box has been deactivated or not.

What the rep should have done is use the 'box review' feature which will tell the rep the true status of the box. However, I don't think most call centre reps are aware of this function as it is used primarily by retail.
 
#32 ·
Simple solution - do like DHCP does

Looks like the problem is that, once activated, the SAB code remains assigned forever, until the customer notifies Rogers of disposition or cancels their account.

Imagine if DHCP worked that way, i.e., your router keeps its assigned WAN address forever. This is not allowed (except for static IPs), for obvious reasons.

So, if an active DT (digital terminal) has not been detected by the head end (source of cable signal in neighbourhood) for over, say 30 days, then Rogers can simply notify the customer on their next bill that the SAB will be deregistered from their account within 10 days, and that they will have to reactivate. If the customer no longer owns the unit, he/she can simply ignore the notice.
 
#33 ·
^^^ While I think Rogers' deactivation/activation process is poor, I don't think your idea makes sense overall.

I have several boxes, but sometimes one of them has sat unused for several months, even unplugged (for various reasons). If I had to reactivate it every time it sat unused for 30 days, that would be a major PITA. Then again, perhaps a longer time period might be appropriate.

I just think that if someone calls to cancel a box, it should be deactivated immediately and flagged somehow so it's obvious to other CSRs it's been deactivated. Furthermore, if someone cancels their account they should be informed that their purchased boxes cannot be sold until they are deactivated.

It took THREE FRICKIN CALLS to Rogers AFTER an account cancellation for my last purchased box to be deactivated from the original account:

1) Old owner cancelled account weeks ago.
2) Before I arrived he called them again. Not sure what he said but I had informed him that the box had to be deactivated to be sold, which is why he called them.
3) After I arrived, it turns out it wasn't deactivated, so I called back to get them to deactivate it. We (buyer and seller) spent 15-20 minutes on the phone with the CSR.
4) Despite this, it wasn't actually deactivated. He put a note on the account but I guess he didn't go through the actual final deactivation process, presumably because I wasn't activating it to my account right then and there. So, the seller had to call yet again.

This whole process seems just brain dead, and not only wasted our time, but wasted roughly an hour of Rogers' CSR's time just for the deactivation part. This is not including the additional time I spent on the phone with technical support after the box was finally added to my account. It took a few calls to get my re-activated box to actually provide TV service to me.
 
#35 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have several boxes, but sometimes one of them has sat unused for several months, even unplugged (for various reasons). If I had to reactivate it every time it sat unused for 30 days, that would be a major PITA. Then again, perhaps a longer time period might be appropriate.
If 30 days is a PITA for you, perhaps when you activate you can specify a longer expiry date, but something needs to be done to ensure that lazy people don't buy/activate/return a box and not tell Rogers, resulting in orphan SABs being created permanently. Rogers needs a way to automatically free up SAB codes from accounts, when the owner no longer has/uses the STB.
 
#36 ·
ridiculous excuse

I've just heard of the most ridiculous excuse ever...

I bought a box from one used. The person told me that the box was deactivated, etc. I gave Rogers a call in order to have this box transferred to my account.

The Rogers CSR told me that the box could not be transferred to be because this box was purchased from Rogers. Boxes that were purchased from BB or FS are transferrable, but boxes that were bought directly from Rogers are not. I specifically asked whether the box was delinquent or a rental, and CSR specifically said it wasn't the case and it was legitimately purchased - just that the box was purchased directly from Rogers and therefore not eligible for resale.

Is this CSR blowing smoke? Why does it matter which location the purchased from?
 
#37 ·
Is this CSR blowing smoke? Why does it matter which location the purchased from?
The CSR must be blowing smoke. Call them again.

I guess the only good news is that they're pretty good about getting clients to a real person fairly quickly via phone support. No long wait times. (This is in contrast to my recent Bell experience, which took an hour of me waiting on the phone.)

BTW, I don't know if this means anything, but one of the boxes I just bought (and which has now been transferred to me) has a sticker on it saying it may be a property of Rogers, which suggests to me that it may have been a rental unit that was eventually purchased at some time, or at least was originally bought from Rogers directly.
 
#38 ·
CSR is incorrect. I sold a STB purchased from Rogers to another Rogers customer. Also the transfer went without a hitch. I deactivated it. The new owner activated it all without issue. I also purchased a PVR from another user and activated it on my account - all without issue.

I can only assume that there is either some miscommunication going on with the deactivation, or the CSR(s) you're dealing with are useless. I have had no problems in both of my transactions.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, make sure that the STB has been deactivated and "available for you to use" before you purchase it by calling Rogers with the STB number. It's that simple.
 
#40 ·
The fact that I (the buyer) and the seller spent 20 minutes on the phone to deactivate a unit, and then it still wasn't deactivated, proves there is something seriously wrong with the deactivation process.
But, as I mentioned, that is not the proper way to do things. The seller needs to deactivate the STB, give you the number and his name and you need to check it with Rogers before purchase.

This ensures that when you get it home it's ready to activate (providing you don't have the problems you mentioned with activation. But really, I believe yours is a relatively isolated incident which was exacerbated by not following the correct procedure.

This thread (and others on the topic) have been in existence for a long time and lots of people have had no issues if the proper procedure is followed. Granted, once in a while, even with proper procedure there is an issue, but I'm guessing it's pretty rare since it hasn't been mentioned here in years.
 
#41 · (Edited by Moderator)
You're assuming the seller is transferring ownership. I'm a VIP customer, entitled to 4 STBs on my account. I could buy my first STB for my (new) account, activate it, decide I want a PVR instead, take it back and get a PVR and activate it also. I don't think anyone along the way ensures I deactivated the first STB I took back to the store. I can purchase/activate/return two additional STBs. This whole scenario creates 3 orphaned SAB codes. Rogers can't rely on the same people who return activated units to BB etc. to deactivate their units. I bought one that apparently from a batch of 25 customer returns than an eBay seller picked up from BB. The one I bought - plus up to 24 of the others - have orphan SAB codes.

I've spent about 40 minutes on the phone with Rogers trying to get this resolved. They finally agreed (after I indicated I wanted to follow the complaint procedure documented on their website, which includes contacting the office of the president) to phone the customer who originally activated my SAB code, to see if the would confirm that they no longer have an interest in that box. A voicemail was left yesterday, so I will follow up in a day or so to see if they received the customer's OK.

As long as an STB wasn't reported as stolen, there HAS to be a better way to retrieve orphan SAB codes.
 
#42 ·
In the case of an "open box" item, your beef is with the store - they should have deactivated it before resale. And again, you should not have purchased the (used) STB without checking with Rogers first.

If the procedure is followed, there are no (or only rare) issues.

If the store sold it to you as new, again, your beef is with the store for misrepresentation - take it back and ask for a new one - I'm sure it's also pretty easy to tell if it's not new, based on the box packaging.

It's really quite simple and I've stated this several times now. When purchasing a used STB, call Rogers with the name of the seller and the STB number before purchase.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/05/buying-a-used-cable-set-top-box-in-canada/ Link from post 2.

Not following the proper procedure would be like purchasing a used vehicle without running the VIN to see if you're buying from the registered owner (although the stakes are not as high with a STB).
 
#43 ·
Our point was the "proper way to do things" is inherently flawed. It causes huge confusion for sellers, buyers, and even Rogers CSRs alike. And it promotes the creation of a pool of "orphaned" boxes.

In fact, I'd say the "proper way to do things" gets done in a minority of cases, because sellers and buyers don't know any better. Kijiji, Craigslist and Kijiji is littered with boxes sold a second time around "As Is" because the boxes are still active on people's accounts.

As for this thread being representative, if anything it just illustrates the complexity of the process. The only reason many of us know the "proper way to do things" is because of this thread, not because Rogers is making the information widely available or helping to ensure the process goes smoothly for its customers.

I've now done this twice. The first time took a long time (20 minutes with the buyer and seller both on the phone for the deactivation / reactivation process), but only took one call (not including the original account cancellation). The 2nd time took 3 phone calls from the seller (not including the original account cancellation). Even if instance #1 was representative and instance #2 was rare, it still illustrates the flaws in the process. It really shouldn't take this long to do such simple things.

When purchasing a used STB, call Rogers with the name of the seller and the STB number before purchase.
It's interesting you bolded this, cuz I think it further illustrates the difficulties in the process.

Having the name of the seller and the serial number of the box doesn't actually help you directly for deactivating the box. All you can do is confirm whether or not a box has been deactivated. It's the seller who must call in to deactivate the box as you know. And as far I'm concerned, I don't think they should have needed to call after the initial account cancellations in the first place. Why do they need to deactivate a purchased box from a cancelled account? Does Rogers truly think they people like keeping these boxes as art pieces in their homes? Since it is a must that the box must be deactivated separately, then Rogers should prompt the customers to do this when they cancel their accounts, but it would seem that Rogers wants these boxes to stay orphaned.

And in my second example above, the buyer had to call in three separate times (after the cancellation weeks before) before it actually got deactivated. The second time the CSR actually assured me it was deactivated but he was mistaken. If the process was clear and simple, the CSR would likely not have made that mistake.
 
#44 ·
One reason the original owner must deactivate properly (or say he's selling the STB, etc) is that even if the account has been cancelled, he could still be keeping the box so that he can use it when he returns to Rogers. Say for a 1 year assignment abroad, or simply as some people do when they switch providers every year or two as some are known to do.

You say people don't follow the proper procedure? Well, that's not an excuse since we all know what can happen if they don't. Still, I have not seen many people who have not been able to get the STB working, as evidenced by this and other threads on the forum. Not doing your homework when purchasing may result in extra work by you, or purchasing a brick... I've added the sentence to post 1.
 
#45 ·
The behaviour you're expecting from people who've actually used their box, and perhaps want to store it for a while, is reasonable.

You can't expect people who buy units, activate them for free on their VIP accounts etc. and then decide to return it to the store to make sure that they get properly deactivated.

Rogers has to clean this up, and at least make it easier for the person in physical possession of the STB to activate it on their own account.

Perhaps one thing that Rogers could do is print the SABs registered to each account on each bill so customers can recognize boxes that shouldn't be assigned to them.
 
#46 ·
So, yet another issue with activating and deactivating boxes. I originally posted the first part of this in the rant thread, but I think the update warrants a post here.

My mom's in the middle of a move (aka. "transfer") and had an old rental 3250HD. I told the CSR that it was old and the DVI output was unsupported so I was going to exchange it for a 4642HD for the new place she's moving into. He said go ahead.

I went to the store to do that. They took the box, deactivated it from the account, and then refused to give me another box in its place. They said boxes could not be activated on accounts in the process of being transferred. Not believing him, I called their phone line, and got the same answer. So, for the install date, I had no box at all for her. I asked if I could just activate one of my purchased boxes (after deactivating it from my account) and they both said no, and I'd have to wait until the transfer process was finished, because the system wouldn't allow them to activate the box on the account.

Despite their claims, I decided to call yet again today to try, so that she'd have that purchased box ready for the install guy. No problem this time. I deactivated the box on my account, and then activated it on her account. So, why were the other two CSRs claiming this was impossible?

We'll see what happens tomorrow with the install with this box.
 
#49 ·
Despite their claims, I decided to call yet again today to try, so that she'd have that purchased box ready for the install guy. No problem this time. I deactivated the box on my account, and then activated it on her account. So, why were the other two CSRs claiming this was impossible?

We'll see what happens tomorrow with the install with this box.
Install went fine. No issues. I'm glad I didn't take the word of the first two CSRs (one in-store, and one on the phone).

P.S. I brought the box back home since my mom's home is currently empty anyway. No furniture yet. I plugged it in and to my surprise it sorta works at my place. I'm surprised because I live in Scarborough and her place is in North York, and the channel mapping is different. In any case, at my place it follows the Scarborough channel mapping, but is missing most of my speciality channels, and it's also missing her speciality channels. Interestingly, it receives Space at my place, even though she doesn't subscribe to it (but I do).

I'm now off to try and get an end-of-contract iPhone 3 transferred over that one of my daughter's friends gave her. We know the original owner, so this should be much easier.
What's an iPhone 3?

If you mean the 3G GSM iPhone then there should be no issue if your daughter is on the same carrier. All you have to do is swap the SIM card.

If you're not on the same carrier then that's a different story. It's also a different story on CDMA, but it shouldn't be a problem since you know the previous owner.
 
#47 ·
My brother used to work for US cell phone call centre. He made the following (good) point:

Cell phones are returned to retailers all the time. The latter have special numbers to call for rapid admin changes, and they are constantly doing this to deactivate IMEI numbers. Customers don't deactivate their own IMEI numbers, but neither do they walk out of a store with a (subsidized) phone without activating it. STBs leave the store unactivated.

Every retailer that accepts a Rogers STB return should be required (and have authority to) deactivate a SAB, since the SAB might still be activated. With a phone, they know it has been activated, but with STBs perhaps they should assume that it has been activated. Perhaps that is all that is needed.
 
#48 ·
Hallelujah! The original purchaser actually returned the voicemail left by a CSR and confirmed that...the...box...had...gone...back...to...Best...Buy. Amazing!

Only took 4 days and a total of about an hour on the phone with a half dozen various CSRs.

I'm now off to try and get an end-of-contract iPhone 3 transferred over that one of my daughter's friends gave her. We know the original owner, so this should be much easier.
 
#52 ·
My Rogers cable "expired" on June 28th. When I looked at the 8300 on the morning of the 29th, the display was showing 4 dashes. Does this confirm it's deactivated, or does this just mean it mean there was no service ?

Do I need to confirm on the with them on the phone that it's actually de-activated ? I do plan to sell it...

Thanks
 
#56 ·
Let me explain my experience with a de-authorized stb.

I have 3 STB which i watch tv regularily on. For a period of a few months ,i had to disconnect one of them because the tv was being replaced. Anyways we were in no hurry to replace the TV so we left everything disconnected and continued to watch the 2 remaining tv sets. Yesterday we got around to hooking up the new third TV back up and connected the old STB. and was greeted with a Not Authorized message. Now I know for a fact Rogers still has the Mac address of this box on record on the account, because i never called to have it removed. i simply logged into rogers.com and went to the re-authorize STB section and moments later the box became active. I also noticed the QSG disappeared, but after a reboot it came back, darn!
 
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