Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs:
| Let the price wars begin.
Just like when DSL and Cable started major price wars between each other, this should hopefully bring the same results. The biggest thing we will need with companies like AT&T offering VOIP is communication between AT&T VOIP, AT&T IS, and AT&T telco to ensure that VOIP problems that arise because of DSL issues that are caused by telephone line issues do not mean you are making a million calls to find someone who will work to fix the problem.
--
"Padre, nobody said war was fun now bowl!" - Sherman T Potter
»www.cafepress.com/maxolasersquad
»maxolasersquad.com/
»maxolasersquad.com/network/ My DSL Network Guide
»myspace.com/mlsquad |
|
RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Occasional re-rate exception?
Hardly "occasional" in SBCattland. It's pretty much the norm.
Recent renewals have been at the old rate (and in some cases much less...$27 for 6016/768 instead of $45 for example).
Maybe you were thinking of Comcast, who will only give existing customers a break if they threaten to go elsewhere.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange. |
|
TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
|  You have to pester them to get reductions
If you are a regular long-time customer, you have to call up the vendor to squeeze a better rate out of them. I call Verizon every few months to knock down the price on my landline/cellphone bundle. They are always coming out with new deals. When I see one advertised, I call up and get them to drop my rate to the new lower one. So far, they have always complied. But if you are the type who won't bother, you get no breaks just because you are a loyal customer.
--
--
Join Red Room Forum
BLOG tkjunkmail.blogspot.com
My Web Page |
|
cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
 ·Verizon FIOS
| I think I'm gonna cancel...
Just call up your CableCo and tell them you are having a problem.
If you get a decent support person, tell them you were trying to reach customer service (play the queue game).
Then, when you get someone, play to get a sympathetic ear that you are considering switching to X plan offered by Y company (make sure you do your homework, and not make up something).
Most cases, you can get someone to offer you x number of months for discount. And they are pretty good about it. Especially if they look in your account to see, you've always paid your bill and time you've been their client.
Two colleagues did this with Comcast and were given a 6 month package deal with Voip, Digital + HBO special and HSI for something like $33.95/month for 6 months. I was like, "Damn!", can't beat that deal. Heck, HSI alone is like $50/month when I had basic. I saw their billing.
But yeah, if you were new, they give you the keys. But having been a with Comcast for...6 years, I dropped them when they couldn't fix signal issues. They offered to give me a lower rate for HSI for 3-6months, but "required" me to drop analog and go digital (another $10 more/month over existing $90+fees/taxes). You know, they never contacted me back nor attempted to keep me. Yeah, so much for loyalty.
"I am a cheap whore, available to the better-benefits pimp!" |
|
tsu9
join:2001-08-17
Wheeling, IL | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: You have to pester them to get reductions
Why should [we] be required to call? |
|
bigjimc
join:2003-04-21
Middleboro, MA
| What about me
I consider myself a good customer. I only complain when all else fails and I pay my bills when they come in and what do I get to show for it? Nothing. NADAGADAMN Thing.
I think it would be wise to investigate and market to the loyal customers of others with a deal like AT & T has for $13 permanent or what cellphone companies used to do which is leave legacy customer plans intact. I had a cellphone plan in 1993 that was $13 per month and 29 cents a minute (Nynex Mobile H3 plan). Which was a great plan at the time. As long as I didn't change plans, I could keep the plan.
If Verizon were to offer FIOS with a 15/2 tier for $29.95 indefinitely, people wouldn't change services every year. Instead they jack the price up to $45.95 after the year.
Hey Verizon!!! Give me the service, don;t jack up my price and I will tell all my friends how great you are......
In a day where it costs so much to get a new customer, why not give me $10 off per month to keep me as a customer. In the case of Verizon FIOS, its about $1400 per customer so instead of loosing me ...Give me that $10 discount. Not including inflation Verizon would start to "loose money" in about 12 years. Not taking other marketing and services they could provide. |
|
footballdude
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO
| Not just phone companies
DirecTV did something similar this year. They gave away NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan to new customers this year but charged long time subscribers like me $100 for it. There's no point in threatening to cancel since no one else has Sunday Ticket.
--
What's certain about Darwinism is that it would take less time for (1) a single-celled organism to evolve into a human being through mutation and natural selection than for (2) Darwinists to admit they have no proof of (1) - Ann Coulter |
|
Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to tsu9
Re: You have to pester them to get reductions
For the same reason the coffee in the Cafe cost more than the coffee down the street, even though it tastes worse. Because lazy people will always pay more than those who put a small amount of effort into living. Thank god, otherwise effort wouldn't pay off nearly as much.
Granted they'd be able to do this on a much smaller scale if, say, there were really some competition you could go to. I've had to call a couple times until I get the right CSR some quarters. I get to the point in the call where all I've got to say is "alright, turn it off", so I say I'll think about it, and then call back again; until it works. |
|
Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA | reply to cableties
Re: I think I'm gonna cancel...
Just hit the button to cancel, and ask if they are running any retention incentives, because you just got a great offer from "X"... if the CSR is going to give you a deal, you'll know right away. |
|
Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
·Qwest.net
1 edit | reply to footballdude
Qwest
Yes I just called one of the DSL customer service numbers on the Qwest residential DSL site and when I dialed the toll free number I was directed to call a toll number instead, thanks Qwest for you sterling, out sourced, customer support, and now I have to pay for the call. So instead I got on their feed back area and called them names instead, of course they won't read it. 
--
The older I get the more I prefer the company of my dogs over that of man kind. |
|
dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| said by Transmaster  :Yes I just called one of the DSL customer service numbers on the Qwest residential DSL site and when I dialed the toll free number I was directed to call a toll number instead, thanks Qwest for you sterling, out sourced, customer support, and now I have to pay for the call. So instead I got on their feed back area and called them names instead, of course they won't read it. Did they transfer you to that number or just give you the # to call? if they transferred you I dont think you have to pay for the call.
--
You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
|
Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: You have to pester them to get reductions
except you cant price jump with DSL providers if you cancel early they nail you with the standard issue telco ECF.
--
[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
|
mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Maxo
Re: Let the price wars begin.
Where is this magical world where competition exists? I've lived in Houston, Austin, and now Dallas and everywhere I've lived I've had ONE company to choose from for my service. That means crappy speeds, crappy service, and high prices. Right now I'm paying $49/month for Grande Communications DSL... 1.5Mbps down/384Kbps up. My digital cable is pretty limited, especially in the HD department. |
|
Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs:
| About 4 years ago $50/month got you 512-768kbps with 128 up. No many places have speeds of 3.0-6.0M/~512kbps for that same price or just slightly more.
Even though VOIP is cheaper than a plain POTS line I think there are too many problems with stability and service to try that road. Hopefully this news is an indication that making a VOIP as solid as POTS with a cheaper price is on the horizon. |
|
Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | reply to dvd536
Re: Qwest
No they told me to hang up and call the other number. |
|
