Why dont cell carriers reward long term customers?

[EM3]

The title says it all. The other day I went to upgrade my cell phone since my contract is due to be renewed in a month. There was no special deals or incentives and I have had a contract with them for 8 years or more. Its not like I want the moon for free but how about a special reduced rate on that shiny new phone.? When I get a new phone I keep it at least two years. How about a trade in program that's in my local store and not make me mail my phone in and wait for an evaluation and maybe give me something in 3 weeks.

 

[rui-no-onna]

Frankly, the current system on the two largest US carriers (AT&T & Verizon) penalizes folks who don't upgrade their phones on a 2-year cycle.

If you want reasonable upgrade options, go T-Mobile or prepaid. On T-Mobile, you don't get a bigger discount on the phone but since the price of the phone and plan are separate, after you've paid off your phone, your monthly bill goes down.

 

[itsallgood]

Agreed. Can't explain why they don't reward long term customers. Maybe if everyone would boycott, for a day or two, buying anything from them, that might get them to thinking about it.

 

[jhawkkw]

The carriers are making record profits ripping customers off. They have no reason to throw customers a bone until the market shifts.

 

[EM3]

Sadly in this rural area there is only 2 carriers with any consistent service and that is A T and T and Verizon

 

[kate]

Frankly, the current system on the two largest US carriers (AT&T & Verizon) penalizes folks who don't upgrade their phones on a 2-year cycle.

They love it when your contract ends and you keep the same phone.

The carriers are making record profits ripping customers off. They have no reason to throw customers a bone until the market shifts.

And their new programs to upgrade phones every 6 or 12 months cost people even more.

How about a trade in program that's in my local store and not make me mail my phone in and wait for an evaluation and maybe give me something in 3 weeks.

You could sell it yourself to another person... and you'll probably get more then the carrier will pay you.

 

[Italo]

They love it when your contract ends and you keep the same phone.

Agreed. Any phone you buy from the carrier is subsidized. If you're already paying them for service, they would rather not sell you a phone at a loss. This is why you have to wait 2 years to upgrade, or pay more ("upgrade plan" or fee) to upgrade sooner. Letting you buy another subsidized phone at all, is just a way to retain customers for them.

The only situation they would prefer to sell you a new phone is to get to sign a new contract with worse terms. i.e. your old data plan had no data limit, and your new plan is ironically called "unlimited"; they've discontinued your data plan, sign up for the one that cost $5 a month more, voice mail is no longer free, etc.

 

[Hadron]

Put simply, it's more profitable for them not to.

 

[zuben el genub]

TMO lets you BYOD. They haven't bugged me about the old Nokia 6085 bought years ago from a private seller. I usually buy my own from elsewhere unlocked. Amazon has some. Google's are unlocked.

The carriers are now jumping on the "new phone when you want it" Sure you can get a new phone, but you will be paying interest for a helluva long time and a lousy ETF.

 

[SiempreTuna]

Put simply, it's more profitable for them not to.

Absolutely. It's all done on customer profitability.

Customer spending is individually tracked: if you spend a bucket load of cash, you're worth keeping so you get a better offer .. so long as there's a possibility of you switching providers - i.e. you have called the network and told them you're leaving. Anything less ain't gonna wash.

Try it: call to say you want to move your number to another network and you'll be pinged straight through to the retention team who'll take a look at your rating and - if you're a big spender - suddenly discover some nice new offer you haven't seen before. When you call, be sure you have verifiable details of an offer from a competitor: they track the market so BS ain't gonna hold up.

Of course, if you're a cheapskate like me who rarely pays for anything outside of your ridiculously cheap tarrif, you'll pretty much get squat. Frankly, the retention team would be quite happy to see the back of you - have a competitor put up with you instead

 

[valorian]

In addition to what was already said, like all of the corporate America companies, it's all comes down to pleasing the share holders. The carriers give all the good incentives to gain new customers. The more new customers they can report each quarter, the better it looks for them. Same goes with the cable companies.

 

[El Presidente]

Try it: call to say you want to move your number to another network and you'll be pinged straight through to the retention team who'll take a look at your rating and - if you're a big spender - suddenly discover some nice new offer you haven't seen before. When you call, be sure you have verifiable details of an offer from a competitor: they track the market so BS ain't gonna hold up.

Definitely, if you spend a lot, they'll probably bend over backwards to keep you if you say you're leaving.

Not sure about the States, but over here that is especially easy when you have a network like 3, offering unlimited data. I got and extra 5GB and some other extras when I told Orange I wanted a PAC so I could take my number to 3.

 

[Ssith]

it should be required that once you pay off your subsidy, your bill should go down. you've paid for the phone, they shouldn't be allowed to continue charging you for your phone. i know t-mo does this, but their coverage in most areas leaves something to be desired. same thing if you buy outright.

 

[jhawkkw]

it should be required that once you pay off your subsidy, your bill should go down. you've paid for the phone, they shouldn't be allowed to continue charging you for your phone. i know t-mo does this, but their coverage in most areas leaves something to be desired. same thing if you buy outright.

It should be that way, but the carriers have they're customers ignorant to that fact considering most truly believe they're buying that $650 smartphone for only 200:banghead:.

 

[SiempreTuna]

In addition to what was already said, like all of the corporate America companies, it's all comes down to pleasing the share holders. The carriers give all the good incentives to gain new customers. The more new customers they can report each quarter, the better it looks for them. Same goes with the cable companies.

Which is just dumb: customer acquisition is generally accepted to cost around 5 times as much as customer retention - i.e. it's way more cost effective to keep 5 existing customers than it is to get 1 new one as it costs the same but you get 5 times the revenue.

Plus, retention's relatively easy to measure: what %age of customers switched to a different network in a quarter? Problem is, the networks and their shareholders still haven't fully accepted they're in a mature market now.

it should be required that once you pay off your subsidy, your bill should go down

Ah, but the networks figure that if they don't reduce the cost you're more likely to figure you might just as well get a new, subsidised phone .. and consequently, a new 2 year contract.

you've paid for the phone, they shouldn't be allowed to continue charging you for your phone

Hey! They paid their bribes - sorry, political contributions - they get to decide what they're allowed, not you!

 

[SpyderBite]

I worked for VZW for a few years. Long term/High Value customers (the latter being family plans over 200 bucks a month) do get special exceptions when it comes to problems with the account or one of their devices.

However there is no written rule that mentions any benefits.

I've also been a VZW customer since before they were VZW. I've had many csr make special exceptions for me due to the amount I spend on my monthly plan such as free device replacements out of warranty, waived late fees, and free accessories with a new device upgrade.

So, in a nutshell, it isn't how long you have been a customer. Lets face it, for every one person that leaves VZW 20 more sign new contracts. It is all about how much you spend each month.

 

[valorian]

Just remember this. Every change Verizon (or any big companies) make is not for the customer. Never has been. All the changes they make are for their bottom line to keep their share holders happy and to get more people to buy shares.

As long as the changes (incentives) Verizon makes keeps more people come to Verizon than they lose, that is all they care about.

 

[EM3]

I worked for VZW for a few years. Long term/High Value customers (the latter being family plans over 200 bucks a month) do get special exceptions when it comes to problems with the account or one of their devices.

However there is no written rule that mentions any benefits.

I've also been a VZW customer since before they were VZW. I've had many csr make special exceptions for me due to the amount I spend on my monthly plan such as free device replacements out of warranty, waived late fees, and free accessories with a new device upgrade.

So, in a nutshell, it isn't how long you have been a customer. Lets face it, for every one person that leaves VZW 20 more sign new contracts. It is all about how much you spend each month.

How about over $200 with 4 phones?

 

[Slug]

Try it: call to say you want to move your number to another network and you'll be pinged straight through to the retention team

For best effect call early in the week, ideally first thing Monday morning when their weekly 'discount pot' is nice and full. Allegedly.

if you're a cheapskate like me who rarely pays for anything outside of your ridiculously cheap tarrif, you'll pretty much get squat.

Not necessarily. Losing customers to competitors a.k.a 'churn' is still something UK networks abhor. One benefit of a crowded marketplace.

 

[jhawkkw]

For best effect call early in the week, ideally first thing Monday morning when their weekly 'discount pot' is nice and full. Allegedly.



Not necessarily. Losing customers to competitors a.k.a 'churn' is still something UK networks abhor. One benefit of a crowded marketplace.

Yeah, when I told Verizon I was leaving they more or less said "Don't let the door hit you on the way out"
So I left them

 

[rui-no-onna]

Yeah, when I told Verizon I was leaving they more or less said "Don't let the door hit you on the way out"
So I left them

That's because there's not much competition in the US (at least not ones that have decent signal and coverage).

 

[jhawkkw]

That's because there's not much competition in the US (at least not ones that have decent signal and coverage).

It's not there isn't much competition, it's that they don't want to compete with each other. They'd rather take turns one-upping each other on who can rip off their customers more.

 

[jgreetham]

I'm on TMo and recently switched to their no-term "contract". This was before the date I should have been able to do so but they waived the extra charge 'cause of my long-term customer. AND this was without purchasing any new phones and cut my monthly bill by about $30. I have also gotten them to list a number of free phones (not otherwise shown for free) because of my long time customer.

 

[WoohooGuy]

We have Tmobile. We have been Tmobile customers since they first started doing business in the US as they bought our previous provider VoiceStream while they were still Deutsche Telecom.

I actually called them the other day and the rep thanked me for being a Tmobile customer for over 11 years.

That said Tmobile has never offered me a discount for phones or services, in fact the best I could ever beat out of them was refusing to pay any kind of activation fee for new phones or lines I added as my kids got older, not to mention the ridiculous notion of paying a fee to upgrade a phone when signing a 2 year contract.

They charge what they charge because they can and it's what they all do.

They wouldn't even concede the fees I refused to pay right away to make sure they were infallible as possible!!

How?

I had to "pay" the fees that day and Tmobile then issued me separate credit for the exact same amount in the next bill cycle.

:hmpf:

I just changed my cable provider of about the same number years because Verizon Fios made me an offer I couldn't refuse, when I went back to them to see if they would match the price for the same services they insulted me by throwing a higher price at me as if they were trying to call my bluff...

Needless to say I now have Verizon FIOS for cable and internet.

Competition is what you make of it, rest assured all the providers know that. If you want a better deal you will have to throw down and ultimately make good on promises to walk.

 

[boyo1991]

In a psychological sence, its perfect for them. People respond better (but more negatively) to punishment versus rewards. Nobody likes it but it works. And has lead me to believe that regular carriers don't care about their customers. Once they get you roped in, you are the one that signed the line, plus they will punish you if you don't go back to them.

Its something of like an abusive relationship. Which is why I am on prepaid. Sure things aren't perfect, but I don't take $#!+ from nobody!