Old plans, old prices?

I have recently moved house to another area but stayed with telstra.To confirm that they had done this correctly I was offered a new plan which gave me ability to phone anywhere in new zealand 24/7 at a good? price. As we are now in a country township I accepted this offer and so far it appears to be working to our advantage. G Shatford

I have a very old (abouut 5x years) cellphone plan with Vodaphone. That none of the providers are able to match these day's. It mainly provides off peak talking minutes to any NZ phone, cell or landline. My usage has changed recently with my wife having me as a "best mate". (I would be happier now to trade off peak minutes for more text messages.) But the only deals available cost much more and the texting deals are restricted to my network. Sorry I cannot influence which network my friends belong to. I also now have my landline/broadband with Vodaphone. Isn't it about time there were some tie in deals to bundle your services.

Jeremy.

I recently looked into upgrading my website hosting package with Telecom. They had apparently been ofering vastly superior and cheaper options to new customers via their website since August last year but as an existing domestic customer I was left paying more for a scanty package. Their response was that I should have found out for myself about the new deals and enquired earlier. The net result is that I am no longer spending my hard earned cash with them and I use another provider.

Mel

Wow - my Consumer subscription just paid for itself. I have just gotten off the phone to TelstraClear after changing my phone plan. I have been paying 85 cents per minute to call a cellphone in peak time, and 45 cents off peak. As of midnight tonight I will on a new plan with the 40 cent flat rate mentioned in your story. But you're right - it's sneaky. Because I didn't know about the new rate I've been paying more than twice what I needed to for several years.

I have just had a similar experience with Telecom. I recieved a letter recently from Telecom advising me that they were putting their home phone fixed monthly prices up. In the letter it outlined the new pricing for an Anytime package and for a Homeline package. I phoned them to see what the difference was. The Anytime package gave me a higher fixed cost, but cheaper tolls and mobile calls. The Homeline package was the other way round. I do my tolls through another provider, so there was no benefit for me to be on the more expensive Anytime plan. I asked them to change me to the cheaper Homeline package.

I have dial-up internet with Telstraclear but had my landline tolls and services with Telecom. Telstraclear offered me an attractive deal for broadband but it could only be taken up if I moved all my landline accounts to them too. I was promised it would all be done by them (just say yes on the phone to activate the contract and we will do the rest)and would take no more than 5-7 days. Well, my tolls were moved in that time and my bill showed my dial-up internet (which I had also agreed to keep for use away from home) tolls and line charges were payable to Telstraclear. However I also found that they had not cancelled my arrangenment with Telecom who was also charging me for line charges too! Not only that but the Broadband did not start up. I made the contract in August 2008 and I am still waiting. Telstra says this is because I am a 'long term port waiter' and this is because of a shortage of available connections at the local exchange - controlled by Telecom. Long term could be years and it depends on how many others are in the queue before me. This possibility was not explained at the time and given that some aspects of the tolls were more favorable as I was, with Telecom, I am paying more as the attractive bit of the deal was the price of the broadband. To add insult, Telstraclear still charges me the old higher price for the orriginal dialup because the cheaper on is only to kick in once I also have broadband. A plague on all of them!

We just found out that my Mother who died late last year age 92 had never been offered better rates by Telecom. We had told her of the better rates we got through World Exchange but I think she was both loyal and not comfortable with anything that smacked of new technology. Perhaps this is an issue for Grey power to take up. I'm apalled at the way Telecom treats people to make a profit. I hope their shareholders sometimes think about where their profits come, short term, and how long term they may deserve to lose them.

I am on an old cheap plan for broadband and I am constantly being offered deals to shift to a new plan (which will be more expensive long term but I'll get a "free month" or similar incentives).... I consistently refuse and insist that my plan be transferred with my line whenever I move.

These things are tricky - some customers like to be left alone while others want to know about the latest deals and/or moved automatically.

As you can see from the comments, some customers are happy with the plan they're on and see no need to move at all. They would be very unhappy if we, as a telco, moved them automatically. At the same time, some customers want to know about the latest offers and options and want to be moved automatically. Finding the balance between the two extremes is the key.

In economically difficult times it's vital that customers do take a closer look at their spending to make sure that they're on the plan that's right for them. Anyone who wants to can call in and discuss their needs with the call centre and we'll try to put together the right deal for the right customer.

As for bundling mobile, fixed line and broadband, we'd love to do more of that and no doubt will in future, but when we did offer such a bundle the Commerce Commission took a dim view of it.

Regards,

Paul Brislen
Vodafone External Communications Manager

When a telco develops a new plan it does so knowing it's data about profitability, useage, customer numbers and projected need. So it can't be that hard to contact existing customers on a plan or plans that are about to be superseded and offer them the same deal as new customers would be offered. It just takes a genuine committment to customer service and retention. My experience was different. I am on a Telecom plan which has not been on offer for several years. It is an excellent fit for my needs and offers exactly the products I want. Telecom's current equivalent is both dearer and offers less. When I moved house I transferred my number and on receiving my new bill discovered Telecom used the move to switch me from my cheaper better old plan to the dearer less suitable current equivalent plan at the same time. When i contacted them to complain about their actions there was a bit of trying to convince me that this was the only option. In the end, they transferred me back to my original plan. So while I was disgusted at what they did, 'putting it right' was what counted ultimately and lifted their reputation in my eyes.

Paul Brislen's reply above is interesting. Fair comment, at the start.

But what intrigues me most is the comment about bundling and the Commerce Commission. Vodafone are certainly not alone in this, but it irks me that the major providers make the best deals for their broadband packages dependent on also having the customers' landline with them. In my mind, this is tantamount to bundling. So be it, if that's what it takes to get the best deal I can.

What then, is the issue with offering a further discount if a customer has their mobile calling with the same provider? If "bundling" is such an issue, why not simply let customers pick-and-choose the services they want from the provider they want, but if one should have a second service with one provider, offer the customer a certain level of discount (depending on the services chosen), and again if they have a third service?

Well I have both landline and cellphone with Telecom and think it would be great to get a discount for my loyalty. I have tolls with what used to be Ihug and (think I still) get $10 off my internet for this. That is nice, but if I want to up my broadband data I will need to go onto a bundled plan with landline included which is not good for me.

When the $10 text came in, Telecom suddenly (sneakily) began charging me for every text I sent up to $10 (used to get 10 free/month which did me). They also began charging 20c for every call to check my voicemail, and every time I turned my phone on it said there was new voicemail (there wasn't - it was old voicemails reused). So they got a lot of excess money from me (sometimes $50-60 a month) until (with no help from Telecom) I found the flexi mytime plan where everything (including international calls) can be taken out of the $30 I pay per month. I only use the $30 a month.

I have been with Vodafone for many years and every now and then i get a call to say that my plan is not correct for my current usage, and I should change to a more beneficial plan.I appreciate this service

I phoned Telstraclear to change over my landline, calls, broadband and mobile. My mobile went to the wrong address eventhough I spelt the address out, the changover from Telecom took 4 months to happen and I did not get any confirmation that my internet was active until a month later when I phoned them. And it seems eventhough it was advised I have a Yakpack due to my calls being high I advised I did not want this as it was a once off. I am now being billed for it!! NOT HAPPY AT ALL