Does it make sense to keep switching broadband provider to claim sign-on bonus?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Does it make sense to keep switching broadband provider to claim sign-on bonus?

FKM

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#273235 11-Aug-2020 18:55

As title - I am a previous snap broadband user which became a 2-degree user. I am happy with the 2-degree, but I saw those really attractive deal to lock me in for another provider. Should I be jumping around every 2 years?

Probably same can be said on electricity as well......

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#2538803 11-Aug-2020 19:12

2degrees has an awesome offer for Gb at the moment have you looked into that?

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FKM

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#2538805 11-Aug-2020 19:16

Can I claim that even I am current customer? I know in the past all those are for "new customer only" but I also heard there was a law change a few years ago. I haven't followed that so keen to get some advice from the forum.

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#2538808 11-Aug-2020 19:30

If you are out of contract you can get on the Gb plan for $85 or $75 if you have a pay monthly mobile

timmmay

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#2538809 11-Aug-2020 19:30

You can do the same with insurance.

davidcole

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#2538820 11-Aug-2020 19:45

If they’re not doing it fir current customers, and keep offering stuff for new customers only, why not.

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nztim

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#2538822 11-Aug-2020 19:57

I am anti claiming a $2-300 by changing providers every 12 months find who gives you good service and just stuck with them :)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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#2538829 11-Aug-2020 20:10

I'm the opposite of the above. If they reward new customers with these offers and have nothing to provide loyal customers then they are encouraging this type of behaviour from customers. Its so easy to change these days and the product offered is essentially the same thing. Why wouldn't you follow the sign-on deals to save money? You owe them nothing.

kiwiharry

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#2538835 11-Aug-2020 20:18

I regularly review my electricity plan and have probably switched about every 2 years on average.

Broadband provider I've stuck with for over 5 years. Have reviewed occasionally but kept with existing provider and only changed plans over the years.

If you can't laugh at yourself then you probably shouldn't laugh at others.

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#2538838 11-Aug-2020 20:29

Changing my ISP (and subsequently my Static IP Address) would be absolute nightmare

My IP is whitelisted on 30 or so different systems for work... Our AU datacentre provider alone charges $89 AUD for any whitelist changes to their portal for a start

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Mehrts

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#2538852 11-Aug-2020 20:48

I used to be somewhat loyal to companies (power and internet in particular).

These days, if my current provider isn't willing to match cheaper offers from other companies, then I have no hesitation in making the move.

I had good service with Slingshot, then moved to Orcon (same company in the background). Once my contract is up, then I'll happily go back to Slingshot if they have a decent deal for new customers. Kind of like a very long-winded version of ping pong haha.

I was with Contact for my power. Their best "offer" to me as an existing customer with discounts etc was more expensive than Nova's raw pricing.. So I switched over. Easy.

quickymart

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#2538860 11-Aug-2020 21:01

Nova? Better hope you don't need any help or want to make any changes - same thing applies to most power companies trying to do internet; from my experience, they don't do it well.

Mehrts

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#2538904 11-Aug-2020 21:51

quickymart:

Nova? Better hope you don't need any help or want to make any changes - same thing applies to most power companies trying to do internet; from my experience, they don't do it well.

As I have gas mains at my place, this severely restricts my options as I wanted to keep electricity and gas on one bill. Nova had best pricing by a good margin. I don't need to change anything plan-wise, as I've selected the best option for me which is based on the previous few years of being at the same property, so I know what I need. If you don't try different companies, then you just end up paying more for the same thing.

Power is easy, it's either on or off, unlike internet which can have all sorts of weird and wonderful issues, so this is why I keep my internet with dedicated ISPs, and not through a power provider.

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#2539001 11-Aug-2020 23:39

Not worth jumping provider every year as unlike electricity, broadband providers are different. They've each got different networks, different deals etc. Also broadband providers want to keep you on also.

Just do what many of us do and give them a call once your 12mo contract runs out - they'll give you a deal depending on what you've got with them. If you've got mobile and broadband then you're more likely to get a better deal than just having broadband with them for example as broadband is a very low margin product.

Many people have managed to get the $75 deal (or $85 if you don't have mobile with them) when they've asked nicely.

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Handle9

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#2539037 12-Aug-2020 07:26

Senecio:
I'm the opposite of the above. If they reward new customers with these offers and have nothing to provide loyal customers then they are encouraging this type of behaviour from customers. Its so easy to change these days and the product offered is essentially the same thing. Why wouldn't you follow the sign-on deals to save money? You owe them nothing.

If you do your research and understand who you are going with this is a pretty sensible approach.

For most consumers telcos have low differentiation and the better ones have fairly comparable, and uneven, levels of service. You are a number to them, don't treat them like you have an emotional attachment to them. They sure don't have one to you.

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#2539061 12-Aug-2020 08:33

Mehrts:

I used to be somewhat loyal to companies (power and internet in particular).

These days, if my current provider isn't willing to match cheaper offers from other companies, then I have no hesitation in making the move.

I had good service with Slingshot, then moved to Orcon (same company in the background). Once my contract is up, then I'll happily go back to Slingshot if they have a decent deal for new customers. Kind of like a very long-winded version of ping pong haha.

I was with Contact for my power. Their best "offer" to me as an existing customer with discounts etc was more expensive than Nova's raw pricing.. So I switched over. Easy.

Is it easy to change ISP like power companies?

The last time I changed ISP (this was a while ago with ADSL) I ended up having an overlap of billing periods which negated some of the benefits of changing. I did this as there was no guarantee that the change would happen on that particular day and I didn't want to suffer the wrath of the family with no internet for a time.

I'm hoping with fibre an ISP change would require no work from my end - no even reconfiguring my router.

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