Spark not even attempting to retain customers?

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#2624191 19-Dec-2020 07:53

Personally I'm willing to pay a bit more if it means giving telcos a realistically sustainable business model, but Spark's pricing seems to be substantially higher than 2degrees and anecdotally their customer service isn't any better.

I think from memory when I looked into it my preferred package was about $145 vs $185 for 2degrees and Spark respectively.

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#2624210 19-Dec-2020 08:55

quickymart:

Unfortunately, people like that then tend to move to RSP's like My Republic, where they find the service is even worse, and support is non-existent.

And then each week start a new thread asking for experts to "help" them with their "problem".

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#2624213 19-Dec-2020 09:02

Sadly, yes. I feel like far too many people just pick based on price and don't tend to think about "what if I need to make a change?" or "what if this breaks down/stops working?". It's only then they realise saving $2 a month isn't really worth it.

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#2624218 19-Dec-2020 09:37

I've been with several ISPs years ago, Orcon, MaxNet, WxC and others which were cheaper but were just utter crap to be quite honest when it came to broadband (dialup was solid) - went to Spark and I know I pay a bit more for what I get but I can't ever recall any downtime that was their fault since I've been a customer (with xdsl it's always been Chorus line faults) whereas the other ones I've mentioned had so many internal flaws and constant downtime (especially WxC), and others like Orcon refused to send Chorus technicians out when there were line faults for months on end.

I still get my bundle up bonus with Spark for having mobile with them, so I'm happy with that. I don't think I'm stupid for sticking with them even though they cost a little bit more, I don't have a lot of spare time to sit on chats or on support lines as it is (this is probably the first saturday I've had off all year!). When I want to do what I want to do at home, watch whatever I want, I don't want to have to battle with technology and I don't. It just works.

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#2624285 19-Dec-2020 12:13

I fully support their discretion when it comes to pricing strategies. It just means that quite a few of my family and friends have moved from Spark over to other providers... adding up to a not so inconsiderate amount pa.

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#2624300 19-Dec-2020 14:46

caveat emptor: you get what you pay for

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#2624301 19-Dec-2020 14:47

firewire:

caveat emptor: you get what you pay for

That isn't always true in the RSP/ISP space. I pay next to nothing for my connection with Orcon, and it's been stable, fast and troublefree from day one. Best ISP I have been with personally (as opposed to used for professional purposes etc) and I have a wide experience in this area.

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#2624306 19-Dec-2020 14:58

sbiddle:

Exactly.. Why join to the race to the bottom in such a low margin business?

Maybe they've simply decided they actually couldn't care less about customers who only want the cheapest price and will change RSP every year regardless just to get the cheapest price, even if it's only by a few $?

....And Spark already have two low-cost brands Skinny and Bigpipe to compete in that market

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#2624631 20-Dec-2020 16:24

They are beyond a joke even for new customers. I walked into a Spark store saying I would move over if they can match Vodafone's pricing or even at least, come close, they couldn't/wouldn't and just said what's on the website is final, no wiggle room - which I know is a load of bs.

40GB Vodafone $80 / +Sharer $30 / Hotspot included = $110
40GB Spark $100 / +Sharer $30 / Hotspot $10 = $140

Sales guy was a bit of a moron and just said they have a "premium network" and they don't care about what Vodafone is offering. (lol)

Not really that concerned about $30 a month, but that is quite a significant difference, and its more just the principal of it. So stuck with Vodafone. Their loss. But makes me wonder how they manage to sell anything with that attitude.

Even $10 off would of maybe seen them a new customer.

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#2624639 20-Dec-2020 16:43

1024kb: Hey Spark - Agile much?

Agile doesn't mean they will pull out bottom offers...

knowing how many of the agile tribes that would be responsible for such decisions work, There will be a play here. Given maybe not what the OP was looking for.

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#2624644 20-Dec-2020 17:03

They probably need the extra margin to pay for all those Air NZ flights that the squads take.

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#2624649 20-Dec-2020 17:17

Why should they price match? A lot of providers don't do this either. Like I said, it's not always about the lowest price.

As for staying with Vodafone - you'll pay a fairly similar price, for absolute crap (customer) service. That one is definitely a case of buyer beware.

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#2624651 20-Dec-2020 17:22

In all seriousness, I’ve been with Spark for 10+ years for both Broadband and Mobile.
Their network is good but I wouldn’t classify it as heads and shoulders above the competition.

I’ve been with 2D for both mobile and broadband. 2D’s broadband service has been as reliable and offers a few extra features such as IPv6 and better local peering (including cloudflair). The mobile offering has been as solid with two exceptions: A. volte is not as prevalent as VF and Spark, B. Wifi calling allows you to make calls where there is no or extremely poor signal. This - I wouldn’t classify Sparks networks as premium.

Even if you did push the 5G button, Voda has been rolling out 5G extremely aggressively so I still wouldn’t put a premium on that.

When choosing Spark, you are paying for their brand, esim support, contact centre support/store network and value added products (eg. Spotify and Netflix).

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#2624655 20-Dec-2020 17:27

quickymart:
Why should they price match? A lot of providers don't do this either. Like I said, it's not always about the lowest price.

As for staying with Vodafone - you'll pay a fairly similar price, for absolute crap (customer) service. That one is definitely a case of buyer beware.

When you are dealing with effectively a commodity, why wouldn’t you kick the tyres? As a home user, I spend $300 odd a month on telephony and probably a similar amount (with an EV) for power. I always want to see who wants/values my business.

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#2624656 20-Dec-2020 17:30

peterxxmeme:

They are beyond a joke even for new customers. I walked into a Spark store saying I would move over if they can match Vodafone's pricing or even at least, come close, they couldn't/wouldn't and just said what's on the website is final, no wiggle room - which I know is a load of bs.

40GB Vodafone $80 / +Sharer $30 / Hotspot included = $110
40GB Spark $100 / +Sharer $30 / Hotspot $10 = $140

Sales guy was a bit of a moron and just said they have a "premium network" and they don't care about what Vodafone is offering. (lol)

Not really that concerned about $30 a month, but that is quite a significant difference, and its more just the principal of it. So stuck with Vodafone. Their loss. But makes me wonder how they manage to sell anything with that attitude.

Even $10 off would of maybe seen them a new customer.

One thing to factor in when comparing pricing to Spark is what are you currently paying for both Netflix and Spotify, I found it does narrow the pricing gap a bit.

In terms of mobile plans I've found you have to shop around for what you need, with Spark only having the option of a 40gig endless data plan before it lets you have addon shares then it only suits the people who need a ton of data. I found 2degrees best for me with with the 10gig plan as 2 out of the 3 connections I have live mostly on Wifi.

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