Spark sinks to a new low..

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#2066769 2-Aug-2018 10:55

1101:

Cant see the issue with door to door selling.
Just say "Not interested" & close the door, its not a big deal.

Works fine for you or I, not so much the tech illiterate, especially the elderly or vulnerable.

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Lias

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#2066778 2-Aug-2018 11:06

Wheelbarrow01:

Clickbait thread title much? - you make it sound like Spark have actually done something wrong or aggrieved you in some way, when in fact they are just engaging in a legitimate business practice used by hundreds of companies.

As others have already stated, Spark has always been active in the D2D space, so it's hardly 'a new low' as you so eloquently put it. If you don't like D2D sales, that's cool - order some free Do Not Knock stickers for yourself and your family, and then move on with your life.

Spark HAVE done something wrong in my eyes, as I consider any use of D2D sales by a company to be at best desperation tactics and at worst deliberately deceitful tactics. I thought this was a new thing, hence the new low title, but apparently they've just been using these scummy tactics for years and I never knew.. Finding this out has genuinely revised my opinion of the company in a negative direction. I'd believed that most of the "institutional evil" from the Telecom years had gone to Chorus rather than Spark, but the use of D2D sales directly contradicts that view.

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#2066784 2-Aug-2018 11:21

Lias:

Wheelbarrow01:

Clickbait thread title much? - you make it sound like Spark have actually done something wrong or aggrieved you in some way, when in fact they are just engaging in a legitimate business practice used by hundreds of companies.

As others have already stated, Spark has always been active in the D2D space, so it's hardly 'a new low' as you so eloquently put it. If you don't like D2D sales, that's cool - order some free Do Not Knock stickers for yourself and your family, and then move on with your life.

Spark HAVE done something wrong in my eyes, as I consider any use of D2D sales by a company to be at best desperation tactics and at worst deliberately deceitful tactics. I thought this was a new thing, hence the new low title, but apparently they've just been using these scummy tactics for years and I never knew.. Finding this out has genuinely revised my opinion of the company in a negative direction. I'd believed that most of the "institutional evil" from the Telecom years had gone to Chorus rather than Spark, but the use of D2D sales directly contradicts that view.

No laws have been broken that we know about, and D2D selling is perfectly legal. There isn't anything scummy about it in that respect.

There is scope for them to be smart about the use of it though - like the timing of a D2D campaign with the provisioning of fibre - that'd likely be better received in some cases...

Lias

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#2066785 2-Aug-2018 11:38

DaveDog:

No laws have been broken that we know about, and D2D selling is perfectly legal. There isn't anything scummy about it in that respect.

Just because something is legal, doesn't make it not scummy.. take for instance loan sharking, home direct sales trucks, ticket reselling websites...

DaveDog

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#2066786 2-Aug-2018 11:43

Lias:

DaveDog:

No laws have been broken that we know about, and D2D selling is perfectly legal. There isn't anything scummy about it in that respect.

Just because something is legal, doesn't make it not scummy.. take for instance loan sharking, home direct sales trucks, ticket reselling websites...

I dispute that D2D is scummy. Provided that the seller is following the rules and conducting themselves with honesty and integrity - it's fine. Those that rely on trickery or are shady - they're certainly scummy. But you can't tar them all with that description based on the actions of a select few.

nakedmolerat

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#2066799 2-Aug-2018 12:07

Oh my - last visit from vodafone D2D, i got a really good deal.

D2D sales for Spark or any telco is difficult to exploit. The conversation usually goes like this-

Hi, how much you paying per month - $×

Ok, we have offer - $y amount for you. y
I think it's really hard to 'exploit' telco sales!

rugrat

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#2066818 2-Aug-2018 12:37

mattwnz:
What is the deal they are offering? Am looking around at offers, and currently with Spark and near the end of my 12 month contract term.

When your contract is up, go to online chat. or ring up and tell them you are looking at changing ISP’s.

Looks like they’re losing customers, may get a good offer, otherwise option to change provider if they don’t.

Can get good offers from door to door people, but some people can get caught out and feel pressured to buy something they wouldn’t have brought.

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quickymart

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#2066823 2-Aug-2018 13:06

My employer pays for my internet, so every time they knock on the door I ask if they can do better than $0 a month. They usually can't :)

linw

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#2066826 2-Aug-2018 13:30

Usually??

mattwnz

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#2066851 2-Aug-2018 14:06

rugrat:
mattwnz:

What is the deal they are offering? Am looking around at offers, and currently with Spark and near the end of my 12 month contract term.

When your contract is up, go to online chat. or ring up and tell them you are looking at changing ISP’s.

Looks like they’re losing customers, may get a good offer, otherwise option to change provider if they don’t.

Can get good offers from door to door people, but some people can get caught out and feel pressured to buy something they wouldn’t have brought.

I did that last year, and got a good deal, although last year was a lot more difficult to do it. I have done it for the last few years in a row, and each time got a good deal to stick with them. One of those was a free Tivo.

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#2066862 2-Aug-2018 14:38

linw:

Usually??

Hehe, that was tongue-in-cheek :D

amiga500

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#2067175 2-Aug-2018 21:45

DarthKermit:

Oh for the good old days when the Post Office owned all the phones:

And the install guy in the van would say do you want a green or red one. Only colours left this month mate.

Aredwood

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#2067188 2-Aug-2018 23:30

Had D2D sales staff from Telecom visit back when the $10 txt deal on the new CDMA network was a thing.

Main thing that annoys me about DTD sales, is that they often have offers that are not available elsewhere. This means that the response rate to the offers is better than say website signups. So management think that DTD sales work. When their other sales channels would actually work just as well or better, if they made the DTD offers available though the other channels as well.

And the DTD salespeople tend to only visit when you are already in a contract etc. And never when you are already actively considering switching providers. EG Vodafone visiting me less than 1 month after UFB became available. They Had a good offer, but no way was I going to switch. Less than 1 month into a 2 year contract. (signed up to UFB less than 24 hours after it became available, installed exactly 1 week later)

Do Spark, or any other companies. Offer a service where you can request that their DTD salespeople visit you?

hio77

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#2067189 2-Aug-2018 23:35

Aredwood:

Do Spark, or any other companies. Offer a service where you can request that their DTD salespeople visit you?

i feel like this falls into the same category as people who religiously call in every year to try to discuss with rentions a rolling credit.

I'm not sure on the answer itself, but to me, kinda feels slightly immortal?

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Aredwood

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#2067192 2-Aug-2018 23:57

hio77:
Aredwood:

Do Spark, or any other companies. Offer a service where you can request that their DTD salespeople visit you?

i feel like this falls into the same category as people who religiously call in every year to try to discuss with rentions a rolling credit.

I'm not sure on the answer itself, but to me, kinda feels slightly immortal?

Scenario- I'm not currently a Spark customer, but I'm considering signing up to Spark.

I check the Spark and My Republic websites. My Republic have a better offer, so I sign up with them.

1 month later, Spark DTD salesperson visits, and they have the same or better offer than My Republic. But I can't sign up with Spark, as I'm now in a contract with My Republic.

If I could have requested a visit, or if offer was available on all sales channels, I would have signed up with Spark instead.

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