Very disappointed - not a great start!

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Very disappointed - not a great start!

steve2222

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

#205269 6-Nov-2016 14:02

Way to go Skinny - how NOT to treat two new customers.

The free data weekends apply for new customers who activate their SIM from 1 November 2016. (https://www.skinny.co.nz/skinny-terms/#promo_terms)

My wife and I did not know about this offer until after 1/11 (apparentley it was posted to the Skinny website on 1/11 and not before).

We ordered two Skinny SIM's by post with the intention of not using them until 4/11 which is when our Spark combos ran out and whereupon we would port our existing numbers over to Skinny.

However the Skinny SIMs arrived by courier on 31 October and the instructions said to insert SIM and activate as soon as your receive them (I assumed for some sort of security of delivery reasons). So technically we activated the SIM's on 31/10, but then we took them straight out of our phones. We did not use the Skinny SIM's, Skinny services or set up our Skinny accounts until 4/11, around the time we ported our numbers from Spark.

While the Customer Service lady at Skinny could see how this was unfair to us, she advised the the Support team who she referred it to said there was nothing they could do as we did not meet the conditions.

How about that for a way to satisfy new customers. We were not told about the new offer, nor were we advised to delay activating the SIMs, nor was there anything on the Skinny website until 1/11 - apparentley.

The absurdity of all this was not lost on the CS rep when I said to her I could have Skinny send 2 more SIM's for $4 and when the current combo runs out I will activate the new SIMs, create new accounts, port our numbers (again) to the new Sims and Volia! we will have free data weekends for 3 months.

1 | 2 | 3

20581 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1664591 6-Nov-2016 15:33

I guess conditions are conditions, you might as well just get new SIMs.

Do you really have to activate immediately? I got a SIM for my wife's phone but we're using up the last of the Vodafone package before activating it.

steve2222

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1664593 6-Nov-2016 15:44

timmmay:

Do you really have to activate immediately?

In hindsight - No.

But then the material that accompanies the new SIM encourages you to activate straight away. If I was aware of the promotion starting the next day, I would have waited because our situation was/is exactly the same as your wife's - we never used the SIM's (other than to activate them ie never put in money on them or opened an account) until a few days later when the Spark combos expired and we ported the numbers over.

timmmay

20581 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1664609 6-Nov-2016 16:52

Cool. Well I didn't read the material, I just put it on a shelf for a couple of weeks. We barely use mobile data, so we'll use a higher pack for a couple of months then drop to the minimum and mostly run off the credit. Great system that you can do that.

Bugger about timing for you, but oh well. You got what you paid for, and it's good value.

Pumpedd

1759 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1665599 8-Nov-2016 11:05

Not sure what you guys are on about...but the Skinny website says the free data is for new customers who activate a sim before 16/1/2017.

MrBob

95 posts

Master Geek

#1665756 8-Nov-2016 14:30

steve222 activated their sims the day BEFORE the deal began

trig42

5814 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1665760 8-Nov-2016 14:34

Have you put money on the SIMs?

Just get new ones if you haven't.

steve2222

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1665763 8-Nov-2016 14:41

trig42:

Have you put money on the SIMs?

Just get new ones if you haven't.

I hadn't at the time we activated. Only used SIMs properly from 4/11 when Spark combo ran out and we ported the numbers, opened accounts and put money on accounts and then inserted SIMs into phones for proper use.

Yeah I said that to the CS person that the absurdity of the rule is I will just go and get new SIMs at the end of the combo period (and I will get Skinny to post them out costing them more money).

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29766 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1665781 8-Nov-2016 15:00

thing is, when you want to sign up for a really good deal. always read the terms and conditions. unless it's a supermarket, even then keep an eye on the read out when they scan the item. yesterday had toothpaste with label 4.99 down from 7.49 and scanned out at 6.49. such is life. trust no one.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#1665801 8-Nov-2016 15:36

joker97:
thing is, when you want to sign up for a really good deal. always read the terms and conditions. unless it's a supermarket, even then keep an eye on the read out when they scan the item. yesterday had toothpaste with label 4.99 down from 7.49 and scanned out at 6.49. such is life. trust no one.

If it is a good supermarket, they will give you a refund and let you keep the product. My local supermarket does this. That sort of error is not acceptable these days.

sep11guy

660 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1665816 8-Nov-2016 15:56

joker97:

such is life. trust no one.

i agree with this 100%, however genuine, fair i try to be, there are always people who want to rip and make that extra 20-30-40% , i know its not related to this thread, but its sort of a overall scheme i see at many places.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29766 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1665832 8-Nov-2016 16:20

steve2222:

Way to go Skinny - how NOT to treat two new customers.

The free data weekends apply for new customers who activate their SIM from 1 November 2016. (https://www.skinny.co.nz/skinny-terms/#promo_terms)

My wife and I did not know about this offer until after 1/11 (apparentley it was posted to the Skinny website on 1/11 and not before).

We ordered two Skinny SIM's by post with the intention of not using them until 4/11 which is when our Spark combos ran out and whereupon we would port our existing numbers over to Skinny.

However the Skinny SIMs arrived by courier on 31 October and the instructions said to insert SIM and activate as soon as your receive them (I assumed for some sort of security of delivery reasons). So technically we activated the SIM's on 31/10, but then we took them straight out of our phones. We did not use the Skinny SIM's, Skinny services or set up our Skinny accounts until 4/11, around the time we ported our numbers from Spark.

While the Customer Service lady at Skinny could see how this was unfair to us, she advised the the Support team who she referred it to said there was nothing they could do as we did not meet the conditions.

How about that for a way to satisfy new customers. We were not told about the new offer, nor were we advised to delay activating the SIMs, nor was there anything on the Skinny website until 1/11 - apparentley.

The absurdity of all this was not lost on the CS rep when I said to her I could have Skinny send 2 more SIM's for $4 and when the current combo runs out I will activate the new SIMs, create new accounts, port our numbers (again) to the new Sims and Volia! we will have free data weekends for 3 months.

Are you saying you signed up to skinny not expecting this offer?

steve2222

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1665855 8-Nov-2016 16:46

joker97:

steve2222:

Way to go Skinny - how NOT to treat two new customers.

The free data weekends apply for new customers who activate their SIM from 1 November 2016. (https://www.skinny.co.nz/skinny-terms/#promo_terms)

My wife and I did not know about this offer until after 1/11 (apparentley it was posted to the Skinny website on 1/11 and not before).

We ordered two Skinny SIM's by post with the intention of not using them until 4/11 which is when our Spark combos ran out and whereupon we would port our existing numbers over to Skinny.

However the Skinny SIMs arrived by courier on 31 October and the instructions said to insert SIM and activate as soon as your receive them (I assumed for some sort of security of delivery reasons). So technically we activated the SIM's on 31/10, but then we took them straight out of our phones. We did not use the Skinny SIM's, Skinny services or set up our Skinny accounts until 4/11, around the time we ported our numbers from Spark.

While the Customer Service lady at Skinny could see how this was unfair to us, she advised the the Support team who she referred it to said there was nothing they could do as we did not meet the conditions.

How about that for a way to satisfy new customers. We were not told about the new offer, nor were we advised to delay activating the SIMs, nor was there anything on the Skinny website until 1/11 - apparentley.

The absurdity of all this was not lost on the CS rep when I said to her I could have Skinny send 2 more SIM's for $4 and when the current combo runs out I will activate the new SIMs, create new accounts, port our numbers (again) to the new Sims and Volia! we will have free data weekends for 3 months.

Are you saying you signed up to skinny not expecting this offer?

Correct.

The point being though is we never used the Skinny service or opened an account until 4/11. The only reason the SIMs were activated (and then immediately removed from phone till 4/11) is that the material accompanying the SIMs encourages immediate activation which I wrongly assumed was some sort of security control..

second point is this is a classic case (common among retailers) to reward new customers and not existing ones ( in this case they deem us to be existing customers). Not only that, but we also miss out on Xmas bonuses as we have not been a customer for long enough ie by 1 day we fall through the crack. It amazes me how retailers get away with these offers only to new customers - just try that in a wholesale/trade business eg building supplies and see what your existing customers do.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29766 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1665905 8-Nov-2016 17:21

why don't you buy 2 more sims for $4 and enjoy the weekend data?

steve2222

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1665912 8-Nov-2016 17:39

joker97:

why don't you buy 2 more sims for $4 and enjoy the weekend data?

Yes, see above in post #1 (and another post), that is what I will do. Another poster above also suggested that.

Silly really because I can't see $4 covers the cost of the order as Skinny are paying Ingram Micro to courier them to me. Plus they end up with two dead SIM numbers to be re assigned at some point.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29766 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1665918 8-Nov-2016 17:49

I don't see how it's silly. You bought 2 $2 product and found that if you spent another $2 you get $1000s of dollars worth. Why wouldn't you?

1 | 2 | 3