Early Disconnection Charges

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Early Disconnection Charges

ferg_nz

175 posts

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#90947 4-Oct-2011 09:16

Has anyone else been in this position where you want to change modbile providers and they want to charge you a Early disconnect fee but the fee is more than double what you would pay if you stayed with them.

I want to move my Wifes Cell to a new Smart Plan on Vodafone mainly for the access to the Blackberry Data (extra min's and Txt's are a bonus too) but for me to get out of a $15 per month plan that has 4 months left to run Telecom wants to charge a fee of $130?? my maths works it out to be only $60 that they will be losing out on so why double and add some for good measure.

don't get me wrong i know they need to charge a fee and im happy to pay a fair price but not double what i would pay to stay with them for the 4 months that are left considering i have been with them (telecom) from the first mobile i ever got and still have landlines and Broadband (that i got while it was called Jetstream) but it looks like loyalty does not pay when it comes to the big firms.

keewee01

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#528839 4-Oct-2011 09:22

It is life and to be expected - it has always been the case.

I did the same when I moved from Vodafone to 2Degrees. I waited until the Disconnection Fee became bearable - dropping from $450-ish to $130 in the last few months of the contract - and changed them.

I save myself that $130 in only a few months on 2Degrees so wasn't worried about the Disconnection Fee because of that. That is how you should look at it - what you will be saving by moving, or what else you will be gaining with moving.

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freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#528840 4-Oct-2011 09:22

nigelferguson: my maths works it out to be only $60 that they will be losing out on so why double and add some for good measure.

Did you get any extras? A $0 handset for example? ETF covers not the loss of revenue, but recoup of incentives given.

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#528849 4-Oct-2011 09:29

How about keep the plan and...
a) get a new number
b) do a port-a-bout so you can get your existing telecom number on VF

keewee01

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#528853 4-Oct-2011 09:35

freitasm:
nigelferguson: my maths works it out to be only $60 that they will be losing out on so why double and add some for good measure.

Did you get any extras? A $0 handset for example? ETF covers not the loss of revenue, but recoup of incentives given.

I would agree with you but IMO the prices we are being charged for phones here in NZ these days would seem outrageous, and that goes for the cost of services too. (But starting to get better as of late)

OK, I know that there are frequently deals for a free phone, and in cases like that there is certainly a case for a decent Early Disconnect Fee, but I personally think the prices we are being charged for phones in general are far too high and even if they offer the phone at a discount (the average discount on a Telecom phone for a consumer isn't that great!), I suspect that in the majority of cases they are at the very least breaking even, if not still profiting from the sale of the phone.

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#528855 4-Oct-2011 09:37

@keewee01 yeah i know that is life and will either wait till the end of the contract and move or may just bite the bullet and pay to move. the plan I'm going to will be about $10 more than paying now as i also have the txt extra and a data extra on the Telecom account (not in a contract) but the new one will have more mins and the same amount of Txts

@freitasm no when we got the phone we paid full price for it so it is not like they need to recover that. so just not sure where they get the figure from

as i said above we currently have the Plan @ $15 per month a "One Rate Combo" (which no longer exists) a 2500 Txt Extra @ $12 and a 50mb data extra @ $6 but it is my under standing the extras are not on contract just the One Rate Combo plan

freitasm

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#528856 4-Oct-2011 09:37

Yes, opinion versus what actually happened. So lets see if the OP confirm there was a special offer as part of the term contract.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#528873 4-Oct-2011 10:07

nigelferguson: @keewee01 yeah i know that is life and will either wait till the end of the contract and move or may just bite the bullet and pay to move. the plan I'm going to will be about $10 more than paying now as i also have the txt extra and a data extra on the Telecom account (not in a contract) but the new one will have more mins and the same amount of Txts

@freitasm no when we got the phone we paid full price for it so it is not like they need to recover that. so just not sure where they get the figure from

as i said above we currently have the Plan @ $15 per month a "One Rate Combo" (which no longer exists) a 2500 Txt Extra @ $12 and a 50mb data extra @ $6 but it is my under standing the extras are not on contract just the One Rate Combo plan

Just curious. Why did you sign up for a contract with that plan if you didn;t get any free handset or anything?

XT have always allowed all their plans to be on 30 day term if you didn't want subsidy.

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#528875 4-Oct-2011 10:13

the reason for signing up gave us 40 min instead of 20 min a month but that was the only incentive offered.

the Plan no longer exists but it was the only option at that stage that allowed you to have an XT mobile on the home account. this has now been changed and they allow you to have the Go One Bill Option as they had on CDMA and as such there was no handset subsidy as it was classed as "Prepaid"

oxnsox

1923 posts

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#528900 4-Oct-2011 10:59

Have you tried telling XT that you're thinking of changing...
Generally speaking no Telco like loosing a customer to another Telco. You may only have been a ~$30 a month customer, but thats 2 years worth of customer someone else hasn't had!!
They may want to keep you.

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#528909 4-Oct-2011 11:06

@oxnsox yes i have spoken to the Home solutions team AKA the Customer Retention Team about this and they have not offered anything to try and keep me. even after i pointed out exactly what i am after

i am after blackberry data but not willing to more than double my mothly costs to achive it. VF and there smart 45 Plan for $45 give me every thing i need in a plan. on telecom a plan with Blackberry Data starts at $50 but only has 50min and 300 txt and 500mb but i need at least 500 txt so to get more txts i need to add a Text Boost that make the monthly running costs $60 per month where as for $45 on VF it has 100 min 2500txts and 250mb data with BIS access