[TelstraClear] Loyal customers left in the cold again....

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] Loyal customers left in the cold again....

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#700558 13-Oct-2012 10:48

freitasm: I am on the 100GB plan. Seriously, for the price I'm paying now (cable only, no other services) it should have an allowance of at least 250GB a month.

How do you come up with the 250GB of value?

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freitasm

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#700561 13-Oct-2012 10:50

A finger in the air. Just 100% more than I use now.

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DonGould

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#700576 13-Oct-2012 11:28

freitasm: A finger in the air. Just 100% more than I use now.

So in the last 12 months we've gone from 15/2 to 100/10 for the same sort of price, but what you're saying is that you're prepared to accept less than 6.5 times as much value in data and just settle on 2 times as much...

...ok that seems more than fair on TCL.

My logic would have said we should be getting 650+GB's of data value.

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jermsie

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#700781 13-Oct-2012 22:22

freitasm:
Barnstorm: I feel exactly the same I spent about 4 hours looking into changing providers but install price (or a contract) with other providers have stopped that.

But what happens if you consider the savings you make by not paying excess usage? Wouldn't that offset the cost of changing providers after a few months?

I am on the 100GB plan. Seriously, for the price I'm paying now (cable only, no other services) it should have an allowance of at least 250GB a month.

That's the thing, the plans are so out of date. Go figure, they have this fuddy old dude in their TV slots... maybe a caricature of upper management.

There are four people in this household, most of which wouldn't want to pay for a technician to set us up for ADSL but just want a better deal. Maybe that's a good opportunity for Telecom et al to lure customers directly from TCL?

At least 200GB seems entirely reasonable given the InHome plans haven't had a substantial change in years, yet consumer usage would be shooting up. How long can they milk the status quo until users who can move, do? But based on their dumbed-down TV ads, I assume they're going for higher margin customers who haven't discovered awesome stuff on the internet beyond Trade Me and email.

Cliché, but it's quite remarkable that we actually have to consciously conserve our ones and zeros. So much great stuff on the web, Vimeo, YouTube, TED talks, tutorials and live streams (just to name videos) that we can't freely access when we want because of something as trivial as a small data limit. Not to mention iCloud backups for multiple devices in a household and cloud storage. Anyway, you get the message, end rant.

– J

morganjterrill

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Wannabe Geek

#700827 14-Oct-2012 02:15

freitasm and Jermsie are well within their rights to complain, and expect a massive data increase from TelstraClear, who is lagging behind every single other ISP now and offering the absolute worst data caps on the market for cable customers.

I have been a 'loyal' Cable TelstraClear customer for 11 years now, and have an absolutely perfect record of paying my bills on time. I subscribe to the triple service package, (internet, phone, tv) with added movie extras. I also make frequent international calls. Essentially, this company acquires at least $3000 out of me every annum as a consequence of having me on the books.

So why is TelstraClear hell bent on pissing me off when it comes to its (abysmal lack of) internet plans? Are other cable customers experiencing the same frustrations lately?

I am witnessing an emerging disparity in the size of internet plans between literally every other main ISP and TelstraClear. This has been going on for a couple of years now, but with every single other ISP surging ahead and TelstraClear doing NOTHING, the difference is staggering. The current data caps are restrictive, frustrating and embarrassing to deal with in a first world country. Those of us who are on the cable network feel trapped because short of uprooting our services, we can't just switch to some other ISP easily.

This post might seem a tad melodramatic, but I am growing weary of seeing TelstraClear advertise "500% more data", only to find out in the fine-print it's for HomePlan packages and new customers only. I am growing weary of every single other ISP being the next in line to offer data caps meant for internet use in 2012 while my perennially low 60GB plan remains as it is, growing more and more useless by the month but while remaining at a cost of $75.95/$118 including phone line. (I understand there are plans higher than 60GB, but I refuse to pay $158 per month for a phone line and 100GB of data or $198 for 150GB of data). No other company charges this much for 100-150GB of data. I don't care if the plans are "warp-speed", I need reasonably priced data increases not attached to the uselessly glorified speed increases that are practically useless to use with such arbitrary data caps.

Telecom now offers 150GB (with phone line) for $99 per month, (or 500GB for $119!!)
Slingshot offers 250GB (with phone line) for $102 per month
Orcon offers "Unlimited" (with phone line) for $99 per month
Vodafone offer 160GB (with phone line) for $125 per month
& I am sat here like a dummy with 60GB and phone line for $118 per month!

It appears TelstraClear cable customers are being shafted and are on the recieving end of literally the worst data caps on the New Zealand market. I certainly feel like I am, because for the same price elsewhere, i'd be better off 90-440GB+

I have tried talking to the call center about this. They just offer to upgrade me to an unreasonably expensive plan. I've tweeted TelstraClear to ask them if they plan to catch up on other ISP's who have increased their data caps to be told that TelstraClear "already increased their data caps, Telecom are just catching up to us now". So now I post here and ask, as a long-term, customer, are there going to be any changes to data caps, or will I best move my entire household back over to Telecom where I came from back in 2001. Because while it is a huge inconvenience to switch everything over, I'm tired of deliberately watching YouTube videos at 360p, i'm tired of listening to music on spotify in lower quality, I'm tired of feeling like I have to watch every little thing I do online so I don't use too much data, and I'm tired of feeling ripped off.

quickymart

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#700828 14-Oct-2012 07:23

Reading your post above reminds me of the old Jetstream days. It was so fast! You could get 7MB/s! But only 600MB of data to use it with in a month :S
At the time it was described as something like "having a nice new Porsche (or some other European car) but the only road you can use it on is your driveway".

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#700847 14-Oct-2012 09:24

well, go telecom. 150gb + phone for $99/m

Lias

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#700849 14-Oct-2012 09:30

quickymart: Reading your post above reminds me of the old Jetstream days. It was so fast! You could get 7MB/s! But only 600MB of data to use it with in a month :S
At the time it was described as something like "having a nice new Porsche (or some other European car) but the only road you can use it on is your driveway".

'

Your not the only one, and yes we are being shafted. HFC customers are a captive market, so I suspect we are being milked to subsidise expansion in the DSL market.

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ajw

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#700867 14-Oct-2012 09:49

Telstraclear take note.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10840251

itxtme

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#700908 14-Oct-2012 11:31

ajw: Telstraclear take note.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10840251

"Now all the ISPs are positioning themselves for when the UFB [ultra-fast broadband] starts, so you are starting to see some much better price points coming through."

This is the key, they can continue to arrogantly charge cable customers for low bandwidth allowances while everybody else competes. However come UFB I will be gone from Telstra Clear (if its not already owned by Vodafone!), and Telstra Clear will not even be a consideration when it comes to choosing a new company!

ajw

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#700976 14-Oct-2012 14:04

Copper and HFC
32. The business case for UCLL investment rests on whether the additional revenue derived from a
lower access cost (including backhaul) is sufficient to cover the capital investment needed to
unbundle exchanges. The revenue return itself is a function of the number of users that an
unbundler attracts. In addition, unbundling further exchanges becomes less attractive as UFB
rollout draws nearer.
33. Currently, [ ] of Vodafone’s broadband customers are supplied by Vodafone reselling a
wholesale UBA+ Plain Old Telephone (POTS) service acquired from Chorus
4
, with the
remaining [ ] served from Vodafone’s unbundled exchanges. [ ] of TelstraClear’s customers
are supplied by a wholesale UBA+POTS service, with [ ] supplied via UCLL and [ ] from its
HFC network.
34. The immediate benefit of the merger is that Vodafone will look to migrate existing UBA+POTS
customers onto UCLL (largely existing TelstraClear customers in Auckland) or HFC (largely
existing Vodafone customers in Christchurch and Wellington) where these exist and meet
customer needs. This means that post-merger Vodafone would expect the number of
customers to be supplied by UBA+POTS service to fall to less than [ ]. Customers on UCLL or
HFC platforms will have significantly lower variable costs as monthly rental fees to Chorus will
be avoided. Given the variable cost nature of the savings and the competitive nature of the
market, customers are likely to gain from these cost savings.
35. The combination of the two businesses also creates greater customer density, improving the
economics of unbundling further exchanges and increasing capacity in exchanges that
Vodafone or TelstraClear has already unbundled. This allows Vodafone to service those
customers at a lower cost than would be the case without the transaction. However, it also
benefits consumers in the long run as unbundled exchanges continue to provide a competitive
constraint on fibre pricing following the rollout of UFB. Vodafone has identified a business case
for unbundling [ ] additional exchanges and for expanding existing equipment in [ ] exchanges
post acquisition.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/sites/default/files/images/Vodafone-Notice-Seeking-Clearance-12-July-2012_0.PDF

zaptor

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Ultimate Geek

#701351 15-Oct-2012 11:13

ajw:

Copper and HFC
34. ... Customers on ... HFC platforms will have significantly lower variable costs as monthly rental fees to Chorus will be avoided. Given the variable cost nature of the savings and the competitive nature of the market, customers are likely to gain from these cost savings.

My question is exactly when are these theoritcal cost savings going to be passed onto InHome customers?

I mean, we are the cheapest BB customers (to operate) as far as TC is concerned.

Edit: Just added some extra clarification to what I was saying

zaptor

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#701358 15-Oct-2012 11:26

joker97: well, go telecom. 150gb + phone for $99/m

Hmmm.... me investigates...

Jaxson

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#701367 15-Oct-2012 11:36

I've said this elsewhere, but this concept of customer loyalty etc doesn't really exist. As long as you are provided the service you originally signed up with, and you pay the bill when it arrives, you are square. They don't owe you anything extra unless long service benefits etc were specifically included in the original contract.

Now I know it should be in their best interest to keep you, (as keeping a customer is typically easier than getting a new one), but if they're not going to include you in any sweet new offerings then leave them...

Don't let small issues such as email address attachments etc hold you back. Don't pretend they are bigger problems than they are. Leave, and if needs be, come back in 3 months to the better conditions they won't give you now. Make them lose out, not you.

jermsie

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Ultimate Geek

#701370 15-Oct-2012 11:40

Jaxson: I've said this elsewhere, but this concept of customer loyalty etc doesn't really exist. As long as you are provided the service you originally signed up with, and you pay the bill when it arrives, you are square. They don't owe you anything extra unless long service benefits etc were specifically included in the original contract.

Now I know it should be in their best interest to keep you, (as keeping a customer is typically easier than getting a new one), but if they're not going to include you in any sweet new offerings then leave them...

Don't let small issues such as email address attachments etc hold you back. Don't pretend they are bigger problems than they are. Leave, and if needs be, come back in 3 months to the better conditions they won't give you now. Make them lose out, not you.

Ah, except when there's a significant cost in getting ADSL to a coax-fed property..

– J

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