Ex-TCL customers on old plan - are you being ripped off?

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tegraman

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#156014 16-Nov-2014 16:33

I was a TelstraClear cable customer, and my 10GB "lightspeed" plan had just carried over with the VF takeover.

Then recently I went to the VF website to check something about my mobile, and there popped up an add for an internet plan with 8x the data and 5x the speed for less than I was currently paying. So I rang up and within a few days I had my massively increased speed and data cap for less money, so there was no reason I couldn't have had that plan a lot earlier.

Is it ethical for a company to charge existing customers more money for inferior service than they are charging new customers?

SteveON

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#1176878 16-Nov-2014 17:00

You signed up for that plan mate, it's not vodafone job to keep you informed. If they were to constantly upgrade everyone they would need a lot more resources, staff, etc.

Short answer: No.

sbiddle

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#1176893 16-Nov-2014 17:03

Simple answer - no.

It's don't see as an ISPs job to know what your requirements are.

gregmcc

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#1176899 16-Nov-2014 17:19

tegraman: I was a TelstraClear cable customer, and my 10GB "lightspeed" plan had just carried over with the VF takeover.

Then recently I went to the VF website to check something about my mobile, and there popped up an add for an internet plan with 8x the data and 5x the speed for less than I was currently paying. So I rang up and within a few days I had my massively increased speed and data cap for less money, so there was no reason I couldn't have had that plan a lot earlier.

Is it ethical for a company to charge existing customers more money for inferior service than they are charging new customers?

It would be nice if VF would send out a note with your bill saying .....we see that you are on plan xx, did you know that plan yy is much better value. If you would like to change please give us a call.....

But what VF seem to do is once they have you as a customer lets ignore you are offer the better deals to new customers

sbiddle

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#1176902 16-Nov-2014 17:21

Just to make one thing clear here - Vodafone are not operating in a way that's different from pretty much any other subscription based service anywhere in the world. Whether it be an ISP, magazine, gym, internet, mobile phone etc - it's very rare that they're ever going to send out such a notification of new plans.

gregmcc

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#1176903 16-Nov-2014 17:23

sbiddle: Just to make one thing clear here - Vodafone are not operating in a way that's different from pretty much any other subscription based service anywhere in the world. Whether it be an ISP, magazine, gym, internet, mobile phone etc - it's very rare that they're ever going to send out such a notification of new plans.

this is exactly what they done in the recent past for a lot of their existing on account mobile users

solaybro

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#1176905 16-Nov-2014 17:28

They kind of do inform you of better plans. I get Leaflets from Vodafone in my mailbox all the time informing me of various plans and pricing.

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Yabanize

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#1176952 16-Nov-2014 19:14

sbiddle: Just to make one thing clear here - Vodafone are not operating in a way that's different from pretty much any other subscription based service anywhere in the world. Whether it be an ISP, magazine, gym, internet, mobile phone etc - it's very rare that they're ever going to send out such a notification of new plans.

My grandparents were on telecom, now on Spark.

They were originally on a 10gb plan, Spark asked if they wanted to upgrade to 30gb for the same price, they did. This has happened a few times, and later to 80gb. They also got asked if they would like to upgrade to VDSL for free, which they accepted

It is NOT OKAY to leave customers on old plans paying way more than they should be. Maybe instead of making new plans all the time they should upgrade the existing ones.

Alot of people don't know that they're on an 'old plan' I think my aunty is one of them. She has or had an old silver tv box and 20gb broadband and homephone. Her bill was more expensive than ours is now with unlimited. Im not sure if she's still on it or not.

Hopefully the days of this are over now that more datacaps are unlimited.

quickymart

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#1176994 16-Nov-2014 20:18

Yabanize:
sbiddle: Just to make one thing clear here - Vodafone are not operating in a way that's different from pretty much any other subscription based service anywhere in the world. Whether it be an ISP, magazine, gym, internet, mobile phone etc - it's very rare that they're ever going to send out such a notification of new plans.

My grandparents were on telecom, now on Spark. They were originally on a 10gb plan, Spark asked if they wanted to upgrade to 30gb for the same price, they did. This has happened a few times, and later to 80gb. They also got asked if they would like to upgrade to VDSL for free, which they accepted It is NOT OKAY to leave customers on old plans paying way more than they should be. Maybe instead of making new plans all the time they should upgrade the existing ones.

Alot of people don't know that they're on an 'old plan' I think my aunty is one of them. She has or had an old silver tv box and 20gb broadband and homephone. Her bill was more expensive than ours is now with unlimited. Im not sure if she's still on it or not.

Hopefully the days of this are over now that more datacaps are unlimited.

What about people who are perfectly happy on their old grandfathered plans? Should they be forced to move to what you personally consider "better", even though (in some cases) it might cost them more?

Yabanize

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#1177005 16-Nov-2014 20:40

quickymart:
Yabanize:
sbiddle: Just to make one thing clear here - Vodafone are not operating in a way that's different from pretty much any other subscription based service anywhere in the world. Whether it be an ISP, magazine, gym, internet, mobile phone etc - it's very rare that they're ever going to send out such a notification of new plans.

My grandparents were on telecom, now on Spark. They were originally on a 10gb plan, Spark asked if they wanted to upgrade to 30gb for the same price, they did. This has happened a few times, and later to 80gb. They also got asked if they would like to upgrade to VDSL for free, which they accepted It is NOT OKAY to leave customers on old plans paying way more than they should be. Maybe instead of making new plans all the time they should upgrade the existing ones.

Alot of people don't know that they're on an 'old plan' I think my aunty is one of them. She has or had an old silver tv box and 20gb broadband and homephone. Her bill was more expensive than ours is now with unlimited. Im not sure if she's still on it or not.

Hopefully the days of this are over now that more datacaps are unlimited.

What about people who are perfectly happy on their old grandfathered plans? Should they be forced to move to what you personally consider "better", even though (in some cases) it might cost them more?

I mean mostly if its cheaper or the same price

Kezz0r

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#1177695 18-Nov-2014 00:00

I also was an ex-telstra customer on the 15/2 40Gb. Casually had a look one night as saw for the same money I could get the 50/2 80Gb on a VF plan - Made the call the next day and have even gone for the 100/10 unlimited (install V1.0 ballsed up, but that's another post) - It's not their job to ring around all their customers to give them more for less (lets face it, hard enough calling -IN-) - They are a business at the end of the day. Consumer beware I say... it's like your mortgage or power company - Keep your eyes open for the deals!

::EDIT:: This is why I am willing to forgive :D

wsnz

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#1178070 18-Nov-2014 18:36

While I'm not debating that customers should regularly check all of their services (telco, power, etc.) for best fit, from a customer-relations perspective it would be far more advantageous for a business to identify those customers of old plans and proactively suggest migrating to a new better value plan. That promotes loyalty and consequently customer retention.