Reminder to check your mobile / fixed comms plans regularly

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timmmay

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Topic # 185284 17-Nov-2015 10:21

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Just a reminder to check your mobile plan regularly. I signed up for a Spark plan when I got my phone a couple of years ago, and of course the price was fixed during that contract. When I came off the contract I didn't check the plans available. I just saved $10 a month by changing to a comparable plan that's currently offered. I'm trying to find my historical usage to see if I'd be better on prepay, but that's another story.

The same thing happened on TelstraClear when I was with them - prices went down, current customers kept paying old prices, so check them too.

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scuwp

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Reply # 1429520 17-Nov-2015 11:34

I suggest further that wise men and woman should schedule an annual check-up of all providers and subscriptions, for example insurance, power, landline, cellphone, etc.

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raytaylor

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Reply # 1429959 17-Nov-2015 20:53

Grandfathering is normal practice.
The theory is that the plan, congestion dimensioning, and all other aspects are what the customer chose, and to change the plan without the customer's permission would usually upset someone for some silly reason.
The other issue is that having a sales rep call each customer to say "hey here is a better deal for you" would potentially not only lower turnover, but also cost the provider in man hours.

So the best option is to keep things as they are.
Sure the customer could save $10 a month by switching to a different plan, but in doing so might loose some minutes or txts - but the customer could think they need them and be willing to pay for, even if they never used them, resulting in a complaint.

Its a tricky situation to be in from a telcos perspective. The status quo is the safest option.

Ray Taylor
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Digmarx

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Reply # 1429963 17-Nov-2015 21:06

That is a very...generous...take on the situation. A more cynically-minded observer might conclude that failing to notify existing customers of more cost-effective plans keeps existing customers paying more for less while allowing the company to gain market share from competitors. But no, it's probably that they don't want to confuse us.

timmmay

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Reply # 1429969 17-Nov-2015 21:15

raytaylor: Grandfathering is normal practice.
The theory is that the plan, congestion dimensioning, and all other aspects are what the customer chose, and to change the plan without the customer's permission would usually upset someone for some silly reason.
The other issue is that having a sales rep call each customer to say "hey here is a better deal for you" would potentially not only lower turnover, but also cost the provider in man hours.

So the best option is to keep things as they are.
Sure the customer could save $10 a month by switching to a different plan, but in doing so might loose some minutes or txts - but the customer could think they need them and be willing to pay for, even if they never used them, resulting in a complaint.

Its a tricky situation to be in from a telcos perspective. The status quo is the safest option.

That's quite reasonable. I know Vodafone says they check that people are on the right plan and do call customers that would benefit from a plan change - I suspect the analysis is automated, but it will take staff time.

I don't really expect telcos to tell me how to save money, but I would hope they didn't actively hinder it like Spark does. Their bills don't say what your usage is, and they charge for access to the information according to the Telecom person who messaged me - though he also generously offered to get the information for me no charge. I turned him down because I don't want him to go to any trouble.

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tdgeek

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Reply # 1430006 17-Nov-2015 21:45

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Digmarx: That is a very...generous...take on the situation. A more cynically-minded observer might conclude that failing to notify existing customers of more cost-effective plans keeps existing customers paying more for less while allowing the company to gain market share from competitors. But no, it's probably that they don't want to confuse us.

And when you send sales emails, texts you get cut down for spamming.

raytaylor

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Reply # 1430009 17-Nov-2015 21:48

timmmay: but I would hope they didn't actively hinder it like Spark does. Their bills don't say what your usage is, and they charge for access to the information according to the Telecom person who messaged me

Now that is interesting

I am on a vodafone red business plan that I think has been grandfathered. Its about $140+gst a month and has all the bells and whistles, unlimited calling, txting, 10gb of data, a landline number on my cellphone and a $1000 phone every two years
But they dont tell me how much calling I use.

Earlier this year, I was thinking about switching to 2d or a cheaper plan - but decided I wanted a new phone anyway so I stayed on the expensive plan.

There was the possibility that when the contract expired and my s4 mini was still a good phone, i could switch to a ~$60 plan with another $20 on top to get the landline number.

But I had to endure a long hold time to find out how many minutes I used of my unlimited minutes because the cheaper plan had a large amount, but I use my phone quite a lot. I couldnt do any comparisons until I had waited on hold to get that information.

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rayonline

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Reply # 1433444 23-Nov-2015 18:01

Thanks for this thread :)

Found out the power company have silently recontracted me for another year just one month when I didn't reply their email. Reversed it. Going to join one for something different and someone who doesn't lock the rates. Power bills have gone down which I couldn't get.

Wanting to join Skinny, the $19/16 deal is all I use anyway, no additional units. But I have so much rollover minutes and data I cannot yet. The minutes doesn't matter but it's the data when they did Xmas double data promotions for the last 2 years. Not sure if they are going to repeat that for this summer.

timmmay

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Reply # 1433481 23-Nov-2015 19:26

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@rayonline see if you can get Flick Electric.

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rayonline

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Reply # 1433519 23-Nov-2015 20:25

Thanks for that. I can get Flick. I have a spreadsheet up with the other players. PA I pay ~$1,500-600 with 4 or so different power companies. Flick is like $1000-1100. How can this be. 30c per day and 14.73 per unit. 5700kW and 346 days was what we did for the last 12 months.

Oh .. this does not include spot price. How much are the spot prices, I think you're in Wellington too. And there is also the 40c per day and 1.5c per unit for the retailer's part.

lurker

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Reply # 1433520 23-Nov-2015 20:31

I'm probably in the minority but Vodafone phoned me and offered me a better deal on a Red+ plan, and then a few weeks later added my wife at a discounted rate.
I was on the old Smart 1 plan with 3GB which they'd tried to get people to leave, eventually the offer was too good to turn down.

timmmay

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Reply # 1433540 23-Nov-2015 21:07

rayonline: Thanks for that. I can get Flick. I have a spreadsheet up with the other players. PA I pay ~$1,500-600 with 4 or so different power companies. Flick is like $1000-1100. How can this be. 30c per day and 14.73 per unit. 5700kW and 346 days was what we did for the last 12 months.

Oh .. this does not include spot price. How much are the spot prices, I think you're in Wellington too. And there is also the 40c per day and 1.5c per unit for the retailer's part.

You pay market rates for power, which fluctuate across the day according to demand, plus daily costs. You pay 6c/kwh for line charges on peak, 3c/kwh off peak (11pm - 7am). You will save 5 - 25% with Flick, not 1/3 - I'm on 25% and that's with using a bit of power off peak. The more of your load you can move away from peak periods (7-8:30am, 5 - 8pm) the more you save. For example run the dishwasher and clothes drier off peak you will save money, especially in the parts of the year where power is more expensive (late summer / early winter). If you change your hot water to only heat off peak you'll save more, if that suits your usage patterns - a hot water cylinder goes a surprisingly long way. I don't have the cylinder working just off peak yet, will install a timer when I get the switchboard rewired - I should save an extra 10% or so I think from that.

Jump on the Flick thread to discuss.

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