PSA - Orcon has a 30 day 'notice of cancellation' period in an Open Term Contract. Just got stung a months fee for nothing.

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › PSA - Orcon has a 30 day 'notice of cancellation' period in an Open Term Contract. Just got stung a months fee for nothing.

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#2742268 10-Jul-2021 20:12

I'm finding it difficult to understand how people don't read the basic terms before signing up and then cry foul because they got caught out, it's not hidden from you, it's there when you signed up.

snnet

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#2742269 10-Jul-2021 20:30

Dial111: I'm finding it difficult to understand how people don't read the basic terms before signing up and then cry foul because they got caught out, it's not hidden from you, it's there when you signed up.

I find it difficult how a company can think it can change the terms and conditions of someone's signup after they've signed up which is what they tried to do to me - there was no agreement of 30 days when I joined, and they also couldn't produce the promised audio recording of this being accepted. It's not always clear cut.

There's no way I'd agree to 30 days notice when I've paid 30 days in advance already.

networkn

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#2742274 10-Jul-2021 20:48

cokemaster:

networkn:

Chorus charge RSP's by month and require notice. If you don't want this, the alternative would be, when your contract ends, your internet disappears unless you renew. Imagine how many posts there would be "my RSP disconnected my internet with no notice" there would be.

Certain service providers that sell Fixed Wireless and Mobile services still enforce the 30 days notice requirements even without upstream Chorus charges.
Part of this is an initiative was to retain as much earnings as possible (a lot of folks who decide to churn, just do an ASAP churn) and to decrease churn by adding friction to the leaving process (eg. to avoid this fee, the effort is too high so I might as well stay).

Even if that's the case, it's still pretty simple, they require 30 days of notice to terminate, it's in your terms and conditions and you either accept that or don't sign the contract. Pretty much every professional services contract requires notice of some period. No-one is saying you are paying for something you aren't using, just get your new service to take over on the anniversary of your 30 day notice period. I usually encourage clients to have an overlap of a few days to ensure the new provider is up and running.

I mean you can say you don't like it, that's fine, but they are part of the terms and conditions. I guess if enough people complain something might happen, but I'd still argue that if you can leave without notice, then they can terminate your services without notice, something that in the gran scheme of things would mean consumers would lose out on.

networkn

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#2742275 10-Jul-2021 20:49

antonknee:

Never once have I had to give 30 days notice for something to anyone but a telco. And believe me, I chop and change services all the time. I’ve rented for the past 7 years and lived in around 10 houses - each move involved ending services. Additionally I have zero loyalty and will go with whatever is cheapest and often look to churn providers.

That a 30 day notice period is required in the contract might be true, but that’s not the point. I’m not saying it’s illegal or even unknown, I’m saying it’s crap and shouldn’t exist.

Really? You just upped sticks and left with no notice and paid up to the day you had when you finished rented a house? I doubt that.

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#2742283 10-Jul-2021 21:59

@networkn - I fully understand that and not disagreeing with their right to include that in their terms of service. This is a commercial decision that the retail provider has chosen to implement and enforce.
I just happen to think that its a bit disingenuous for anyone to claim that this is the doing of Chorus, given that the retail provider apply the same treatment to services wholly provided by them (and have no involvement from Chorus)*.

* when referring to retail service providers that provide mobile, fixed wireless and Copper/Fibre services.

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MikeB4

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#2742284 10-Jul-2021 22:05

This annoys me. Winning back a customer begins when one loses a customers. Lose them badly the chances of ever winning them back diminishes rapidly the worse the departure is. The ability to insist on a thirty day notice does not mean it should be enforced in every case it's a policy not a law.

antonknee

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#2742285 10-Jul-2021 22:06

networkn:
antonknee:

Never once have I had to give 30 days notice for something to anyone but a telco. And believe me, I chop and change services all the time. I’ve rented for the past 7 years and lived in around 10 houses - each move involved ending services. Additionally I have zero loyalty and will go with whatever is cheapest and often look to churn providers.

That a 30 day notice period is required in the contract might be true, but that’s not the point. I’m not saying it’s illegal or even unknown, I’m saying it’s crap and shouldn’t exist.

Really? You just upped sticks and left with no notice and paid up to the day you had when you finished rented a house? I doubt that.

The day of? No, probably not. But I have done the day or two after moving and a few days before moving. I’m not talking about the rent/landlord by the way, I’m talking about service providers - I mentioned renting only because renters move more often than homeowners, and to illustrate that I’ve exited plenty of service provider arrangements.

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antonknee

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#2742286 10-Jul-2021 22:09

cokemaster:
@networkn - I fully understand that and not disagreeing with their right to include that in their terms of service. This is a commercial decision that the retail provider has chosen to implement and enforce.
I just happen to think that its a bit disingenuous for anyone to claim that this is the doing of Chorus, given that the retail provider apply the same treatment to services wholly provided by them (and have no involvement from Chorus)*.

* when referring to retail service providers that provide mobile, fixed wireless and Copper/Fibre services.

100% this. I don’t care it says it in the contract, I don’t care that I (perhaps begrudgingly) agreed to that contract, that’s not the point. The point is not that they can require 30 days’ notice, because obviously they can and obviously customers read and agreed to that, the point is that they shouldn’t because it’s not consumer friendly.

Quite frankly a service provider shouldn’t need to disincentivise a customer to leave - the customer should want to stay because the service provider is fantastic.

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#2742292 10-Jul-2021 22:31

antonknee: Quite frankly a service provider shouldn’t need to disincentivise a customer to leave - the customer should want to stay because the service provider is fantastic.

That all sounds lovely but the majority of consumers make buying decisions based on price. It's a low margin high volume business and customers don't pay for service. Consumers are getting levels of service consummate to what they choose to pay.

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#2742293 10-Jul-2021 22:34

Customers do pay for service. The providers margin has sod all to do with the customer.

Handle9

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#2742294 10-Jul-2021 22:40

MikeB4:
Customers do pay for service. The providers margin has sod all to do with the customer.

The evidence on geekzone says otherwise. How many threads are there where customers who are happy with the service they get are looking to change providers for $5-10 a month.

The providers margin directly impacts the quality of service they can provide. It's one of the easiest costs to reduce.

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#2742295 10-Jul-2021 22:47

A primary reason for high churn in the telco industry is customers do pay for service and expect service. A customer buys the service assuming the provider is smart enough to set prices that cover costs and provides a margin. It is not the customers concern if the provider is pricing sufficiently to cover service levels. If the customer does not receive the service value they pay for will soon look elsewhere and if the provider charges a pointless 30 day notice it will sour their view of the provider. As they say word of mouth is very advantageous or very damaging.

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#2742322 11-Jul-2021 04:56

MikeB4:

A primary reason for high churn in the telco industry is customers do pay for service and expect service.

I disagree. How many are moving to higher cost providers to get better service? If they do that they are willing to pay for service.

everettpsycho

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#2742330 11-Jul-2021 08:14

Geekzone members who understand peering and other factors in a connection might pay more for a better service, but most people will just want something that works for a good price. How else do you explain how my Republic is still going when people here have almost nothing positive to say about it. The churn is because there is no reward for being loyal, when your 12 months is up you can continue paying $90 a month or jump ship to pay half price for 6 months, to most people the service will be identical once they sort out their new router. Hell even if it was a nominal discount on the rolling contracts I might consider being loyal to a service I like at a slightly higher price, but swapping saves hundreds of dollars a year for the sake of 5 minutes of plugging in a new router and making a phone call to cancel.

As for the 30 days notice, it's been standard for years, I always give notice on terminating services regardless so I can have my affairs in order as well and make sure the new service is good to go. I'm actually confused with stuff that I'm considering cancelling as their terms seem to state as long as you cancel before the billing period ends they will just cancel at the end of the period. That seems in line with a lot of subscription services where you've paid up to a date so can cancel without notice and keep service until that date.

snnet

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#2742365 11-Jul-2021 11:36

For me, I just wanted a service that would work and be supported when it didn't. That meant going to the big guys after staying true to smaller companies which just had multiple core failures - WxC almost every week had downtime. I know of others who view it in the same light - when they want to use it they just want it to work, so they're willing to pay for that.

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