cybermuda
08-26-2011, 03:16 PM
I used to run my own company and I always tried very hard to keep my customers happy. It is very hard to win new customers but very easy to lose them, especially when there is a lot of competition.
Why, then, do the internet and TV companies make life such a pain?
My monthly bill for basic internet from CenturyLink was $17 a year ago, went up to $25 and has just doubled to $54.
I e-mailed them asking to check it and they came back and said that $17 had been a mistake, $25 was an introductory offer and $54 was now correct.
I "chatted" on-line with them to see if they could offer me a cheaper plan. They could not.
So I called them, asking where I should return their modem as I was switching to Comcast. I got transferred and magically the person found a $27 plan for me, although after twelve months it will double and I will have to call again to renegotiate it downwards.
Nothing like rewarding customer loyalty, eh?
I expect that most people just pay up - maybe don't even notice that their bill has doubled - and CenturyLink makes more money.
I had the same experience with DirecTV last year. It took me forty minutes on the phone, threatening to tear up my two-year contract with them as they hadn't installed as promised, before they agreed to come round and fix it.
Surely with the huge purchasing leverage we have at The Villages we can strike a good, fair, consistent deal with an internet provider and a TV company, and switch en masse if they try to mess us about?
Why, then, do the internet and TV companies make life such a pain?
My monthly bill for basic internet from CenturyLink was $17 a year ago, went up to $25 and has just doubled to $54.
I e-mailed them asking to check it and they came back and said that $17 had been a mistake, $25 was an introductory offer and $54 was now correct.
I "chatted" on-line with them to see if they could offer me a cheaper plan. They could not.
So I called them, asking where I should return their modem as I was switching to Comcast. I got transferred and magically the person found a $27 plan for me, although after twelve months it will double and I will have to call again to renegotiate it downwards.
Nothing like rewarding customer loyalty, eh?
I expect that most people just pay up - maybe don't even notice that their bill has doubled - and CenturyLink makes more money.
I had the same experience with DirecTV last year. It took me forty minutes on the phone, threatening to tear up my two-year contract with them as they hadn't installed as promised, before they agreed to come round and fix it.
Surely with the huge purchasing leverage we have at The Villages we can strike a good, fair, consistent deal with an internet provider and a TV company, and switch en masse if they try to mess us about?