I'm supposed to be the marketing guru, but I'm clueless.
I lost my cell phone. One year after I bought it. My contract is over. I need a new phone.
I call up T-Mobile. I share my tale of woe. I tell them I want the Nokia 3650. They inform me that it's $300.
I point out that it costs a nickel if I buy it at Amazon with a one-year commitment to T-Mobile.
Well, they say, that's only for new customers. If I want to STAY a customer, it costs $300.
So, I ask, can I quit and go get it at Amazon?
Nope, they say. If I do, they'll catch me.
So, I say, does that mean I have to quit and switch to AT&T or Cingular?
Yep, they say.
There you go.
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, advertising + PR, T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG, Technology Sector, Telecommunications Sector, Wireless Network Operators, Wireless Telecommunications |
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Recent Comments | 7 Total
August 22, 2003 at 6:22pm by June Pang
I am having the same headache with my Telus Mobility (Canada) contract. They say I can go to another provider, BUT the industry is moving to fixed billing, which means I'd have to give up my grandfathered-in per-second-billing contract!
August 23, 2003 at 3:32pm by Adam
In the US, Verizon lets you buy a replacement phone cheaply if you have satisfied the contract time period. They call it an "upgrade" and it is a nice feature of their service.
August 23, 2003 at 5:02pm by Roger Grant
I lost my phone after only a couple of weeks (poorly designed belt clip but that's another story). Cingular gave me a $50 rebate, free case and hands-free, but I had to pay the balance. If it had been a year the phone would have been free.
A few years back we were doing research on why customers switched and the number 2 reason was customers wanted to get a new phone. At that time the only way to get a free phone was to switch companies, hence many companies now offer the free upgrade after a year or 2. Looks like T-mobile didn't read the report.
August 24, 2003 at 5:36am by bones2380
Check out www.howardchui.com and check out the forums for a more informed decision. He does reviews of phones and is pretty unbiased.
August 25, 2003 at 10:15am by Kasu Sista
I have a similar problem with AT&T as well. Not just that. They have different pricing over the Web, from what you can get at the store. When are these guys going to realize that it actually costs them more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one happy?
August 25, 2003 at 5:25pm by CHris
Wow, AT&T sent me an offer last week to upgrade to their GSM network, free phone included. I've been a customer for 2-1/2 years already. I feel really privledged now :) Actaully, it was a royal pain. When I tried to take advantatge of the upgrade they decided I live just over the line into reseller territory. The reseller of course, is not offering me a free phone and wasn't interested in matching the offer. After 2 days of calling and pushing one of the retail employees figured out a way around the system and got me upgraded.
August 31, 2003 at 2:16am by chuqui
The game is over when you say "I do".