"Read the fine print", they say. This is one advice you ignore at your own peril!
We have our broadband service with AT&T (formerly SBC, formerly-formerly PacBell). Like a lot of folks in the Bay Area, we have been using broadband for eons. A few days ago, our DSL became flaky and then stopped working. After going through the ritual of turning off the wireless router and the DSL modem in that order and then bringing them up in the reverse order a few times, I concluded the time had come to move to a higher authority. I called AT&T support for Internet Services and then went through the usual routine of being put on hold.
Not having a whole lot to do while on hold, I started to browse through my phone bill. I noticed that I was paying $59.99 f0r the High Speed Internet Service and thought nothing of it, when out popped a small promotional flyer touting High Speed Internet connection services from $15 for Basic to $40 for the Elite package. "Why am I paying $59.99?", I thought to myself and with a mental note to return to it later. I quickly got back to the broken broadband connection at hand. AT&T found a problem in the line which they fixed later that day, and we were back to band-width heaven.
Being a persistent sort, I reached out to AT&T the next day to follow up on the $59.99 issue. I described the billing situation to the AT&T agent. The agent was helpful fellow, who told me that the broadband charge had not been $59.99 for over 2-3 years and that if I had called them earlier to protest, it would have been adjusted downward. I couldn't believe it!
I asked him how I was supposed to know that I had to call to get a change in rate. He reminded me that a) the phone bill comes with the latest promotion and if I had paid attention to it, I would have gotten around to calling them earlier. b) "By the way, when you signed up, you got a promotional rate which needed to be renewed at the end of the first year. Since you failed to call us at the end of the first year, we automatically charged you our standard rate for the service." In other words, he was saying, "The fault, Mr. Customer is entirely yours."
Agitated with this line of reasoning, I launched into this big spiel about how I have been their customer for over a decade and that my expectation was (and is) that Internet service is an infrastructure service and that as the rates edged downwards, all the existing customers would get the benefit of the lower price. Instead, I had paid over $1000 more than someone being charged the lower rate. (The irony is that a new customer pays less that an old, loyal customer). I really do not see myself monitoring Internet access rates month-to-month like some crazy day trader! For me, phone and Internet access rates are kinda like the energy rate or water rate - we all pay the prevailing rate and it is automatically adjusted. This promotional nonsense just doesn't cut it.
To cut a long story short, there was nothing the agent could do, so I was bounced to the next level agent, who was trying to negotiate a deal and close this chapter. She basically echoed what the first agent said and offered a discount for a year to make up for the past! I caved, because I just did not have the time to chase this.
But here is my issue - consumer businesses such as AT&T get away with such sneaky schemes ("promotions"), where the onus is on the consumer to get back to them to get a better deal. Why can it not be the other way around? Will it not foster better customer loyalty knowing that your service provider is looking out for you, rather than having to constantly read the fine print? Is that not a better way to run a business? This is no different from the debate on opt-in and opt-out marketing. Capitalism can be consumer-friendly!
Thoughts?
We have our broadband service with AT&T (formerly SBC, formerly-formerly PacBell). Like a lot of folks in the Bay Area, we have been using broadband for eons. A few days ago, our DSL became flaky and then stopped working. After going through the ritual of turning off the wireless router and the DSL modem in that order and then bringing them up in the reverse order a few times, I concluded the time had come to move to a higher authority. I called AT&T support for Internet Services and then went through the usual routine of being put on hold.
Not having a whole lot to do while on hold, I started to browse through my phone bill. I noticed that I was paying $59.99 f0r the High Speed Internet Service and thought nothing of it, when out popped a small promotional flyer touting High Speed Internet connection services from $15 for Basic to $40 for the Elite package. "Why am I paying $59.99?", I thought to myself and with a mental note to return to it later. I quickly got back to the broken broadband connection at hand. AT&T found a problem in the line which they fixed later that day, and we were back to band-width heaven.
Being a persistent sort, I reached out to AT&T the next day to follow up on the $59.99 issue. I described the billing situation to the AT&T agent. The agent was helpful fellow, who told me that the broadband charge had not been $59.99 for over 2-3 years and that if I had called them earlier to protest, it would have been adjusted downward. I couldn't believe it!
I asked him how I was supposed to know that I had to call to get a change in rate. He reminded me that a) the phone bill comes with the latest promotion and if I had paid attention to it, I would have gotten around to calling them earlier. b) "By the way, when you signed up, you got a promotional rate which needed to be renewed at the end of the first year. Since you failed to call us at the end of the first year, we automatically charged you our standard rate for the service." In other words, he was saying, "The fault, Mr. Customer is entirely yours."
Agitated with this line of reasoning, I launched into this big spiel about how I have been their customer for over a decade and that my expectation was (and is) that Internet service is an infrastructure service and that as the rates edged downwards, all the existing customers would get the benefit of the lower price. Instead, I had paid over $1000 more than someone being charged the lower rate. (The irony is that a new customer pays less that an old, loyal customer). I really do not see myself monitoring Internet access rates month-to-month like some crazy day trader! For me, phone and Internet access rates are kinda like the energy rate or water rate - we all pay the prevailing rate and it is automatically adjusted. This promotional nonsense just doesn't cut it.
To cut a long story short, there was nothing the agent could do, so I was bounced to the next level agent, who was trying to negotiate a deal and close this chapter. She basically echoed what the first agent said and offered a discount for a year to make up for the past! I caved, because I just did not have the time to chase this.
But here is my issue - consumer businesses such as AT&T get away with such sneaky schemes ("promotions"), where the onus is on the consumer to get back to them to get a better deal. Why can it not be the other way around? Will it not foster better customer loyalty knowing that your service provider is looking out for you, rather than having to constantly read the fine print? Is that not a better way to run a business? This is no different from the debate on opt-in and opt-out marketing. Capitalism can be consumer-friendly!
Thoughts?
