When I comes to
customer service, there is an old say we all know “it is more expensive to
loose a customer than to keep them happy” and this will, in turn, bring
profitability to your organisation.
And when faced with
the eternal question “how much to compensate” then you know you are already on
the wrong road as you have upset a customer and about to loose them, costing
hundreds of pounds and your reputation.
And if your customer
gives you the chance to keep them loyal, why question this? Just go along with
it, making sure you keep that customer happy and in return they will keep on
coming back for more, spending more and more every time.
This applies to all
industries, not just hospitality, as we think of it often when we talk about
this subject. And I want to share a story where a company really doesn’t get
it, and one day it will come to bite them back. Yes, they may think that
loosing a customer now is of no importance, but soon they will realise that
this is not the case and little by little they are chipping away to their
loyalty base and it will eventually collapse.
I am asking anyone who
reads this article to pass it on, and for every person you pass it on to see if
it makes sense or not what I am about to tell. The world needs to know how much
this company is taking advantage of us and don’t realise we are important, as
much as a customer when they come into a hotel or restaurant and get bad
service.
I have been a customer
of 3, the mobile company for over 8 years. I started with them with a simple
contract back in the days and as I renewed, every time I got a nicer phone and
singed another 12 months contract and recently 24 months contract. Fair enough,
you need to commit, so I sign and I know they will look after me. Until now…
My wife and I have a
contract each with 3 for 24 months at 37 pounds each, in return we got the
i-Phone 4. Love the machine so why not, it’s a price you pay for a device you
like. 2000 minutes, 5000 texts, unlimited Internet and all the calls I want to
any 3-network mobiles (I only know my wife on 3). If you check my bills over
the last 24 months you would see I use on average 10 call, 2 texts and some
internet as I work abroad and I do not use my phone, otherwise the 37 pounds
become 100 pounds a month roaming charges!. But hey, I have an i-Phone and I
feel good.
My wife uses it
slightly more but believe me she has never used her 2000 minutes or 5000 texts.
But hey, she likes the i-Phone too.
Unfortunately she lost
her phone 6 months ago, we had no insurance on it and so we just had to swallow
our loss and wait for an upgrade. So I gave her mine, she uses it more than me
and for the last 6 months I’ve used an old handset to make and receive calls.
37 pounds a month right down the drain! So I thought, I’ll just change my
contract in November for a 10 pounds a month, get a small smart phone for free
(HTC or Samsung) and be done with it. So let’s start doing the maths her and
please keep track of this.
3 is about to loose 27
pounds a month income, not through their fault but just as a customer that
realised, like many, “why the heck am I paying for all those minutes and texts
when I don’t use them?” for the phone? Well, no longer need it and I will save
that money.
So far 3 are about to
loose 27 pound a months.
But guess what? The
i-phone 5 comes out! Oh man, I’m a sucker for apple and I start to think “what
if…” after all, I am already pay 37 pounds a month and the last 6 months I’ve
literally lost that money! So let me upgrade to it, but I don’t want to pay more
that what I am paying now.
By the way, it is
worth pointing out here that my bills are never quite 37 pounds! Some times you
make a call outside your allowance (0800 numbers) or when I am abroad so on
average my bills are 40 pounds. But I don’t want another contract more than 37
pounds.
So I go to the shop
and there I see advertised on a leaflet the different options. Yes it’s the
i-Phone is a new phone so it is more expensive to get a new contract but on
this leaflet for existing customers you can get it for free! But wait, you have
to pay 39 pound a month. I said no more and I was going to stick to it. So I
did some numbers in my head and I thought “8 years loyalty, 2 contracts, I am
sure they will give it to me for free” so I went to negotiate with the attendant
at the 3 store in Castle Point shopping centre in Bournemouth.
Here is how the
conversation went:
Me:
Hi, I was thinking
about reducing my tariff to 10 pounds and taking an HTC, you will loose 27
pounds a month, that is 540 pounds on my next 24 month contract! That is a lot
of money! (I am, of course being cheapish here)
Attendant:
Why are you doing
that?
Me:
I don’t really use all
of the stuff you give me and besides, as you know I lost my i-Phone 6 months
ago and I’ve been paying for nothing. So I think I can survive with just 10
pounds and a HTC
Attendant:
I guess if that is
what you want… (really? So he is happy to loose 540 pounds? Wired!)
Me:
Well there is another
option…
Attendant:
Yes?
Me:
I could upgrade and
get the new i-Phone…
Attendant:
Good idea.
Me:
But I don’t want to
pay more than what I am paying now.
Attendant:
No problem (taps away
on computer) but you will have to pay a penalty of 89 pounds for early upgrade
(it’s only a month away my contract is over) and 79 pounds for the phone.
Me:
Why? The early upgrade
is crazy as it is only one month, I can wait, but why for the phone?
Attendant:
Because for a tariff
of 35 pounds you have to pay for the phone.
Me:
I am not paying 35, I
am paying 37 and you are giving the phone for free for existing customers.
Attendant:
Only if you go up in
tariff and pay 39 pounds.
Me:
But I don’t want to
pay 39, I want to pay what I pay now which is 37 and have the phone for free.
Attendant:
Well we can’t do that.
Me:
Why?
Attendant:
Apple won’t let us.
Me:
What? It’s nothing to
do with Apple.
Attendant:
It’s company
arrangements and nothing we can do. If we give it for free Apple will sue us (I
smell some sweet BS here)
Me:
But why?
Attendant:
I told you, if you pay
35 you have to pay 79 or pay 39 and get it for free! We have to pay apple the
79, they wont let us give it for free!
Me:
I told you already, I
am not paying 35 I am paying 37! And why can’t you just renew my contract, ring
the 79 on the till and then credit back to me, that way Apple is happy, I am
happy and you have my loyalty for another 24 months!
Attendant:
So you want us to
loose 79 pounds for you? (he give a small laugh)
Now at this point I am
about to loos it but I hold on and then I present to him the clear thinking of
why he should agree to give it to me for free.
I said to him “do the
maths and tell me on which scenario you will loose more money” here is the
maths for all of you.
Scenario 1
I change my contract
and go down to 10 pounds as originally planed. I loose nothing; in fact gain 27
pounds back, 3 looses 648 pounds (my contract reduces from 888 pounds to 240
pounds for 2 years year)
Scenario 2
He gives me the
i-Phone 5 for free and I keep my 37 pounds contract. I loose nothing and sign
24 more months, 3 looses (allegedly) 79 pounds, but gets to keep me and my wife
happy so in fact continues to make 888 pounds X 2 for another 24 months.
Scenario 3
He pisses me off by
not giving me the i-Phone and I walk away. I will cancel my contract and take
my business somewhere else and take my wife’s contract when it expires next
year somewhere else. I loose nothing, I take a 10 pound contract somewhere
else, with an HTC handset, my wife gets the new i-phone next year with someone
like Orange or O2 (I then keep her old i-phone which was mine and I am back on
the i-phone, albeit 4) and 3… well they loose, again, but this time 1,776
pounds for 2 X 24 months contracts plus further business plus this article
which will expose them as incompetent customer service providers and who know
how much more!
Scenario 4 (So not
going to happen!)
I get the 39-pound
contract and get the i-Phone for free or pay for the i-Phone for 79 pounds. I
loose 48 pounds on the first option or 31 pounds on the second by taking my
tariff down to 35 and pay 79 for the phone, and 3… they loose nothing. (like I
said, this is SO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!)
So, do the maths, if
you were 3, which scenario would you go for? (do not include scenario 4 this is
SO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!)
Yea, I think we all agree,
Scenario number 2. All but 3.
And guess what? When
presented with this options the attendant at the store just smiled and said,
“you can give me as many numbers as you’d like but no one is going to give you
the i-Phone 5 for free, it is a new product and no way anyone will give it just
like that”
I looked at the
leaflet in front of me that says, “39 pound upgrade and get the i-Phone for
free” and I looked at him and said “But you do! Here! For 39 pounds a month you
give it for free!”
“Yes sir but this is a
contract…” and I stopped him, I was not prepared to listen to his policies
again, I had enough by now.
“Look” I said “give me
the i-phone for free and I stay, if not I will cancel next month and lave,
which do you prefer as a company”
“It’s up to you sir,
we can’t force you to stay but for sure you won’t get the i-Phone 5 for free”
So, my last words to
him:
“Are you telling me
you are prepared to loose a customer for 79 pounds?”
His last words to me:
“Sir we loose a
customer today, we gain 2 tomorrow”
And with this I walked
away.
So I wrote to customer
services at 3 and they told them what happened with the numbers I just shared
with you, and guess what? They told me the same story so they chose scenario
number 3 where they stand to loos everything for 79 pounds.
By the way, I also did
some maths in a different way:
If you buy the i-Phone
5, new, sim-card free it cost 547 pounds from Apple. 3 give a sim card only
contract for the i-Phone 5 for 12 pounds 50 pence a month for 200 minutes, 500
texts and unlimited Internet, which you can cancel on a monthly rolling basis
(good enough for my use). If I do this for 24 months (which would be the length
of a contract, but you do have the option to stop at anytime without penalties)
it would be 847 pounds for 2 year, what I am paying now for my current contract
(actually 43 pounds cheaper if you want to be precise) so I can still get the
i-Phone (and it’s mine and sim card free), not pay 3 any more money and in fact
save 43 pounds and have the option to tell 3 “stick it up your ****” any time I
want!
So in the end, who
looses here? Not me that’s for sure!
If you believe I am
right and want to let the world know how 3 has just lost one customer and then
help me make sure they don’t gain 2 more as they said, share this article with
everyone you know and if you are with 3, do yourself a favour, save money and
go with someone else who will give you what you deserve!
