Shopping around – round 3

Having already complained about my utility company and my insurers, my mobile phone company has now irritated me.

My mobile phone contract came up for renewal on the 12th January and I was offered either a £12 per month discount on my bills, or a free, or discounted, replacement phone, if I signed up for another 18 – 24 months. The £12 was only available on-line, the discount available if I rang the company and extended the contract would only be £10 per month.

So far so good, T-mobile were willing to pay to retain my loyalty – which makes them better than my bank, my insurers or my energy company until pressed.

I was inundated with calls form their call centre asking me to make a decision. That’s good too, as I may not have checked my account on the web.

What upset me was that when I logged on to my web account to claim the £12 a month discount it had been reduced to £10. O.K. no big deal, but my loyalty had somehow become worth £36 – £48 pounds less over the duration of the renewed contract. There had been no warning and there was no explanation.

While it is arguable that privatisation, and the competition it brought in, is good for consumers, I resent being treated like a pawn by companies which are largely unaccountable and appear only to be interested in maximising their income and exploiting consumers until they threaten to leave and only then giving grudging concessions.

What happened to the old fashioned values of fairness, loyalty and courtesy?

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