Jananas

You don’t get to type those words too often in life, nor get to be involved in world class events. So you should all come out and support the girls of the Pillow Fight League on Thursday June 5th at 8pm at the Gladtone or watch it streaming online.

Here’s something that most people from Ontario know – Rogers sucks.

I’ve been a Rogers customer for six and a half years at this point. I have their everything under the sun cable package, a medium priced internet package, and my cellphone. All told I spend a minimum of $240 a month with them (sometimes more, depending on my cellphone usage).

There’s been a trend towards increasing prices and decreasing service for a while. I was annoyed with the recent announcement that my internet bandwidth will be capped at 60Gigs a month – let’s face it, in a house with three and sometimes more heavy internet users that doesn’t always go very far. And overall, we very rarely download stuff.

I switched to Rogers just under a year ago because I liked that I could have an unlocked GSM phone on their network. Canada doesn’t have particularly good cellphones available via the major providers and I liked that I had the option of getting something better (and that I actually liked!). However, Rogers now seems to think that because I have a non-branded cell phone that they can a) not provide me some services (even if I can get them working without support from Rogers) and b) charge me extra to use services.

As of May 8^th, 2008 Rogers: “Plan includes unlimited on-device mobile browsing using the Rogers Mobile Internet Browser only and is only available on select Rogers certified devices (PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible). Effective May 8th, 2008, data usage incurred on ineligible devices or while tethering (use of device as wireless modem) or while using applications is subject to pay-per-use charges of $15/MB for the first 5MB, $10/MB for next 5MB, $5/MB for next 10MB and $0.50/MB thereafter. Certain Rogers approved applications may be included in the plan (no pay-per-use charges), visit rogers.com/mobileinternet for details. 36-month term commitment required for Rogers Vision bonus eligibility.” (see bottom of this page for more)

I currently pay for the $20 a month Communicate Value pack, which includes unlimited mobile browsing. However, because I have a non-branded phone Rogers apparently thinks that they have the right to charge me again for this service. Why? Well I spoke with a supervisor this evening (M******, employee number 350586) and she told me it was because Rogers doesn’t support non-branded phones. Hey – that’s fine! That’s a decision that I knowingly made when I choose to get a non-branded phone. However, I was able to get mobile browsing working on my phone without Rogers help… So what’s the argument now?

Equally maddening was that I was not notified of this change (via text, e-mail, monthly bill, or mailing). When I asked about this I was told (again by M******) that because I choose to use a non-branded cell phone that Rogers wasn’t required to notify me of changes to their billing practices or rates. I’m fairly confident that not notifying customers in advance of a rate increase is illegal. I’m not even sure if they can legally charge me again for a service that I am already paying for.

But I disgress… The real reason I am frustrated is that I have a boyfriend. Who lives in the States. We communicate mainly via text due to divergent schedules (he works nights, I work days) and the fact that we are almost never home. According to the most recent Rogers update, “Please note that effective July 15th, 2008, the rate for sending a text message from Canada to the United States is changing to 25 cents and will no longer be available in the Domestic Text Messaging Plans.”. (see bottom of this page for more)

This means that the $20 communicate pack that I am now paying for will be rendered almost useless. M****** suggested that I use their International Text Plan – which gives me 50 messages a month for $7. Seriously? Have you never learned about matching customer needs and value drivers with your product offering? This is basic business school stuff people!

Given my history with the company and the rather hefty amount of my current monthly bill, I asked what they’d be able to do for me. Her answer – they aren’t able to do anything. Apparently they can’t change any one person’s bill. Every company can do this – its called retention pricing and you use it to keep valuable customers from leaving.

I’m tired of companies offering discounts to acquire new customers at the expense of long term customer satisfaction. I know that in the short term it looks like you are doing well: bringing new people on board, new revenue streams, earning more per existing customers. But what about the damage to your brand or the loss of revenues when long term customers begin to revolt?

I’m tired of the Canadian market pretending that three companies is enough for us to have fair pricing and actual competition.

Needless to say, I’ve started the search for viable and reasonable alternatives. Let the games begin.

2 comments

I spent the last week in Ohio, hanging out with friends. I found Diet Coke Plus (say what?). I figured that I’d try it out, for kicks. Apparently it was released over a year ago. The press release can be found here.

But really marketing people? If we need our vitamins and minerals, we should do things like – you know – eat real food! Not drink  synthetic versions in our pop. I’ll admit that I was attracted by the fun blue colour and rainbow plus. Brights things are healthy, right?

I’m watching An American Werewolf in London and working on my legwarmers. Its hard to knit when you have help like this… I really do want to kittynap her!