It's a common complaint in the cell phone business here in the States. A new phone comes out and existing customers, even people who have been with a carrier for years, have to play a game with customer service to see if they can get a deal on the new phone. I'm going through the process now and I really hate being treated like a stranger if I want to get a new phone like the G2.
So, what do we do?
- We hem & haw in hopes of getting customer loyalty to do something.
- We buck up and pay whatever ridiculous price they're offering us.
- We wait until we can get the phone at a reasonable price.
- We switch carriers and take our business elsewhere.
Given my frustration with this whole process, I started to think about other ideas that might solve this problem. Sadly, my guess is that the carriers don;t really want to solve this problem since annoying their loyal customers this way probably generates a great deal of income for them.
I think I may have come up with one idea that might be a different way to go.
How about this. Why not create a loyalty membership program. One that would only be available to people who have been with the carrier for at least 2 years. They could pay a yearly fee, based on the number of upgrades they'd like in a year. Say $100/year for 2, $150/year for 3, etc. And it would be based on the same requirements that new customers have. So, if it requires a 2 year contract, then you'd have to extend for two years.
I know many Mac folks who pay $99/year to get priority service at the Genius bar. I think people would pay for a little extra service like this from their carrier. This could be an interesting little cash cow for the carrier that does it.
I haven't completely thought this through, so I may have missed some issues with the idea, but hey, it's a starting point! I'm interested in thoughts and feedback. Maybe we can get T-Mobile to step up and try this idea out.