Welcome to The Machine II
Renegotiating A Contract
Introduction
I got a letter telling me my Broadband / TV / Landline contract was coming to an end and now would cost me £93 a month instead of the £43 that I had been paying. There was no way I was going to pay that when I could get a similar package from another provider, and when I checked on my own provider's deals they were offering one similar to mine with double broadband speed.
I really wasn't looking forward to the renegotiation.
The Last Time
My costs for my Broadband / TV / Landline had been rising ridiculously. When I rang to complain I got nothing from them so I arranged to switch to another provider. The date of the switch was nearing and my provider rang me to match the price of the alternate provider.
I'd rather not go through the hassle of a new system as I am familiar with this one, and that is due to my inherent extreme laziness.
The Problem
I know this from my time working with a mobile phone provider, I didn't work on the lines but know that customer services have to stick to a script, and have very little leeway (if any) to deviate from that, and because of that, I was sure I was going to have to leave and set up swapping to an alternative provider.
Many years ago I was waiting for a payment at the job centre. They said I should borrow money from a friend or relative till my money came through.
Then one day they said I wasn't entitled.
I asked why
They said "The Computer Says No"
Some people would have given up but I did a little research and solved the problem and got my money.
This is a problem with call centres, the computer can often stop them dead in their tracks, and they are stuck and you are.
This time I was chatting with what I believed was a human, but I also know it could have been a realistically voiced chatbot. It did make me think of the Turing Test.
The Turing test, originally called the Imitation Game by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.
I do believe it was a human that I was talking to, but if it wasn't then the machine passed the Turing Test.
Anyway, I believe I was talking to a human and they told me they could reduce my present packages cost to £67 which I told them was still unacceptable. She said she could not do any more, but understood my situation and then said she would pass me to another department that would hopefully be able to help me.
I pointed out the options to the new department, especially the £39,50 package for new members. I reiterated that as I was out of contract I was effectively a new customer. They countered that as I was still connected with them I had received my introductory offers so they were unable to give them to me again but ...
They could give me loyalty discounts again, so came up with the option of £49 for my current package or £52 with double-speed broadband. I said I was happy with the second option and while it is almost a 20% increase (my pay increase this year was 3%) it is a lot smaller than the initial situation and I have significantly improved my broadband speed hopefully.
Conclusion
I have not named the providers but UK readers will probably know who I am talking about. The call took nearly forty minutes but in the end, it was worth it, though I am glad that I have unlimited minutes on my mobile phone contract.
That's me sorted for broadband and TV for the next eighteen months.
Keep reading
More stories from Mike Singleton - Mikeydred and writers in Motivation and other communities.
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Comments (6)
I dread making those phone calls...you know how it's going to go, yet you have to do it anyway. So glad you got yours resolved the most reasonable way possible. Great article!
Good article, Mike. I cut the cable T.V. cord in 2015 when my bill was outrageous. I stream now with internet through the only ISP available and have a digital antenna for Over the air local channels. That always irritates me when new customers can get better deals.
Different country, different providers, but it's the same BS over here. They're all scoundrels.
What a heckin palaver! And yep, I think I do know who you were talking about :P
You come across as a professional writer.
great article😉👍