Customer Retention

[Thirteenthhour]

I have been with O2 for well over 10 years. I have recently had a PAYG sim because I was living in another country. I'm now back in the UK and ready to sign another monthly contract.

I see online everywhere that when you are renewing your contract you have power to haggle with the phone company rates, because you can obviously go elsewhere. I called o2, got through to customer retention and told them that I had been a customer for many years, but I was seeing better deals available, so I wanted my PAC code.

They asked what other offers I had seen and I told them the details of current offers from other providers... then they just said "okay", and gave me my PAC code. They didn't attempt to negotiote at all. I was just hoping to get thoughts on this.

Of course, I am prepared to move networks, and I can get better deals, but I have had no issues with o2 and would have been happy to stay if they had improved their offer at all for a long-term customer. Just seems like bad service from o2.

Thanks.

[MI5]

@Thirteenthhour No one gets any special treatment off O2 anymore.

Their mantra is "fair deal for all" so everyone, new or old, are offered the same deals.

[Thirteenthhour]

I understand. It seems pointless having a customer retentions department if they are not prepared to offer anything other than the advertised tariffs though.

[Bambino]

@Thirteenthhour  By all means switch providers if you can get a better deal, but check the coverage you will get in the places you frequent most before you make the change. A good deal is worthless if you don't have good coverage. Try the Pay & Go sims from the other networks before you make your move.

[MI5]

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@Thirteenthhour wrote:

I understand. It seems pointless having a customer retentions department if they are not prepared to offer anything other than the advertised tariffs though.

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O2 call then the "recontract" team rather than "retentions" and they will occasionally offer small discounts but it does depend heavily on average monthly spend and length of contract. 

A PAYG customer is unlikely to meet that criteria.

[jonsie]

I would be shopping around for the best deal you can get. Before trying another network, get free sims from their website to make sure you get the same coverage as O2.

Loyalty these days is totally pointless.

[bassplayer]

Loyalty these days is totally pointless.

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That doesn’t make it right though!

[jonsie]

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@bassplayer wrote:

Loyalty these days is totally pointless.

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That doesn’t make it right though!

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I agree totally but it's the world we live in. None of the big companies care. You change gas or electric when you've paid them a fortune, do they care. Not a bit. You get through to retentions for any network, Sky or Virgin, it all depends on the individual you speak to. No magic formulae at all.

[jezza1234]

• As others have said O2 won’t offer incentives to stay. They ask you why you want to leave so they can track churn reasons. As a current PAYG  customer you are unlikely to get any discount. I look every time my upgrade is due and quite honestly O2 offers reasonably good value, don’t continue to charge you for your phone even when your minimum term is up, and offer flexibility on when you can pay off your device and give you the opportunity to pay extra. No they are not perfect but then other networks have their issues too. Often the grass looks greener but invariably never is. I am a huge believer in “you get what you pay for”. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your post @Thirteenthhour 

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