Upgrades and contract renewals

[Anonymous]

Yesterday I had the most bizarre conversation with someone on the disconnections team. Have been with o2 for 7 years, and coming up for renewal of a 24 month contract. Found a deal fair bit better than the one CPW/o2 offered so phoned for my PAC code and the guy I spoke to didn't even offer to negotiate or keep my business. Stark contrast from other renewals I've been through! He said something about o2 mobile migrating and they can't do any deals. Don't understand what's going on but it seems bizarre. He couldn't give me my PAC code quick enough. I've had no problems with o2 for 7 years and they've always been really helpful. Seems a shame to loose all that loyalty but I will move to get the better deal.
Has anyone else had this experience and know what's going on?

[Anonymous]

Yesterday I had the most bizarre conversation with someone on the disconnections team. Have been with o2 for 7 years, and coming up for renewal of a 24 month contract. Found a deal fair bit better than the one CPW/o2 offered so phoned for my PAC code and the guy I spoke to didn't even offer to negotiate or keep my business. Stark contrast from other renewals I've been through! He said something about o2 mobile migrating and they can't do any deals. Don't understand what's going on but it seems bizarre. He couldn't give me my PAC code quick enough. I've had no problems with o2 for 7 years and they've always been really helpful. Seems a shame to loose all that loyalty but I will move to get the better deal.
Has anyone else had this experience and know what's going on?

if someone wants to leave o2, there is not point in trying to offer a deal to keep them. once a deal is offered, they expect more and more from the company. o2 can do without customers like this.
to stay with a company because of a deal is not loyalty. to stay with a company because of their service, is loyalty.
o2 is a business and needs to make money. 1 leaves, 2 arrive. its pretty simple.
but to your question, it is slightly bizarre they didnt make an attempt to offer anything. maybe it was the advisors lunch break coming up or home time?
regards to o2 migrating, its slightly wrong. o2 are integrating themselves into a more connected market (home phone, broadband), not just mobile phones. which means their funds will be stretched to more markets and not just mobile. it leaves less pocket money to play with and less deals to offer.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply. My understanding of the market (although limited) is that it's pretty saturated so the way the companies make money is by retaining existing customers, since there are hardly any new ones around.
If you think the dealmaking process is something they can do without then they have made a rod for their own back because this is how they've operated in the past. 2 years ago, I signed up for a better deal with 3, phoned to get my PAC code and spent an hour on the phone to someone in disconnections who wouldn't let me go. In the end he offered to credit my account each month for my monthly bill for 18 months so it could run alongside the 3 account and I could go back to them when the 3 contract had finished, which I duly did. He told me at the time to never sign up to anything until I'd spoken to them as they want to keep longstanding customers and would be able to match any deal. I'm doing what they have told me to do!
Thanks for your clarification of the O2 mobile situation. I'll take the deal I found with Orange.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply. My understanding of the market (although limited) is that it's pretty saturated so the way the companies make money is by retaining existing customers, since there are hardly any new ones around.
If you think the dealmaking process is something they can do without then they have made a rod for their own back because this is how they've operated in the past. 2 years ago, I signed up for a better deal with 3, phoned to get my PAC code and spent an hour on the phone to someone in disconnections who wouldn't let me go. In the end he offered to credit my account each month for my monthly bill for 18 months so it could run alongside the 3 account and I could go back to them when the 3 contract had finished, which I duly did. He told me at the time to never sign up to anything until I'd spoken to them as they want to keep longstanding customers and would be able to match any deal. I'm doing what they have told me to do!
Thanks for your clarification of the O2 mobile situation. I'll take the deal I found with Orange.

You might get a good deal with Orange, but your customer service experience will go out the window.
I have been with o2 for 10 years for 1 reason only. World class and Award winning customer service. There is a reason they have over 15 million customers.

[Anonymous]

Having been with o2 from 2004-9 and now back after 2 years with Orange, I can confidently state that o2's customer service is vastly superior in my experience.
Orange were slow to respond to email queries and their store staff (the ones I spoke to) were clueless and obviously poorly trained.
That said, in Leeds, I got much better data speeds than I do with o2, but the all round package (phone, tariff, customer service) make o2 a better choice for me.
The grass isn't always greener elsewhere.
SV

[Anonymous]

Thanks SV, useful advice and good to hear of your experience.

[Anonymous]

I think wolfman has got the wrong end of the stick. Its nothing to do with O2 getting into other areas.
If you are a CPW O2 customer then they are migrating their customers to O2 proper, as they are ceasing to be a service provider. So no discounts etc.

[Anonymous]

I think wolfman has got the wrong end of the stick. Its nothing to do with O2 getting into other areas.
If you are a CPW O2 customer then they are migrating their customers to O2 proper, as they are ceasing to be a service provider. So no discounts etc.

i dont think this was his question.
yes, when you migrate to o2, you are fully o2 now, but handset still with CPW.

[Anonymous]

I think wolfman has got the wrong end of the stick. Its nothing to do with O2 getting into other areas.
If you are a CPW O2 customer then they are migrating their customers to O2 proper, as they are ceasing to be a service provider. So no discounts etc.

I know where you're coming from.
Sounds as if the OP was with 'o2 at the Carphone Warehouse' as opposed to o2 direct, I used to be with them and their retentions team were always desperate to keep you.
However, now that these customers are all being migrated to o2 direct if you call up to upgrade you can either take the deal offered and at the same time be migrated over or you can take a PAC and leave.
When it comes to retention offers not being as 'suicidal' as in the past, there are a few different factors for example;
- A top end handset used to be worth about £250-£300 and you'd pay about £35pm for 250mins and 500 texts. Now £400-£550 is the norm for a handset and that £35 gets you 600 mins, unlimited texts and 500mb of data. The 'money pot' that retentions have to keep a customer simply isn't stretching as far as it used to.
- Customers get more mins and texts than ever before, roaming charges have dropped, most banks now offer inclusive mobile phone insurance etc. In essence, the amount that customers generally spent going over their bill has dropped. So networks now can't comfortably give £10 off a month knowing that a customer will just overspend by that, or more, anyway.
I could go on.
O2 has never tried to be the cheapest network. They've always wanted to be a network that offers good value for money with excellent service and added extras such as priority tickets, better value if you take their broadband, good coverage, priority moments etc etc.

[Anonymous]

I think wolfman has got the wrong end of the stick. Its nothing to do with O2 getting into other areas.
If you are a CPW O2 customer then they are migrating their customers to O2 proper, as they are ceasing to be a service provider. So no discounts etc.

i dont think this was his question.
yes, when you migrate to o2, you are fully o2 now, but handset still with CPW.

You're missing the point, again. CPW/O2 wont do a heavy retentions discount any more ,because they aren't able/interested in retaining the customer (because they are all off to O2).
O2 themselves don't do suicide deals anymore, so the best the OP can hope for is a 'new customer seal's. Its nothing at all to do with the complicated answer you originally gave.