[3GScottishUser]

Here's the deal.

You order a Nokia 6280 from 3's website on the VTT1100 tariff (£45 a month)

1st 6 months you get Double Minutes and Texts 1200 X/Net + 800 SMS.

You also get 7 months 1/2 price, so £22.50 rather than £45 a month.

Fair enough BUT think about it.

At month 6 your call and text allownace is halved and in month 7 the line rental doubles!!!

I dont consider this is a stategy that'll keep customers for them.

Now I suppose if you dont like the deal you would'nt buy it to start with but does'nt logic suggest that with huge variences like the above in a deal you would be more likely to churn when you had the opportunity?

What do you think of the above type of deals - good or bad?

Would you prefer a simpler tariff that offers value over the whole life of the contract?

Vote in the poll below and leave your comments.

[Hands0n]

Simple and transparent deals win out every time for me. This is by no means restricted to 3, although what you have posted serves as an example of all that is bad about these things. Mobile ops and the dealers alike are all at it.

Also, I have never been drawn to the independent dealers special offers, deals and promotions. They are way too obscure, complex, ridden with contract clauses biased against the Customer. All in all, these serve only to raise an atmosphere of mistrust, and not a little anxiety.

If you want a great example of obscurity one needs look no further than what Orange (http://www.orange.co.uk/animals/?WT.mc_id=ora06046_ga_01) are up to at their little zoo of late. What the **** is that all about? No, to keep with the animal analogy, Orange are clearly "barking up the wrong tree". I think I'd rather the 3 offer that 3GSU illustrates above than anything Orange currently have on their books!

Clarity and transparency - earn the trust
I very much prefer a tariff and contract that is instantly understandable, or clearly explainable. For example, I agonised over Flext, looking for the catch which surely must have been there. It was a pleasant surprise to realise that there was no "gotcha", everything is clear and easy to understand, simple even. No surprise then that I have taken a Flext in favour of my 3 contract which goes next month. When I phoned 3 to cancel I was offered something ridiculously complex and which when pressed even the CS agent had to admit did not offer me what I was actually after and was getting with Flext + Web 'n Walk.

Overall churn in the business is probably directly attributable to such deals as this thread highlights. The dealers love churn, it is good for their business. The mobile operators hate it as it adds significantly to their underlying cost basis.

The answer would appear to be simple to me - it is up to the mobile operators to produce such clear and transparent tariffs that the customers can understand in a blink. The dealers will hate this, but tough luck to them - they've exploited the market and us (the Customers) for quite long enough.

The mobile operators will see reduced churn through increased Customer loyalty on the back of increased trust that they [the Customer] are not getting stiffed in the small print.

[gorilla]

Simple deal please.
What about 1/2 price rental for 6 months and then when your tariff returns to the 'normal' price you get double minutes and texts? Thereby making the customer think they are getting a better deal over the length of the contract.

[3GScottishUser]

That would be more sensible and would allow them to offer low cost headline deals at the outset and they would'nt have to offer even more subsidiesed retention deals when contracts end and custimers call to cancel.

You worked it out, so did I and others.... its amazing that Hutchsion who have all that experience in mobile telecoms hav'nt as yet.

[Ben]

Simple deal please.
What about 1/2 price rental for 6 months and then when your tariff returns to the 'normal' price you get double minutes and texts? Thereby making the customer think they are getting a better deal over the length of the contract.
How about just slashing tariffs to 3/4 of their current costs? All this half price line rental stuff irritates me almost as much as cash back ;)

[solo12002]

" everything is clear and easy to understand, simple even." I fully agree with these comments.

If t-mobile can do it why not the other networks, as a mobile user like everyone else on here Im sick of the half price, cash back deals that are offered, they are confusing most of the time.

For to long we have been screwed by the networks, surely one way to increase profit, increase the use of mobiles and roaming is to have clear to understand price plans, with the user paying a fair price for calls and date, i firmly belivie that roaming in this day and age should be at the rate you pay at home in light of the fact that most of us will roam on to the very same network we have our contracts with.

I fully understand the need to pay retailers commission as this is wht keeps them running , but surely the ammount could be looked at and reduced.

[3GScottishUser]

I think most would agree that the promotions have become too complex and tiresome.

Cashbacks, 1/2 price line rental, Double Minutes and Texts, Inclusive Content, Deferred or Discount Line Rental and 'Free' Gifts all do nothing but complicate what should be a simple purchace decision.

T-Mobile and 02 appear to have gone furthest in stripping away the deliberate distractions and offering customers simple, transparent deals making consumer understanding easier.

All of the complex offers that some networks and dealers devise have a role to play in increasing churn I suspect. Discount deals are probably the worst example of this as one compares the advertised 'headline' monthly rate with what you currently pay. Throw in a nice flashy handset for free and there is compelling logic to churn. Fine, until the real tariff kicks in then 12 or 18 months later customers go through the whole process again. Great for dealers who get to pocket £100 or so each time but totally unnecessary and something the networks could address through simpler, transparent tariffs that reflect the 'real' cost over the contract term. One has to ask "Whats the point of advertising a contract at £35 a month when it actually only costs £25 or less in reality?"

Yep - simpler contract pricing is the way forward for the networks and something that would benefit most customers in the longer term.

[solo12002]

well done 3SG for starting this it sure looks like a good debate.