Pogue notes many examples in his article including this, “Why has the price of a text message gone to 20 cents, from 10, in two years? There was no big technology shift. There was no spike in the cost of electrons.” Pouge goes on to guesstimate that Verizon pockets $850 million a year by forcing you to listen to those annoying voicemail instructions every time you try to leave a message. He wryly suggests congress investigate. Read the article and your blood pressure will go up.When will wireless companies realize that not treating customers with contempt is a powerful way to differentiate, build genuine brand loyalty and profits? I don't think government will ever be able to enforce social responsibility in business. I do think social media's ability to make bad corporate behavior transparent will eventually force companies to change. Social media will also steer new customers to brands with real integrity. Now is the time for a company with foresight to preempt their competition by not playing the same old game with their customers - by making the inevitable changes today.
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I don't think it is altogether a bad thing if there is a bit of a shake-up in the wireless industry. David Pogue made some very valid comments.
ReplyDeleteDon't even start me on the texting price hikes. It is generally agreed that the actual cost to the carrier of sending a text message is around 0.6 cents. Need I say more?
And why are we paying roaming charges on our contracts? My daughter has a prepaid phone from NET10 and she does not pay any roaming charges. I've worked out I pay more per minute on my cell plan than she does on her prepaid. She can also call a number of international destinations at local rates - I can't.
These and other things make me wonder - am I being exploited by my cell carrier? I would certainly like my representative to look into this.