Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 02:00 AM PDT

As I have been writing about for the last few months, my wife and I have been in the process of moving. We packed up our stuff, loaded it into a truck, and are now finally settling into our new place. When you get ready to leave a premise, you always have to remember to make a few phone calls. You have to call your service providers and let them know that you are moving. Sometimes, you can just transfer your service to a new address. In our case, we didn’t know where we would end up, so we just put ours on hold or outright stopped service with our providers, as we didn’t know where or when we would be ready to have new cable, phone, internet, etc. So over this last week as we have finally got a place to live, I have spent a lot of time on the phone trying to arrange for new service. We needed internet first and foremost, and knew that we would eventually want TV as well. We decided to pass on phone as we both have cell phones, and our rent covers the rest of the utilities, so we didn’t need to worry about electricity, or heat (in our case, oil), or water/sewage. So we only needed one service, really, so how hard could it be?

Keeping Service

Our old internet provider was great. Through my work I got a bit of a deal with the company, so while it wasn’t the fastest service available, the price was right. Who doesn’t like saving money? Especially as we had just moved and spent a bunch of money on moving trucks and cleaning supplies, saving a few bucks a month would be worth whatever minor hassle it might be to continue with the provider, right? Well, not so much.

We set up a time for our old internet provider to come and give us internet at our new place. It was DSL, so through the telephone lines. I had a couple of questions about which lines would and wouldn’t work, because of the age of the house. Therefore, I waited home the day that they said they would come. At about noon, I decided to give them a call and just see if they could provide a time estimate for their arrival. Unfortunately, when I called, the rep that I got told me that the technician was already there, flipped a switch on the outside of the house, and left. Now, I can’t blame the tech as apparently that was all the service order told him to do, but I was frustrated because I had a few questions. I didn’t mind staying home, but I also wish the original person I spoke with would have mentioned that no one was going to be knocking on the door or coming inside.

No problem, I’ll just plug my modem in and everything should work, right? Sadly, no. None of the lines that I tried registered, so I phoned back to the ISP to let them know that I was having difficulty, and would someone be able to come by, test the lines, and perhaps if necessary install some jacks (as would be provided for a new service). New jacks were needed as the house is old and the lines that were run were probably dead, and were an old line that didn’t fit the modern modem. Sure! They said. We can send another technician in two weeks, for $98 an hour. I spent 70+ minutes on the phone that day, getting transferred from rep to rep to rep, re-explaining the situation at each time, and all I got was that they’d wave the first $98. Thanks. I even hopped on Twitter during the phone call to express my frustration, and the ISP Twitter team attempted to help. They were unable to.

Leaving Service

So I phoned their competition, and 24 hours later I had full internet service on multiple lines in the house. Even though I had some “brand loyalty” to the original provider, it disappeared as soon as hurdles arrived. I liked the service that I had, I liked the price that I paid, and I was happy with them. In the end, however, I got a working internet connection within a reasonable amount of time, and while I do pay more for the service, it is almost 5 times as fast. In the end, it was definitely worth the switch. I am paying more money, but I am provided with better service, which I believe means I am getting better value for my money.

So how loyal are you to your brand? In some cases, it pays to stay with one provider. I find that with cell phones, for example, prices have only ever gone up over the last few (5+) years. You used to be able to get unlimited minutes, unlimited data, with minimal contracts. Now you have to pay for every single text message you’ve ever considered spending, and the prices have risen far faster than inflation. In addition, most companies will reward you for being loyal by trying to buy you with new shiny phones or temporary bill discounts. I am, therefore, quite loyal to my cell phone company, but only because every time I consider switching, I find that even if there wasn’t an early termination fee, I would be paying more by switching. So I don’t.

Internet, home phone, and television providers, however, seem to be either staying the same, or getting cheaper. Internet is about the same price, though you now have to worry a little more about data caps and your ISP throttling your internet. Home phone has gotten quite a bit cheaper, with far more reasonable long distance calling plans, and basic plans starting as low as $10/month. Television, as well, is an ever changing landscape, and different providers always seem to be the “best” provider of service and price. So are you loyal to your current provider? Why? If you are not in a contract, and perhaps even if you are, then take 30 minutes and look at the offers on other websites, or even the site of your current provider. Are there better deals out there than what you’re getting? If so, sign up for them! Switch! Make your service providers work to keep you as a customer. Don’t be their slave, make them work for you. You’re paying them, and you ought not be the one that does all the hard work in your relationship. They should be wooing you and pampering you, and if they’re not, then you should drop them and find someone else who will.

Bonus Tip

If you live in a larger city, chances are good there are a lot of smaller independent providers that help keep competition low. They often have the highest speeds/largest data caps, so it is worth checking out before you sign up with the mega-corporation that can advertise the most. In order to find out who and what is available in your area, go to www.canadianisp.com.

How Brand Loyal Are You? originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on August 31, 2011.