Got my Bell bill this week and it was seven per cent higher. Apparently they have increased prices because, as the rep told me, "everything goes up in price over time' and Bell is the "Mercedes of phone services".
Are you kidding? Voice services (especially landline) should be going down in cost, not up, given competitive pressures in the market.
What do I think the price increase is really about? I think Bell was banking on usage-based billing (UBB) increasing its profits dramatically. When UBB fell through they figured they'd make up the difference by simply raising the cost on existing services.
You'd think that corporations would look at NetFlix and realize that consumers today won't put up with getting hosed. Raising prices during a recession will only drive consumers to seek out what competitors are offering.
What really annoyed me (and this is more a PR function) is how Bell never notifies you that a price increase is coming. It simply appears on your bill. At least Rogers use to notify you months in advance.
Anyway, I continue to think that much of Roger and Bell's profits are fueled by baby boomers who tend to want simplicity and dealing with a brand they've known their whole life. But the Gen-X generation (and those younger) have no brand loyalty to these large cap providers because what they see is that they are almost always 25-30 per cent more expensive than competitors.
Suffice to say I won't be paying the increase and I encourage you to fight that increase as well. The only thing Bell listens to is customers threatening to leave.
Are you kidding? Voice services (especially landline) should be going down in cost, not up, given competitive pressures in the market.
What do I think the price increase is really about? I think Bell was banking on usage-based billing (UBB) increasing its profits dramatically. When UBB fell through they figured they'd make up the difference by simply raising the cost on existing services.
You'd think that corporations would look at NetFlix and realize that consumers today won't put up with getting hosed. Raising prices during a recession will only drive consumers to seek out what competitors are offering.
What really annoyed me (and this is more a PR function) is how Bell never notifies you that a price increase is coming. It simply appears on your bill. At least Rogers use to notify you months in advance.
Anyway, I continue to think that much of Roger and Bell's profits are fueled by baby boomers who tend to want simplicity and dealing with a brand they've known their whole life. But the Gen-X generation (and those younger) have no brand loyalty to these large cap providers because what they see is that they are almost always 25-30 per cent more expensive than competitors.
Suffice to say I won't be paying the increase and I encourage you to fight that increase as well. The only thing Bell listens to is customers threatening to leave.
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