I have a really cheap cell phone plan. I pay about $10 a month. Which is about 5x less than what my son pays each month on his cell phone contract.
(I have a PayAsYouGo phone from Rogers in Canada. By using the phone only when necessary, and keeping calls to under a minute, it costs me about $10 a month -- even though Rogers charges me 33 cents per minute.)
My cell phone is a five-year-old gray non-flip Nokia model that my kids are embarrassed to be seen around. It's more than twice as big as any other phone today, has a monochrome screen, and has survived several falls onto concrete. It works well.
Last month, an automated phone call from Rogers offered me a new cell phone. It would be free. A gift from Rogers. All I needed to do was to visit their Web site, sign up, and the Nokia 2610 would be shipped to me in under ten days. "Free?" I said to my wife. "Let's get it!"
"I bet there are two catches," I added:
- Cell phone portability is coming to Canada in February. Rogers is sucking up to customers.
- The new cell phone is probably a gateway to paying more to Rogers through downloadable games, ringtones, etc.
I ordered. It arrived in a week. It was a disappointment. Which is what I would expect in a free call phone.
- Yes, it is smaller, but its rectangular shape doesn't fit my hand well as the old one.
- Yes, it has a color screen, but it the menu is illogical (shouldn't Phone Book be the first item?).
- Yes, the graphics are wowie-zowie, but it has a slow CPU. Frequently, a "Please Wait" dialog box appears after I select a menu item.
- Yes, it has Internet access, but it also has prominently-placed menu items for buying games, ringtones, and other services.
After playing with it for two days, I made the decision that disappointed my youngest daughter: shelve the unit until Rogers forces me to switch.
By giving out a cheap phone that works less well for the customer, Rogers lost the ability to upsell.
(I found it interesting that the entire order process was automated: I had contact with no humans-- except for the UPS driver showing up at my door: "Here's your cell phone," he said knowingly. I hate it when they know what's inside the box.)
Update
Later, I saw the phone at Wal-Mart from Rogers PayAsYouGo for $95.
Comments