I spend a lot of time in brick-and-mortar stores that offer cellular, cable and internet services because things are constantly changing. I recently dropped into my local store that sells all three of those services, so I could update their prices and packages. You know, the company whose name rhymes with bombast? It was an early afternoon on a Monday, so I figured it would be a quickie. Wrong. I was number seven in line. But I had plenty of time to sit in the waiting area and "accidently” overhear several conversations. It was a real mixed bag. Some people were cancelling their services while others were upgrading. The nice thing about being in a store was that actual human beings were there to assist.
During my "accidental" eavesdropping, I listened to a conversation between a couple, who looked to be in their mid-60’s, and the store person. Now I know it was impolite, but I couldn’t help myself. And I’m glad I did because it was a real doozy. It seems that the couple had come into the store in order to switch their cellular services. They had been using a certain company for whom Ted Danson has done a whole lot of pitching. Their issue was that they were getting a lot of dropped calls. BTW, another "star", Ryan Reynolds, can be seen telling people about discounts at "his" place, Mint Mobile, whose service I am currently testing.
These companies (known as MVNOs) claim to have coverage every bit as good as "the big three" (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon known as MNOs) at less cost. In this case, nothing the couple did was able to fix things. One of the biggest issues with MVNOs is that with most, customer service people can only be contacted on the phone or online. A few have stores like Boost, Cricket and Metro by T-Mobile but mostly, it's DIY when it comes to troubleshooting. Which brings me to a post that I wrote titled, "The Hell of Cell – MNOs vs. MVNOs”. You can read all about their differences here.
While the store that this couple was at is not one of the big three (in fact they get their cellular coverage from Verizon), at least they have brick-and-mortar locations with those humans that I mentioned above. Even at that, getting this change of service became a teachable moment for me. You see, Ted’s and Ryan's companies are MVNOs that don't have stores. So, in order to change their service, the couple and the store person had to call the current provider. Since there were three people in the process, they had the call on speaker, and I was able to listen. The first thing I heard was, "Your call is important to us". And then music. After about ten minutes, you could tell that frustration had taken hold from the music on hold. When one of Ted’s buddies finally picked-up, getting things changed was harder than anyone had imagined. You'd think it could be done on the phone, but it had to be done online. The couple needed to get on the store’s computer and sign onto their account. At that point, they looked at each other and realized that neither knew their account's username and password. They were going to have to figure out a way to find them. By now, even I was getting angry. However, my name was called, and I left the scene of the crime without ever knowing the final outcome.
I will say that my small role in the play lasted well over twenty minutes. It’s a cautionary tale that explains why I generally do not recommend using an MVNO unless that company has a store, or the household has access to a tech-savvy person. It really cements the process on how I should assist people when they make my recommended service changes. I've learned that while saving money is important, it may not be worth the heartburn factor. In fact, it's that very heartburn and general fear of change which causes many people to pay more money each month for their Cell, Internet and Television services. A lot more. I’ve literally shown people the ability to save over $2,000 every year yet they still won't do it because of what I call "FOC” (fear of change). Here’s a post that I wrote about that malady. https://www.lowertechbills.com/post/what-the-foc
The more that I've assisted people with saving money, the more I've realized that overcoming fear of change is one of the biggest obstacles. That’s why my job is to find you savings and to make sure that you are comfortable with the changes that may be needed in order to achieve those savings. If that means going with you to a store or to provide in-home training, that’s what I'll do. In the end, it's really not hard. It’s just change. But, having someone to guide you through the process makes things a whole lot easier. In the end, you will be enjoying your services just like you are today. Only you’ll also be saving a lot of money.
Since I retired from Radio, I’ve been able to save people from hundreds to thousands of dollars per year on Cellular, Internet and TV costs. For a free look at your bills, email hmwellsradio@gmail.com or visit www.lowertechbills.com because you may not have the time to find the savings and guide you through the process, but I do.
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