PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Viewpoints

credit,representativesdidcallme

multipletimestoofferbetterdeals,

butthere’snoworsewaytokeepmy

customthanattemptingtospeakto

me.Youdonotneedmyverbal

permissiontochargemeless,lads.

IrecentlyswitchedtoGiffgaff,not

becauseit’sjustbeennamedas the

bestmobile operator in thisyear’s

PCProawards(seep26), butbecause

itsmonthlycontractsareridiculously

cheap.I giveGiffgaff£10a month,it

givesmetheability to makephone

callsand,onthe rareoccasionI leave

thehouse,use WhatsApp.I don’t

wanttoloveGiffgaff,ortrustany

promises it makesaboutfuturecosts.

Ifitsserviceorpriceisnolongerthe

bestoutthere,nowthatI’velearned

howeasyitistoswitch,I willditchit

forsomeone else.

A

s shouldanyonedisappointed

inEE, ThreeorVodafone.

Severaltechjournalistpeers

tooktoTwitteraftertheThree

announcementtolamentthatthey’d

recommendedtheoperator to friends

offthebackof itsexcellentroaming

dealalone,sayingtheynowwished

theyhadn’t.Colleagues,don’thave

regrets: yousuggestedthebest

contractavailableatthetime. The

onlythingyoucouldhavedonebetter

istoalsoadvise your friendstocheck

rivalproviders’offerseverytimetheir

contractisup,butthatmakesfora

dullpubconversation.

Intheearlydaysofsmartphones,

wedidn’tjusthaveloyaltytophone

makers,itwastribal.Lineswere

drawnbetweeniPhone,Androidand

therest.Applefanscrowed about

theiramazingnew

appsthatwould

takeyears to land

onrivals’stores,

whileAndroid

userslaughed at

thestupidiPhone

fanaticsforpaying

B

ackin2018,a trioofmobile

operators made a public

promise:roamingcharges

wouldn’tbereintroduced,despitethe

Brexit-induceddeathoftherules

prohibitingthem. Vodafone,EEand

nowThreehaveallbrokenthat

pledge,meaningtravellerstothe

EUwill havetopayextra.

Thissparkedanangrybacklashon

socialmediaandinheadlines.Butit

shouldn’thavecomeasa surprise.

Mobileoperators demandloyalty

fromcustomersintheform of long

contracts,but never offer it in return.

Brandloyaltyisa fool’sgame.You

mayhaveboughtintoThree’s“we

loveourcustomers!”schtick,butit

onlylovesyourbusiness.Andthat’s

nota shotagainstThreeinparticular.

Google’sentrepreneurialspiritmay

inspireyou,butit’sin this forthe

quarterlyrevenue.Youmightlove

Apple,butAppledoesn’tloveyou

back;asa company,itcan’t.I’msorry

ifthis is painfultohear.

IfanyonefromEEisreadingthis,

theymay cockaneyebrowatmy

claimtolackloyalty.I joined the

companybackwhenitwasT-Mobile,

beforeitrebrandedin 2010 witha

confusingacronym-stylenamethat

requiredanexplanatoryslideatthe

presslaunch– it’snotsaid“eeeeee!”

likea shrillscream,butbysayingthe

letter“e”,thentheletter“e”again,

thepoorpressofficershadtoexplain.

ButI stayedwithT-Mobileand

thenEEona rollingcontract,not

becauseIfeltanyaffinityforthe

company, butbecauseI’mlazy.I was

undoubtedlybeingchargedmore

thannecessary;totheoperator’s

twiceasmuchfora handsetandbeing

suckeredintoSteveJobs’“reality

distortionfield”.Itwasa toughtime

tobeambivalent.Rememberthe

wholeMacversusPCnonsense?We

weresupposed to createoursense of

identityfromlaptops.Now,I can’t

evenrememberwho made mine,

because it’s aboutasinterestingas

whatbrandoffridgeis in my kitchen.

I’velongbeen on Android; thisyearI

boughtaniPhone.Itdidn’tcausean

identitycrisis,I canassureyou.

N

o onecaresanylongerwhich

phoneyouhave,northinks

you’recoolforpullingouta

MacBookatthelocallattepurveyor.

Techgadgetsareutilitarian.

Whateverlaptopsitsalongsideyour

flatwhite,youlikely bought as it

hadthebestspecs at therightprice,

becausewearesensiblepeoplenow.

Sodon’tbesurprisedoroffended

whentechcompaniesturntheir

collectivebackson your loyalty,like

Threeendingits consumer-friendly

roamingsystem.Instead,taketheir

leadandditchtheloyalty– andthem.

Wehavemoreoptionsthanever

beforewhenit comestotechservices

andhardware.HadI switched mobile

operatorsthreeyearsagowhenI

shouldhave,I’dhavegladlysignedup

forThree.Nowthatroamingcharges

areback,payinga cheapmonthly

tariffandsortingoutroamingfeesif

andwhenI go somewhereeveragain

makesmoresense, so I’mwith

Giffgaff.I don’t lovethem.Theydon’t

loveme.It’sbetterthisway.

[email protected]

Don’tbesurprisedwhentech

companies turntheirbacksonyour

loyalty.Instead,taketheirlead and

ditchtheloyalty – andthem

Don’tbefooled:

techcompanies

don’tloveyou

NicoleKobieis

PCPro’sFutures

editor.Theonebrand

youshouldhave

loyaltytoisPCPro,

becausewedo

actuallyloveyou.

@njkobie

Brandloyaltyisafool’sgameinthecurrenteraoftechnology.

Switchsidestosaveyourselfsomecash

I stayedwithT-Mobileand

thenEEona rollingcontract,not

becauseI feltany affinity forthe

company,but becauseI’mlazy