Don’t be fooled: tech companies don’t love you
Brand loyalty is a fool’s game in the current era of technology. Switch sides to save yourself some cash
B ack in 2018, a trio of mobile operators made a public promise: roaming charges wouldn’t be reintroduced, despite the Brexit-induced death of the rules prohibiting them. Vodafone, EE and now Three have all broken that pledge, meaning travellers to the EU will have to pay extra.
This sparked an angry backlash on social media and in headlines. But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Mobile operators demand loyalty from customers in the form of long contracts, but never offer it in return. Brand loyalty is a fool’s game. You may have bought into Three’s “we love our customers!” schtick, but it only loves your business. And that’s not a shot against Three in particular. Google’s entrepreneurial spirit may inspire you, but it’s in this for the quarterly revenue. You might love Apple, but Apple doesn’t love you back; as a company, it can’t. I’m sorry if this is painful to hear.
If anyone from EE is reading this, they may cock an eyebrow at my claim to lack loyalty. I joined the company back when it was T-Mobile, before it rebranded in 2010 with a confusing acronym-style name that required an explanatory slide at the press launch – it’s not said “eeeeee!” like a shrill scream, but by saying the letter “e”, then the letter “e” again, the poor press officers had to explain.
But I stayed with T-Mobile and then EE on a rolling contract, not because I felt any affinity for the company, but because I’m lazy. I was undoubtedly being charged more than necessary; to the operator’s credit, representatives did call me multiple times to offer better deals, but there’s no worse way to keep my custom than attempting to speak to me. You do not need my verbal permission to charge me less, lads.
I recently switched to Giffgaff, not because it’s just been named as the best mobile operator in this year’s
PC Pro awards (see p26), but because its monthly contracts are ridiculously cheap. I give Giffgaff £10 a month, it gives me the ability to make phone calls and, on the rare occasion I leave the house, use WhatsApp. I don’t want to love Giffgaff, or trust any promises it makes about future costs. If its service or price is no longer the best out there, now that I’ve learned how easy it is to switch, I will ditch it for someone else.
As should anyone disappointed in EE, Three or Vodafone. Several tech journalist peers took to Twitter after the Three announcement to lament that they’d recommended the operator to friends off the back of its excellent roaming deal alone, saying they now wished they hadn’t. Colleagues, don’t have regrets: you suggested the best contract available at the time. The only thing you could have done better is to also advise your friends to check rival providers’ offers every time their contract is up, but that makes for a dull pub conversation.
In the early days of smartphones, we didn’t just have loyalty to phone makers, it was tribal. Lines were drawn between iPhone, Android and the rest. Apple fans crowed about their amazing new apps that would take years to land on rivals’ stores, while Android users laughed at the stupid iPhone fanatics for paying twice as much for a handset and being suckered into Steve Jobs’ “reality distortion field”. It was a tough time to be ambivalent. Remember the whole Mac versus PC nonsense? We were supposed to create our sense of identity from laptops. Now, I can’t even remember who made mine, because it’s about as interesting as what brand of fridge is in my kitchen. I’ve long been on Android; this year I bought an iPhone. It didn’t cause an identity crisis, I can assure you.
No one cares any longer which phone you have, nor thinks you’re cool for pulling out a MacBook at the local latte purveyor. Tech gadgets are utilitarian.
Whatever laptop sits alongside your flat white, you likely bought as it had the best specs at the right price, because we are sensible people now.
So don’t be surprised or offended when tech companies turn their collective backs on your loyalty, like Three ending its consumer-friendly roaming system. Instead, take their lead and ditch the loyalty – and them.
We have more options than ever before when it comes to tech services and hardware. Had I switched mobile operators three years ago when I should have, I’d have gladly signed up for Three. Now that roaming charges are back, paying a cheap monthly tariff and sorting out roaming fees if and when I go somewhere ever again makes more sense, so I’m with Giffgaff. I don’t love them. They don’t love me. It’s better this way.
I stayed with T-Mobile and then EE on a rolling contract, not because I felt any affinity for the company, but because I’m lazy
Don’t be surprised when tech companies turn their backs on your loyalty. Instead, take their lead and ditch the loyalty – and them