Eyes wide open
14/10/07 23:16 Filed in: BitDepth+
It takes deep pockets to run regular full page advertisements in the major dailies, even in spot colour and to saturate local television with more ads.
Blink Broadband is TSTT's 'highspeed' service rebranded, with better prices, more options and better speed. So why all the mystery?
According to Joseph Herde, Head of Marketing & Sales, TSTT Broadband Group, "Blink Broadband represents a completely new level of product & service for Broadband, we did not want to draw any association to our previous High Speed Internet Access (HSIA) product. We were aware of the issues associated with that product and our aim was to use lessons learned to develop a new product and redefine Broadband service."
"For what it is worth, this is not open marketing hype. We have deployed everything from future-proof state-of-the-art IP core networks featuring ADSL 2+ technology, along with a new technical help desk which operates 24/7 (due in six weeks time). There will also be a suite of value added products to accompany our broadband service, to allow customers to enjoy a unique online experience, rather than just a bandwidth pipe."
Now Herde's a new guy, but if he's in Marketing for TSTT, so he must be aware that nobody really trusts TSTT, so what he sees as a rebranding exercise just seems to hardened customers like a sneaky way of waving a freshly painted flag on the frontlines of all the new services being hawked these days, particularly from Columbus' Flow offering.
Building that distrust is a note at the bottom of the FAQ page that warns that none of the new services are eligible for SmartChoice discounts. Now the prices, noted below, are good enough and varied enough that most customers won't really mind losing their discount, but why isn't all this stated up front and in clear language?
Herde did a good job of explaining the rationale to me in a response to a bluntly accusatory e-mail I sent to TSTT's PR representative: "We spent quite some time conducting pricing analysis, which resulted in our product suite being priced below any combination of existing Smartchoice discounts. As was previously the case with HSIA, there were a series of Smartchoice discounts that could have been compounded for up to 40% discounts in some cases. Bear in mind that the standard cost for HSIA was $460 for 256k. Our new pricing is so aggressive, that we are now offering 256k service for $79."
Which opens another can of disturbing worms. If 256k on the new service is being sold for $79, why haven't I gotten a simple, one click option to announce my intent to migrate to the new service when it's available which earns me an immediate discount to the new pricing for my existing service?
That would leave me in the position of paying $79 for the "old" HSIA service while I wait for the new service to be introduced and make up my mind about whether I want to upgrade my package.
Put another way, I shouldn't be in the position of thinking that I'm being gouged to the tune of more than two hundred dollars while I wait for TSTT to "switch" to a service they now seem willing to admit is worth $79.
Of course, now that there is a "new" service, one that's travelling down the same wires as the old one, TSTT's clever legal department can insist that the old 256k service is a completely different thing from the new one, which is being offered at almost a quarter of the price.
This is an unwelcome reminder of earlier columns and notes on this blog that I've written here and here which take note of the broadband unit's terminal unwillingness to acknowledge that when service gets dropped for days at a time a discount for lost service might be a good and customer friendly idea.
It's as if TSTT has a top secret Department of Screwing It Up, which examines good ideas and useful services and finds the most customer hostile way to implement them, maximising the potential to snub or insult the intelligence of the people who pay their salaries.
While we're on the subject of clubbing customers over the head like cute little baby seals, what's up with those modem settings e-mails?
When those changes hit the customer base, TSTT is going to be drowning in calls and by the time people actually talk to a representative, they're going to be furious. It's nice that the broadband help desk is finally going to be on duty 24/7 for a continuous service, but they aren't going to be having a good time.
I can guarantee that far too many folks receiving these e-mails will either hopelessly screw up their modem settings or waste hours at a time with customer service reps. Are these folks so cheap to hire that it makes more financial sense to field days of irate customer calls than to buy smarter modems that can be configured automatically from TSTT's servers?
TSTT's Blink Broadband prices
Residential
All prices in TT dollars per month, VAT inclusive
* 256kbits download / 64kbits upload (promotional offer) $79
* 512kbits download / 128kbits upload $149
* 1MB download / 256kbits upload $229
* 2MB download / 512kbits upload $349
* up to 10MB download /768kbits upload $699
Business
* 512kbits download / 128kbits upload $799
* 1MB download / 256kbits upload $1,249
* 1MB download (sync) $1,799
* 2MB download / 768kbits upload $2,399
* 3MB download / 768kbits upload $2,949
* 4MB download / 768kbits upload $5,249
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