I HATE YOU!!!

I am loyal, through the good times and the bad, the highs and the lows.

I am the same with my car insurance, I would just stick with what I know.

So, I have been with my electric and gas for years, it makes no difference, what they offer me on the phone, for really whatever they offer me, once they have me, they are the same.

Having said that, I will be leaving my car insurance, that I have been with for years. After I had renewed with them again, this year, two months later they rang me up and asked me some questions, they wanted to know, “How far is it for you to drive to work?” I said, “About 90 seconds,” So, she said, “We have to add commute, to your insurance.” And then she put it up! I said, “When I was given all the quotes from you, I accepted your price, but I didn’t want to pay that much, or I would have gone to a different company.” Before this conversation, they kept texting me, after everything was set up and the direct debit was been paid. Then to my horror I saw one day, my emails from them, it showed that they had changed my insurance, by adding an extra £300 to my bill! I asked, “Why have you added the extra £300?” She said, “We have removed your No Claims Bonus, it is now gone to zero!” I said, “I have 20 years No Claims Bonus.” She said, “We need proof that you have 20 years No Claims.” I said, “How many years have I been with you?” She checked and said, “We now have our proof.” The call was soon ended after that, with my insurance higher and my 20 years (protected) No Claims Bonus restored! I’m now counting down to leaving them! Commute indeed!!

As much as I Dislike my now car insurance, there is a Company that I now hate, with all my heart, and that is my mobile phone provider.

When I got pregnant with our first child, my Husband bought me my first phone. Paul bought me the non-contract phone, “In case you break down in your car,” Well I did break down, and because I had my mobile with me, I was able to ring the breakdown cover.

Years went by, and then I progressed on to contracts with the same mobile company. It was then pointed out to me, that the high amount that I was paying each month was far too high, and that I had ended up paying a very high price for the phone, but stuck in long contracts, eventually I had to bide my time, till it was time to renew my contract. Then they would do their very best to keep me, by offering a new phone, and offering other perks to sweeten the deal. I would still stay yes, until it would be pointed out to me, “That is not a good deal!” Someone good with maths, would point out to me, “The phone isn’t top of the range, it’s a brand they can’t sell, you are been ripped-off.”

So, armed with this new information, I would bide my time, until what seemed like a very long contract would end!

Meghan bought me the phone that I wanted, I was going to buy it for myself, but when she found out, she informed me, “I was going to buy you that phone Mum,” And she did the next day, from their shop.

When my contract was finally up, the Company over the phone would do their usual, now more up to date spiel. They were SO convincing. Other numbers would be added, to make life cheaper. But from I got my new smart phone, I didn’t need their less posh phone anymore, with its, over the years, bigger sizes, or smaller sizes screen. I would then be offered, “A sim only deal.” It would still be in a contract, but a lot cheaper, for there would not be a hidden agenda, paying for something I didn’t need, but things became more transparent.

Even the long binding two years contract, changed to one year! That made a big difference, to me staying or going. If I remember rightly, before the contracts used to be a staggering two and a half years! Can you imagine that nonsense now?

Over the years with the same Company, I was very happy, as they would, it seemed like they did everything to offer me their, “Best deals.” And along with their best deals, as a sim only now customer, I could not help but, tell people about it! As it was just too good not to share, the information with others. I became like a walking billboard, advertising them, over the years.

The years would go quick; I was 100% satisfied customer. The discounts that I had as a valued customer was fantastic. My son Daniel also benefited, because of my discounts, when he joined them too, he had very good discounts, with his sim only contracts. The years went by and turned into many decades. This year, is a Huge milestone, with the same mobile Company.

They often told me, “You only use 5GB a month,” Yet most times on renewal day, I would be offered 10, 15 or 20GB! I would say, “But I don’t need that amount,” And add, “Can’t I just have a cheaper deal instead of the extra GB?” They would reply, “No we can’t do that.” So, I would do as they suggested and use the extra GB for my laptop and tablet when I was outside the house. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, Daniel had his unlimited deal with them and I had more GB than I needed for a good discounted price. Daniel had set up a standing order for his mobile bill that came to my bank account, and my mobile bill was set up for direct debit to the mobile company, as our bills were set prices.

This year, I renewed my contract with them over the phone as usual. Each time I use the phone with contracts or important things I always have my notepad with me and pen. I put the date and ask them their name, I write down the conversations like date start and end, and prices and gigabytes offered and then we come to a happy medium, where I am happy and they are happy. During the course of the conversation, I always say, “I want everything to be the same as it was last year, like those bundles of numbers that is included in the package, that cost £2.50 a month, and their mobile protection, that might cost £1.50 a month, along with, no calls to be allowed outside the UK, no roaming allowed, for there to be a block on that.

It was a longer than usual conversation, as Lucas wanted me to have a new watch, he tried to explain to me that, “You can use your new watch without your phone,” At first he seemed to give me the impression the watch was free, then he slipped in that it would be £8 a month I told him, “If it’s £8 a month I don’t want it, I already have a watch.” So that was scrapped, he talked about this and talked about that, the prices kept changing, it was SO confusing, it wasn’t usually like this, it was usually straightforward. I would write the prices down, then cross them out. In the end he said, “You use less than 5GB a month, so that is all you need.” Soon after the call was ended.

Over 30 days later, I had a strange and disturbing text that said, “You have used up all your data for this month, you have 10 more days to go, until it renews. You can buy more data, you can buy 1GB for £7.80 or 2GB for £13.05.” Are they mad?? Why would I do that, having never done that since I have been with them all these years?

The next day, I rang back to see if I could get it all sorted. I didn’t get her name, that’s not like me, I was on the phone ages, then I heard in the background, the call to prayer, and I said, to her, “Is that the call to prayer I can hear?” She said, “Yes, it is on my phone.” I have been to that part of the world, on holiday and heard it many times while I was there, so I knew what it sounded like. Then there was silence, for a minute the line was still live as I said, “Hello?” “Are you there?” Then I was cut off! And a message came on my phone, “Hello. Thank you for contacting us today. Unfortunately, it looks like something went wrong with our call, and we are unable to call you back at this time. If you still require support please call us back on this free phone number.” Not Good, at all!!          

The next day, I went into the shop, I thought it would be better to speak to someone face to face. I spoke to Mitchel and told him everything, and showed him my notes from the renewal and the call to prayer. I had taken a screen shot of the time that I was on the phone with her, before she ended the call!  

Mitchel said, “You have been put on the wrong package.” Lol, that was an understatement! He said, “You can also make a complaint about the Staff that had the call to prayer on her phone for you to hear, and then not carry on the conversation.” I said, “No, I didn’t get her name, so nothing will happen.”

He was lovely, a good customer service person. He made some suggestions and said, “Ask to listen to the renewal conversation.” I said, “Maybe it will not be still there?” He said, “They keep it for 2 years.” I said, “OK, I will ring them.”

I rang the next day, and spoke to Anthony, I told him everything, about the renewal date and talking to Mitchel in the shop. Anthony said, “I will pass on your complaint you will get a reply within 3-5 working days.” I said, “Thank you.” I then got a text to say the same thing. I also got a text to say, “Ten pounds credit has been added to your account,” Which was a lovely gesture. I was hopeful that things were looking up, and that everything would be sorted.

I had a text that said, “Dear Customer, we have listened to your call and the sales person has said more than once, that your data will be 5GB, it appears that you have agreed to this, have a good day.”

Disappointed, I went back to Mitchel at the shop, I said, “What about the part where I said, ‘I want the same as what I had last year? Doesn’t that count?’” Mitchel said, “If you come back when it is 3 months into the new contract, I can set you up on another contract, you can have a new phone free, with a higher 25GB.” I said to Mitchel, “I don’t want 2 contracts.” He understood. The following day, I rang my phone provider and spoke to Geoff, I told him everything, he said, “You can’t have another contract, it will not help you.” I said, “Can’t I have 3 more GB as 5GB is not enough?” Geoff said, “No, the 30 days have past, you will have to either buy more, or wait until the 2 years is finished.” I said, I have been with Company for ……… and for the sake of 3GB they will not help?” I added, “Then I will tell everyone, that for the sake of 3GB, I am counting down to leave and will tell everyone, Why!”

My easy, go-lucky mobile plan changed for me that day. Things that I didn’t know existed, when I was many miles away at Mum, I got a text to tell me, “You have run out of credit, you don’t have any internet.” It opened an odd scary time for me, not been able to use my phone at all! Not for any texts, this included WhatsApp, that I always thought was free, and not allowed to make any phone calls, for as I went to the persons name to get their phone number, there was a ‘block.’ On the way home, from Mums in the night, was another scary time, what would happen if I broke down? I had no Music, as it was with wi-fi. I had no more hot-spots, that I used to use at Mum’s to write on my laptop, while I was there. It was very disheartening. As the time went by, I would get texts to say, “You have run out of data, you have 10 more days until you have data again.” I had to let my family know, so that they would know, if I didn’t reply to their texts, it was because I had no internet or data, to reply. The same with work, we often go out, I let them know on the group chats for all that if I don’t reply its because I can’t and when I was at work, that made a huge difference, they did wonder why I had not replied to their texts. But there was nothing I could do.

Photos that I took for granted and some texts, would Not send! I often got that text, “Not sent.” The more it happened, the more I hated them! I hate them SO much, they will never know how much!

Meghan tried to explain to me, “Turn off your data when you are in the house to save it, and remember to put it on again, when you are out.” It was odd, walking outside, without data, I just hated it, but I am getting used to it now, and so is everyone who communicates with me, family, friends, and work.

There is a fabulous car boot that was recommended to me, it is an hours drive from my home and once a month, I must make sure, that I have data, for when I drive there, as I have NO sense of direction and can not read a map, without the sat nav I would Never get there or back!

This lack of 3GB has changed my life, has made me realize how some people live. Many people have told me of their phone providers, that they recommended highly. I look forward to going, I will go with the phone company that Meghan is with, they are cheap and she has lots of data.

In the meantime, face to face I will tell Everyone about them, with glee. I have already sent texts to all in my contacts. x