Contact losing customers to Trustpower

[Gremlin]

We said goodbye after their attitude towards paying directors... Mercury now has gas and power...

Sure, Contact may have wanted to lose the non-profitable customers... glad we could oblige (bill was paid every month, no hassles).

[Freakshow]

There is another company who has gained from Contacts bad media. E-Gas have offered some customers no daily rate on gas.

[k14]

We said goodbye after their attitude towards paying directors... Mercury now has gas and power...

Sure, Contact may have wanted to lose the non-profitable customers... glad we could oblige (bill was paid every month, no hassles).

Well I commend you for going on principle. Maybe I'm a bit dumb but all I care about is the bottom line, whoever is cheapest gets my business. Power is power whether it comes from contact, meridian or mighty river. I think I will stick with contact till the next price increase at least, that 25% staff discount is quite handy

[Gremlin]

haha, fair enough. Being IT, I know very well that the cheapest is often the worst option, and won't buy from people just because they are the cheapest.

Quality/service can really slide as everybody tries to be the cheapest. Plus... how would you feel, given that some of your cost is going to pad directors wallets which weren't skint to begin with?

Times are tough... companies are suffering more than they let on... so increasing the six figure packet even higher? Piss off...

Dad had a supplier bluntly state that because they had lost business, prices were going up in order to keep revenue the same... They lost another (if not more) customers in that smart move

[k14]

haha, fair enough. Being IT, I know very well that the cheapest is often the worst option, and won't buy from people just because they are the cheapest.

Quality/service can really slide as everybody tries to be the cheapest. Plus... how would you feel, given that some of your cost is going to pad directors wallets which weren't skint to begin with?

Times are tough... companies are suffering more than they let on... so increasing the six figure packet even higher? Piss off...

Dad had a supplier bluntly state that because they had lost business, prices were going up in order to keep revenue the same... They lost another (if not more) customers in that smart move

You do know that the directors fees weren't actually increased? The fee pool from which they get paid was increased from $750k to $1.5 mill but they didn't give themselves a payrise yet. Symantics I know but still it is relevant.

Normally yes, I am happy to pay a premium for a named brand etc. But when it comes to power (as I said before), its all the same. So the only way a company can differentiate itself from the others is customer service and rewards programs. In these areas contact is normally regarded as one of, if not the best and it was just a unfortunate and slightly stupid coincidence that led to the bad publicity. In the end Contact is just a "nasty" corporate and there are always going to be people whinging and moaning about one thing or another.

[chanceyy]

There is another company who has gained from Contacts bad media. E-Gas have offered some customers no daily rate on gas.

then they will be out of pocket, as the daily line charges are made up of three components & the network companies will still want their cut. Companies have to decide which is better to try & undercut for a while to gain numbers & then raise prices .. temporary measure at best

We said goodbye after their attitude towards paying directors... Mercury now has gas and power...

Sure, Contact may have wanted to lose the non-profitable customers... glad we could oblige (bill was paid every month, no hassles).

to be honest Gremlin I felt the same as you, I was only seeing what the media portrayed & it looked bad. Now I have the actual facts I realise that the directors are not being paid 1.5million each. It certainly is not or has it ever been about losing non profit customers.

Contact has alot of shareholders & is one of the better performing companies on the share market, all of those moms & dads around the country who have shares certainly expect a healthy dividend at the end of the yr.

You do know that the directors fees weren't actually increased? The fee pool from which they get paid was increased from $750k to $1.5 mill but they didn't give themselves a payrise yet. Symantics I know but still it is relevant.

Normally yes, I am happy to pay a premium for a named brand etc. But when it comes to power (as I said before), its all the same. So the only way a company can differentiate itself from the others is customer service and rewards programs. In these areas contact is normally regarded as one of, if not the best and it was just a unfortunate and slightly stupid coincidence that led to the bad publicity. In the end Contact is just a "nasty" corporate and there are always going to be people whinging and moaning about one thing or another.

not to mention the power increases in the south island .. for a long time the south could generate its own power & would often export to the north, 3 yrs of draught, increased demand has meant that now its regularly imported from the north island. With one of the grids down in cook strait its has put huge constraints and increased costs to get the power down south. Hence higher prices, btw the increase in charges would not even begin to cover the amount needed to increase the director pool & yes k14 is correct that the pool has increased, not the base wage.

[pete376403]

Wonder who Max Bradford gets his power from...