Tag Archives: Virgin Media

Can customer loyalty be bought?

How much is it going to be guys?

Some companies clearly think you can buy customer loyalty but that’s often a very short term marketing strategy. It is grossly unfair that she who haggles hardest gets a better deal than she who doesn’t know to haggle or what her choices are…

But should we need to haggle to get a price we should all be offered in the first place? It’s not very British after all. I prefer to know where I am, with businesses publishing a fixed price menu, and/or promising me their best price and then offering me a simple price matching guarantee should I find a lower price elsewhere after paying my money (terms apply of course). I’m usually suspicious of cheap prices anyway, especially in garages I don’t know, for fear of being ripped off in the end.

And whilst successful hagglers are usually assertive types (more often male, truth be told) who enjoy the chase for the lowest possible prices, I suggest that for every one woman who enjoys negotiating, there are two of us who feel this is probably below our dignity…we don’t have to do this on the High Street after all.

Which is why comparison websites are so popular of course because we can see our price choices without any stress; even though we all know we get what we pay for and that it’s vital to read the small print before we buy car insurance, for example. If only to see the excess we’re underwriting and whether it’ll cost us more to choose a FOXY Choice approved female friendly bodyshop for our accident repairs.

But why should those who don’t like to haggle be expected to live with a second rate deal? In fact, these females can be ones that tend to trust a business yet they are often the ones exploited by unscrupulous businesses. They don’t get a deal because they didn’t like to ask…

Take the following telecoms and insurance organisations, for example, who MoneySavingExpert.com tells us will reduce their prices if existing customers threaten to take their business elsewhere…  AA Breakdown, Admiral, BT, O2, Orange, Sky, T-Mobile, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone.

Those customers that threaten to take their business away save money, often quite a lot, whereas those that simply pay up regardless, pay more. Is that style of caveat emptor behaviour really fair? And what is even worse in my opinion is that very often existing customers are better off cancelling and signing up again because of preferential deals many offer new customers. Women don’t necessarily do this, because of the hassle involved at the time, but we aren’t stupid, the rot has set in and many of us will jump ship as soon as it suit us.

I am particularly interested in the subject of customer loyalty in the UK motor industry because many car dealerships will do a better new car buying deal at the end of a month or a sales quarter; whenever there is a sales target to be met. But who realises this when they walk into a showroom – the car salesman, who is often on commission, is not going to tell you this…

In FOXY’s experience the majority of women find haggling stressful and this mindset, in an unfamiliar shopping environment like a garage or car showroom, may explain why we often feel ill at ease and like to take a man with us for support. In 2011 for goodness sake; when women are the professional shoppers and the BIG gender spenders!

On the flipside, businesses that adopt and stick to a ‘What You See is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) ‘no haggle’ policy are likely to be trusted more than others. It seems a more open and honest way to do business, it’s definitely less stressful and it’s clearly fairer for all.

If only the price we were quoted was always the best price at the time! Then the motor industry wouldn’t have the reputation it has for ripping off solo females (and many men who are less likely to admit that it happens to them too) who don’t know how to react in garages, dealerships or when dealing with a stressful accident claim.

FOXY

PS: Visit the FOXY Choice website to find out which female friendly UK garages, dealerships and fastfits have signed a commitment to not ‘overcharge, patronise or sell women anything they do not need or want.’ That’s the FOXY Promise and whilst it is primarily for women (because FOXY is a female brand) it’s also the sign of a measurably better and more trustworthy business for men too.