Loyalty is punished!

[Stravaig]

OK, I do understand enough about business to know that attracting new customers is more expensive than retaining the ones you already have - so, you offer incentives.

However, it kinda narks me every month to feel like I'm being punished for being loyal. I subscribe to several magazines, mainly foodies ones, and every month it's a case of "sign up now and receive this magnificent gift!". Whereas, I just plod on year after year and get nothing.

When my current subs need to be renewed I am going to end them all... wait a week or two and sign up again as a new subscriber. And claim my free gifts.

This is trivial stuff really when you compare it to car insurance or other household running costs. Husband was quoted £500+ to renew the car insurance with our existing provider. It didn't take him long to find something at least as good for a fraction ( a tenth?) of that price.

Yes, I know how these things work but as customers we need to be savvy and not get taken for a ride. Get the best deals you can! Good luck.

[oldherbaceous]

It’s the time chasing up new quotes that is the most annoying part of it….and I suppose that is exactly what they want, is people that don’t have time…

[Stravaig]

I kinda 'get' the not having time idea but I think most people would rather drop something else from their lives for a few minutes to make time to explore buying, say, car insurance if it meant spending £50 rather than £500.

I think people just go along with what they're quoted because it's easier, and they're probably not aware that they just spent £450 that they didn't need to if only they'd spent a few minutes looking for an alternative. You'd have to be quite rich not to care about that £450 that could have still been in your bank account.

[Geoff]

Let us know where he gets insurance for £50!

[robo]

I tried looking around for cheaper insurance the year before last the nearest I could get to what I was paying was around £700 more expensive so I stayed with the company I was with to say I was gobsmacked was an understatement

[Stephen]

it kinda narks me every month to feel like I'm being punished for being loyal.

Me too! The constant need for push back is tiring and wasteful.

I'm fortunate that the broker I use for car insurance is vigilant and checks the quotation every year. They were exceptionally good when I had an accident (about 15 years ago). I was out working on tour and Dave called me on Sunday afternoon after I had e-mailed details on Sunday morning. Brilliant and I often repeat this story.

Mobile phone contracts are a repeated annoyance, thank goodness the government has obliged them to notify us that a contract is up. But you almost always have to threaten to leave to get a decent offer.

[Stravaig]

Let us know where he gets insurance for £50!

LOL! This is a classic case of "my wife doesn't understand me".

Getting any information out of him at all is like dragging teeth. And then it's a load of garbled rubbish which doesn't make any sense. I have to say I was rather surprised too that he'd got it so cheaply. I've since asked for the details in writing so I can understand what's going on. (And, no, he's not got insurance for £50 so I'm sorry if anyone was misled.)

Apparently he went to MoneySavingExpert who recommended (in this order) comparethemarket.com, moneysupermarket.com and confused.com. The best result was Flow Insurance (a trading name of underwriters Liverpool Victoria) - £405.38 (plus two free rewards from confused.com) for comprehensive insurance for a 2008 Ford C-Max 1.6l Zetec.

Obviously cover depends on your age, occupation and driving history. He'd lost several years of no-claims bonus because we didn't have a car for the years we were in Ukraine (just used taxis).

I hope this might help someone and I apologise again for the confusion. I really thought he'd told me that was costing about £50.

[Geoff]

Thanks for that, it makes my £274 look OK. Mind I don't know what renewal will be as I am in the process of making my first claim in many years. I live on narrow roads and one day met a BMW who was either unsure about reversing or thought it was beneath him to reverse for a Skoda. I had just passed a good spot but it was full of a post van making a delivery. He eventually did reverse but didn't tuck in very well and when I pulled off the road to get round him I dipped into a soft bit / pothole that was full of water so I hadn't spotted it and hit something that bent the sill and the bottom of one door. This happened in October and this week it is finally going in for repair, partly lack of parts and partly me delaying it for my wife's knee replacement as I didn't think she would be able to stretch out in a Noddy courtesy car.
Best solution to mobile contracts is don't have one. Buy a cheap phone then use PAYG as little as possible.