The Pressure To Stay

I phoned our cell phone company, Fido, today. Right now, The Boy and I are on a couples plan where I pay for both our cell phones. I wanted to change The Boy's plan to a prepaid service so he can assume full responsibility for it.

The Fido rep inquired as to the reason for the change. Before I could answer, the rep said, "If it's a matter of cost, I can reduce the cost of your monthly plan. Let's see... I can reduce it by $10 a month for the next 12 months."

I said, "Would I need to commit to a new contract?"

"No. This is just our way of encouraging long time customers to stay with us."

"So I can still go to prepaid for The Boy's cell?"

"Yes. But I can also give The Boy's cell 6 months of free unlimited local calls. That's almost like free cell service for him."

"If I keep the couples plan right now?"

"Right."

"So because I inquired about the implications of changing his line to prepaid, you gave me $10 off a month for 12 months, and he gets free calls for six months?"

"Yes, we really want to keep our customers."

"Okay, can you give me all the freebies first and let me think about what I want to do?"

"Yes, of course."

So that's what we did.