Loyalty Is a Two-Way Street

I enjoy my cable TV, Internet and phone service through a single provider. It's called "bundling" and usually saves the customer money. The company we use for these services gave me an incentive to switch to them; it saved me quite a bit of money. Then, after a year, that sweet deal went away. As expected, I started receiving bills showing we were being charged the "normal" rate.

Then one day I received an advertisement with a promotion that was very similar to the one that had given me the incentive to switch. I called to take advantage of the lower pricing. The customer service representative said that if I switched to them, I could get this great deal for the next year. I informed the customer service rep that I didn't need to switch because I was already a customer. The rep said, "Sorry. This is only for new customers." This was not the answer I wanted to hear. I asked why they bothered to mail the promotion to me. He didn't know. The bottom line was that they offered the promotion to new customers only. Thinking somewhat creatively, I asked if I could terminate my agreement and start over, but the rep said that was something they would not agree to.

Here's my take: I would like to know why companies create a promotion with special pricing for their new customers but don't take care of their loyal customers? I know, this is marketing and sales, but it's not a good practice. It can make a loyal customer become disloyal. If I'm loyal to a company, shouldn't I be treated at least the same—if not even better—than someone who has never done business with the company before? I would hope so!