SONIC VS. XFINITY -- WE NEED A LOYALTY PROGRAM

General discussions and other topics.
4 posts Page 1 of 1
by waltmorton » Thu May 11, 2023 11:57 am
I live in Forestville, CA with limited internet options. In 2017 I signed up with Sonic and they offered Fusion DSL (30MBS) over old AT&T copper lines. I initially paid about $39 a month and it felt like a good deal.

Every customer interaction and technical support interaction I had with Sonic over the last six years has been excellent and I feel like Sonic is a terrific local company. I want to support them.

However, over the last six years my bill has crept up from $39 a month to $103 for the exact same service speed I got in 2017. And now, I see many of my neighbors going with Xfinity cable internet and getting a better deal: 200 MBS for $25 a month on a 2-year contract. Think about it: I can pay Sonic $2,472 for the next 2 years of service or I can pay Xfinity $600 for the next 2 years with a faster cable connection.

Of course, I hear the nightmare stories about Xfinity prices being $19 a month for an "introductory offer period" and then jumping to over $200 a month. I really don't like the idea of switching to Xfinity at all. I tried to chat with Xfinity and I was routed to a call center in India. That's not appealing.

It seems like there could be a business opportunity for Sonic both in retaining cash flow and keeping the goodwill of loyal customers by offering some kind of loyalty program. Marketing tests show that loyalty programs can have a positive impact on a business by increasing customer retention, better customer engagement, supporting revenue growth, attracting new customers, as well as brand advocacy and loyalty.

Sonic could offer loyalty incentives to any customer that has been with them for more than 5 years. That is a small pool of loyal customers. They are valuable. In any case, I will probably stick with Sonic, even though it does not feel like such a great value anymore -- and because the option of switching to Xfinity seems like a deal with the devil.
by loherj » Fri May 12, 2023 8:51 am
At this point in time, we do not offer any discounts or re-occurring promotional discounts for users. This is because quite a few of our services that were offered over AT&T infrastructure have a monthly rental cost. We have cut ties with AT&T and now only offer new service sign-ups over Sonic-owned infrastructure. We currently provide our service at the lowest cost that we can afford, and providing anything lower for any extended period would not be feasible for us.

As we expand our 10 Gigabit Fiber infrastructure, we are slowly eliminating that underlying infrastructure cost, and customer loyalty discounts, discounts for the elderly, etc., are something that is on our radar and something we may be able to implement in the future. Right now, that's not an option, but hopefully, we can change that in the near future.

We try our best to up the value of the service we provide with things like our free borderless calling, free VPN services, local customer service, and our award-winning privacy policy. That being said, we also fully understand that in some areas available infrastructure is going to leave people wanting faster speeds and that in low-income cases, the pricing of the service may just not be affordable. For these reasons, we are expanding our Fiber services to as many locations as quickly as we can as they are both faster and cheaper to maintain.

If you qualify you can apply for the ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) which you can learn more about here https://www.affordableconnectivity.gov/ once you have applied and been approved, you can get this applied to your Sonic account for a monthly benefit. Once you have done so just log in to https://members.sonic.net/ and click on the Affordable Connectivity Program link at the center of the page and enter the eligibility information.

Sonic also has a referral program available to all customers. if you recommend Sonic to a friend, family member, or even a co-worker you can provide them with your referral link by navigating to https://members.sonic.net/ clicking the Account tab in the left-hand column then finding the Referral Program link. As long as the new sign-up customer uses your link to sign up you will receive a one-time $30 credit applied to your account.

Thank you for your feedback and I hope this helps provide some clarity in regards to your request for a loyalty program.
Jacob - Community & Escalations Specialist
Sonic
by art_levit » Sun Jul 02, 2023 3:16 pm
I just noticed a $20 increase in my bill. It rose from $55 to $75--this is a 36% increase. There was no notification from Sonic about the change and since I use autopay, I was unaware of it for a couple of months.

I think at the very least, customers should be notified that a fee increase is going to happen and when it will happen. I've been a big supporter of Sonic, am happy with the service, have never needed any tech support because it works so well. But customer communication is important. :o :o
by brandonc » Mon Jul 03, 2023 9:29 am
Hi Art,

I'm sorry that you're not happy with the recent price increase. I did look at your account and see that, in your case, you had a $10/mo promotional discount for the first year of service, which expired on 04-21-2023. We also happened to have an overall price increase across all of our services of $10/mo for the first time in around six years in the same month (April), which is terrible timing.

We did attempt to notify our customers of the price change via their monthly invoice, but after much customer feedback, we realized this was not the best approach. That being said, we're determined to make communication with our customers regarding this a lot more straightforward and transparent moving forward. However, we don't anticipate another price increase in the near future.

Kind regards,
Brandon C.
Community and Escalations
Sonic
4 posts Page 1 of 1

Who is online

In total there are 24 users online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 24 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 999 on Mon May 10, 2021 1:02 am

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests