M1 -why do ppl still subscribe?


Status
Not open for further replies.

Gymrat76

Senior Member
May 10, 2004
1,605
0
0
47
I've been using M1 as my mobile phone service provider for a number of years, and until a few days ago, never really bothered looking at other telco's plans, prices etc. I decided that, yes, its time to upgrade my handset and started looking through call plans, trade in values etc and to my surprise, found that M1 charges a premium for their handsets. Not only did my phone have the lowest trade-in value at M1 ($100) as opposed to Singtel ($150), but purchasing a Nokia handset without the line would cost quite a bit more than even what the Nokia shop is charging (e.g. N6020 is $308 @ M1, $238 RRP @ Nokia shop). I'll probably hold off another year and allow my M1 line to expire, then jump to another telco. With the industry so competitive, how did M1 manage to survive so long? :dunno:
 

i realise their plans are ex too. but... has been on this line for very long and like the number alot. changing numbers would be so troublesome
 

That's probably the reason why M1 becomes the 3rd (from the 2nd) in the market. My 2nd line will be switching to Starhub too..
 

M1 has better sound quality den Starhub. especially in those private areas where starhub is not available. like the Hume ave. no reception to all starhub users there...

there isnt noise cancellation in starhub... and u compare to singtel's crystal clear voice system to starhub's noisy background which will convince pple that u are outside and is busy....

starhub is cheaper. but customer service line abit irritating... can never get through one..
m1 and singtel has coverage almost on all singapore areas including singapore waters.

i am a starhub user since it started its service a few years back. and my choice of jumping over.... free incoming calls.. and now still free.. so i dun bother to change it back.. coz most of the time i will sms my friends and ask them to call me... den i have free incoming.. :bsmilie: . and ifs noisy background, its ok for me, coz to prove that i am outside and busy..haha
 

i had one M1 & 1 starhub line.

both works well.

I liked SH's free IDD calls to Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. AND the per second billing - which I felt was very very fair.

Will consider dropping my M1 soon...
 

zcwnfx said:
i realise their plans are ex too. but... has been on this line for very long and like the number alot. changing numbers would be so troublesome

I think you're able to retain your current number, even if you jump to another service provider. I remember going through the process of getting that done up last year, before M1 'threw' a $200 voucher at me for a phone upgrade. This time around, no voucher then realize how ridiculously expensive M1 is... I'm upping and moving over to SingTel when my contract expires (unfortunately another 10 months to go)...:sweat:
 

Had been on Singtel for like 6 or 7yrs now. Many a time I am tempted to change service providers but honestly, the laziness of informing ppl my new number, updates and stuff like dat are turning me off.

Also, the auto-roaming to many countries with so many partners (some of which, hostile takeovers which haven't been well received) ensures that I'm connected whether I'm in the world.
 

I was with M1 for 8 years and today I have changed to Starhub, last year in December.

M1 was ridiculous in offering low end handphones for us to recontract. In December 2005, the price of the Nokia N70 was $598 from Starhub and $698 from M1, there was a special price of $598 from M1 only for high end subscription.

At that time, Starhub gave me a $200 voucher as I was a maxonline and cable TV subscriber. I called up M1 customer service and was told that the most they could give me was a $50 voucher.

The M1 sunperks is also quite ridiculous as the minimum amount is 1000 points while Starhub only needs a minimum of 200 points. The autoroaming charges from M1 is $10 compared to Starhub $5.

There is number porting to retain your old number with a one time fee.

M1 does not value loyal customers.:thumbsd:
 

xtemujin said:
M1 does not value loyal customers.:thumbsd:
Can't agree more with that.

Am going to look for new provider once my contract expires too. Nowadays the number retaining is getting pretty popular, don't think it's going to be that expensive if it's worth it.
 

xtemujin said:
I was with M1 for 8 years and today I have changed to Starhub, last year in December.

M1 was ridiculous in offering low end handphones for us to recontract. In December 2005, the price of the Nokia N70 was $598 from Starhub and $698 from M1, there was a special price of $598 from M1 only for high end subscription.

At that time, Starhub gave me a $200 voucher as I was a maxonline and cable TV subscriber. I called up M1 customer service and was told that the most they could give me was a $50 voucher.

The M1 sunperks is also quite ridiculous as the minimum amount is 1000 points while Starhub only needs a minimum of 200 points. The autoroaming charges from M1 is $10 compared to Starhub $5.

There is number porting to retain your old number with a one time fee.

M1 does not value loyal customers.:thumbsd:

I know what you mean about the handset prices. I was looking to buy a phone for my mum, something simple to use and nice, and had decided on the Nokia 6020. I looked around and all the shops (Handphone shop etc) were selling at $238, then out of curiousity I popped into an authorised Nokia Shop and the price was also $238 (which is the RRP). But at M1, the phone costs $308! WTF man, selling so much higher over the RRP. I ended up getting the phone from the Nokia Shop and vowed that M1 would not get another handset purchase out of me! (unless they decide to give me a $200 voucher!) :bsmilie:
 

i'm been with M1 for almost 10 years now, happy with everything so far.

for those of you who don't change handsets often (like me), M1 offers you monthly rebates in place of new handset offers (without having to extend your contract). for example, i get a $6.50 rebate off my monthly bill which averages about $30. so i only pay about $24.

as for number portability, singapore is still not yet fully number portable. the service offered now is more like a "call-forwarding" service than number portability. ie someone calling your old number is forwarded to your new number. but when you call someone, your new number appears on their phone. true number portability means you take the whole number with you, no call forwarding at all. it's supposed to be implemented a few more years down the road, according to IDA. until then, i feel, the consumer market isn't totally free...
 

timlim said:
i'm been with M1 for almost 10 years now, happy with everything so far.

for those of you who don't change handsets often (like me), M1 offers you monthly rebates in place of new handset offers (without having to extend your contract). for example, i get a $6.50 rebate off my monthly bill which averages about $30. so i only pay about $24.

as for number portability, singapore is still not yet fully number portable. the service offered now is more like a "call-forwarding" service than number portability. ie someone calling your old number is forwarded to your new number. but when you call someone, your new number appears on their phone. true number portability means you take the whole number with you, no call forwarding at all. it's supposed to be implemented a few more years down the road, according to IDA. until then, i feel, there the consumer market isn't totally free...

Hi Tim,

Can you define "don't change handsets often"? 2 years? 5 years? I don't consider myself a mobile phone fanatic, i.e. must have the latest models as soon as they're released etc. I go with probably a new phone every 2 years or so, and even then, I take a model that is 6-12 months old. I don't need to have the latest 3G handsets, nor do I want to pay a premium for having the latest one!

Instead, this 2 year interval (or thereabouts) is usually around the same time the old phone starts giving problems, e.g. battery not so good, keys stiff etc, so it makes good sense (to me) to resign a 2-year plan and get a reasonably good phone that can last me another 2 years. But with M1's prices, its just not competitive anymore to stick with them. I believe other telcos like Singtel also have a scheme that rewards long-term customers. My 2 cents :)
 

I've been a M1 customer for about 8yrs. Overall, I am ok with their plans. Been on corporate plan and had just changed to SunTalk 700(for public its called SunTalk 800), with free incoming and 500 free smses. My average hp bill is about $100, plus minus depending on usage. Usually, its my sms that exceed like $30 or so.

I must say their customer service is really good. Only thing is.. I've been their customer for so long. I've only received voucher from them ONCE! Quite recently. And I heard Singtel customers always receive vouchers from Singtel for new handsets etc.

I love my number, I doubt I'll ever change it and I'll stick to M1 for the longest time :)
 

i have been with M1 since they started.
like the 5c/min from 9pm-9am and on Sun/PH.

i continued on with M1 & got a SH line for free incoming 2yrs ago.
my SH line is expiring end of next month.

i decided to drop SH due to it's poor reception & cust svc.

Singtel seems tempting as the reception is really good, but seems a little ex imho.
autoroam does not matter to me as i seldom travel abroad.
 

timlim said:
i'm been with M1 for almost 10 years now, happy with everything so far.

for those of you who don't change handsets often (like me), M1 offers you monthly rebates in place of new handset offers (without having to extend your contract). for example, i get a $6.50 rebate off my monthly bill which averages about $30. so i only pay about $24.

as for number portability, singapore is still not yet fully number portable. the service offered now is more like a "call-forwarding" service than number portability. ie someone calling your old number is forwarded to your new number. but when you call someone, your new number appears on their phone. true number portability means you take the whole number with you, no call forwarding at all. it's supposed to be implemented a few more years down the road, according to IDA. until then, i feel, the consumer market isn't totally free...

I can guarantee that if u switch over to others no matter whether singtel or starhub, ur monthly bill will be lowered by at least a quarter.

For me, it was used to be around 70-80 bucks no matter how i controll my calls with M1.:dunno: :dunno:

Now it never hits 50, for the same usage with Singtel. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 

Gymrat76 said:
Hi Tim,

Can you define "don't change handsets often"? 2 years? 5 years? I don't consider myself a mobile phone fanatic, i.e. must have the latest models as soon as they're released etc. I go with probably a new phone every 2 years or so, and even then, I take a model that is 6-12 months old. I don't need to have the latest 3G handsets, nor do I want to pay a premium for having the latest one!

Instead, this 2 year interval (or thereabouts) is usually around the same time the old phone starts giving problems, e.g. battery not so good, keys stiff etc, so it makes good sense (to me) to resign a 2-year plan and get a reasonably good phone that can last me another 2 years. But with M1's prices, its just not competitive anymore to stick with them. I believe other telcos like Singtel also have a scheme that rewards long-term customers. My 2 cents :)


on the average, i change about once every 3 years.

the M1 scheme works like this: you buy a new phone, sign a 1 year contract. after 1 year, you can buy a new phone at "discount". if you choose not buy a new phone after 1 year, you qualify for monthly rebates ($6.50 for a $30 per month plan in my case). you enjoy the rebates every month until you next decide to buy a new phone (no penalties). when you buy a new phone, the whole cycle starts again.

i'm not saying M1 is objectively the best or anything, just that it suits me best. because it means that my "loyalty" in staying on beyond my contract period and not buying a new phone is rewarded by the monthly rebates. ie i don't have to buy a new phone to enjoy my reward. my "rewards" come in the form of monthly rebates rather than discounted phone prices.

in fact, now that i've been alerted to the competitive prices offered by Nokia and other handphone shops, i might just buy my phone from them the next time and continue enjoying my M1 monthly rebates! best of both worlds! :)

singtel's discount scheme for loyal customers is excellent too. i know subscribers to their most expensive contracts get a $500 voucher for new phones every year!
 

One needs to find a plan to suit one's needs. Hence it doesn't ganrantee that one's bills will definitely fall when going to another telco.

I've been with M1...for...countless years. Wanted to change to starhub as I have Maxonline and Cabletv, the combined savings (hub3) might be worth it. But the 'bad reception' and cust svc puts me off.

As for price, I've gotten the SE K750i, and all 3 telcos offered the exact same price $298 (2yr plan) for several weeks. And on the weekend that I bought the phone, I've got free tickets to Burn the Floor. (worth ~$100). Hence it depends on the model of phone, and one needs to sieve through the papers and shops every weekend to sneak out that $30 price difference for handsets. For plans, I've got the student plan, free incoming, free calls to 3 M1 no.s. That alone is huge cost savings.

In summary, do your homework. No one telco is 'clearly the best', else everyone would have gone there. Similar to camera brands.
 

not trying to be pro any telco but i think several points here are a little questionable.
glennyong said:
M1 has better sound quality den Starhub. especially in those private areas where starhub is not available. like the Hume ave. no reception to all starhub users there...
I cannot link how sound quality translates to reception. GSM voice link is digital, you either get lost packets which presents itself as breaking up on/off voice or good legible voice. There is no intermediate signals lost like your cordless phones with the 'snow' or static noise.

glennyong said:
there isnt noise cancellation in starhub... and u compare to singtel's crystal clear voice system to starhub's noisy background which will convince pple that u are outside and is busy....
I strongly believe it's in the phone that you used. How would the service provider know what is background noise and what's not? I'm with starhub for >5years and Singtel for 10 years and I cannot tell any significant voice quality gain from ST over SH. Reception wise.. 'maybe' but I've never found myself in a situation where ST had significantly stronger signal strength over SH. Not too sure about Hume Ave cos I've never been there. The low signal strength of SH is the selling point the rival telcos have been trying to put across to get cutsomers. The situation has greatly improved.

glennyong said:
starhub is cheaper. but customer service line abit irritating... can never get through one..
this I kinda agree.. but they run cable services as well and share the same customer service number! ;(
glennyong said:
m1 and singtel has coverage almost on all singapore areas including singapore waters.
ref above. Which part of sg waters do not have SH coverage? I am sure I can go round sg with both ST and SH lines and will probably find places where SH covers and ST missed out.

glennyong said:
i am a starhub user since it started its service a few years back. and my choice of jumping over.... free incoming calls.. and now still free.. so i dun bother to change it back.. coz most of the time i will sms my friends and ask them to call me... den i have free incoming.. :bsmilie: . and ifs noisy background, its ok for me, coz to prove that i am outside and busy..haha
well.. i not really that chao kuan to sms them to call me back. :bsmilie: becos sms will cost me money!
 

i used to be on singtel years ago but i found their customer service really lousy..one customer service officer even hung up the phone on me. switched to m1 and now very happy.
 

anyway, i thought there is a number rention scheme that allows the user to bring their existing phone numbers to another telco? Has the scheme been stopped? why is so many ppl reluctant to change telcos?
 

Status
Not open for further replies.