Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2007-02-24 07:51:01 - Graham Ellis
I accept that I should pay - somehow - for my internet connection when I'm staying away in a hotel, but having to make a decision between 3 pounds for 30 minutes, 5 pounds for 2 hours and 17 pounds for 24 hours or 69 pounds for a week at Premier Travel Inn (Via Swisscom) is always one of those issues where a quite small expenditure difference - 3 or 5 pounds - seems to be presented in such a way that it can become a big issue. I really dislike having to make a decision when I really don't know if I'll have a lot or a little to answer - I'm presented with a payment system that asks me to make a bet and, well, I'm just not a betting person.
Swisscom could do so much better - in my view - if they offered packages that gave (say) 3 hours of access for 10 pounds - but allowed it to be used at any of their locations within a month of purchase. You'll note I've 'awarded' them a pretty high rate per hour and I suspect they would make just as much money. And they wouldn't have customers such as me slagging 'em off either.
It's been a real marketing / how things are presented morning for me ... I woke to read of an incident at Reading station that re-kindled the "Passenger v Customer" argument. See here