When DiGi recently announced they would also be selling the iPhone, the community rejoiced and celebrated the end of Maxis’ monopoly and no more ridiculous wait for an iPhone. We waited patiently for DiGi to announce its plans. They assured everyone it would be a better deal.
When the plans came out last week, we couldn’t make sense of it. What the heck was going on? I have not seen a more complicated table of numbers. I decided to take a visit down to DiGi’s flagship store on Sunday with a journalist friend of mine. She’s pretty sharp and gets things pretty fast but after 10 minutes of listening to the customer service rep explain the plans, she got even more confused and needed to leave the store to breathe. We went and got something to eat to fuel up our drained brains before People vs iDiGi plan Round 2 but a headache had developed in both of us. I came home, took a nap and looked at the plans again to see if I could simplify it myself. And here’s what I’ve come up with.
Compare this with what DiGi has developed and you’ll wonder if DiGi’s trying to hide the fact that their plans aren’t that much better than Maxis.
By the way, do you really need to put an “i” in front of every word? You have iDiGi, iWant and iGet. iGet is not even a plan, why in the world do you want to trademark that?
The real deal on DiGi iPhone Price:
1. Upfront cost for a DiGi iPhone is much higher than Maxis because you have to pay for the phone plus 6 months’ subscription in advance.
2. The contract period is 24 months. I found this a bit absurd. Does DiGi not know The 4G will be announced in June and we’re guessing it’ll arrive on our shores by end of the year? Locking customers into a 24 month plan is not going to make a lot of folks happy when the 4G goes on sale by either telco. If you get the 4G from DiGi later this year, will you have to serve a total of 4 years locked in a horrible back to back contract?
Is DiGi out of touch with customer habits? People who buy smartphones rarely keep their phones for more than a year. Why are telcos or service providers forcing contracts on customers that are as long as a life sentence (24months is bloody long). Mobile technology changes too fast these days. Couldn’t they keep customers from leaving with a great product and great customer service anymore?
3. On the plus side (small plus) there is a 5GB data option – more than the 3GB limit from Maxis. Not great but not bad for the heavy data user. This is a very expensive plan and you don’t really need it if you already have a 3G mobile data plan with a dongle and you’re serving time on that subscription.
So is this a good deal? Check list (if you checked everything then this is a no-brainer, buy it today):
1. You’re very happy with DiGi.
2. You’re not going anywhere (another telco) for the next two years. It’s DiGi or nothing.
3. You hardly change phone less than 2 years old.
4. What’s a little more up front for a DiGi iPhone. You have spare change.
5. You can’t wait 1 month for an iPhone from Maxis.
6. You’ll never subscribe to Maxis, ever.
This may not be a great deal to switch from another telco, perhaps it’s a good deal for existing DiGi customers. I’d be interested to find out from you if you’re a DiGi customer, does DiGi value your loyalty with an offer of a zero contract plan at least? You’ve been with DiGi for the past 5-10 years, surely they don’t think you’ll take an iPhone and run, right?
iDiGi Plans – can’t it be better also?
