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Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by dalbasal on Thursday March 29, 2018 @09:56AM (#16707065)
That's a dynamic that emerges frequently. The examples you gave are in good company.

Its a side effect of an optimization function, basically. New customers are price sensitive. Loyal customers are.. loyal. They will buy anyway. Advertising is expensive, and discounts can be a cheaper way of getting them. If your decision framework is "do what brings the most growth by lunchtime" you will often end up with new customer perks.

If you have freebies and discounts to spread around, spending them on newbies will produce more sales.

Politcal campaigns often consider voters in reverse order to loyalty. Party members are guaranteed votes, so don't spend effort courting them. Party supporters need some attention, to bring them out. Fence sitters or potential conversions are courted vigorously.

Lots of tech "platforms" will be free for new users, cheap for small users and expensive for big clients. The big clients are more locked in, so it's hard to affect sales one way or another. New/small users are fickle, and more likely to respond to prices.

Banks have better rates for new customers, sometimes actual free money.

Its like when you don't put effort into dating your wife. It's not the right thing to do, but there are some difficult to avoid consequences to knowing she will go home with you regardless.

Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by zentiggr on Thursday March 29, 2018 @10:34AM (#16707355)
I've imagined a company (cable phone or some other long term service) that signs everyone up at their full rate, and for every month you stay with them, they add 1% discount till after 50 months you are at 50% of full rate and stay that way. No coupons, no special just for you! offers, just an honest straightforward "we need to collect money to keep things running, but we value our loyal customers most".

Fantasy I know.

Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by janekm on Thursday March 29, 2018 @10:44AM (#16707448)
Fantasy indeed... most consumers will prefer the offering of 40% off for the first year instead. Which can even be rational since there will frequently be another company offering a similar discount for switching to them the next year (ignoring intangible switching costs, of course).
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by snovv_crash on Thursday March 29, 2018 @04:10PM (#16710612)
The trouble is when some eager MBA comes along and sees a bunch of customers paying below market rates, so decides to shutter the program and bump payments up for the loyal customers.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by mattmg83 on Thursday March 29, 2018 @11:25AM (#16707788)
Actually Canvas by Ford (month to month car rental) does this, but yes it's rare
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by plorkyeran on Thursday March 29, 2018 @02:17PM (#16709528)
In the case of car rentals that seems like less of a loyalty program and more of an attempt at reflecting the fact that the thing you're paying for is getting less valuable over time.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by extesy on Thursday March 29, 2018 @01:54PM (#16709295)
Not anymore, they have changed their pricing model recently.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by HillaryBriss on Thursday March 29, 2018 @11:35AM (#16707893)
AAA insurance's pricing model gives long-term customers discounts that increase over time
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by danans on Thursday March 29, 2018 @12:59PM (#16708662)
Car insurance is required by law and home insurance by many mortgages, so for those types of insurance, initial rates for a given coverage level should be uniform since demand and supply are understood quantities. Instead, they market policies on ancillary benefits, like roadside assistance, home warranties, etc.

Discounts for long term and importantly, low risk customers, are a way of securing future revenue by disincentivizing customers from shopping for lower rates elsewhere.

Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by rmason on Thursday March 29, 2018 @01:35PM (#16709066)
I've actually had AAA for my car insurance for a dozen years. Only had very small price increases during that time. No accidents, no tickets and yet they just increased my rate 25%. Been happy with them but if they think that I don't pay attention to the price I'm paying they'll learn.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by vkou on Thursday March 29, 2018 @08:35PM (#16712603)
So, they'll lose their 5% margin on you.

If your odds of noticing the bump, and caring enough to drop them were <80%, they still made money.

Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by distant_hat on Friday March 30, 2018 @03:35AM (#16714407)
Why would you leave money on the table? The longer a customer has been with you the more inertia there is to switching. If you incremented by a small amount every month, most of them wouldn't care.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by IncRnd on Thursday March 29, 2018 @04:36PM (#16710810)
For that to happen the full rate at signup would be higher to accommodate the later discounts. That would drive customers away, so this probably wouldn't happen.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by pishpash on Thursday March 29, 2018 @02:06PM (#16709411)
> Banks have better rates for new customers, sometimes actual free money.

Hence the whole cat-and-mouse churning game.

Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by dalbasal on Friday March 30, 2018 @08:11AM (#16715443)
Yep. This whole thing is very closely related to that game. But embedded in that game is almost always a rule where the "return" in terms of customer value relative on "investment" in terms of effort/discounts/perks is better for new customers relative to old ones.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by pishpash on Friday March 30, 2018 @04:46PM (#16719665)
Almost certain that banks lose money on churners, and not by a little bit.
Re:Uber Is Ripping Off Frequent Riders and Here’s How to Avo... by dalbasal on Sunday April 01, 2018 @03:15PM (#16729917)
Generally, it comes down to a choice between losing/spending money on churners or losing/spending it on advertising. I'd wager some are and others aren't doing their long term math right, but regardless that dynamic emerges, and it recurs.

Typically it emerges where "customer acquisition" is hugely expensive or important and this typically emerges when either (1) it is a winner-take-most-game or (2) the product is an ironic "commodity:" A product that is 90% standardized under the hood but has a sales oriented differentiation layer. EG, the underlying product is electricity, cable TV or money market stuff like insurance or loans. The company you deal with as a customer is a customer services, sales & marketing layer. Guess how they compete.