You pay the full bill. You pay it on time. You use the service responsibly, and customer support barely knows you exist. By any reasonable measure, you are a fantastic customer.
Your reward? Another price increase.
That is the loyalty penalty that gets under my skin: being dependable seems to earn you a place on the list of people who will probably keep paying. Meanwhile, someone signing up today may get a better deal. And if you finally say you are leaving, suddenly there may be an offer worth discussing.
Why do I have to threaten to become a former customer before you recognize that I have been a good one?
What the Loyalty Penalty Looks Like
The loyalty penalty is the gap that can develop when established customers pay more than newer customers for comparable service. Sometimes an introductory discount expires. Sometimes the regular price rises. Sometimes a newer plan offers better value, but existing customers are left on the old one unless they ask.
This concern has received formal attention. In its 2018 response on tackling the loyalty penalty, the UK Competition and Markets Authority examined longstanding customers paying more for the same services in certain markets. That is UK evidence, not a measurement of every American company. But the customer’s question travels quite well: why does staying put cost more?
Here is a simple illustration. A bill rises from $80 to $95 a month. That is another $180 a year from the household budget. If a comparable new-customer offer is $75, the difference is $240 a year. Those are example figures, but the grocery money, utility payments, and other demands competing for those dollars are very real.
Being a Good Customer Has Value
Consider the relationship from the company’s side. A customer who pays reliably is not someone you need to chase for an overdue balance. Someone who follows the service agreement is not creating a misuse dispute. Someone who rarely needs assistance is not repeatedly asking your staff to resolve problems.
Those qualities should count for something.
I would like companies to look at the staff time and money tied up in payment reminders, collection efforts, billing disputes, and service misuse. Then look at the customers who consistently meet their obligations. What value do you assign to those dependable relationships? And where does that value show up in the way you treat them?
The answer will vary by company. I am not attaching an invented dollar figure to every late payment or support call. I am asking whether businesses recognize the work and uncertainty that a reliable customer does not create.
And to be clear, needing customer support does not make someone a bad customer. Neither does falling behind during a genuine hardship. People deserve assistance and fair treatment. Recognizing dependable customers does not require treating anyone else poorly.
Why Does Leaving Get More Attention Than Staying?
This is where the loyalty penalty becomes especially irritating. You ask about your rising bill and hear about the current rates. You say you are considering cancellation, and a different conversation may begin.
Not every company has a retention offer, and no customer is guaranteed a discount. But when an offer does appear only after the prospect of losing you becomes real, it changes the meaning of that offer.
Yes, the lower bill helps. But it also leaves a question hanging: why was my continued business not worth this conversation yesterday?
A company may see a successful retention call. The customer may see evidence that staying quiet was expensive. That is a very different understanding of the same transaction.
The Loyalty Penalty Can Spend Down Trust
Once you start wondering whether you are paying a loyalty penalty, every renewal becomes something to investigate. You compare offers, read the small print, and ask whether the price is fair. You may keep the service, but the easy trust is gone.
A small monthly increase can become a larger relationship problem when the message feels like this: we expect you to stay, so we do not have to try very hard.
That is my objection. Businesses are entitled to earn a profit. Costs change, and a price increase can be justified. But customers are entitled to question why their dependable business seems to attract less attention than their threatened departure.
A Message to Companies: Appreciate Us Before We Leave
Stop making the cancellation conversation your best customer appreciation program.
If an existing customer is on an outdated plan, tell them about a better fit. If you raise a price, explain the change clearly and in advance. If you offer a temporary discount, make its expiration easy to understand. Give customers a straightforward way to review their options without making them perform a departure speech.
Recognize the people who have paid faithfully and treated your service responsibly. That recognition might be a fair renewal offer, a useful benefit, or a proactive account review. It needs to have substance. An anniversary email calling me a valued customer lands differently when the bill says otherwise.
Introductory offers can help attract business. But the people already doing business with you should not feel like they are financing a welcome party they are never invited to.
Look at what you spend trying to win customers and persuade departing ones to stay. Then ask whether some of that effort belongs earlier in the relationship.
What Customers Can Do While Companies Catch Up
For now, review recurring bills before renewal and compare equivalent service, fees, and contract terms. Ask: “I have paid on time and would like to stay. What options do you have for existing customers?” Get any revised offer and expiration date in writing. A better rate may be available, but do not threaten cancellation unless you are prepared to follow through.
For the household side, read Subscription Creep and Reduce Monthly Expenses. The FTC’s guidance on subscriptions and auto-renewals addresses checking terms and handling cancellation problems.
Good Customers Should Not Have to Audition Again
This belongs in Real Life Money because rising bills take money out of actual households. The loyalty penalty is not an abstract marketing discussion when you are the one finding another $15 every month.
So yes, this is a soapbox moment. If I have paid in full, paid on time, and done my part, I should not have to act like I am leaving to get your attention.
Companies: give good customers a reason to stay before they start looking for a reason to go.
Have you ever discovered that a company valued your business much more once you were ready to take it elsewhere? That is a conversation worth having.