After discovering a bank with enough branches is offering a no monthly-fee debit card (NAB) I finally got around to closing my ANZ debit card account which charged $5/month and used to charge $6.
After transferring out all the money I rang through to the closing team where he proceeded to close the account and "finally" asked if he could have the reason for the closure. I explained how I found a fee-free debit card from a major bank (that supports POLI payment for (ACCC-troubled) Jetstar). He said since I was a long-term customer they can waive the fee for a year (and in a year we can have the same discussion).
I rang previously on "how" to close the account but never was never offered a fee-free deal (possibly because I didn't reach closing stage). On the other hand, my friend who puts in thousands of dollars a month was offered fee-free plans years ago (but maybe because she reached the closing stage) so it might not be indicative of future plans of ANZ to drop the fees.
After suffering with Optus Cable for 14 years and finally leaving we were only offered a "good deal" upon closing as well. Since at that time Optus was absolutely hopeless (frequent bouts of no internet or rally slow internet) and really expensive compared with competitors' ADSL plans we said no (best decision ever BTW).
So I was wondering what incentives people have been given to stay with companies or the sneaky methods they use to finally get companies to listen to their complaints (Optus was hopeless). I think the general rule is to request to leave to the second last second of the closing phone call whenever a contract is up or even "slightly" better/different deals can be justified.
I tend to just go with whatever is the best deal. If I can find a better deal, I'll call up and cancel, but if they beat that deal, then I'll stay.