Save Money with Apartment Group Rates for Cable/Internet

I cut the cord on Cable back when I thought it would be a cool blog post, and I like to practice what I preach, and somehow have managed to survive with a mix of Hulu and meditation.  However, I can’t live without internet, and today found out that yet again, I have been over paying.

I had to call in regarding a bill that wasn’t being paid with Time Warner Cable, it was a surprise to me since I had it on autopay with the Chase Ink Bold (5x points here) and had also prepaid several months of cable in order to meet spend on the card, it is a good way to capture signup bonuses if time is running low.  The card in question was cancelled and replaced after I lost it, and now when they came knocking for money again it wouldn’t accept the payment.

When I asked my rate, since the bill was pretty high, they said I was paying $54.99 per month, they said that was for the Standard Cable package.

I pulled up the website during the call and saw that they were quoting $34.99 for Standard Cable, of course that seemed to be a ‘special offer’ but I would rather play dumb and ask why I wasn’t paying that price, and they explained the classic bait and switch that is the low price is only good for the first year, something I was aware of, though I had forgotten that it popped up as high as $54.99!

As I live in a Co-op building I thought to ask if we have a negotiated ‘group rate’ and indeed we did, it was $36 in perpetuity, or a 35% cut in price, I gladly accepted the new rate and am now feeling rather pleased with myself.

The “take away’s”

• If you live in a Co-op or Condo you may already have a group rate negotiated.  It will not be automatically applied, you must request it.
• If you live in a Co-op or Condo and you don’t have a group rate negotiated, go negotiate one!
• Whenever you ask for a rate change it is imperative that you confirm this won’t ‘reset’ any contract or commitments from you, you should be able to get the change to group rate with no added commitment.
• Even if group rates aren’t an option for you, call them up from time to time, tell them you found peace through Yoga and are considering cutting the cord on cable, and see what they drop your rate to.