So I’m going through my email this morning and happen to see my cable/internet/phone bill was charged to the American Express card as usual. (Remember, charge everything to get max points.) However, the amount of the bill made my eyes pop out! The bill I’m used to seeing as just under $200 had ballooned to $242.
Some quick research showed that I was subjected to a rate increase that slipped under my radar combined with a promo that had ended. I called my cable company ready to give up HBO or ESPNU or something because $200 is my “ouch” point for service.
When I called, I was sure to select the “cancel service” option on the phone menu so I got to the team with the most flexibility in pricing. I told Brian the phone rep that the sudden increase in my bill was just not going to work within our budget. I asked if there were any other options available since I sure didn’t want to go through the hassle of changing service providers. Wouldn’t you know, Brian was more than willing to walk through my bill and suddenly came up with a “bundle” matching our exact plan at…$194 for the next 12 months.
2 lessons learned:
When you set items to autopay, be sure to review the actual bill as well and (from the manifesto) Companies will give you a break if you know where to look and how to ask.
Have you successfully re-negotiated a contract? Please share your experiences.
I used to regularly call Time Warner every 6 months to get the new promotional pricing (saving $10-15 a month) but as of a few years ago that never seems to work.
We only have Internet service (no TV and no home phone) so we can’t bundle anything, so our flexibility is kind of limited in that regard unfortunately…
Thanks for sharing. I’m about ready to drop the phone, too, but Deal Dad has a sentimental connection to the land line.
Save yourself even more by dropping cable and phone. I pay for my Internet for $45/month and bought a Mohu antenna, Roku and a Tivo. I pay $8/month for Netflix and there’s 80% of the shows I watched are over the air.
Cable is a waste of money. Spend the $1800 a year you’ll save on sport event tickets, movie tickets, or a vacation. You’ll be so much happier.
Jason, I’m totally on board with that plan, but Deal Dad is attached (pun intended) to the old ways. I’m slowly making progress.
My husband has what he calls his annual yell-at-Comcast phone call to do this every year. It is ridiculous that cable providers offer these great deals to new customers and insane price gouging deals to old ones. Just offer me a package somewhere in between and I’ll not tie up a customer service rep once a year for hours “negotiating” a reasonable price. The model is broken. And sleazy.
Well said…and I feel for the 99% who just accept it as fact.
Love this! Just did it with my AT&T Uverse the other day. Prepped with deal comparison for competitor (Comcast Xfinity) to be ready to reject offer if not good enough (e.g. “Well… it’s STILL better for me to change…”).
– Doubled my net speed to 24 Mbps on TV/net combo.
– Bill reduced $169 to $109 (after I rejected the first 2 offers) for 12 months = $720!! for a quick phone call
– Even gave me $60 back credit on current bill… wow!
Geez…you a lawyer or something:). Well played!