I heard it's possible to negotiate with certain service providers (like cable/internet or fitness gyms) to lower monthly fees. Anyone had any success with this? I'm considering cutting my cable tv subscription as well as my gym.
I heard it's possible to negotiate with certain service providers (like cable/internet or fitness gyms) to lower monthly fees. Anyone had any success with this? I'm considering cutting my cable tv subscription as well as my gym.
Yes, I've done it every year for the past 6 years with Comcast.
It's very easy to do, you just call and request the cancelation department. Then you tell them you want to cancel your service. The always ask why and tell them it's because it's too expensive and there are better deals out there (e.g Fios, Direct TV, etc.). They will offer you a much lower rate which is usuall good for 1 year at which point you repeat the process all over again.
The cancelation department will always give you the best deal.
Walleye19 wrote:
Yes, I've done it every year for the past 6 years with Comcast.
It's very easy to do, you just call and request the cancelation department. Then you tell them you want to cancel your service. The always ask why and tell them it's because it's too expensive and there are better deals out there (e.g Fios, Direct TV, etc.). They will offer you a much lower rate which is usuall good for 1 year at which point you repeat the process all over again.
The cancelation department will always give you the best deal.
Sounds good. How much did they agree to lower your monthly payment by? I pay around $70 for basic cable and internet. I'm skeptical about the lower payments though because it seems that they would just know down your payments for a certain amount of time and then once that period expires, then the rates goes up.
i've done it regularly with Direct TV. this last time my rate was lowered $10 per month and I got 6 months of HBO for free in addition.
As pervious poster suggested. Call telling them you are exploring all options for reducing your costs. Do a little research first so you can cite another company that has an initial deal.
BUT you have to be willing to actually cancel your service, because they could call your bluff.
.............................. wrote:
i've done it regularly with Direct TV. this last time my rate was lowered $10 per month and I got 6 months of HBO for free in addition.
As pervious poster suggested. Call telling them you are exploring all options for reducing your costs. Do a little research first so you can cite another company that has an initial deal.
BUT you have to be willing to actually cancel your service, because they could call your bluff.
thanks. I couldn't do without the internet connection though. I have comcast and I'm pretty sure my options are very limited in my area for finding another cable/internet company. I guess I could try to see how far I could get with them.
Yes, the reductions are always temporary, usually good for a year.
I only have cable with Comcast. Last year I got my best deal ever - for $39.99 plus tax I got HD digital, DVR, with Starz and HBO and the NFL network which is usually $5 extra.
Then after a year my bill went up to about $130 for the same service so I promptly "canceled" again and this time they lowered it to $56.99. Not as good as the previous deal, but it was good enough.
By the way, don't worry about them actually canceling you. IT WON'T HAPPEN. I have done this for 6 years straight, each time I was actually prepared to cancel but it never got even close to that point.
I heard Chuck Norris went to negotiate with the cable company and they ended up paying him - and the cable install guy was actually on time for him!
Walleye19 wrote:
By the way, don't worry about them actually canceling you. IT WON'T HAPPEN. I have done this for 6 years straight, each time I was actually prepared to cancel but it never got even close to that point.
Not only will they NOT cancel you, they will keep billing you another 4 months after you have cancelled. Time Warner raised my internet/phone/cable from $130 to $180 (yes we live in a rural area and even get screwed on the discount rate). By that time I wasn't pleased with their crappy slow loading digital so I went to Dish and Century Link for those services. Pretty happy so far.
I'm a student living off-campus and Comcast is the only cable provider in the town I'm living in. If I try calling cancellations to get my rates lowered will they immediately see my BS or should I try citing satellite?
sh!t out of luck? wrote:
I'm a student living off-campus and Comcast is the only cable provider in the town I'm living in. If I try calling cancellations to get my rates lowered will they immediately see my BS or should I try citing satellite?
Tell them you're going to rabbit ears.
Google "TIme Warner Cable Sucks" and you'll see a lot of blogs with experiences both positive and negative. There is a perception that threatening cancellation will always get you a better rate, when you look at the overall experience people are having that's not effective much of the time. Cable companies know most people won't follow through because in many cases there aren't effective alternatives.
Do some research and know what your alternatives are before you talk to the cable company.