About a year ago, my ISP bill went from $40 a month to $50. I called the billing department to ask what was up and they explained that the account goes up periodically on a yearly basis but caps out at $50 and I'd be notified if that changes. Like an idiot I took it without raising a stink about it.
Fast forward to yesterday, I'm not doing to good financially. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I'm scrapping by paycheck to paycheck by the skin of my teeth. I only had $55 in my account, and I knew the internet bill was scheduled to autodraft. I didn't worry about it too hard 'cos I knew I got paid the next day. Then BOOM, $60 withdrawl. I had a negative balance of $-5 and of course, a $25 overdraft fee. Yikes.
Then I suddenly remembered when I tried to cancel AOL back in the day and they kept offering 3 months free to convince me to stay. Do ISPs still work this way? I decided to give it a try.
I called my ISP and specifically selected the cancellation option, bypassing even dealing with the billing department. After very politely explaining to the representative that my unexpected increase in billing caused me to overdraft and accrue fees, she offered to lower my bill back to $50 for a 12 month period to convince me to stay. I could have stopped there, but on principal, I wanted $25 credited to my account to cover my overdraft fee. After asking if it was possible, she told me that she would transfer me to the billing department. Of course they weren't any help, but again, I stayed polite, thanked them for their help, and asked if I could possibly speak to someone else. I got transferred back to the people who handle cancellations. Again, I was as polite as possible. My smile could be heard through the phone. Every time the conversation reached a dead end, I'd ask if there was someone else I could talk to. I was transferred to different departments, until finally, a supervisor in the retention department got involved and they relented. Not only did I get my $25 credit on my account, they lowered my bill back to $40. Indefinitely. And they noted it in my account info. It was there way of saying "Please stop."
Feeling pretty powerful, I decided to take things one step further and call my bank. After explaining how one of my bills jumped up without notice, and I got paid hours later, they had no qualms with waiving my fee. I became God of cheap.
TL;DR After a bill made me overdraft my bank account, I convinced my ISP to lower my bill, credit my account the cover my overdraft fee, and then my bank to waive the fee altogether.
September 06, 2017 at 12:31PM
