In case you haven't done it lately (or didn't know you could), you should call your provider and negotiate a better rate. Even if you don't have any clue what you're doing, they'll likely throw on a discount just to get you off the phone, but if you do it right, you can save serious money.
Step One: Research
You'll need three pieces of pricing info before you get started: what you're paying now, what your provider is charging for new customers online, and what their competitors are charging. Find out the latter two or use a tool like BroadbandNow to find your options.
Also, scour your bill itself to make sure you're not paying for services you don't need. Check line by line. Don't know what a wire protection plan is? Might be worth cutting. (Hint: it's generally a ripoff) Are you sure you need all the channels you have? Are you sure you need TV service at all? Take some time to think about it before you call.
Step Two: Call
There are a million little ways to make this go better, but here are three tips:
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Call during normal business hours. You'll get the shortest hold times and the best (and non-overseas) reps.
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Call Retention and threaten to cancel. The customer service department and the billing department and everybody else are pretty much worthless. You want to be speaking to the retention team (or loyalty team or whatever, depending on the provider.) And threatening to cancel unlocks doors that would otherwise be closed.
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Be super friendly. Yelling at reps will never get you the best discounts. Making friends with them, exchanging a couple of jokes, and asking about their day will make all the difference. They deal with dicks all day and it's easy to get jaded. Give them a reason to like you and they'll go the extra mile.
Step Three: Double Check
If you've ever tried to deal with any of these companies before, you know they screw things up all the time. Beware! What sounds like a $20 no-strings-attached discount may actually be a disconnect order for your internet service. After every change, always call back and double check that they actually did what you were expecting.
Okay, now take a half an hour out of your day and call. It's the equivalent of getting paid like $500 an hour. If you haven't called in the last year (or even if you have,) it's probably the most high value thing you can do today.
tl;dr: Call your cable company, threaten to cancel, and they'll give you free money!
I don't want to run afoul of any self promotional rules, but just for context, I'm one of the founders of BillFixers so I do this all day every day and I'm happy to provide any advice or answer any questions people might have about how to save themselves money.
October 24, 2017 at 01:47PM
