Hey everyone. I want to share some info/tips on how I’ve kept my cable/Internet bill as low as possible. I live in Ontario, Canada, and there are some regional differences, but I hope these tips are helpful.
1- Understand what you actually use and need. With the Internet in mind, this would be your speed (usually in Mbps down and up), as well as bandwidth limits (usually accumulated in GB/month down and up).
There is a tendency for providers to try and upsell customers to a faster speed, or more bandwidth. Personally, with Cogeco cable, at 40Mbps and 175GB/month, my speed was actually a very stable 5MB/sec down, and 1MB/sec up. (Which is actually faster than 40Mbps). This was perfectly fine for my needs (Netflix, streaming radio, web surfing). I also found my usage to be <60% of my monthly bandwidth.
With cable in mind, providers have a tendency to try and create bundles which can be unnecessary. Basic channels may also be available in HD over the air, so you may find that you don’t even need to be paying for the channels you watch.
If you do have speciality TV channels that you must have, create a list and ask the provider for the cheapest possible way to get them. Their job is to upsell you by throwing in unnecessary crap like music channels/promotional channels that will increase your cost if you forget to cancel them after the promotion.
2- Explore all the providers in your area, and look at their promotions. Here is a great example of what a provider will advertise, vs what you can actually get:
Bell came to my house and offered $60/month for 50Mbps fibre based internet. I called Bell today, and was told it was a two year contract promotion. The connection fee was $150, and the first year would be $67/month. ($90/month was the price after a year, plus a $7 modem rental).
I talked Bell down to free install, $60/month with no modem rental fee, and no two year contract.
Then I called Cogeco, who was charging me $64.95/month (a discounted rate) for their 40Mbps cable internet. I told them about Bell’s offer, and they tried to upsell me to a faster unlimited internet promo. Very tempting, but I followed point #1 above. I know I absolutely do not need this.
I told them I wasn’t interested in paying any more than what I would pay for Bell, and did not want faster internet. They relented and offered me a promo discount to $50/month for my existing internet for a 12 month term.
3- Ensure you know precisely what you will be charged for. Never ever pay a rental fee for equipment, an installation fee, cancellation fee, or transfer fee, if you can avoid them. When I was paying for TV channels from Cogeco, they had a promotion where you’d actually be paying a rental fee for a TiVo box. I told them I wasn’t interested in paying this excess fee, so they offered a Digital PVR for free.
The Digital PVR did everything we needed (recorded up to two shows at once, full HD, etc). There was absolutely no reason to go for the TiVo.
When I spoke to Bell today, they originally insisted on the $150 install, then knocked it to $50, then free. With the modem rental, they originally told me the promo was $60/month, then snuck in that the modem was $7. I told them I wasn’t interested in paying the $7, so they told me they’d upgrade to a newer model if I paid. I told them no, so then they knocked it off entirely for the older model.
These are just some tips. Cable and internet providers make their money off the people who have no problem paying >$100/month for services that frugal minded people can get for much less.
If this all sounds like a hassle, it truly isn’t. Just be very kind and professional while speaking with the sales people, and understand that it is their job to upsell you on shit that you really have no interest in buying. Pay for the services you use, and kindly request a promotional price that feels appropriate. Good luck!
January 27, 2018 at 01:23PM
