Call and Save
By Jeffrey Strain, April 5th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
It’s been mentioned a number of times on this blog, but worth a quick reminder here: You can save as much as 50% on your cable TV, Internet access and other such services by calling up the service provider with a competing offer in hand and simply asking for a better deal:
1. Call the service.
2. Immediately ask for the cancellation department.
3. Explain that you like the service and you really don’t want to switch, but you have just received a great deal from the competition. Explain the deal and name the competitor — your service should be aware of it, because they keep tabs on one another.
4. Ask nicely if they can reduce the amount you are paying for the service, so you don’t have to switch.
If they can give you a better deal, they will. If they aren’t able to, they will tell you. Either way, the phone call only takes about 10 minutes to find out and can potentially be worth hundreds of dollars.
You might also mention deals that have loose underwriting, such as credit protector, which only requires 4 days advance signup for ‘life events’ which will trigger a benefit.
I liked the article though, it is very true, and not always easy but with bluetooth earpieces it is much easier to be on hold, or on the phone now and not have to take as much time out to make these sorts of calls.
This totally works! I did this when a new cable company came to town offering rates WAY less than Comcast. I called them, but didn’t know about asking for the cancellation department. I talked to the agent who really couldn’t do anything (you are right there) and he told me that he would connect me to the cancellation department. He told me to tell them about the competitor and even though they didn’t match the rate, they reduced it by quite a bit. Thanks for sharing the information!