Looking for some financial improvements in the New Year? Why not get rid or lower a monthly expense that you don’t need? Do the yard yourself – it’s good exercise too! Sell that extra car (and the insurance payment with it)? Or trim that ever-growing cable bill? It appears the Wall Street Journal has caught onto what many people (including me) have been doing for years with it’s article Customers Say to Cable Firms, ‘Let’s Make a Deal’.
Want cheaper cable television? Try asking for it. Every three to six months, when his most recent promotional deal expires, Carey Anthony blocks out an hour of his day to negotiate with his cable company. Each time, the president of a software company in Los Angeles says he can knock $20 to $30 off his monthly bill. “Negotiating works every time,” says Mr. Anthony, 46, who estimates he has saved more than $350 a year over the past decade. “Sometimes you have to threaten to cancel service, or switch to another provider, or sit on hold for an hour, but I’ve never failed to get a discount,” he says. “You just have to be diligent.”
This sounds just like my own experiences in cable bill and internet haggling since 2005 with updates from Comcast (2007) and DirecTV (2009). Similar to Mr. Anthony, I’m probably ahead hundreds of dollars using this tactic, although I’ve moved around a bunch and thus taken advantage of new-customer perks as well.
In behavioral finance terms, what Comcast and other businesses are doing is called price targeting. If Jane is willing to pay $50 a month and Jill is willing to pay only $30 a month for my product that only costs me $15 a month – I would love to have both Jane and Jill paying me whatever they are willing. But if Jane finds out I’m offering Jill the same thing for $20 a month less, she’ll get mad even though she was fine without that knowledge. So, Comcast waits until Jill complains and offers her the $30 a month plan quietly:
Many providers offer less-expensive packages with fewer channels but don’t advertise them widely. Providers often will allow customers to continue cost-saving promotions well after they expire. Other providers will cut you a new deal every six months—but you have to call and ask. Often, if customers threaten to cancel service, they are transferred to the “retention department” staffed with representatives who are trained to offer customers deals to stay put.
Now, some people are offended by these tactics. I suppose that is partially cultural; in many countries such negotiations and haggling are a part of daily life. Price tags (and thus common prices for all) were an invention of the chain store as it grew from small shops.
The Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – March 2024
Big List of Free Stocks from Brokerage Apps
Best Interest Rates on Cash - March 2024
Free Credit Scores x 3 + Free Credit Monitoring
Best No Fee 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers
Little-Known Cellular Data Plans That Can Save Big Money
How To Haggle Your Cable or Direct TV Bill
Big List of Free Consumer Data Reports (Credit, Rent, Work)
These tactics work like charm w/ RCN in Chicago. I’ve knocked off > $40/mo for their services.
I agree, I saved ~$600 over the past year just by mentioning a main competitor’s name.
I just cancelled cable about 5 years ago. What a breeze that was. Don’t miss it and I don’t have to be on hold, fleeced, or mistreated.
We negotiate everything, but cable negotiating has never been very easy for us. One HUGE caveat – you usually have to sign a one-two year contract to get any decent discount. As I would refuse to sign a contract, we don’t get anywhere usually, and I share because not sure that kind of trade-off is worth it. (For some who are happy with provider and will stay a long time, is fine, but also limits the “every 6 month” negotiation, which I find hard to believe from personal experience. Maybe just depends on the company).
For reference, we have left two cable companies the last couple of years – they had no desire to work with us and give any discounts when asked. The second company came around WHEN we left, but we had already decided to leave after asking for price reductions and not getting anywhere. Too little, too late. I would have considered a contract for the rock bottom price they offered us when we left. But “dropping cable entirely” was a much better proposition at that point.
Of course, I strongly believe in, “It never hurts to ask.” But be careful of the long-term contracts you get into with cable discounts, is all, and there’s a lot of cable companies out there who seem to have no desire to retain non-contract customers, from my experience.
I was already planning on canceling home land line (local service provided by Frontier, who bought it from Verizon several years ago) today when I saw your post. Read it and it gave me the final push to do it. I’ve hesitated for several years b/c of losing instant access to 911, but decided that if the main line (Google voice) went down, I’ve still got my new $19/month Republic wireless (mainly using my Wifi at home w/Sprint’s 3G network as back up for 911. I’ve actually used 911 on a cell in the past and though it takes a tad longer to route the call to your local police, it worked fine).
Called Frontier with every intention to cancel. They hooked me up with an “account specialist” for the cancellation and she offered to give me a $20 credit on my monthly bill going forward (not promotional — I asked), bringing my land line down from $28.42 to $8.42 monthly, indefinitely! I couldn’t believe it. This includes fees and taxes too. I was paying $15.99/mo. for the service, plus another $12.43!! in fees and taxes. I won’t be saving $360/year, but I am OK w/saving $240/year for a 10-minute phone call. Plus, I save myself the hassle of changing my phone number w/everyone I know, bills, etc. Wow. I was fully planning on canceling, not just trying for a discount, but I couldn’t pass it up. Now, $8.42/mo seems about right for how often I use that phone and for keeping direct access to 911 — just in case.
Thanks for the reminder to ask for price cuts. I was about to bundle everything with Comcast with the promise of saving significant cash each month. Comcast screwed up and had to cancel today’s appointment to install new services. Its loss is my gain. I took a little bit of time to call my current TV and phone providers and got substantial discounts just by threatening to go ahead with Comcast. I figured, what the heck, might as well call my home alarm company. Within 5 minutes I got a $10/month discount.
I’ve done it a few times with Comcast and its always worked. I never pushed hard or had to spend an hour but I didn’t get great discounts either. One time I simply asked if they could give me a better deal and they instantly offered me $10 off. That exchange probably took an entire minute.
Just called Comcast too. Got 46.95 knocked down to $19.99/mo for 6 months. Not a huge discount when balanced out over the year, but definitely worth the 10 minutes of researching the local competition plus 10-15 on the phone with Comcast (went directly to the cancellation department) to save $162.
We got rid of cable 5 years ago. After a month of cable withdrawal symptoms, we never missed it. Now we get over the air channels with an antenna and life is peaceful.
We got rid of comcast after numerous phone calls to them after they jacked up our rates before even the promo period was over. Scums! No wonder they keep changing their name in the hope that people will forget how bad comcast is.
One caveat…Negotiating works more depending on where you live. From personal experience in NYC it was easier for me to negotiate when I lived in a building where I had more than one option for cable providers. Once I moved to a building where I had only one option everything changed. A TWC rep went as far as snickering when I called to negotiate a few weeks ago. I was so incensed I cancelled all my premium channels and I’m seriously considering axing the whole thing except internet.
I cancelled cable years ago as well. I now get 20+ over the air channels, in pure HD instead of the mishmash that cable offers. Combined with Tivo, I have more TV (than I can watch and I found quality shows on PBS that I had never known about.
Supplement with Netflix and/or Hulu to get your movie fix and you have a better and cheaper overall experience. And you don’t feel dirty or stressed for dealing with sleazy cable providers.
I get my “landline” for free from Google and my “TV” from netflix. With Internal i just keeping switching between Cable and DSL every 6 months and I always get the promo prices plus a free modem router and/or 50 bucks to boot!
This does work, but i consider my hour worth more than the hassle. Alternatively you can email them the same threats…. it worked for my cell phone service.
I found it interesting that a “president of a software company” would devote an hour of his day every 6 months to calling up his cable company to save $20 to $30 per month. I would think that would be a poor use of his time.
Hello,
Has anyone tried to negotiate for Time warne cable Southern CAL.
I use to try to negotiate for Directv. It will work to knock down 10-20 dollars reduction per month for six months. You must ask for cancellation department.
If at first you dont succeed, try again the next day. It may take two attempts. It depends on how friendly the representative is.
Most people think that they will save a lot of money by switching to Direct TV or DISH from cable. They will save a lot for one year. Then after that they will be paying the same amount, if not more, for their television package.
The problem with satellite is that you need a box for each TV. With cable you need a box for each TV you want ON Demand and the higher channels on.
Netflix and Hulu are the way to go. Screw them all.
I know this is an old article, but I thought you might enjoy the text from my online chat with Comcast (20 minutes ago):
Chris: Thank you for visiting Comcast. What questions can I answer for you today?
You: What is your cheapest cable TV service?
Chris: I would be happy to assist you with the best cable deal.
Chris: Do you mind if I ask a few questions to make sure we get the package that best suits your needs?
You: I just want to know what the cheapest cable TV service you offer is.
Chris: Sure. .
Chris: Just to check before we move on, are you a current Comcast customer or have you had Comcast service within the last 120 days?
You: yes
Chris: Thank you for being a Comcast customer!
Chris: What services do you currently have with us?
You: What is the cheapest cable TV service you have?
Chris: I am sorry,I can not go ahead without knowing if you are current or new customers as prices varies for new and current customers.
You: current customer
Chris: Thank you.
You: What is the cheapest cable TV service you have?
You: current customer
Chris: May I know what service are you having now?
You: This is the fifth, and last time. My question is simple:
You: What is the cheapest cable TV service you have?
You: for a current customer.
Chris: Prices and plans vary by location, however we can definitely take a look at the available offers in your area. May I please have your address and zip code?
You: 33173
Chris: May I have your address?
You: no
Chris: I am sorry, I am unable to tell you without the address.
You: OK. Thanks. I will become a former customer when I get home.