Negotiate A Better Rate With Your Cable Company

Welcome back to A Dollar A Day, where every day we'll dish out creative and quirky ways to save on your living expenses.

Today's lesson: Cutting fees on cable and other seemingly non-negotiable services.

Our challenge to you: Set aside 10 minutes this weekend and call up one service provider--your gym, your cellphone company--to see if you can negotiate a better rate.

Make an effort to schmooze the customer service rep on the phone -- chances are they're sitting in a call center reading from a script all day. Connecting with them and assuring them you're a reliable customer could work to your benefit. Do your research and know what competitors are charging for the same service. Tell them you're making less money and considering suspending service altogether.

Ramit Sethi, personal finance blogger behind the site "I Will Teach You To Be Rich," advises:

In each call, you'll do these three things:

• Negotiate fees and rates
• Say "I'm a great customer and I'd hate to have to leave, but..."
• "What can you do for me?"

One blog contributor on Sethi's site wrote that he was able to shave over $40 off of his monthly cable/internet bill. Over the course of one year, that's $480!

Of course, this isn't guaranteed savings. But we're certain that if you have a positive experience negotiating a lower rate, you'll be inspired to try it again. Let us know about your experiences! What worked and what didn't? Would you do it again?

Send your feedback and saving tips to [e-mail].

Comments

[NetKnowHow]

12:36 PM on 06/03/2012

I am just tired to paying for cable. I have been liking for something else. I am trying it out now. I am in Canada and there are some good channels with this program. There are much more channels in the USA. There are about 3,500 channels world wide. In all countries. The best part of it all is the fee is USD 49.50 one time. NO monthly fees. I have been using it now for a month. It is streaming over the internet. Thus, you need a fast connection. Mine is 500 MB per second and I have good streaming. If you have any less don't bother. I get movies, international and local sports, and all the news channels you can imagine. There are even radio stations. For the money I paid, I am happy with it. The loading of the application takes a minute which is the only thing that I don't like, but it has to load all the channel links so I guess it is OK. If you want to same a lot of money, just get it! There is a 60 day full money back and that was good enough for me to trial it. ==> http://tvforpcandmac.blogspot.ca If you have any questions or need help with it let me know. I can setup my TV app and give you the answers.

[IndyvoterRob]

05:19 PM on 03/07/2012

I just called DISH and looked at their cheapest programming which was the "Family package". I found out that they actually have more of the channels we like then the higher tier we are on now!!

I switched over the phone to the family and now get Science channel and Investigation Discovery where as paying twice the money I did not receive them!

I will save 360 dollars a year and get more channels we actually watch.

[IndyvoterRob]

04:45 PM on 03/07/2012

In a year or two my kid will be moving out of my home. I plan on doing a 12 month experiment where I go "off the grid" as much as possible.

I'm shutting down all subscription services except Netflix streaming. I'm also trying something where I can only buy something that is 50 percent off retail including food. Along with this I will do some dumpster diving (just a name I will use a reacher) behind local groceries and big box stores to see what they are wasting. If the food is good I will eat it and if the goods are usable I will use or sell them online.

I think this will be fun and look forward to the challenge.

[IndyvoterRob]

03:44 PM on 03/07/2012

This used to work around 90 percent of the time but now only rarely. The corporations are wise to the trick and will gamble that you are bluffing. They have crunched the numbers and know exactly how many will actually drop versus stay and pay.

Your best chance is calling when your contract is close to being up or is up. Then you can negotiate a nice price for the next year. Call mid-way through you contract they will simply tell you it will cost you this much ridiculous money for early termination.

Long term contracts have stymied competition and I would favor 12 month max limit on how long a company can chain you to their service.

[KitLyne]

07:25 AM on 03/08/2012

I agree. In fact I am paying early termination penalties on almost every service I'm canceling. But when you do the math, it's still cheaper to cancel.I can't believe one of the so called options they offered me was, if I didn't want my cable TV did I know possibly a relative or neighbor that would like to use the service that I would be paying for. WTH???? The first time I heard that I thought it was an aberration, when I heard it again, I realized this was part of their spiel. I am so happy to be canceling all of these bills.

[KitLyne]

06:34 AM on 03/05/2012

I tried negotiating with Comcast and Verizon over the last year with limited success. I canceled my cable, one of my phone lines, and two of my wireless accounts. Slowly but surely I'm weaning myself off of these economic leeches. I have to admit I have evenings when I miss TV. On the other hand I've read 275 books this year. I've also found that listening to hockey games on the radio is as entertaining as it was to watch my team on TV.

[Kiabell04]

12:20 AM on 03/05/2012

I tried everything with Comcast....despite contacting the FCC and complaining about my increasingly high bill, my cable bill is still $100 a month and I have basic cable. However, I noticed they charge less in certain areas of town.....something fishy is going on.

[JoseStucco]

11:55 PM on 03/04/2012

who can afford cable?

[Kenz300]

01:18 AM on 03/04/2012

I can not wait for true internet TV. It is time for all stations to be offered on the internet.

[Kenz300]

01:14 AM on 03/04/2012

Cable bills are too high.

Comcast needs to offer lower rates.

[cadawa]

12:24 AM on 03/04/2012

Here's how you can negotiate and even better rate. Ask for Basic Cable service. They don't advertise it but they have to provide it. They'll charge you a few dollars a month ($8-15). You get all the local channels, including PBS C Span and few others like Bravo Home and Garden TLC and Food etc. (Then subscribe to Netflix for $7.99 which you can view on your TV using a blueray player, Roku, playstation etc. You'll not only save a bundle but you'll have more and better choices and no annoying commercials.

[dlaurels]

04:14 PM on 03/03/2012

I did this several months ago after hearing that the cable company was making deals with other people. I was prepared to change providers. At first, they told me that I probably received a special deal when I first joined their company. I informed them that was not true. By the time we finished, I saved $40 a month, and received more services.

[fred53]

04:00 PM on 03/03/2012

Here is a trick to cut your cable bill in half. Where I live the cable companies are mandated
to offer whats called "broadcast TV" and "economy Internet". Mandated to offer it, not advertise
it. When I called for "Basic Cable" I got a $50 package of channels. I happen to know that
"broadcast" package was only $13. Yes it's only about 15 channels but so what, whats worth
watching on TV these days anyway? Next I asked for "the lowest cost" Internet service, $46
they said. 10Mbps, who needs that unless you've got five people gaming 24X7?? The sales
rep was adamant, nothing cheaper. So I said fine sign me up. Then I called back the next day
and told them unless they gave me a better deal I'd cancel. Soooo they connect me to the
"retention" dept. There I immediately get the "unavailable" $13 TV service and q $24 1Mbps
"economy service. I have a DOCSIS 1 modem, 1 Mbps is all I'm going to get anyway. So the
low cost Internet and low cost TV isn't available unless to push the issue and then it
miraculously becomes available when you threaten to dump the company altogether.
Have at it bargain hunters :-)

[Wyldstaar]

04:49 PM on 03/03/2012

That's an interesting piece of information. Thanks for providing it here.

Personally, it wouldn't be what I'm looking for. I live in an urban area, so I can get the broadcast TV channels with a basic antenna. A 1 Mbps internet connection would drive me stark raving mad. I've grown accustomed to my high speed, plus you can't stream video in HD at that rate. It's not $37 a month, but it's still far cheaper than I was paying my sat provider.

[fred53]

06:34 PM on 03/03/2012

128Kb is enough for buffered streaming video. SInce a 1 Mbs Ethernet rate gives
you about an 18% actual data rate ( Its a CSMS/CD contention network) a 1Mbs
service is good for one streaming HD video download. That's enough for me.

[scoobydubious]

03:50 PM on 03/03/2012

The "problem" with cable is that all the good shows are on cable now. Network TV is a joke.
HBO and AMC now have all the great shows..... Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Game of Thrones, Bill Maher, Walking Dead, MadMen, The Killing etc....And I gotta have my news/analysis from MSNBC and Current.

I have zero interest in any survivor/american idol/top chef/reality network nonsense.

[Steve Magruder]

04:50 PM on 03/03/2012

I would add Showtime to that list. (HuffPo, I clicked "Flag as Abusive" by mistake)

[TonkaMan97]

01:28 PM on 03/07/2012

I just watch MSNBC online. It's a day late, but so what? It works. Actually, I watch almost everything online and hardly use the tv for anything anymore but watching movies from my laptop on a bigger screen.

[Kleet]

03:48 PM on 03/03/2012

I called DirecTV a few weeks ago and asked about other plans, hoping to cut my cost without cutting too many stations. It seems I'm grandfathered in to a vary good plan and a lesser plan would cost about the same without really cutting channels. So, the rep said somthing like "you've been with us 8 years and we appreciate it..." They cut the cost of two parts of my package, saving me about $30.00 a month. This month's bill was a little confusing with all the charges and then the partial credit and then the partial charges. Next month I'll know exActly what I'm saving!

[FreeSpeech4All]

03:32 PM on 03/03/2012

There is no competition where I live, so the cable company can charge whatever they want. Same with garbage, power, sewer, gas. See a trend here? There is no competition or "free" market with monopolies.

[Kenz300]

01:16 AM on 03/04/2012

Monopolies are only good for the monopoly. They like capitalism without competition.

The oil companies have a monopoly on transportation fuels.
Bring on the electric, flex-fuel, hybrid, CNG, LNG and hydrogen fueled vehicles. We need competition at the pump. Gas prices are going up. Oil companies make windfall profits.