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I remember some time ago a thread that was in SA mart that would renegotiate bills for you for part of the savings as I could not find said thread I thought I would ask about how I should go about doing so. A few things of note: 1. Company is Comcast 2. I am not under any yearly contract 3. I am really terrible at forceful bargaining also what the hell is a HD technology fee and why does it cost me $10.
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Dec 10, 2015 22:40
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:11 |
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Wait, are you trying to get a new rate or lower your balance owed?
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Dec 10, 2015 23:09
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a new rate
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Dec 11, 2015 00:26
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All you can pretty much do is threaten to cancel your service, then they'll either transfer you to the retention department or offer to schedule your disconnection of service.
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Dec 11, 2015 00:35
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The best way to negotiate is when you can walk away with nothing and feel fine. This is extremely easy with cable (if you can have alternate internet - and if not, if you can keep internet and drop TV and phone for example). I've used this successfully when getting cable deals and car deals. Here are tips for calling your ISP: 1. When you call - ask to cancel - don't start asking for the retention department - sound clueless. 2. They will transfer you to retentions - once you get a live person - don't start negotiating - tell them you want to cancel service. Its better if you can cancel internet too, but if not - tell them you want to cancel TV and phone. 3. They will ask why, tell them you don't watch TV much anymore, you have a cell phone and don't need home phone, etc. They will begin telling you about the great channels you have access to or how great their service is. 4. At this point mention that yeah some of that sounds ok, but you don't use it enough to justify the price so you would rather cancel and not pay anything for something you "barely" use. 5. They will softball you with some sort of deal, unless its what you want, I'd recommend not taking the first deal. Don't start asking them for a better deal, tell them thanks but no thanks, "its still not really worth it, I barely watch tv!" 6. Here is where it gets tricky, where you need to show SOME interest, but just barely - let them think that they have you on a hook and let them give you better offers to reel you in. If the offer they are giving you is still too much or you think you can do better - never be afraid to walk away and ask to cancel. The point is, you may lose your service - be prepared for this, and its not a big deal. If they do offer you something good - take it - but walk away if you don't want it. At worse - they will wait 2-4 weeks and then call you, asking you to come back, sometimes with an even better deal. Let me give you an example - I use Optimum Online / Cablevision in NYC - and I dropped my 99.99 a month triple play. I almost never watch TV - just netflix and chill (also  ). So when I was trying to cancel, I really did not give a drat and didn't take any offer, even though some were good. A few weeks later, a retention person called me and asked me to come back. I was driving home from work so I had an hour to kill so I stayed with him on the phone and got this offer: Triple play with taxes included, a free multi-room DVR with no extra rental fees, Optimum Boost (higher speed tier of internet at the time), and 6 months of Starz - oh and free installation to run a new drop. They gave me an offer of 86 dollars a month, with no price increases for two years. Mind you I paid 75 a month to them for internet alone at the time, so this was 11 more for TV and phone. I accepted ..... but ended up cancelling anyway because I didn't want new drops being run in my newly renovated apartment. The guy ended up calling me back and asking me why I did that, because the deal he gave me was amazing. I told him I really didn't want it!So a few more items. Mentioning that you will go to a competitor doesn't always work. They hear it all the time. When you tell them you are cancelling and goes to Verizon DSL - they will tell you about how much faster their speeds are, etc. However if you do have a good competitor near you - such as Verizon FIOS, ATT fiber optics, or Google Fiber - that will work very well. However if you REALLY want to make sure you get a good deal - Call Verizon / ATT / Google Fiber first and PLACE AN ORDER - get an order # and make the installation a month in advance, say the 30th of the month. (Do not port your number, you may have to lose it to make this work) Then call your ISP and tell them that you want to cancel on the 31st of the month. Let them ask you why, and tell them you have FIOS/Google/Verizon coming over to install your new service. This makes retention much more jittery, because you aren't calling to negotiate, they think you are calling to cancel. However, some of them WILL and are REQUIRED TO ask you for your order # for a better deal. I did this multiple times when I was younger and still living with parents. Call Verizon, schedule appointment a month in advance, call cablevision to cancel, they freak out after they verify my order with Verizon (they can actually do that) - and then they come back and give you whatever you want. Again, be prepared to lose your service for a few weeks - and possibly switch to a competitor (don't put yourself in a contract though, so FIOS with contract has to be scheduled so that you have time to cancel before they come to do the install or you will be locked in.) I think that should help you a bit.
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Dec 11, 2015 01:21
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thanks for the advice I'll be trying tomorrow, ill post results.
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Dec 11, 2015 03:00
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Mordachi posted:thanks for the advice I'll be trying tomorrow, ill post results. I had Comcast for Internet and Cable+HBO for years up until 2 months ago. I live in the San Francisco bay area and paid roughly 220 a month. Outrageous I know. The breaking point came when I went to add two additional cable boxes to other rooms. They were going to raise it by another $20 bucks. I tried negotiating. Shopping for competitive rates. They offered me $10 a month off. So I said screw this and went with AT&T + Direct TV. I am now paying $90 a month for Internet+Cable/Direct TV+HBO and NFL Season pass and this is for 3 HD cable boxes and a 4 channel recording DVR system thats accessible from any room Yeah its a one year promotional rate. But it only goes up by $40 after one year. So I still come out ahead. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to dump that Comcast equipment on their counter. They tried negotiating at that point. Too late
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Dec 11, 2015 04:43
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You're looking for BillFixers.com.
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Dec 11, 2015 12:12
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DTaeKim posted:You're looking for BillFixers.com. Holy poo poo is that at all legitimate? reeks of shadyness as soon as the page loaded but maybe I'm just too skeptical?
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Dec 11, 2015 19:17
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Weener Beater posted:I had Comcast for Internet and Cable+HBO for years up until 2 months ago. I live in the San Francisco bay area and paid roughly 220 a month. Outrageous I know. The breaking point came when I went to add two additional cable boxes to other rooms. They were going to raise it by another $20 bucks. I tried negotiating. Shopping for competitive rates. They offered me $10 a month off. So I said screw this and went with AT&T + Direct TV. I am now paying $90 a month for Internet+Cable/Direct TV+HBO and NFL Season pass and this is for 3 HD cable boxes and a 4 channel recording DVR system thats accessible from any room I tried so hard to deal with Direct TV but the dish going out randomly at the worst possible times(sundays during football season, season finales of t.v. shows) eventually killed it for me. I just couldn't handle the unpredictability, I need to know that this Sunday I'm watching a shitload of football and that a thunderstorm isn't going to stop me.
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Dec 11, 2015 19:45
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Basebf555 posted:I tried so hard to deal with Direct TV but the dish going out randomly at the worst possible times(sundays during football season, season finales of t.v. shows) eventually killed it for me. I just couldn't handle the unpredictability, I need to know that this Sunday I'm watching a shitload of football and that a thunderstorm isn't going to stop me. Haven't experienced that yet. But we are just starting to get heavy storms. Keep my fingers crossed
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Dec 11, 2015 19:58
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Weener Beater posted:Haven't experienced that yet. But we are just starting to get heavy storms. Keep my fingers crossed You will lose it when you want it the most I can promise you. When the weather is poo poo so is your signal.
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Dec 11, 2015 21:45
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Brut posted:Holy poo poo is that at all legitimate? reeks of shadyness as soon as the page loaded but maybe I'm just too skeptical? Not sure if it's the same but there is a service just like this in SA-MART.
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Dec 11, 2015 23:42
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It's the same people. They even take the SAMART code for a discount.
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Dec 17, 2015 04:50
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Axim posted:words This is great advice. However... if they don't budge and they're ready to call your bluff, why not just hang up the phone before they cancel it officially, or make an excuse to call them back or something?
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Dec 17, 2015 08:29
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I dunno, probably due to the fear that they will meticulously record the call logs and know that you hung up in desperation? That seems pretty far fetched, I like the idea of your strategy. I actually did have a Comcast rep allow me to cancel and not try very hard to save the account. I had no internet for a few days and then called them back and negotiated a brand new account offer, but it counted as a new credit pull on my credit report, so that was a bit of a negative. I've been through the promotion-renegotiate-promotion cycle several times. Sometimes I won and scored another "12 months at $49.99/mo type deal", sometimes I lost and they actually disconnected my service. It probably all comes down to knowing your area and knowing if there is reliable competition. I find the price fixers service intriguing, I could see a market for that in today's sophisticated call center environment. Might as well have someone educated in your corner, against the call center agent training. e: these days the difference between $75 and $99 a month for TV and 100Mbps download doesn't seem to matter as much, but all monthly bills add up and the entire industry seems to be rather predatory in nature. Malcolm fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Dec 17, 2015 |
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Dec 17, 2015 09:16
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Just do what I do and start spouting off about how you've been a customer with them for X years
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Dec 17, 2015 14:27
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:11 |
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It's easier if there's competition and you do a little research. Just find out what promotions the available competition is running and call and ask if they can match. They will make some BS offer that won't actually match the promotion - let them know that they can either match the promo or you are cancelling, be nice but firm. Most likely you end need up needing to cancel because "they can't match it". They will xfer you to retention. Again, be nice but firm. Tell them that you empathize with their job & that you are happy with their service, but it's all the same to you and you are just looking to save money. If they can match the competitor price for a year you will stay. If they try to baffle you with bullshit "but we ran fiber in your neighborhood and you get a dedicated blah blah" just tell them "I don't care, my brother/uncle/grandma has _____ competitor service and says it's great - they actually recommended I switch, but I don't want to hassle with it". Typically they can only do a "promotional price" for a year, so the best you will get is a year at the discounted price. When the year is up, expect to repeat the above instructions. On only one occasion has the above not worked for me and I actually did cancel, but I set the cancellation date for like a week out to schedule new service. They called me before the week was up to renegotiate and were willing to match the price. This has worked for me probably 5-6 years in a row now. ifuckedjesus fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Dec 18, 2015 |
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Dec 18, 2015 05:03
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