Today, a friend of ours, who's hooked up with the works—super high-speed internet access and premium cable with DVR and HD channels—but was sick of how much he was shelling out for it all, successfully slashed his monthly bill in half. All just by calling and asking for it. Even if you're not a new customer, as long as you've had a good relationship with your provider you should be able to take advantage of specials. All you've got to do is ask...
How to... Haggle Down Your Cable Bill
Call your cable provider and ask for whatever promotional deal they're offering new customers (or bring up a competitors rate). Sometimes it's just that easy!
But if you're dealing with a hardball, try this trick from My Money Blog: Ask to cancel your service, and then actually cancel it. Tell them you'll need some time to set up new service and set your cancel date for 2 or 3 weeks in the future. Then a few days later, call customer service back and tell them that you'd like to reconsider their business if they could offer you [insert great price here].
Chances are, you'll get your price. Just remember to ask them to remove the previously set cancellation date.
If you're still not getting anywhere, it might be time to cut the cord and cancel your cable.
We know, we know... it's hard. But hopefully you find a little hope and a few great ideas after you check out our posts on "How to Live Without Cable," parts one, two and three.
Image from mrbill on Flickr with a Creative Commons license.
Comments (7)
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What about for those of us who live in an apratment in which only one cable provider is used? I might give it a try anyways. If all else fails i'll have my girlfriend become a new customer :)
view BWatts's profile
I attempted to cancel with Comcast but they didn't budge.
But....
When once I was disconnected they called me back and offered some good deals.
view Neuski's profile
so I am with DirecTV and they have me in contract and use that against me when I have attempted this on several occasions, I guess they believe a $200 cancellation fee holds power over me. Thing is too, I have already been with them over 2 years, and we recently moved. Come to find out, when they reinstall the dish although it is "free".... my signature that they did the install created a new contract... uuugggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
view stephanie1980's profile
Comcast blatantly told me no. I did all of the above except actually canceling it and ditching it. When I told them i was thinking of canceling and going without it, he basically said "Fine, do it"
You gotta watch those promo rates too. They are often for 6 months, so then you gotta call back in 6 months again when they try to screw you and hike it even farther.
view jmorey's profile
This may not work for everyone, but when I moved to a new apartment I canceled my cable internet rather than transferring it. When I got it installed at the new place a couple months later they gave me the introductory rate again... I only have the cheapest cable internet so it only shaved 10$ a month off my bill, but if I had more packages it'd probably be a better deal.
view Rolen the Great's profile
It's so funny that you wrote this today. I just called Comcast the other day and asked them for a promotional deal and wasn't able to get the $99 deal for two years, but was able to get a $114.99 deal for two years that includes phone, internet, & hd cable. And I understand how some of you feel about having a home phone but half of my apartment is underground and I get no cell service. Honestly...kill 'em with kindness. Let them know that you're on a strict budget & that you'd like to cut your bills down. They are probably in the same boat as you are. Just don't yell at them & remember that they're just doing a job, they don't make the rules.
view unseeneclipse's profile
I'm the worst negotiator. I need to get some of my more persuasive friends to do all my haggling in the future.
A few months ago I negotiated my Time Warner cable bill down. I live in New York City, and RCN (a TW competitor) was offering an identical package (with a moderately slower Internet bit rate) to what I was already receiving for $99/month. I was paying, including two premium channels, $149/month (the premium channels were bundled together for $25/month).
It took nearly an hour of haggling and speaking to three different people until I got a representative to lower my cable bill to $107 before taxes and fees. So I repeated over the phone a few times "$107 for EVERYTHING," to which he said "yes."
It turns out that he only lowered my service to $107, but I was still paying $25/month. So I was basically only saving about $17/month. But of course, I didn't notice this till two months later when my correct, adjusted bill came to me. So by then, I called Time Warner back to complain that I was told $107 for EVERYTHING, but they wouldn't give me any better deal.
I know Time Warner does this, not sure if other companies do it, but they have a Price Lock Guarantee that will lower your cost for two years as long as you remain a customer of their's.
view ErikTheRed's profile