Don’t Be Pushed Around by the Phone and Cable Companies When You Can Negotiate!

Don't pay more than you have to for telecom services.

Did you get a new bill from the cable or phone company that’s suddenly higher?  Well this is the game that business plays anymore.  They think we will blindly accept whatever price our new bill might be.

I just went through this.  I go through it every year.  Can’t they make our lives easier and just set a price and say here’s what you have to pay for your current plan?  In Europe you actually get faster internet at much cheaper rates.  They had gigabit internet years before Google Fiber too.  

When you call the company and they can’t give you a better deal you have to tell them you are ready to walk away from their ‘deal’.  They assume that customers like to haggle and find pricing phone, cable and internet service in annual ‘promotional’ rates as an incentive to get us to buy extra services that we don’t want. Instead, what you need to do is ask for a  “retention specialist” or the “customer solutions department.” 

Ask specifically for that type of person whose job is to keep you as a customer. Shop around with real deals from their competitors and have facts ready on hand  to share with them. You should be prepared to leave the company, but you also may negotiate a lower price.  

It’s unfortunate that they put us through this.  But they all do it to us!  

I called and managed to get them to keep me as a customer.  It just took raising my blood pressure a bit, not being rude, I just stood my ground.  Perhaps, if we all did then the phone and cable companies would get tired of playing this game.  After all, competition is a two-way street.