So I found this out today and thought I would pass it on to all of you, in case you weren't aware. Most Internet Service Providers have a customer retention department and if something is ever wrong and you decide to cancel, you will be transferred to them. But you can also get to them if you call up and simply say you are unhappy with your service and you are thinking about cancelling. I was able to save roughly 1/3 of my cable/internet bill by doing this, and the best part is that it is locked in at that point, even if the price goes up for the rest of the service tier. One final note: there is no need to "act upset" when you do this. Quite the contrary, the nicer you are, the better results you will get. Hope this helps, and let me know how it goes!
Thank you for posting that! We have been thinking about our Charter Cable bill being so high. We get like 200 channels and there is never anything to watch. But the caveat is that we absolutely love our cable internet. We have the bundle thing where we get our home phone included. Realistically though, we don't really need a home phone anymore because everyone in the house has a cell phone. The kicker being that if we drop the phone we end up getting charged more !?! Must be Cable Math? We'd really like to kind of drop the home phone and threaten to drop the cable tv but I think my hubby and son would call mutiny if I dropped the television portion. I'm going to call and tell them that I'm thinking about satellite and see if I can get to the retention department to see what they can do. I will post and let everyone know how it goes.
I was about to make this thread, but you've summed it up pretty well. I was having financial issues with my broadband provider, and they cut me off at a most inopportune time. Fair enough you might think, but there's a bit of a story. Long story short though; I owed them money, not as much as they thought. They cut me off. I phoned them up, asking for it to be put back on please and mentioning that they should perhaps look at the account notes. They refused all of this, and I had to pay the full amount, and they still took their sweet time turning it back on. As soon as I was reconnected, I used the internet to find a new provider. They mostly came with a catch, like having to install and rent a phone line, or excessively long contracts, things like that. I did manage to find one that was roughly equal in price, so I signed up! They sent me some details in the post, and I called the existing provider to cancel. They got progressively more desperate to keep me as a customer over the next couple of days. During the call to cancel, they asked who I was going with, and the woman said "ooh, no... they're not very good. My friend is with them, she hates it..." I told them I didn't care and to proceed with the cancellation thank you very much. The next day, I got another phone call, basically pleading with me to stay. I said "no, you've annoyed me enough right now thanks." The day after that, I got another call. They took a different tone this time. I was right this time! The woman said "I've been authorised to credit the disputed amount, would you consider staying with us?" I told them no. She asked if she could put me on hold, I let her. She then came back with "I've just been authorised by my manager to credit your arrears, credit the disputed amount, and lower your tariff." The tariff amount lowering is nearly inconsequential, but they did basically reset my account to zero and going forwards it is at a slightly lower rate. It's a shame they couldn't have considered this while I was disputing the amount, AND threatening to cancel. It took me actually cancelling, and them trying a couple of times, before they offered me a good deal. It was probably the best they could have done at that point, other than straight up giving me free money, so I did accept.
Wow. Well, at least, you have a nice deal now. As what I have mentioned in one of the threads in here, retention agents would do anything to retain a customer. I have worked with them side-by-side before. I was working with Sign-ups for Netzero and some of my friends were working in the retention department. And they were complaining about the metrics that they need to meet. But you have to make sure though that there are no catches all right? XD
The only "catch" was that I had to agree to sign up for the contract for another 12 months, whereas previously it was just a rolling contract where I could cancel at any time. Given the reduced rate, that is probably not a concern. It was incredible how they dealt with it though. First call they made was all a bit 'meh', and I told them to stick it. Second call, much the same, but a bit more grovelly, but I stuck my ground and told them I wasn't interested. The third call they offered me something I'd have been a fool to refuse really. It's also interesting how even when I mentioned the word 'cancel' their operators were "ooohh... nooo... you don't want to go with that company..." talking like it was personal experience. If you're going through shit with your cable company, make them work for it. They'll probably try and persuade you back, but don't do it unless it works in your favour.
