Taking advantage of the bad economy and failing businesses

[Bruce9241]

How do you feel about taking advantages of other people's misfortunes? To me it is perfectly fine if they are big companies.

I've recently been negotiating with a lot of the services I pay for each month. I've found that these companies are willing to bend over backwards just to keep your business regardless of how small you are. Perfect example is AT&T DSL and your cable provider. I was able to cut my bills in half just by calling in and hinting to them that I am thinking of cancelling the service.

 

[JoeWoah]

Cars, homes and clothes. I haven't tried my cable service though. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Xericx]

The same thing happened to one of my co-workers trying to cancel DirectTV. I would do the same, but I actually enjoy their service and don't mind paying for it.

 

[Bruce9241]

Originally Posted by Xericx

The same thing happened to one of my co-workers trying to cancel DirectTV. I would do the same, but I actually enjoy their service and don't mind paying for it.

Call in and tell them you currently have both direct tv and cable. Or direct tv and that AT&T tv service. They'll do what they can to keep your business. You gotta play it right though. Tell them you like direct tv, but your wife is loving the cable. Competition is so fierce right now with these cable tv type companies. You can tell by all the advertising they have on tv.

 

[Pennglock]

I do this in any economy, but Ive been having amazing results lately. In the last two months I've knocked significant dollars off of catering/venue for a party, piece of furniture, cable bill, and even my laundry service. It's tough out there, and various services need to step it up if they're keeping my business.

 

[B1FF]

I've been cleaning up with eBay "best offer" sales.

You can tell sellers are reluctant to take my crazy-lowball bids, holding out until just before the timer expires, but I haven't had one refused yet.

 

[Bruce9241]

Anyone have any tips to save money around the house? Any luck getting your water or electricity bill lowered? Probably not, but it would be wonderful.

 

[DeCaloFashion1]

Originally Posted by Bruce9241

Call in and tell them you currently have both direct tv and cable. Or direct tv and that AT&T tv service. They'll do what they can to keep your business. You gotta play it right though. Tell them you like direct tv, but your wife is loving the cable. Competition is so fierce right now with these cable tv type companies. You can tell by all the advertising they have on tv.

I used to work in sales for a cable company. They give HUGE commissions to their salespeople for retaining customers. If you play it right you can get a drastic reduction in your monthly bill and/or a number of free months of service or premium channels.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Bruce9241

How do you feel about taking advantages of other people's misfortunes? To me it is perfectly fine if they are big companies.

I've recently been negotiating with a lot of the services I pay for each month. I've found that these companies are willing to bend over backwards just to keep your business regardless of how small you are. Perfect example is AT&T DSL and your cable provider. I was able to cut my bills in half just by calling in and hinting to them that I am thinking of cancelling the service.

And tell me, who gets hurt, when a big company needs to lay off people due to this? It ain't the CEO, and he has a parachute anyways.

 

[lizmasc]

How do you feel about taking advantages of other people's misfortunes? To me it is perfectly fine if they are big companies.


This. Bigger companies do have more people to feed but these big retailers usually get their stock at a much lower price than the little guys

 

[suited]

Time Warner is like a flea market. They've gotten a little better about it though, and it's not as easy to swindle as it use to be, but I will try. I'm already getting a really good deal, but it's worth a shot.

 

[likeitaloud]

Big, small..it's capitalism baby.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by likeitaloud

Big, small..it's capitalism baby.

Endorsed.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by DeCaloFashion1

I used to work in sales for a cable company. They give HUGE commissions to their salespeople for retaining customers. If you play it right you can get a drastic reduction in your monthly bill and/or a number of free months of service or premium channels.

Where do you guys live and what providers do you have that you can actually talk to a sales person at a cable company? I'm lucky if I manage to get through to a HUMAN after 15 minutes of waiting and pressing my 26-digit customer number multiple times. After that, the person I get to talk to asks me for my 26-digit number a couple more times as well as my mother's dog's shoe size. If I tell them I pay too much, the only answer I'll get will be "ok so what channels do you want to cancel?".

 

[DeCaloFashion1]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Where do you guys live and what providers do you have that you can actually talk to a sales person at a cable company? I'm lucky if I manage to get through to a HUMAN after 15 minutes of waiting and pressing my 26-digit customer number multiple times. After that, the person I get to talk to asks me for my 26-digit number a couple more times as well as my mother's dog's shoe size. If I tell them I pay too much, the only answer I'll get will be "ok so what channels do you want to cancel?".

Sounds like you need a new cable provider!

A little tip:

If the automated menu has an option such as "press 1 if you want to install new service". Then press the number 1 (even if you are calling for something else).

You will not only be routed to a live person quicker but you will also get someone from the sales team who is most familiar with special offers and retention deals currently available.