Anyone had luck getting cable bills reduced? **UPDATE**

[Mermaid02]

We pay about $135 monthly for phone/cable/internet through TWC.... Fairpoint has been offering a similar "bundle" for significantly less... I HATE Fairpoint but if TWC can't go down on their price by something I might have to switch.... Just wondering if anyone had any luck getting reduced rates....

UPDATE 02/08/10
I got her to reduce the cable portion by $17 a month.... she said we already have reduced phone and internet rates.... I can "negotiate" for those in April... All in all I'm pleased... that's $17 we get to keep!

 

[carymomof3]

We pay about $135 monthly for phone/cable/internet through TWC.... Fairpoint has been offering a similar "bundle" for significantly less... I HATE Fairpoint but if TWC can't go down on their price by something I might have to switch.... Just wondering if anyone had any luck getting reduced rates....

I did. Just call Time Warner and tell them your bill has gotten too much for you to handle and you're being offered less elsewhere and ask them what they can do for you. They transferred me a couple times, but the last person they gave me was exceedingly nice and it was her job to lower rates. She immediately offered to lock me into a two-year contract for $35 less than what I was paying for the same service. Tells you how much they're making off us, huh?

 

[asoko]

We did. We got an offer from a competitor and called our cable company. They reduced our bill and increased our service, not as good as the competitor, but my DH didn't want to change email address

 

[Mermaid02]

I did. Just call Time Warner and tell them your bill has gotten too much for you to handle and you're being offered less elsewhere and ask them what they can do for you. They transferred me a couple times, but the last person they gave me was exceedingly nice and it was her job to lower rates. She immediately offered to lock me into a two-year contract for $35 less than what I was paying for the same service. Tells you how much they're making off us, huh?

And by "locking" you in you just can't cancel their services for 2 years?

 

[mrsklamc]

Yes. We called to change to a smaller package and they gave us a $25 credit for six months not to. We will be calling again in 6 months.

I just read an article on negotiating and it said that 82% of people have good luck negotiating lower cable rates if they call.

 

[hipchickie]

We have comcast, not TW, but I was able to get our bill reduced to a starter rate of $99 a month. I was ready to cxl cable altogether, but I need the phone and internet for my home based business. That $99 rate is cheaper than what I would have paid for just the phone and internet at the speed we have


Call more than once if you need to to get what you want - I had to call 4 times total. First time they told DH we were locked into a contract (not true), then they don't price match, they had nothing else, etc etc. Finally i found that rate and asked them if we were eligible and we were (no contract required either)

For Comcast, and probably everyone else, they are not going to help you get it cheaper, you need to work for it....I asked a dozen times, gave a dozen different scenerios, and was told there was no lower option - but once I found it on the site and asked specifically, suddenly it was an option

 

[tinkmom2]

I switched to ATT U-Verse because TWC was getting too high. You get a rebate too when you switch to ATT. I have digital cable with a DVR in 3 rooms. You can go on their website and choose how many channels you want and what features. I have our phone, internet, and cable with ATT and have been very happy with the service. Also my service doesn't go out every day like it did with TWC.

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm in nursing school now and had to cut my hours down to 24/week instead of my usual 32 - not only am I losing 16/hours every pay, but it made our insurance more expensive so it was a big pay cut.

We have atlantic broadband, and pay $140/month for tv/phone/internet - including DVR/and the extended cable box which we use A LOT. I called them so many times last week and they couldn't give us a better deal, even though Verizon could give us the same deal (except with Direct TV instead of cable) for 94.99 for the first year. I was so upset!

 

[Swimalie]

Every Jan I call Comcast (ugh) and tell them that my yearly "deal" will be up and I want to know what they will do to keep me. I always get either a better deal or a better price. This time I got $15 off the bill. I was happy with that. Sadly, they are the only non-dish, non-dial up service in the area so I can't deal too much with them so if I get anything off, I'm happy.

 

[sparklynails23]

If you call and say, "I'm calling to cancel my service," they are much more willing to deal. You could always be bluffing, but how do they know.

 

[Mermaid02]

My husband told me to tell them we are switching to DishNetwork- Fairpoint for internet and we're getting Magic Jack!

I'm going to call Monday and see what they can do for me.... You don't know until you try.

 

[Catira]

We have Time Warner and decided to call and see if I could lower our rate.We were paying about $145 and we were offerred the same package with a couple of upgrades for $105. No extension or renewal of contract. Of course, I immediately explained that I would cancel my services if I was not able to obtain a better deal. It seems most companies have a retention department where customer reps do their best to keep the customer.

 

[Mermaid02]

We have Time Warner and decided to call and see if I could lower our rate.We were paying about $145 and we were offerred the same package with a couple of upgrades for $105. No extension or renewal of contract. Of course, I immediately explained that I would cancel my services if I was not able to obtain a better deal. It seems most companies have a retention department where customer reps do their best to keep the customer.

Thanks Catira! Keep your fingers crossed for me on Monday!

 

[Catira]

Thanks Catira! Keep your fingers crossed for me on Monday!

Best of luck.. I have been able to lower cell phone bill, time warner cable, as well as my XM radio to 1/2 the cost

 

[kaytieeldr]

We have atlantic broadband, and pay $140/month for tv/phone/internet - including DVR/and the extended cable box which we use A LOT. I called them so many times last week and they couldn't give us a better deal, even though Verizon could give us the same deal (except with Direct TV instead of cable) for 94.99 for the first year. I was so upset!

See hipchickie's experience of having to call multiple times. Keep trying. I called my cable company last summer when I was out of work, attempting to lower my bill. No help. I called again a couple of days later, explaining the exact same thing - no threats to leave, nothing, just asking for help cutting costs. The rep found me an AMAZING deal - same channels, less than half of what I'd been paying.

 

[Mermaid02]

bump for update.

 

[lurkernj]

Hmmm, we have Cablevision here in NJ. DH called a few months ago and said our cable bill was getting out of control, they advised us to get rid of the DVR in order to lower our bill.

 

[Kathi OD]

DH has been out of work for 20 months

Comcast put us on a 6month promotion for our bill. At the end of the 6 months I call and tell them that he is still unemployed and they renew the promotion. I imagine that they might ask for proof that he is unemployed one of these times.

 

[dtr_angel]

Hmmm, we have Cablevision here in NJ. DH called a few months ago and said our cable bill was getting out of control, they advised us to get rid of the DVR in order to lower our bill.

that is what atlantic broadband told us!

 

[Mermaid02]

Others have given the advice to keep calling.....