Save on Comcast Cable, DirecTV and a HDTV: Two More Examples of Saving Money by Asking for a Discount

Here are two new examples of saving money by asking for a discount. They were left as comments on my post titled Two Examples of Saving Money by Asking for a Discount. The first deals with saving on a Comcast cable package:

I was able to get Comcast to agree to lower my rates for my combined Internet/Cable package by $30/month for an entire year. I just called them up after the 1st of the year and asked. I wasn't getting anywhere until I mentioned the (apparently dreaded) word "satellite" and then I got promptly forwarded to someone in retention who made me the offer right away. Not only will I save $360 this year...it will give FIOS another year to roll out in my area so I can jump ship. :)

$360 savings a year for 10 minutes work isn't bad at all!

The next comment offers a similar idea:

My dad did this at Sears with a HDTV. He ended up getting a 60" for the price of the 50" he went in for because they were out of the 50" and they wanted the sale. I also recently kept asking for discounts when I upgraded to HD service with DirecTV. Originally their HD-DVR was listed at $300. Long story short, after a couple emails and calls, I got the price cut in half, plus got my HD service ($10 per month) free for a year, plus an additional $10 a month for a year off regular programming. So basically I "saved" $390 for about a hour of my time. A good deal in my opinion. The magic words I kept using were "can't you do better than that" and "Dish Network is still cheaper than that".

These stories prove once again that it never hurts to ask (for a discount.)

Comments

[Tonitigress]

After the first of the year I called Comcast and told them I was going to downgrade my cable service (because of all the personal finance/frugal blogs I have been reading!), they proceeded to offer me a 36.00 monthly reduction for my cable/internet/home security. I accepted and will now save 432.00 a year. I always ask for a better deal, and I usually get it. Doesn’t hurt to ask!

[Kevin]

Me again, on a smaller scale, some buddies and I were eating out at Buffalo Wild Wings Tuesday night. Monday was my birthday and I casually asked our waitress what their policy on birthday discounts was. When I got my check, I saw she had taken the 12 wings off my bill. I saved about $5 or 25% of my bill.

[Will]

I had a very similar issue with Comcast. When we first moved into our apartment we got the Digital Plus package for 45.00 a month which was a great deal. After a year they wanted to bump us up to the regular rate of 75.00 a month. I took the time to take my box in to the local office and told them that cable service was not worth 75 a month, so I'd like to cancel. Within about 10 minutes I had a rep that offered me their digital starter for 30 for a full year, plus FreeHD and FreeDVR. All it takes is a little time to reap the savings.

[Becky]

Our Roadrunner internet with Time Warner Cable is the same way. We got a "discounted rate" for 6 months. On the 7th month, the bill went up. My husband called them planning on threatening to cancel, but didn't even get that far! As soon as he said that our bill went up, the lady said she'd bring it back down for another 6 months.
I think these companies count on us being too lazy to call them. They expect us to just send in the money (because that's what the majority does).

[Kevin]

Becky's right - why do you think so many of them want you to autopay with your credit card or checking account? Cause then you won't look at the bill as closely, at least that's what they hope.

[TheJapChap]

It's true... I was paying $80/month for Comcast cable & internet, and then it jumped to $112/ month after the promotional period was up. I told them I had to cancel my cable altogether and they gave me a BETTER line-up for $70 a month! Granted, this one's only for six months, but I guarantee there will be something reasonable then if I am only willing to ASK...

[tpaul]

You guys are great. I just called Comcast and asked nicely if they could do better on the cost of my HD cable and internet. I reminded them that I've been a good customer for a long time and that the total cost was just too much for me to continue as is. After a few different options were discussed, they knocked $20 off cable and $10 off internet for a year. I did not have to go beyond the original customer service rep.

[Earth-Byte.com]

I took the advice of this entry and called up Comcast to have my rate reduced. I am paying $35 less a month now AND I get tons of extra channels.

[Andrew]

I didn't do as well as everyone else because (a) I can't take their phone service - I tried it a while ago and despite them having every team in New England out at the house with a truck parked outside for 4 weeks, they never got it to work, and (b) I couldn't take the slower internet ($24.95 for 768k, UGH!). Still, just for being a pain in the ass on the phone, they're giving me $23.70/mo off the bill for a year.

[Nick]

Apparently Mediacomm doesn't do this. After my new customer discount for a year. I called and had my rate lower again for 6 months. Then I called after that was up and talked to supervisors and said that they can't give me a retention rate right after a retention rate. So what did I do? Canceled two digital boxes, dvr, and showtime/starz/tmc. Just buying 8mpbs internet and watching the tv they can't block.

[TIM]

I had the same run in with comcast. After the first year of having dirctv they pulled my discount so i switched to cable. When comcast quoted me 87.55 a month for hd dvr cable i told them i would stay with my direct tv. All of the sudden they offered me the same exact package for 54.90 a month and a free year of hbo. Its a joke you have to do that to get them to charge a reasonable rate, but you do what you have to do i guess. All you have to do is say your going to take your bussiness elsewere and they will start discounting your service.

[Tom]

I have DirectTV and was not nearly successful in negoitating a discount. What did I do wrong? I got $5 for three months. UGH!!! I was expecting more. Anyone got some ideas??

[FMF]

Tom --

I'll post your question for readers to answer in a week or two. Stay tuned.

[jayzizzo702]

i would connect my laptop to my lcd tv through an svideo connection and stream wifi tv to my big screen for free. gotta love technology.

[Abraham Cohen]

Hi, I was able to get free DSL from verizon by threatening to join COMCAST!!!

[melissa]

I was able to $10.00 off my diretv bill for the next 6 months plus free hbo,starz and showtime for 3. I had dish network pulled up and asked if they would match their specials. It took maybe 15 minutes.

[Gee Money]

I WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE THEM TO LOWER MY BILL!

For about one year, I was paying roughly $108 including taxes for HD Cable, HBO, Showtime, and Broadband Internet w/ speed bump. After that first year ended, they raised my bill to $182 including taxes.

I called Comcast and selected the option to cancel my service. They CSR took my information down and asked why I wanted to cancel. I said well, the price of my services jumped up from $10 to $182. I think that is too expensive and I don't watch it enough to warrant paying that much money every month. He told me that they were running some promotions that would allow them to offer a lower price to bring me back down around what I was paying before and asked if would be interested in doing that. I agreed.

He set me up with the following HD Cable, HBO, and Broadband Internet w/ speed bump for roughly $108 including taxes for the next 12 months.