How I Saved Over $220 On My Cable/Internet Bill

Sometimes you save money without even meaning to. Yesterday, I did just that by pitting two companies against each other to save $220 in about 10 minutes.

I have a pretty average Cable/Internet plan with Company A of $50/month. I decided to look at some new promotional pricing at Company B to get a PVR and more channels.

At first glance, Company B was offering additional channels, a PVR and slightly faster Internet for $40/month for the first year. This seemed like a great improvement, so I was almost ready to make the switch.

I dug a little deeper and found out that that pricing was only good for 1 year, and following that, the promotional price would double to $80/month. Hmm…

Knowing that plenty of people were switching to Company B, I decided to test out my negotiation skills and call my current provider. I asked to talk about cancelation and they immediately offered us a free PVR, additional channels and double the Internet speed… for the same price we were paying!

Some Quick Math:

****Current Provider over 2 years: $50 x 24 = $1200

Potential Provider over 2 years: ($40 x 12) + ($80 x 12) = $1440

That’s $220 in savings over 2 years if we stay with the current company. AND we don’t need to stay at home waiting for their technician to show up.

Basically, I got all the new features I wanted, without having to pay for it. That’s a deal I can handle.

Consider this:

On average, it costs a company 20% more (in advertising and resources) to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. If you say you’re going to leave, they’re going to use some of that 20% to keep you (and give you a positive customer experience).