Negotiating Your Cable Bill: What Works And What Doesn't

It might not always seem like it, but your cable bills are almost always negotiable. It’s a little-known secret that the perfect combination of haggling and research, backed by your portfolio tracker, can wear down your provider’s customer service just enough for a discount. Even the right amount of sweet talking could get you a promotional rate, or get you out of certain fees.

Come Prepared With The Facts

No negotiation will go well without a little research. Before picking up the phone, grab a copy of your latest Comcast CMCSA Xfinity cable bill and go over what you want to negotiate. Know the exact level of service you have. That way you can easily compare it to alternatives.

It’s also essential that you get an estimate of the number of channels you must have. For cable, figure out what channels you absolutely need. Whether that’s the local channels and five others, or 700 channels, know what’s important to you.

Compare To The Competition

Not only are you going to want to research what your cable package does for you, start viewing the competition. This is the key to getting your cable bill as low as possible. Start searching the internet for what other cable deals offer, and keep track of their packages and prices.

This will not only give you leverage against your provider, but it's also important research in case you decide to go through with the cancellation. If negotiating your cable bill doesn’t go in your favor, the work is already done for you to pick out the best alternative option. And remember, if the competitive prices aren’t that compelling, the customer service representatives will most likely not know that. Skew the numbers in your favor for argument’s sake.

Calling Your Provider

Make sure when you call your provider all your research is laid our ahead of you. Feel free to let the price of your cable bill fuel your argument, but keep it polite on the phone. The most important thing is that you’re on the phone with a human being, instead of an automated robotic response.

Once you're in touch with a human, explain that you would like to cancel your service. The rep will say something like: “We’re so sorry to hear that! Is there a particular reason that you will be leaving us today?” To which you respond that a different company (give an example here), offers you the same service with a better cable package for however many dollars less a month. The customer service rep should panic at this point and move you to the Retentions Department.

Retentions Department

This is the service your provider will transfer you to in attempts to “retain” you as a customer. Here, they will give you an initial offer, which should be better than your current cable bill price, but don’t give in just yet. Compare this to yet another company, to which they will either give you a better offer, or start with the free throw ins. If the price is to your liking, and you’re please with the added channels or other throw ins, agree to stay with their service.