How To Get Free Stuff From Your Existing Services (A Success Story)…

As you may know, we’ll be moving on Thursday to our new pad. We got into our current house almost 6 years ago, so it’s been a while since I’ve made a move of some kind.

I’ve been reminded over the past week that one of the biggest pains about moving is getting all your existing services canceled or transferred and getting all your new services set up. But I knew we didn’t have any contracts on any of our services we could transfer, so I knew we would have an opportunity to negotiate for some better deals.

I like negotiating for better deals.

So I called to transfer our satellite service but quickly pointed out that we were out of contract and had plenty of other options to choose from. I talked with the girl for a few minutes and quickly asked to speak to a supervisor. After talking with him for a few minutes, we got a couple of new freebies plus he then just started throwing stuff in!

In the end, he cut our bill down by about a third, gave us some additional channels for free (primarily Fox Sports Midwest so I can now watch the Cardinals games!), and is going to move our current dish and receiver for free (normally $100)…without extending our contract!

I’ve made these calls before and was pleased with the outcome of this one. Here are some tips to help you out with this…

Do Your Research – The first thing I do before I call is make sure I have my facts straight. Make sure you know exactly what services (including any bells and whistles) you’re currently getting and what you’re paying for those. I also always review the company’s website to see what current specials are being offered. Just by checking this out yesterday, I found I was paying $5 more than I should have for the package I had.

Understand Leverage – Know where you have an advantage in that type of negotiation. I had two things in my favor: 1) I was out of contract and could switch easily to someone else and 2) Just about any business is hurting right now and they can’t afford to lose you as a customer. The supervisor I spoke with said several times, “We’ll do this, because we don’t want to lose you as a customer.”

Know What You Want – Don’t just call with an open-ended demand: “Give me a better deal.” After reviewing their website and seeing what other offers were available, I knew what I wanted to ask for. You can ask for discount prices, additional free services, lower interest rates, etc. Ask for some things but not everything.

Move Up The Food Chain – Most of the time a supervisor is the one with the ability to toss out freebies. I usually will talk to whoever answers the phone for a few minutes, but then ask to speak with a supervisor. Another place in the food chain that can usually offer some deals is the cancelation office. They are the last resort of the company before you cancel service, so they are authorized to throw in all kinds of perks.

What other tips do you have for saving money on existing services?