Chopped $43 a month off of one of my bills!

[gimmethesimplelife]

Just wanted to post that today I have had success chopping one of my bills down to size. I have a smartphone I love with Verizon at a monthly bill that embarrasses me - it had been 109.00 a month. Then today I got to thinking, if T Mobile is really willing to pay my early termination fees to leave my contract, doesn't this give me a little leverage to see what if anything Verizon would be willing to do to keep me?

So I called Verizon and I think the key to these kinds of calls is being pleasant and not giving the CSR a hard time. I asked the CSR what Verizon would be willing to do if anything to keep me from switching to T Mobile and GET THIS! MY MONTHLY BILL MYSTERIOUSLY FOUND A WAY TO DROP TO AROUND $66/ W TAX! $43 a month under my roof is worth worrying about, yes indeed. I've always thought that calls like this were not likely to yield results but now I wonder.....my advice to anyone out there is if you are paying too much for your cellphone plan, give it a try - though I'm thinking that most people here don't need this advice. Rob

[Jilly]

Good advice.

[Selah]

Rock on, Rob! Very skillful CSR wrangling! :)

[SteveinMN]

Well played, sir!

[Teacher Terry]

Rob, that is great! I have dropped bills before by calling nicely-actually it usually works.

[Lainey]

My co-worker just did this with his car insurance. The motivation of competition!

[Rogar]

Interesting. Makes a person wonder how many more costs out there are negotiable.

[SteveinMN]

Makes a person wonder how many more costs out there are negotiable.
So many purchases are negotiable. I've negotiated mortgage rates and closing costs. I never pay a "truck fee" for routine contract work like furnace inspections because I have them service both my house and my rental property across the street -- a kind of "volume" purchase and they don't need to roll the truck more than once. I've had salespeople throw extended warranties into electronics purchases without increasing the price to make the sale.

All you have to do is a little homework, remember that "asking is free", and not take a turn-down personally. You don't ask, you don't get. :)

[Teacher Terry]

Also once you do not drive to work everyday your car insurance goes down a lot. YOu just tell them you want the under 5,000 miles per year plan.

[jp1]

From what I've read T Mobile's "We'll pay your termination fee" marketing plan is really stirring up churn in the mobile phone industry so i'm not surprised that Rob was successful. The current carriers would be foolish not to try and keep their current customers. Everyone should probably call their carrier and ask the same question.

[Cypress]

I can comment on Verizon smartphones and how to save up front. I finally upgraded from a serviceable Tracfone on a pay as you go plan. I visited the Verizon store and after fussing about the price per month and actually leaving the store to think about it, I came back and the salesperson suddenly remembered they have a pay per month plan on a previously owned smartphone. The I 4Phone cost $100. The monthly fee is $65 for 2 MG or $75 for 4 MG. I was able to continue using the same phone number. So far, the phone works fine. The only drawback is apparently, it will not work if I travel to Europe. I don't know why as I was hoping to post to my FB page pictures while on the road.

This was not published in Consumer Reports which I read extensively their December or January issue on smartphones and the plans available

They have lesser cost plans, but it took a while for that to surface. I like walking into this store and doing business this way.

[shadowmoss]

I only pay $30/month for my Mom and I on a family plan with Consumer Cellular. I think it's as low as I can go. :)

[jp1]

Cypress, you should still be able to post pics using the wifi if you can find a hotspot. You just can't use the cellular network.