Time to renegotiate my Home Internet again

[Cow Poke]

I do this every 6 months. I call up AT&T and tell them I'm thinking about quitting. My home internet is back up to $50 a month. I think it needs to be about $25.

I will call and tell them I'm going to switch, and they'll send me to the "customer retention department", where they'll tell me what a wonderful customer I am and how faithfully I pay my bills, and they'll find a way to lower my payment for the next 6 months.

Then, my bill will go up again, and I will call and renegotiate all over again. (Usually, I get it down to "a special offer for 6 months of $26 / mo)

I LOVE this!

[Sparko]

I wish they had Verizon Fios here where I am. They have fiber internet that goes up to 500mbps down/100 up (not that I would need THAT much bandwith and speed)

I almost got AT&T last month, but they couldn't even get my address right for the installation. Went to the wrong house! I figured if they could not even get that right, it bode very badly for future service, so I canceled the install. I am currently with Time Warner.

[Sparko]

Now Google Fiber would be the best deal. 1gbps down and up! record up to 8 channels at a time too.

But they are only in a few cities: Kansas City, Provo Utah, and soon Austin, Texas.

Pricing: https://fiber.google.com/cities/kansascity/plans/

[Catholicity]

We know, they haven't made it here to our area of the Kansas City Metro yet.

[Cerebrum123]

I wish they had Verizon Fios here where I am. They have fiber internet that goes up to 500mbps down/100 up (not that I would need THAT much bandwith and speed)

I almost got AT&T last month, but they couldn't even get my address right for the installation. Went to the wrong house! I figured if they could not even get that right, it bode very badly for future service, so I canceled the install. I am currently with Time Warner.

TWC is awful. We have constant disconnects, they never fix it, we have weird speeds despite having a good router(dual band of some kind), and it's just not consistent.

[Teallaura]

At least you guys HAVE a choice!!!!

[Cerebrum123]

At least you guys HAVE a choice!!!!

Actually, TWC is all we have, otherwise we would take our business elsewhere.

[KingsGambit]

I would call to renegotiate but I'm almost certain to be moving within the next six months and I'm concerned it might lead to a termination fee by resetting my contract time.

[Cow Poke]

I would call to renegotiate but I'm almost certain to be moving within the next six months and I'm concerned it might lead to a termination fee by resetting my contract time.

I always am sure to ask that.. "does this obligate me to additional time, or create any kind of contract"?

USUALLY, moving out of the house is an acceptable termination of the contract, if there is one.

[Sparko]

OK I got my cable bill in the mail yesterday and it went up another $10. Basically $154 for TV and internet (15gb).

So I called Time Warner and complained and told them I was thinking about switching to AT&T

They offered me 20Gb internet and an extra HD channel package (about 50 more HD channels) and HBO (which I will probably never watch) for $113/month including all equipment, taxes and fees.

[Cow Poke]

OK I got my cable bill in the mail yesterday and it went up another $10. Basically $154 for TV and internet (15gb).

So I called Time Warner and complained and told them I was thinking about switching to AT&T

They offered me 20Gb internet and an extra HD channel package (about 50 more HD channels) and HBO (which I will probably never watch) for $113/month including all equipment, taxes and fees.

Cool! Good job!

Meanwhile, I called my credit card company for United Air Miles, because there was an $85 annual membership fee. I thought it was a "no fee" card, and I use it all the time.

The lady was VERY polite, but had a long list of benefits I receive for that $85, and she could actually demonstrate about $500 in savings including first class upgrades (I used that 6 times), free baggage check, free President's Club membership (very nice when stuck in an airport on layover, and I used that about a dozen times) and other perks, including no fee flight cancellation or rebooking.

OK, so THAT $85 was well spent.

THEN I asked her "how bout a lower interest rate"? (I pay my bill every month, so I don't pay interest, but I wanted SOMETHING for this phone call) She checked and said, "Mr Poke, you are already 6 points LOWER than the lowest rate available today".

I said, "OK, so I'm getting NOTHING for this phone call"? (And I said it jokingly, and laughed) And she ALSO laughed, and said, "well, you got to talk to ME and I'm smiling real big".



OK, so SOMETIMES when you call to renegotiate, you find out you've already done the best you can do!

[Sparko]

Now I need to find some better and cheaper home and car insurance package. I am currently with State Auto, and my insurance rep was Wells Fargo, who just got bought out by some other company. My problem is that every year my home rate goes higher and higher. They tell me its because of the increasing value of my home, and what it would cost to rebuild it, blah blah blah.

I ain't buying it. I think I want to see what else is out there. Who do you use CP?

[Carrikature]

Now I need to find some better and cheaper home and car insurance package. I am currently with State Auto, and my insurance rep was Wells Fargo, who just got bought out by some other company. My problem is that every year my home rate goes higher and higher. They tell me its because of the increasing value of my home, and what it would cost to rebuild it, blah blah blah.

I ain't buying it. I think I want to see what else is out there. Who do you use CP?

You can challenge the increase in appraisal value. My MiL does this regularly. I'm not sure it's a good idea if you ever plan to sell, but that's not a consideration for them.

[Sparko]

You can challenge the increase in appraisal value. My MiL does this regularly. I'm not sure it's a good idea if you ever plan to sell, but that's not a consideration for them.

Yeah I did that but their answer was that the appraisal value was what the house would sell for but not what it would cost to rebuild if it were destroyed, so they use some complicated calculations to come up with a price of what it would cost to rebuild the home on the same land.

All sounds fishy to me. No matter what the actual cost would be to rebuild, that has nothing to do with what they want to charge me for premiums. They could charge less for the same amount of coverage if they wanted to. So I think its time to check around.

[Cow Poke]

Now I need to find some better and cheaper home and car insurance package. I am currently with State Auto, and my insurance rep was Wells Fargo, who just got bought out by some other company. My problem is that every year my home rate goes higher and higher. They tell me its because of the increasing value of my home, and what it would cost to rebuild it, blah blah blah.

I ain't buying it. I think I want to see what else is out there. Who do you use CP?

I have shopped around a LOT, and I keep coming back to Liberty Mutual. They had a special rate if you belonged to a Credit Union, and I DID! I switched for a while to .. um.... can't think of the other company, but came back to Liberty. When I call to ask my agent (who I know on a first name basis ) about my rate, she says "let's see if we can get you a better deal".

I have a teenage granddaughter, for instance, who just turned 18 and got her drivers license. My agent, Bernie, checked into adding her to MY insurance, and it would be $1500 a year. BUT, since my oldest daughter (Heidi's Mom) is on a "friends and relatives" plan of mine, Bernie figured out she could insure Heidi for $450 a year on my daughter's plan.