Can You Spare 10 Minutes to Save $138?
Last night as the month of August came to a close and I was updating my net worth spreadsheet, I began to review my monthly expenses. As I looked through my budget, my eyes were drawn to the amount of money being paid for cable television and Internet access.
With recent commercials and promotional mailings, I sat there wondering why new customers are offered such attractive deals while loyal customers pay full price. Since it was late on a Thursday night, rather than try and call customer service I opted to visit Planet Feedback and send a letter.
Having used Planet Feedback in the past, I was aware that some companies actually monitor this feedback and respond in a timely fashion. However, I had no idea that there would be a response so quickly or that it would be so profitable.
This morning I received a telephone call from my cable provider, less than 12 hours after submitting my inquiry. The woman that I was speaking with indicated that they had received my letter and would like to know what they could do for me today.
After explaining my concerns that new customers receive attractive offers while loyal customers are left with their service at full price, she commented that I had recently received a promotional offer on my cable service as a result of problems with the On Demand service so she could not provide any discounts on the cable service.
The good news is that she was able to offer me the broadband Internet service for a price of $19.99 per month for six months. The current monthly price is $42.95, which means this offer represents a savings of $22.96 per month or $137.76 over the six month period.
In the time it took me to draft an email on Planet Feedback and talk for a few minutes on the phone, I saved approximately $138 over six months. There was absolutely nothing to lose but a few minutes out of my day, which was well worth the end result.
Take a few minutes out of your day this holiday weekend to call your cable provider or use Planet Feedback to ask for a discount. Come back here and share your success stories.
Congrats, that’s a nice savings for only a few minutes!
Tim, thanks for the comments. It is interesting to see what you can get by simply asking. Have you ever had a similar success?
A VERY cool thing happened to me this week. We bought a dishwasher from home depot approx 3-4 yrs ago. At the time we had 7 kids living here with my husband and myself. I recall purchasing an extended warranty on it. We ran the dishwasher for a couple years- you can imagine how many times we needed to run it. Well, I had lost the warranty papers and the dishwasher dies a year ago. In the mail this week I opened up what appeared to be a piece of junk mail from the depot and they were notifying me that the warranty on said dishwasher was up in a month or 2 and would I like to extend it? WOW! I couldnt get to the phone fast enuf- a repairman is coming out this week and they told me if not repairable then a new dishwasher for us. We shall see. But my kids are delighted at just the prospect of getting out of those dishes!!!
That is very convenient timing! Thanks for sharing your story. Since this has happened, have you devised an organization strategy to keep tabs on important documents such as your warranties?
I sure am! The kids have been so tough on appliances that the dishwasher was the only one under warranty. The ironic thing was I was getting ready to hunt down a used dishwasher on Craigslist when the mailer came. We are new to all this personal finance but having finishes Dave Ramsey’s FPU we are doing a lot of things differently. Enjoy your blog- Peggy
Peggy, thank you for the kind words. Being new to personal finance, I would welcome your vote on my latest poll where I will post on a topic chosen by visitors.
Dave Ramsey has some very good information. Good luck and I hope to hear more from you in the future. BTW, the link to your site does not seem to work.
I just sent a letter over the weekend through Planet Feedback to Comcast. I still have a new subscriber discount on my internet, but they offered a $20 discount for 6 months on my television service, for a savings of $120.
Very nice savings Alan! Thanks for the feedback that this approach is still working as a means to save some money on your cable bill. Congrats!