Negotiating Services

[livingdeb]

All the frugality blogs recommend calling and negotiation with your service providers to get lower rates. You can ask for better interest rates, lower monthly charges, and getting rid of fees.

I have actually gotten rid of some fees before, and I have comparison shopped. Over the past week I tried some techniques I haven't tried before.

I tried calling my car insurance company to ask about ways to lower my rates. The guy was completely clueless. He kept mentioning things I already did, "You have defensive driving." Yes, I know. He even said, "You have air bags." I told him that I didn't have air bags and I'm not even sure they were invented in 1991 when my car was built. He was referring to my passive restraint/air bag discount. My car has one of those annoying shoulder belts that slides into place automatically when you turn the ignition.

So I started asking him things like whether they have lower low-mileage discounts (I'm already in the lowest category). And whether I can have a discount for having a fire extinguisher or something (no). All he could do is mumble again "You have defensive driving." To be fair, he did also mention that I could lower my insurance amounts.

I also finally got ahold of my mortgage company to try to wrestle away control of my escrow account. Can't do it unless I refinance. Uh, no thanks. Even with the lower interest rates, I'll never make back all the fees. So, I won't be doing that either.

I did change my long-distance service to one with a lower monthly cost and lower per-minute charges, but you never know how much will really be charged until you see the bill. My last company had the charming policy of charging a fee to make up for not having made enough calls, so basically I paid for $12 worth of calls (minus some of the associated taxes and fees) whether I made these calls or not. We'll see if that works out or not.

Comments

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

Yes! I want to do this. Need to put that in the to-do list.

So, you called your car insurance, mortgage company, and phone long-distance carrier. Who else is on your list to call and try to reduce?

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Nothing else is on my list. And there's not much point anyway if I already am doing the best I can.

We did a good job shopping around when we first picked things out and we keep up with changes, so most things are good. We have low-priced car and homeowners insurance from real companies--the last few times I shopped around, none of the other highly rated companies were any better. All our other insurance is free or cheap from work. We have a credit union and online savings accounts with no monthly fees and that aren't slime buckets. We have a discount broker with good service. I have one credit card with good interest rates and a couple with good rewards (none have annual fees). I have Netflix with no Blue-Ray. I have natural gas heating and the smallest available trash can (which is how they price trash service).

I just kept reading that if you call, people will magically offer you better deals, but I think this is most true for complete slimy credit cards and for cell phone service. And maybe cable in places with competition.

[pamwheatfree.livejournal.com]

My friend Pete did this accidentally. He couldn't afford his computer line and all the channels on his cable so he called the cable company to drop some services. They immediately got a supervisor on the line and they gave him a great deal for the next year. He didn't lose any services but he paid about $30 less for them per month.