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A lot of cable customers end up overpaying for mediocre services. The main point of concern is that the billing can go up every year significantly. So, even with the same level of services, you have to bear the price hike. Also, there are only a few providers in the market that have no hidden charges. For-example there is no Cox hidden fee for any service by this provider.
However, you can put a stop to this exploitative exercise by negotiating with the service provider. It is a difficult and demanding process but if you manage to get it done, your monthly billing can get lowered significantly.
Here are a few tricks that can help you in negotiating effectively with your service provider:
Do Adequate Research
Research is the most important step in preparing yourself for negotiation. Figure out your monthly online bill pay habits, what kind of services are you receiving and what kind of services suit your lifestyle. Make a list of your monthly services and bills and determine if an available package suits your needs.
If there’s no such package available, you’ll have to negotiate for a discount on your monthly bill. If you are already a subscriber of a package, determine if you are using these services to their full extent or not. If the answer is no, then you might need to change your subscription to individual plans.
Having all this information will enable you to adopt a clear stance. Also, noting your bill payment habits will help you in proving yourself a valuable customer during negotiation.
Consider the Quality of Services
Always determine the quality of service before moving forward with negotiation. You can do so by noting the occurrence of any Internet outage issues or unavailability of TV channels during the subscribed period.
Although problems with a TV service are quite easy to figure out, issues with the Internet are harder to notice. Always test your Internet speed for a month before negotiating so that you have evidence of low-quality service provision.
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How Much Bandwidth Do You Require?
It is very important to figure out how much Internet speed do you require for monthly use. If you a hardcore streamer, you might need higher bandwidth than if you just use the Internet for occasional surfing. Here’s a table to help you figure out the ideal speeds for you:
| Usage | Applications | Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic usage | General surfing | 1-5 | 0.5-2 |
| Basic streaming | Video streaming, basic gaming extra | 5-10 | 2-4 |
| Heavy streaming | HD streaming and gaming | 10-30 | 4-10 |
| Premium usage | 4K streaming and gaming | 30-80 | 10-20 |
| Platinum connection | Professional use | 80-1000 | 20-1000 |
Take Note of the Hidden Fees
Keep a record of hidden fees so that you are easily able to provide proof during negotiation. Some providers offer the best Internet packages for little or no hidden fees. For-example Cox Gigablast bundles come with no such fee. However, other providers can often make customers pay unexpected charges.
If you were promised no installation fee by your provider but that fee was included in your monthly billing, take note of such overcharging. Similarly, if you are receiving a modem rental fee even when you own your own modem, you can use it to negotiate the billing as well.
Look for Other Options
Do some research regarding the discounts and promotional deals offered by your current provider. You can ask him/her to give you a discount if there’s no room for lowering the monthly bill. You can also inform him/her regarding the promotional deals of other service providers and ask him/her to offer you a similar one.
So, by knowing about all the deals and promotions, you can communicate your demands to your service provider effectively.
Prepare a Script for Negotiation
Although warning your service provider against your subscription cancellation might seem like a nice strategy, it is far from being one. If the provider is an established one, he/she won’t mind if you cancel the service. If you want a shot at a discount, then you have to stay calm and prove yourself a valuable customer.
Never try to threaten the representative. Instead, be polite and calmly share your concerns with him/her. It might happen that you are informing the representative regarding the slow streaming speeds on your Cox TV equipment. But he/she might not know about any discounts or quality improvement tools that can solve that problem. Therefore, when you face such a situation, be polite and try to call back at another time.
Choose the Right Strategies
You can employ these two strategies to negotiate your monthly cable bill:
- Call and inform the representative about the issues in services and pricing
- Call them at another time to inform about the cancellation of services due to the price hike
The representative upon hearing your concerns might offer you a small discount. But the key is to politely reject this offer. If you’re not sure about the offer, do not make a decision on the spot. Instead, call them later. If you’re not satisfied with the final offer, be prepared to reject it.
So, whenever you decide to call your ISP regarding the negotiation, make sure that you have done adequate research regarding your needs and ISP’s limitations. Be polite but be consistent to make sure that your concerns get addressed.
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