15 minute phone call saved $148 on cable

I've been considering switching TV providers from Comcast cable to Verizon FIOS. Verizon is my local phone provider and they keep sending me fliers in the mail to switch to their FIOS TV service. I looked at their website and they are charging $12 less a month for the HD channel package and they have an offer for a free DVR for 12 months. I pay $14 a month right now for my DVR from Comcast. So if I switched to FIOS for a year I'd be saving $26 a month off my bills.

But I've heard that Comcast and Verizon offer deals to customers to keep them from switching and they offer incentives to get people to switch back. So I figured it couldn't hurt to call Comcast to see what kind of offer they might make to keep my business. I called and talked to the billing person and explained that I could save over $20 a month with FIOS. She tried to sell me a bundle of phone, Internet and TV but I am not currently interested in switching all 3 services to a bundle. So I ended getting transferred to someone else who could talk about just TV and maybe offer me something for that. The second person I talked to gave me a discount on the TV package. She offered me $15 off a month for 6 months, a free DVR for 3 months and free HBO for 1 month. If I add that all up over a 6 month period it amounts to $148. Per month thats a $24.67 savings that I'm getting off the normal Comcast bill, almost the same as what I would have saved with FIOS. All together the call took about 15 minutes.

15 minutes saved me $148.

Now I could have saved about as much by switching to Verizon. But there is still a bit more time and effort involved in that and right now my Comcast service is working just fine for us.

If you're considering switching providers just to save some money then why not give your current provider a call and see if they'll offer a discount to keep your business. This tactic could work with cell phones, cable TV, Internet providers or any kind of service fee where they have competition and offer discounts to attract new customers.