Lower Your Cable-TV Bill: The Inside Scoop on Call Centers
One Call Does it All
Those friendly, smiling faces belonging to the people you speak with when you call in are people working in a call center. In most cases, the call center is a huge room, with aisles upon aisles of cubicles. Realistically, the average call center will employ 50 to 100 people.
Typically the call-center generates revenue from each call they take, sales, and retention of current clientele. At times the call volume is much greater than what the call-center can adequately tend to, creating an overflow of calls. So what does Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Adelphia do? They hire another company to handle a portion of their calls for them.
Unless you were to specifically ask, you would never detect this because these folks are very well trained and very affluent at what they do. The purpose of this article is by no means to discount all the hard-working customer service representatives that assistance when we call in. Rather, to inform others on the inner workings of the call-center, the perspective of the customer service representative, the cable company, and how to save money on your bill.
Doesn't it seem rather odd that two people subscribing to the exact same service decide to compare their bills, and are astounded by the differences they discover in price? How about someone who has been a customer for a great number of years that notices an advertisement on television for the same service they subscribe to at a lower price, they call in to find out that the offer they saw only applies to new customers.
How about taking care of the current customers? This is what prompted me to write this article exposing the cable companies by sharing with you information I'm certain they will not appreciate me passing on. This applies to Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Adelpia.
The customer service representatives receive an hourly pay along with a structured bonus plan. Without the bonus they really don't make hardly anything. The bonus system works on a point system. The customer service representative gains points from sales, volume of calls taken, quality assessments, and customer retention or saves. Not every call-center will be exactly as I am describing as this is a generalization to help you better understand the perspective of the customer service representative.
The friendly representative on the other end of the phone will have two goals in mind when speaking with you, upgrade your service therefor creating sales, or keeping you as a client when you inquire of canceling service. Time warner Cable, Comcast, and Adelphia all will strive not to lose you as a customer.
When you call and inquire about saving money on your bill generally you are asked to hold while they review your account and see what promotions or specials may apply to you. Sometimes this will save you a few dollars and sometimes not. People often times ask if there is anything they can do to save money on their bill and if they are told they currently have the best possible deal offered, they accept that and move on.
Possibly a simple inquiry about lowering the bill will satisfy some of the folks out there. If you are trying to save money the important thing here is not to give up, your persistence and patience will pay off. I will explain two different approaches that have proven to work for just about anyone whom I have spoken with that has tried this.
The first approach that I will speak of is a continuation of the call inquiring about lowering your bill. Let's just assume the customer service representative informs you that they can save you two or three dollars a month, or that you have the best possible deal that they can offer you at this time.
Your next for reply should be something to this effect, ' I really appreciate you checking on that for me, I think I'm going to check with dish network, or that satellite TV place because I'm certain I saw an advertisement that was far less than the service you are offering me, would you happen to know the number for dish network, or that satellite TV place?' It is imperative that you mention satellite TV, or dish network.
The reason for this, is because the customer service representative, upon hearing those very special words, is then authorized to offer you pricing designed specifically with retaining you as a customer in mind. Believe me, they have special pricing to offer you and they earn points towards their bonus system for retaining you as a customer. You have absolutely no reason to feel bad about this.
The savings are there, you just need to know how to get them. You would not expect the cable company to just lower your bill due to your loyalty and timely payments would you? The customer service representative may also try to entice you with other perks, like a free premium channel for three months, rather than save you money. Always sound appreciative of their efforts, but remember the reason you are inquiring in the first place.
If you are satisfied with the perk they offer you that is a great, if not, just ask about the phone number for dish network or satellite TV again. If you're contemplating whether or not this is worth your efforts, I personally cut my cable bill by 43%. This method really works, as does the next approach I'm going to share with you.
This is where we cut to the chase. This works the same for Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and adelphia. When you initially call in your speaking with a computer that directs you to push a button according to your needs. Example: for billing press one, to add, change or cancel service press two, I think you get the idea. You will select the option to cancel service. Don't panic, this will not automatically disconnect your service. The friendly customer service representative will be on the line shortly to assist you, all calls are answered in the order they were received, and so on and so forth.
This is similar to the last approach, only here we will eliminate the time involved while the customer service representative tries to lower the bill. When they receive your call, they will already know you are calling with the intent of canceling your service, so their job now is to retain you as a customer.
They will as always, ask how they may assist you. Now you will inform them that you are calling to cancel service. Once again don't panic, they're not going to reach over and flip a switch instantly disconnecting your service, rather they will make an inquiry such as, may I ask why? Your reply will be something such as, we are going to dish network, or we decided to go with that satellite TV service because we need to save some money.
The representatives reply will be something to this effect, I am very sorry to hear that, we really value your business, could you hold for just a moment while I review your account and see if there's anything I can do to save you some money? Remain positive and reply with something like, wow I really appreciate that, yes I can hold. Being kind and appreciative will inspire the representatives to help you to the best of their abilities. If you are rude and vulgar you may have a tendency to get accidentally disconnected.
Remember, the calls are monitored so you must say dish network or satellite TV to enable the representative to offer you that special pricing. If you don't mention it, they cannot offer it to you and if they do their employment is jeopardized. Go ahead and give it a try, save yourself some money, and help that friendly customer service representative earn a few extra dollars as well.
Published by Henry Palange
I currently live in Galion, Ohio,am a father and husband. I attended NC State College, and now attend University of Phoenix pursuing a degree in IT with a concentration in database design. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentFantastic Advice! I am on the phone know and reduced my $153 bill to $105/month. Very easy just say that you are thinking about leaving comcast for Direct TV. Look at their promo deals, and more than likely they will be lower. Just talk with the rep, tell them money is tight, but you want what you have been using and see what they can do. real easy saving $48/mo.
I just used the advice described in this article to lower my cable bill from $129 to $110/month. Used the basic phrasing above but without going through cancellations dept. The negotiation was amicable.
The CSR offered a $109 deal for a 2 year commitment. When I explained I was a good to go except for the 2 year thing, the CSR left and came back with a discount on my current cable that would reduce it to $110 with only a 1 yr commitment.
I got the price reduction- they got the assurance of holding on to a subscriber.
Thanks for the help.
I suppose I should have read something like this sooner, it would explain why I have so many customers saying things that just don't make sense on phone calls I receive. I never understood why, when I'm trying to help a customer, they would suddenly say 'Because I saw a deal with Dish that was so much lower'. It always seemed out of place, random, and made me feel like my helping them was for naught... and (personally) I always felt it made them sound a little dumb... especially when they would keep bringing it up. All I think when that happens is "If 'other company' is so great, why are you even with us?". You can ask anyonewho works in customer service how they feel when someone says "Well I'll just go to your competitor." It makes us annoyed and puts up a wall of resistance. Most of us at these centers are willing to work with customers to get them in a good package for services that they want.. WITHOUT threating to go to someone else.. if a price isn't doable, just say so, "That p
That one call worked like a charm! I had just called them earlier that day and got 'the runaround' about how I had the best package deal. Those two little words 'Dish Network'. I encourage everyone to do it, but be kind and respectful, please. Thanks for the tip!
I just tried to lower my cable/internet service with TW this week but was only offered $23 off my normal bill of $138. I would have to do a 24month agreement for that $23 savings. If I do not cancel within 60days then I would be charged $150 to cancel or lower my service(I do not have much to lower anyway lol) so I did some real shopping and have decided to cancel the cable keep the internet switch to dish network and pay $85 for satillite and internet. I still save $53 a month total for 12months and $43 a month after so I for one am not going to allow them to push me around. I can not wait to call them back and say I do not want your cable anymore...I find the inernet service to be better than DSL but may change that later also.
If you're having problems getting the desired outcome, you might want to consider that the 3rd party call centers are getting most of their calls during the evenings when everyone has time to actually look at their bills and get pissed off.
Try calling during after-work hours when the call volume is much higher, and the calls then bleed over to the outsourced call center. These people are PAID to keep you from canceling. Here's how I know:
When the agent gave me a discounted rate and I agreed to it, I IMMEDIATELY had to verify that:
1) I am not going to switch to DirecTV.
2) I am going to keep all three services.
3) I am very happy with the outcome of this call.
These calls are recorded. This is proof that the agent got the deal and saved a customer. This was not a Comcast Customer Service person - this was a 3rd party sales person who probably just made $50.
Yeah, this worked like a charm. The minute I said "cancel", it's like a whole different price page came up on their screen. In about 10 minutes of work, I took a $204/month cable bill down to $115 before taxes. And unlike the offshore call centers, these people speak English!
This article is great and was very helpfull I just tried the call to cancle tactic and saved my self 25 dollars on my bill and got more service options than what I already have THANKS A+++++++
I am fairly confident Time Warner keeps detailed notes every time you call in. They know if you have tried these tactics before. I think the only way to get results now is to actually cancel. You have to be willing to take your box or cable cards into Time Warner and cancel your account. Only then can you get the "best" deal... Ridiculous! Too bad there isn't more than one cable company in my area.
I just followed your recommendation and I got nothing.
I actually went all the way into establishing a cancellation date and still nothing.
Now I have to call at the end of the month and tell them I changed my mind.
FYI: They told me since I had the triple play, there was no lower rates, but I explained that this was a rate that is going to change in may of '09.
She then explained how a $20 saving and reward program would start after that rate expired. I suggested that this was another reason I was changing to DirectTV. Nothing.
I think they have learned