# negotiating with tv/internet providers



## Hawkdog (Oct 26, 2012)

Interesting article in the globe.
http://www.canajunfinances.com/2012...=PersonalFinanceReader&utm_campaign=100320278

This works, I have called Telus to cancel my home phone as I really don't need it, each time they cut the rate.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Been doing this for 5 years. We have the same service as our peers but pay 30-40% less.


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## Hawkdog (Oct 26, 2012)

right on, I have doing for awhile as well. works well when they have a promotion going on.


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## Lephturn (Aug 31, 2009)

I did it for a few years - now I finally got smart and cancelled. No landline, no cable. Switched to Teksavvy for Internet (over cable) and ported landline # to a cell with Wind. No contracts. $ 52/month for Teksavvy (28mb down, 1mb up, 300 gig cap) $ 8.00 /month for Netflix and $ $47/month for Wind for unlimited everything including long distance anywhere in Canada.

I greatly recommend actually cancelling. Unless you are with Bell... in which case don't because I've got BCE shares.


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## Hawkdog (Oct 26, 2012)

i live outside of town on an acreage so I don't get any high speed internet options, otherwise I would look into what you have going on. Plus works pays for my cell phone.

Cancelling Bell today! switching to Telus TV.


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## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

Telus used to be bad. Relative to the other providers. However, lately I've been noticing the offerings and quality are superb. I would likely go with Telus if I wasn't sharing with the homeowners.


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## 1sImage (Jan 2, 2013)

I use Rogers, you have to support the stocks you own! An you also have to route against the the ones you don't. 

For intance, I hoped for Bell to not get there latest takeover venture. They didn't... but later learned the stock I have with the name BCE stood for Bell Canada enterprise.

Lets call it the curve of leanring!!!


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

1sImage said:


> you have to support the stocks you own!


No you don't. You should aim for the best value for your dollar. 
I own Ford stock, never bought a Ford, I own Intel, I have an AMD computer, I own BRK.B, I don't wear fruit of the loom.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I tried this over the past year. Tired of ever-escalating TV costs, I called and complained. They offered me a substantial 3 month discount to keep my business. When the 3 months came up and the new bill came I called again and they extended the discount for another 3 months. When I called the 3rd time they told me that I had been previously given two discounts when they normally only give one and that the regular rates would now apply. By then they had wasted enough of my time with the call center games of putting me on hold to "go and check" or "access my file" that I just wanted to get off the phone. A ploy, no doubt. So I don't know how people are able to get away with this on an ongoing basis.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

MrMatt said:


> I own Ford stock, never bought a Ford, I own Intel, I have an AMD computer, I own BRK.B, I don't wear fruit of the loom.


You should thank _me_, Mr. Matt.
I own a Ford (have owned for the past 13 years - it's the best), have an Intel i5 computer, and wear Fruit-of-the-Loom (casual, of course).
Yet, I own none of those stocks 

Enjoy your dividends


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

HaroldCrump said:


> You should thank _me_, Mr. Matt.
> I own a Ford (have owned for the past 13 years - it's the best), have an Intel i5 computer, and wear Fruit-of-the-Loom (casual, of course).
> Yet, I own none of those stocks
> 
> Enjoy your dividends


Me too!


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## Hawkdog (Oct 26, 2012)

I called Telus to see what they would give me if I switched from Bell, they offered a reduced rate for 6 months, a free HD receiver and 2 regular receivers.
However when they came to install, the technicians said i needed to cut down a bunch of trees in order to get the HD satellite, so still thinking about that. 
Telus also offer 5 bucks off your bill if its packaged with your other Telus services.



the-royal-mail said:


> I tried this over the past year. Tired of ever-escalating TV costs, I called and complained. They offered me a substantial 3 month discount to keep my business. When the 3 months came up and the new bill came I called again and they extended the discount for another 3 months. When I called the 3rd time they told me that I had been previously given two discounts when they normally only give one and that the regular rates would now apply. By then they had wasted enough of my time with the call center games of putting me on hold to "go and check" or "access my file" that I just wanted to get off the phone. A ploy, no doubt. So I don't know how people are able to get away with this on an ongoing basis.


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## SpIcEz (Jan 8, 2013)

only 5$ !?!?!? Thats an insult.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

Actually you should thank me for investing in these companies and helping to support them produce the best value for you!

So you're welcome.

Realistically I think it's best if financial decisions are made on their merits. 
I do think providing a good product/service is essential for long term success, but those products might not be the best fit for me. Ford doesn't even sell a minivan anymore!


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## CashMoney101 (Mar 6, 2012)

SpIcEz said:


> only 5$ !?!?!? Thats an insult.


How is that an insult? Say you sell bags of apples for $10 and bags of pears for $15. A customer wants to buy a bag of each. Does it really make sense for you to give them $5 off and cut out 20% of your revenue? Not really, unless there is some other reason it helps the bottom line. The reason the big providers do bundling is for customer entanglement. Once you've gotten used to getting all your fruit from the same vendor every month on one bill, a competitor that only sells apples or only sells pears is unlikely to get your attention. They'd have to sell all the same fruit at a lower price to win your business. While there are a few folks frugal enough to switch to one apple seller to save $.25 and drive across town to a different pear vendor to save another $.50, the majority don't wanna waste the time as they are either consciously or subconsciously aware of something called 'opportunity cost.' 

Over all though bundling is a win for both consumers and the big providers. Saves you some money and simplifies your bill payments. For the provider it's like a firewall that protects you from being stolen by their competition, or at least makes it a lot harder for competitors to steal you away. I'm not able to speak to the stats on entanglement as that stuff is confidential, but the client turnover/churn stats are very clear. Each additional service in the bundle shows a huge reduction in churn risk to the whole account. So by writing off an extra $5 you have a customer for multiple services, with a much longer time horizon to make profits off of. In retail this generally doesn't make sense (see:Groupon) but with things like TV, internet and phone where the cost of acquisition is so high (installation costs, modems, PVRs, etc) compared to the cost of maintaining the service after it's running, well it usually takes a year or so of monthly billings to cover those upfront costs. Any strategies to reduce the risk of account churn make it more likely that customer's account will get to the black, which is why they generally will try very hard to stop you from cancelling the first couple times you call in about it. However, they're not stupid and are aware that forums like this and redflagdeals and so on are full of posts about gaming their client retention departments so... After a couple calls like that, chances are your account is marked as 'deal seeker' so they start putting their foot down. At the end of the day though what they're doing is buying time for the acquisition costs to be covered, after which many of these services are very very profitable. If you've been with the same provider for a long time, chances are you will get the best possible deals as your account is in a highly profitable situation, all costs covered and so on. Calling in several times a year is not the way to do it.. Calling in every couple or few years works a lot better.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

TRM, are you with Roger's Cable (Ontario)? Your provider seems to be a bit stingy with only offering 3 month discounts. I'm now on my 2nd year of a substantial discount. I was paying $81.11 before I threatened to cancel ... and I would have if I didn't get a discount. I'm now paying $63.11. Still too expensive for what I receive, but it's better than what it used to be.


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## SpIcEz (Jan 8, 2013)

CashMoney101 said:


> How is that an insult?


You do like to ramble on  I'm sorry, you lost me at fruits...

In Quebec, the big 4 (Videotron, Cogeco, Bell and Telus) offer rebates between 15$ and 25$ when you combine services.

Thats why I think 5$ is an insult.


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