Negotiate
I’m always impressed to see people squeeze a good deal out of a faceless corporation. Others are far better than me at this, but I still know the principles involved. A friend of mine lives and breathes Fatwallet, a site that I find all the more exciting because the Big Guys hate it. Said friend was recently rewarded with a free home theater system just for paying attention. (And by following up with the Rebate Police over and over.)
I pride myself on being able to stand up to everyone from shady car and mattress salesmen to cable company CSRs, and walk away feeling like I got a good deal. One arena where this is exceedingly straightforward is the cell phone companies. Even with the deck so stacked against the consumer in the U.S. via suffocatingly long-term contracts and confusing fees, there’s still a power play you can make when the time is right.
After Heather and I picked out the phones we wanted, I went to the store alone to try to really hammer home a deal that made sense. I was able to get a great price by negotiating the post-rebate price in-store, then printing the rebates at home and submitting them for a double-dip. I didn’t back down, and I saved about $200 just by being willing to walk away at any time. Being willing to walk away is a tried and true technique for buying a car or other high-ticket item, which are generally more ephemeral processes, but less people consider it when it comes to their cell phones, cable service, etc.
It’s indeed possible to save a lot of money by negotiating exactly what you want from the carriers once you’re out of your contract. I remember when Clark Howard used to advise people “Don’t sign a contract for a cell phone.” Now it’s “Try to sign only a 1-year contract for a cell phone.” Times have changed.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:50 am
i pretty much have to respond to this post. of course, thanks for the shout-out. Congrats on the double-dip, I never heard that story–puts my rotating contract-holder via Amazon plan to shame. I never had a phone in the height of the no-contract era, but my Dad held out for years and was able to pressure BS for free phones, perks and service for an eternity. Still the 2yr contract is not even a consideration for me, even though I’ve never switched companies–I refuse to be locked in for that long. And at the risk of being muted–here’s a little self-promotion, I would love it if more people were savvy consumers and used the standard Amazon deals where you make $150 by buying the RAZR, to then flip it on ebay and use the sim card in the unlocked MS Smartphone of their choosing.
A note about Clark, and maybe this is just my ignorance, but it seems like he’d buy a bag of crap if it was 90% off. Then my grandfather goes and buys a bag of crap because Clark told him to. Whereas I would say “hey I would really like a bag of crap–what’s the absolute least I can pay for it?” Then I take that and add a rebate, a coupon, and a price match and I’m out.
I see the distinction as being the difference between extreme deal finding (you and I) and extreme frugality, to the point where he won’t turn over a single penny until it is hemorrhaging blood from Abe’s face–regardless of whether the thing he bought is actually worthwhile or not. Open Office, I’m looking at you.
April 26th, 2006 at 11:49 am
Well, your Amazon plan worked out pretty well for you, too.
I never told you about that?
A) Phone (Moto e815) is $150 with new contract. Has a $50 rebate, but you can order it online and get an “instant rebate” (whatevertf that is) and pay $100 cash per phone at VZW.com. Mail-in rebate not good online. (obviously)
B) I went and got 2 of them at the mall kiosk, but said “I don’t like dealing with rebates; I want to pay $100 cash for each of them now rather than waiting on a rebate check.” A discussion ensued, I threatened to walk, etc.
C) They finally agree to sell it to me for $100 cash, and they would send in the rebate themselves. (I didn’t really know how this was going to work, but I tried to make it sound like it was a fantastic idea so I could get to the “I hand them $200, they hand me the phones” part, since I had a plan after that point.)
D) They make the sale. I pay them $200 and they give me 2 phones.
E) They take the boxes and turn them over so they can remove the UPCs (in order to send in the rebates themselves.)
F) I say “Not so fast, guys. Verizon has a 14-day money-back guarantee, which I intend to use if I don’t like the service. Removing the UPCs would void the guarantee, so you need to leave it on there.”
G) They realize that I’m right, and leave the UPCs on the box. I go home, print up the rebate forms, cut off the UPCs, and get that $100 mailed to me, making the total cost $50 per phone. At the time, this was what you would pay on Amazon, but only for one phone. Not valid on Family Plan. The rebate expired, and Verizon still wants $80 for these phones, almost a year later.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
spectacular–that was a sweet move to keep the UPCs!
July 4th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
We would remove the UPC, our return policy allows for no UPC on box.