I was right in the middle of writing my Favorite Things of 2011 post, but this seems more important at the moment. Mostly because I’ve been promising it for ages, and I just had to deal with Comcast today.
So here’s the thing: your Comcast bill should never really go up, ever, from the time you move into a new place onward. As a note, when you change addresses, you’re essentially a new customer, even if you have Comcast already, meaning that you’re eligible for all sorts of nice promotions (like the ones you probably regularly get promotional mail about, or the ones on the front page of Comcast.com). Anyhow, want to lower your current bill? Try this:
1) Don’t call. Don’t e-mail. DO use the Customer Service Live Chat, where you chat online with a support analyst. Always and exclusively. Go to Account & Bill -> General Billing Questions -> Chat With Live Agent. The conversation will be more in your court where you can control the tone and flow, you can take your time with answers and have a plan of attack, and if it’s not going how you want it to you can simply try again with a new analyst. It might take a couple of chats, but you stand a very good chance of getting what you want (sometimes better). And the online reps have access to different promotions than the phone reps do. (As a note, you may be transferred to a sales analyst at some point in the chat, which is totally fine – they are often even more helpful and can dig up different deals too.)
2) Be unflaggingly polite. These are people you’re talking to, and it’s much nicer to get things off on a positive foot (rather than the antagonistic phone calls you may be used to). As soon as the analyst enters the room and you get their name, say “Hello _____, how are you?” When they ask if you can give them a few minutes to look up your account info, say “Sure, thanks for the help.” Etc. Feel free to be honest when you’re frustrated, but conversely be sure to thank them whenever it’s appropriate.
3) Start by telling them that you’re having trouble affording your current bill, and that you’d like to know if there are any local promotions that you may be eligible for to help you lower it. That part is key, since they can differ drastically depending on where you are, and for whatever reason that seems to get the reps to poke around in corners that they otherwise may not. While they’re looking into it, feel free to add that you (if you’re like me) regularly receive mail from them advertising lower rates, but are frustrated that as a current customer you’re not offered the same courtesy (since the advertised prices are almost always for new customers only). If the conversation calls for it I’ll throw in a “I’d really like to resolve this so that I can remain a customer.” Do your best to state your case and tell them where you stand before/while they’re looking for new promotions for you, because if they say they can’t find any they often won’t go back on their word.
As far as rough prices (at least for me in the Bay Area for the last ~five years), you absolutely shouldn’t be paying more than $29.99/month for Performance Internet (you can sometimes get the faster Blast! boost added on for nothing), and $39.99/month for Digital Preferred cable. And you can often go cheaper than that depending on what’s available ($19.99/internet $29.99/cable should be the goal). You can usually get a free 6-12 months of HBO too, or at worst $9.99/month extra for it (which I personally find to be worth it). While you can often get the HD-DVR box fee waived for a while after installation, it’s tough to avoid the $15.95/month after a point. So that included, you should be at a base price of about $85/month before taxes for the full setup of Performance Internet, Digital Preferred Cable + HBO, and HD-DVR rental (and NO contract/commitment). Ideally you’ll be well below that (especially if you’re a new customer, willing to accept lesser packages, or a particularly savvy negotiator), but if you’re paying much more than that (like many people I’ve spoken to) you’re doing something wrong and really need to tend to it.
4) Be diligent. You’ll likely receive a few different promotions at once either for a year or six months, so be sure to check in on them every five months or so (or even four to get ahead of the billing cycle) since some will likely be expiring soon. If you suddenly notice that your latest bill is notably higher because a promotion expired, don’t fret – just follow the above steps and they should bring it back down and prorate the billing cycle that you’re in. But if you get two months behind before noticing, it’ll be trickier since they’ll make you pay the overdue first month before negotiating a new rate for the second one (which is what I had to suck up and do today). And if you miss out on dovetailing promotions into each other it can be harder to fight it back down quite as low.
I recommend paying your bill online manually every month instead of using AutoPay so that you’ll always notice if anything goes up, and can then contact them as needed to keep the bill where you want it. They want you as a customer, and as long as your rep isn’t incompetent and/or lazy they should be able to dig you up some better rates. At the very least it doesn’t hurt to ask, and I can almost guarantee that if you do the bare bones of what I’ve said here you’ll at least lower your bill a bit.
Good luck, and please let me know how it goes.
Update 07/15/12: Hey, this blog post is now the #1 result for “how to lower your Comcast bill” on Google. Pretty keen! Comcast has seemingly been getting a bit stingier over the last six months it seems, but all that means is that you may have to be a little more persistent. If you have a frustrating couple chats with unhelpful reps, take the night off and try again in a day or two (new promos also may pop up in the meantime).
Another tip that I wanted to share: A few months ago a coworker told me about Comcast’s new HD-DVR boxes – a much sleeker and smaller form factor (and black instead of garish silver, it turns out), and a significantly larger hard drive for storing shows. My old box had been having a hiccup or two at the time, so I brought it in to my local store. The Comcast stores are generally kind of a nightmare of lines since there’s so few of them, but it was worth the wait: When I got to the front of the line I put my old box on the counter and started to tell the rep that it was acting up when he interrupted me with “New box?” and walked to the back to get me one when I nodded. Moments later I was walking out with what has been a vasty superior box; smaller, quieter and vastly more space, all for about a half hour of my time. Give it a shot! I didn’t need to do so, but I would think that simply telling them that that you’ve heard they have newer boxes and that you’d like to trade out would be enough. Good luck!
Don’t you love when they screw up your bill but you still have to pay it on full and wait for a credit on next month’s bill?
Threatening to leave (Politely) usually works. When i moved from Comcast to Verizon, the comcast representative basically said “what can we do to keep you a customer?”
Skadave, I use that excuse every couple of months with the Comcast live chat people. Sadly, I don’t ever get very far.
Today I chatted with one person who just did the usual “I’m sorry, we have restricted access here.” nonsense and then I logged right back on again and had the person say “Would you like me to apply a $20/month discount for 6 months?”!
The only difference (I was nice, etc to both) was that on the second chat I came right out and said “Hey, I saw THIS offer offer online. Can you offer me anything like this to lower my bill?”
You are spot on, Nick. I’ve done this renegotiation process a couple of times a year over the past several years with Comcast in NJ, and it always results in maintaining an $80-$100 monthly rate for the boosted Internet + DVR TV service + HBO. I hope this post is read by other subscribers so they can similarly benefit.
Thanks, Nick. This worked like a charm for me. I was able to save $15 for the next 6 months and get faster internet. I set a reminder to do it all again before it runs out.
okay nick i called retention at comcast and got 30 dollars a month knocked off for 6 months thank you
Good tips, but they only work if you bundle. We only want internet and we’ve been trying for 2 months with nothing from anyone.
As of June 2012, it worked for me and without a bundle. I have Digital Starter TV (lowered 25 Dollars a month), Premium Internet (Lowered 22 Dollars a month) and HBO (Lowered 22 dollars a month, FREE). Great advice!
Just got my bill dropped from $120/mo to $70/mo for internet/digital cable preferred. Thanks, man. Great advice!
how is everyone having this luck…I have been trying for a bit with no success. with taxes, I have digital starter and internet for $112…need some help!
This worked for me 6 months ago but this time they said I couldn’t get it because I’d already been given the promotional offer. I’ll try calling them later and if that doesn’t work I’ll try the chat again.
no luck for me. tried twice on chat, and twice on the phone, and all 4 reps had exactly the same options. i’m sure it doesn’t help that i’m an internet only customer…
No luck online or over the phone, so I went to the local store and the person behind the counter gave me a smug grin and said there is NOTHING we can do for you. I told him, “I used to work for said cable company and yes there are options you can do for me, you just don’t want to.” He just stood there and said nothing, deer in headlights look. The young lady in the next stall asked me if it would be alright if she reviewed my account. She knocked $30 off my total price and was over apologetic for her co-worker. Yes, I raised my voice and some might say I was rude towards the person I spoke with first. But sometime someone has to let people know that the grass is green and the sky is blue.
Have been doing the online chat only for a few years, now. It is far better than dealing with someone on the phone. Consistently, I have been able to jump back and forth between promotions simply by doing as the post suggests. Politeness and “I’m poor” has gotten me all of the pricing I’ve needed from Comcast.
Today, I had to go through this and the guy was very cool. I got an even faster connection for the promotional price I was paying before. It sucks to have to go through this every 6 months, but it is a bigger hassle for the cust. service reps to lose business on their watch.
So I have the Comcast agent in chat right now and I am saying: Charish: Hello Michael, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Charish. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Michael: My Issue: I am having trouble being able to paying my bill. Is there anything that can be done.
Charish: I hope you are doing well, Michael.
Michael: Hello Charish. How are you this fine evening.
Charish: I am doing great, Michael. Thank you for asking.
Charish: I see here you need help in making payment to your account?
Michael: So you can see my issue. Can we try to find some way to work something out? I am not trying to make a payment. I am having issues with the amount of the service I have to pay every month. I am having some problems with paying that amount every month. Things are tight right now.
Michael: And I do not want to have to disconnect and leave Comcast for a cheaper company.
Charish: I totally understand where you are coming from, Michael.
Charish: I’m here for whatever questions or concerns you have. I’ll do everything I can to help you.
Charish: For the integrity and security of the account, can you please verify your full account number?
Michael: Can we work something out so we can lower the bill?
Michael: **** ** *** *******
Charish: I will be more than happy to help you with your concern, Michael.
Charish: Thank you for verifying your account.
Charish: May I have 2 minutes to check on available options?
Michael: Sure. Take you time Charish
Charish: Thank you.
Michael: Thank you.
Charish: While you are waiting why not check out Comcast Customer Central from either Comcast.com or Comcast.net and learn more about managing your account online. If you have any questions after we are finished, I’ll be more than happy to answer them for you.
Charish: Thank you for waiting, Michael. I checked our system and it shows the package that you have right now is the best package that we are currently offering.
Charish: I would highly recommend you to contact our Retention Department to check if they have available discount for you. I am on a tight budget as well and I totally understand where you are coming from.
Charish: You can contact number by calling 1-800- (934-6489). They are open Monday – Friday between 8am – 5pm.
Michael: Can I talk to them on chat?
Michael: oh. ok.
Michael: Alright. thanks.
Woah! Lots of replies here, I’m glad that it’s helped several of you.
@Megan and @MattCarswell E. Yeah, going internet-only is tough. I would still try a few different reps though, and don’t forget to ask about local promotions.
@Matt Yeah, that’s way too much. Honestly I think you’re at the “threaten to leave” stage of the process if they’re not going to help you out further than that. Though definitely try citing the deals on the front page of their site, which should be significantly cheaper than that.
@Scott That’s their easiest excuse, but try the chat a few more times and you should find someone who will dig a bit deeper for you.
@Tervell McCants Well played sir! Glad to hear that you stood your ground.
@calahan Agreed. It’s a hassle, but the noble pursuit of frugality is worth it in the long run, always.
@Michael Michael my friend, you’ve gotta take it more slowly, ask for local promotions, and try another rep or two if it comes down to it! And don’t forget that you evidence to help you, like the cheaper prices on their front page.
“vasty superior box”
Sorry, tester for life. Editor for life. Sony for life. SOCOM for life – well maybe not anymore.
Ive tried chat three different times, calling twice..and after two years as a loyal customer, it seems I’ll have to switch. I used all the advice above, and they still wont ,lower my bill below $120 + taxes (Its about $130 total). Very disappointed, I loved comcast, but cant afford it now.
Got my rate lowered…thanks for the advice!
The Sales Analyst on the comcast chat said that he can not provide any local promotions or offers over the chat and I have to call the 1-800 number and talk to a specialist. Gonna keep trying.
Didnt get offered anything but the existing customer offers that were already posted on the website. Was advised to call after chatting with two reps. Called, the tried to get me to upgrade my service and save me $5. I told them I was trying to cut my bill. Ordered u verse for a lot less. Called Comcast back, “where do I drop off your cable boxes?” was the first thing I said. They dropped my bill $70 after I said that. Then I had to call AT&T back to cancel. Why do we have to play this damn game??? Next time I’m just going to open with, “where do I take these boxes?”
Thank you for this article. My Comcast bill has been going up somehow with indeed, the same exact services we had when I first open the account. In the past 6 months, it went up from $79/mo for digital preferred to $134/mo. Isn’t it ridiculous? And to make it even worse, I think that now the bill is due in less than a month. I constantly get a bill with “pay now” past due and service interruption notice. I wish there were a cable company we can trust who offers great, affordable services to everybody.
This was a great article on Comcast. I’ve been getting my bill lowered for years by calling, but it’s such a battle. I’ll have to speak to 3 or 4 different people.
The online chat was easy. Took 15 minutes and the first guy lowered my bill. Good advice. Follow the steps.
It worked, I just got my bill split almost in half!
Finally after 5 phone calls and 2 attempted chats SUCCESS! Lowered my bill from $171 (plus taxes) for triple play to $119 (plus taxes) with no change in service. I had to call though as I couldn’t get a representative to pick up my chat. I used CenturyLinks “Power of 3″ as a comparative program. I disclosed all the details to her including the fact that a 2-year contract was required as it was all about saving money not a contract.
I’ve been doing this for several years. Right now I have the digital starter package (not many good channels at all) plus internet and phone for $129/month (it was $109/month for a year but just went up because promos expired). So I called today and as usual, asked how I could disconnect my service (I find it doesn’t make any difference whether or not you start off slow or fast or how nicey nicey you are. Be prepared to cut the cord and act like you mean business — I don’t have the time to cuddle these people). The lady I talked to said “what if I gave you the $109 rate for another year?” I told her that the channel selection stunk and I could do better with U verse. She then offered me the Digital Preferred Package with internet and phone for $109/mo for year 1 and $129 for year 2. BUT — now they want me to agree to a 2-year contract with a $150 penalty if I downgrade service or cancel before 2 years. I told them forget it. I’ve been a Comcast customer since 1995. I estimate I’ve paid them over $20,000 since I first signed up with them. There’s no way in hell I’m going to be forced to sign a contract and pay a penalty for downgrading or early termination at this point. They either give me the rate without a contract or I walk. And so I’ll be walking. I’m in the San Fran Bay area and I have other options — although I don’t like any of them.
Here’s my experience:
Problem: Need help lowering my bill.
Agent > Hello Joe, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is ****. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Joe > My Issue: Need help lowering my bill.
Joe > Hi Joward, how are you doing?
Agent > Great to have you on chat. Since you have me on chat, I will be more than glad to do the best I can to assist you today. I hope your day is doing just fine.
Joe > Doing alright.
Agent > It is nice to hear that you are doing well today.
Agent > Hi Joe, I understand that you have concern
Agent > with lowering your bill.
Agent > No worries and let me help you with that today. Let me pull up your account and see what I can best do for you.
Agent > Since your account protection is a top priority to Comcast, I need to verify some information for us to be able to check the account.
Agent > May I have the last four digits of your SSN please.
Joe > Sure – ****
Agent > Thanks, please do give me 2 to 3 minutes of your time to pull up the account properly. Please do wait.
Agent > Our goal is to provide you with a consistently superior customer experience – that’s our guarantee. Learn more about the Comcast Customer Guarantee at http://www.comcast.com/corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html?fss=customer guarantee
Joe > No worries, take your time
Agent > Thank you very much.
Agent > Thanks for patiently waiting, I’m done pulling the account and currently checking the needed information. Please do wait.
Joe > Thanks
Agent > You are most welcome.
Agent > I”m done checking the account.
Agent > It shows here that you are currently still under a promotional rate of $44.99 for the Internet service.
Joe > Right, but that’s a 50% increase over what I was paying until a month ago
Joe > I enjoy comcast service and I don’t want to cancel
Joe > But with RCN offering 29.99 (same as old comcast price) in my area
Joe > I need to think about how I can lower my monthly bill
Agent > Let me provide you the details.
Agent > The $29.99 offer is only good for 6months
Agent > . Since it has already expired. New discounted rate of $44.99 has now been applied to the account,
Agent > Let me give you the options how a bill can be lowered. 1. A bill can be lowered by downgrading the package for your service to have a lower package rate. 2. A bill can be lowered by removing some services on the account to remove additional costs. 3. A bill can be lowered by having individual services bundled as one to have a lowered bundled rate. 4. A bill can be lowered by taking advantage of package upgrade discounts. 5. A bill can be lowered by taking advantage of available individual service discounts offered depending on eligibility of the account.
Joe > Packages aren’t an option since I don’t have a TV or a landline
Joe > are there any individual service discounts available? Perhaps local promotions?
Joe > I do enjoy Comcast, but if RCN is offering the same service for $15 cheaper, the old comcast price, then it’s hard to stick around… I want to help you guys with retention instead of just taking off and not saying anything
Agent > Joe, as much as I would like to make any changes to your account.
Agent > Chat support are not authorized to override existing promotion.
Agent > I would strongly suggest that you call the Loyalty Department who are authorized provide eligible new offers or discounts to Loyal Comcast customers.
Agent > All you need to do is to call 1-800-9346489 or 1-800-XFINITY
Joe > Gotcha, i’ll give that a go
Talked on the phone multiple times. They said that since I’m an internet-only subscriber and still getting a promotional rate ($45 a month for the internet, normal price $62), there’s really nothing they can do. (Apparently the Loyalty Credits can’t be given to an account that’s less than a year old)
I started with “AT&T has the same thing I have for $120/month, I need to turn off my service.” They knocked $40 off a month and gave me some free movie channels. Thanks for the help
just took 20 min. and 2 rep and dropped $38 from my bill
I’m a care taker for cancer patient’s. And one had’nt paid they’re bill in month’s and was cut off today. Had spent a few hour’s trying. With no help. Then saw your page. So I tryed again. Mixing your tactic’s with mine. And a couple little sympathy pull’s for the “poor old guy” The 3rd agent finally Added enough credit’s to cover his all of his past due amount (347 $). Changed his new rate 140 + tax to 79 a month after tax’s for all the same programing. Locked in till july 2013. And gave him free HBO for three month’s. Thank’s for the encouragement. I had almost gave up.
… Now i’m gona go home and try and work on my own bill. Peace
Just got finished contacting Comcast and working with the rep. Ended up with a promotion for my current package that knocked $55 per month off the bill that goes for 12 months. Was quite easy. Thanks for the help.
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good post. I had to try it 3 times, but I have succeed it. thank you for your post!
Well I just tried it and it was not successful. She basically gave me the number to cancel my service when I presented them with the whole, I will be looking for other service providers. ALL I have is internet and am paying $65/mo for the 12mbps net. Her ONLY options were to downgrade my service or to bundle me with another package… Guess I will keep trying.
Good luck. I have been trying since September but they insist that I sign a two-year contract in order to get any lower of a rate (I wrote about it above back in September). I looked back over my records and I’ve had Comcast since 1995 and I could buy a new car with what I’ve paid them over the years and they are telling me I need to sign a 2-year contract now? They’ve made plenty of money on me, I might be able to understand it if I had only been their customer for 5 years. And the penalty isn’t just for cancelling their service, it also applies if I were to downgrade my service. I was unemployed for 18 months before starting work again this past May. During that time, I downgraded to bare bones cable so I could get the bill below $100/month. If I ended up getting laid off again in the next two years, the last thing I want or be in a position to do is to have pay them a $150 penalty. So I give up and I’m just going to pull the Comcast plug tomorrow. I can learn to live with slower internet the same way I’ve learned to live without premium channels. I spend too much time on the computer anyway.
Great advice here – thanks everyone! I was online for less than 20 minutes and talked with 2 representatives who were very easy to work with. The end result was and upgrade to HD and $44 less per month! I did have the standard triple play bundle and upgraded to the HD triple play, so that may make a difference in them being able to offer a lower price.
For those still following this thread, another thing I’ve noticed is if you are coming off of a deal and they won’t give you another good rate, lower you services for a month or two (i.e. drop down to the slowest internet, fewer channels, etc), and then contact them again using the method Nick lays out here. I’ve found that by doing this I can then get faster internet for another six months to a year (I don’t have any TV subscription at the moment) while still keeping the cost under $50 a month.
Thanks for the help!
Just did this and got my DVR and HD fees knocked off. I was already under promotion. Did the whole “student worried about paying back loans” thing, and mentioned the constant advertisements from competitors. Also got a new HD DVR shipped out to me for free.
If you are already under any kind of promotion, dont waste your time trying the online chat. Only the retention dept can do anything.
Oh and saying their name a lot seemed to help. I noticed that they do it all the time too. Im sure the transcript looks ridiculous.
Thanks so much for the advice ..5 mins of my time and recieved a new and improved lower bill even gave me my dvr free for the next 12 months =)
As an keen gamer fan, I simply wanted to drop you a brief note to say thank you for putting this up.
Worked for me. I have the full boat – HD/DVR (all channels) + 2 additional boxes + Comcast phone + Blast internet. Called and very politely told them that DirectTV is making me offers I can’t refuse (which is true) and that as a long time customer I wanted to stay with Comcast but the dish offers were too good to pass up. Went to a very nice guy at retention and in 5 minutes my bill got knocked down by $70/mo and they threw in the pro sports channels. Key is to be unfailingly polite. Don’t make demands or threats. Just tell them that the competition makes staying with Comcast tough to continue. Being a long time customer also helps.
Did they make you sign a new contract? I have their triple play with no premium channels and pay $135 month. I told then i can get at &t u verse with premium channels for $89 Month for two years. They would only drop me $20 month and said i needed to sign new two year contract. No premium channels. I’ve been a Comcast customer since 1997. I’m dropping them at the end of the month.
They wanted me to sign a two year contract too and i refused. I’ve had Comcast since 1999. Triple play. Only would drop me to $120 from $140. I just have digital preferred package with no hbo, showtime, etc. i think I’m going to go with direct tv and att for phone and internet. I don’t stream much, download an mp3 maybe once a month. They don’t act like they care if i go elsewhere and i was very polite and told them it just doesn’t make sense for me to stick with them. Rep said “thanks for being a long term customer” and that was the end of it. Maybe it depends on where you live.
Just had a Chat session and was able to lower my bill. I have been a customer for well over 10 years and had received an increase in my last bill of roughly 5%. I have Triple Play and after being very polite, appreciative, and indicating I might cancel, the gal found a 6 month promo which lowered the bill by $40. It took about 30 minutes of my time, but as you can see, well worth it. As I get to the end of the promo, I’m going to certainly do this again.
So, it is worth the hastle!
Transferred, to 6 different reps. My 3 play bundle was to only be 29.99 a month for 6 months. Sadly they had no record of this and were billing me for everything separately. Yes, I’m cancelling the whole thing.
I just tried the live chat under general billing questions telling them that I would like to reduce my bill since we are hardly watching live TV and would be happier not paying so much for a service we don’t use. (We have no competition for internet in the area and only one other dish company for tv.) They were very polite, but immediately stated that I should call 1-800-XFINITY for help instead. When asked if they could tell me what internet prices might be if I were to cancel cable, they said they could not help me as they are limited to billing questions and I would need to talk to an accounts person instead. I was originally planning on going over to the actual store in town to cancel cable and see what can be done about faster internet, so I may stick with that or I may try calling later this week. Worst case, our bill will go down overall with canceling cable, but we’ll be overpaying for slow internet (we’re already on the lowest speed available.)
I had a bill for $179 + tx. for three boxes, internet and xfinity double play (no phone). I did the whole chat business. They were able to lower it some, but no more than $20.
My best advice? Call 800-XFINITY then press the # to remove services from your plan. Then you press the # to stop service completely. You will be switched to a ‘loyalty specialist’. Once you have them on the phone…THEN you can follow the directions outlined in the blog above. Be SUPER nice. Tell them you are retired and on a fixed income. Tell them your heating/cooling bill is less than your comcast bill. You simply can’t afford it.
I got my bill down to $141 + tx. But that is only for six months. Then I have to call again. Good luck
this was a great find on the net…i did the chat…my bill went up from $130 to 170…i was able to find a 6month promo that lowered my bill down to $87 for 6 months…i’ll do this again when that expires…thanks!
good tips! spoke to live rep, got moved into upgraded triple play plan with some movie channels for $27 less a month for 12 months. you have nothing to lose by trying!
No luck, tried many times via live chat and over the phone but they would not budge. When I called to cancel they said no problem and failed to even offer a better rate.
Hi everyone…
I went on the Comcast chat line 4 times and was told each and every time no one could help. So I ended up calling…
1. So I called 1-800-266-2278
2. Selected option #4 (thinking of discontinuing service), then option #3(discontinue service).
This got me to a retention representative (who I believe gets compensated for keeping customers from leaving) and who seems to have more power to give discounts and cutting pricing.
He asked why I was wanting to discontinue service, so I told him that I needed to lower my bills and a new provider had moved into my area that had much better prices for the same options I have now.
He then asked if I could wait and he would look into my bill. After a minute he came back and said he could take off $20 for my DVR equipment charge and $20 off for my bundle charge (tv,internet and phone). And if that would like to do this. I said YES and I told him thank you very much for his help.
3. This saved me 30%.
4.Stay friendly like suggested above but confident with the Comcast rep.
Just tried it myself and was really dissapointed. The rep did not make any offers other than downgrading my Internet Service to which even her said she did not recommend. I was dissapointed and asked the rep to help me find the nearest store to cancel service.
Sorry that it did not help Juan. I would suggest to try again (call Comcast). You will get a different Rep and they should lower your bill. Try this 3 or 4 times if you have to. Also say that you have been a loyal customer would really like to stay with Comcast and any help would be appreciated.
So I just got off of chat with a rep. She wanted to downgrade my 20 mbps service to the 6 mbps for only a $15 savings, which I told her was unacceptable. I told her I would be shopping around and she gave me the number to the loyalty department.
I hope that garners me better results.
The advice in this blog is not going to help you if you are already getting the lowest price. If you can’t get a better deal by speaking with the ‘customer loyalty specialist’ you probably are already paying the best price available. I suggest you call Comcast’s sales department. Tell them you are with Dish but might want to switch. They will ask you what you are currently paying….so have a low-ball number in mind. Find out what the best price is in your area for the services you are currently receiving. Then go back through the original steps and try to ‘deal down’ from there.
My Comcast bill jumped from $138 to $220 for triple play. I first called and they said that I had to pay full price for 3 months before another promotion could be given. I then Used steps 1, 2 and 3 in the first original article and they dropped the price from $220 to $159. for this package:
** PREMIUM channels : HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX and SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT PACKAGE Over 200 popular channels, the Sports Entertainment Package, as well as access to over 1000 HD selections ranging from movies to top network shows. ** One HD DVR box (primary box). ** BLAST! High-Speed Internet service with download speeds of 50Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10 Mbps. ** Comcast Unlimited Digital Voice including unlimited local and long distance calling, along with the 12 calling features.
It is only for 12 months so I will have to do it again at that time. Maybe I could do better but for now anything is better than $220 a month so Thank you for the tips!
I was all ready to pay for the $139.99 preferred HD deal for the 170 channels, HD service, the blast 50, and phone.
Then I remembered I got a card for the local Representative, I phoned him….and not even 30 seconds in, he said I would get the PREMIUM package shown in the above comment . . to quote . .
** The PREMIUM channels (HD service) : HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX and SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT PACKAGE Over 200 popular channels, plus the Sports Entertainment Package, ** One HD DVR box (primary box). ** BLAST! High-Speed Internet service with download speeds of 50Mbps ** +Comcast Unlimited Digital Voice.
He said after 4 months I would get $100 credit to the account. Now this package is $159 on the site and the rep said $115.99 a month, plus the 1.99 box for the 2nd tv (plus tax and stuff). For a year! No 6 month hidden things and NO 2 year contract. So it should be as he quotes multiple times…$118 and some change per month.
Brian, i take it you are a new customer
Well…yeah. I never had Comcast before….at least not in my name. I tried chat first for a half hour. Tried to get them to lower my rate just $20 a month. They wouldn’t budge. Seems they are all named Chris….lol. The first chat session the “person” could not locate my address and that Comcast had no service in my area. Funny cause I already had my shopping cart ready to check out. So I chatted the next day and tried for a small discount. No luck. But if you are a customer, I would call them and let them go through the whole speech or even ask them for the name of your local Rep.
Yes I wonder too if Brian is new customer. I have been with them over 20 years and my 89.99 double play promo apparently just ended but instead of the 109 or 119 it was to go to it zoomed to $148! this for digital starter tv and performance internet only. I looked at U-verse yesterday and can get the u300 for 2years lock in at the $89 price so about ready to take the hit on early term since only 1 yr into the 2yr contract bs they started. If locking us into a contract I think it should work both ways meaning they can’t up our rates for that period either (Jan 2013 lent itself to a new fee schedule and up they went once again). Have not checked SureWest yet as they are another provider to our area, and of course dish or direct tv – but tried to do dish once and ended up cancelling b4 install because of them adding a bunch of other stuff to me and whipping thru a bunch of charges on card before I was even off the phone with them. Don’t ever call one of the flyer tn’s for the dish or direct tv – they will scam a bunch of add on’s without much disclosure to such. Once I have my fees to all in order, I will try to at least get back to the $89 or get the digital perfmormance for the current price I am at especially if Brian isn’t a new customer and he is getting all he is for still less than what they have me up to now. worth a shot anyway what have I got to lose except the comcast headache
Great article. Here is my experience:
I tried about 4 or 5 times with the online chat, always getting the run around and whatnot (being told there’s nothing they can do and call customer service blah blah). On my last attempt I finally got transferred to a supervisor thinking I finally did it, but even they said the same things over and over. So finally I called customer service and said I was going to disconnect all services and they transferred me to an account executive and I explained my situation. My bill was set to go up from 89.99 (which included Digital Preferred Cable, Blast Internet, and HD/DVR) to 159.99 since my 12 month promotion expired. I told him that is just too much and that with other companies out there I will not pay that price. He was extremely helpful and found me several options that included what I currently have and explained to me the prices (unfortunately it was only for 6 months more but hey I’ll just try this again in 6 months). Anyways, he was able to find me a package that included everything I currently have except it knocked down my internet from Blast to Performance, which I am fine with, for only 10 dollars more, which I accepted as a fair price (even though Comcast is widely priced anyways). If I had wanted Blast it would have only been 10 dollars more, still a 50 dollar savings over the price I was set to go up to.
So now I pay 99.99 a month instead of the 159.99 I was set to go up to, about a 40% savings!
So hopefully anyone looking for a package similar to mine can use this for reference when the customer service line tells you there is nothing they can do, because there is and there always will be, or else they will never be able to retain customers beyond their initial promo rates.
I had a bad experience with a local sales rep. called to retention dept. to have the issue resolved. was VERY friendly the whole time (i’ve worked in customer service and word to the wise they makes notes on your account about EVERYTHING, so try to stay friendly or you could be flagged as rude and never get anything) wound up getting hd preferred plus bundle with dvr & hbo & sho, internet/phone for 89.99/mon with a credit on account for my inconvenience.
& previously had separate issue 2 years ago. when i added sho to my package and the signal was not sent to my 2nd box so i had no shotime on it for a month.also called then, resolved issue with extra 6 months sho free & credit for my 2nd box for 3 months.
IT PAYS TO BE NICE! i swear its worth it to keep calm.
More like it pays to get a rep willing to help you. I couldn’t have been any nicer and they still told me that there was nothing they could do. I’m a customer of twenty years. I think I’d have to see a copy of your bill to believe that story.