Even When You're Wrong

So, the other day my wife went to cancel our trial subscription to Blockbuster's rent-by-mail service. We are Netflix subscribers, and given her recent affection for The Amazing Race, decided that our one-at-a-time Netflix option wasn't going to get us through the season fast enough. So why not take advantage of Blockbuster's three-at-a-time two-week free trial?

I'll tell you why. It's the exact same reason I gave my wife when she made the suggestion: People like us don't cancel offers like that before we've been charged the first time. It never fails.

Well, she went for it. As long as I didn't have to manage canceling the subscription, I didn't really care.

Friday. Two weeks later.
Me: "Did you ever cancel that Blockbuster thing?"
Wife: "Not yet. I need to do that this weekend."

Saturday.
Me: "Don't forget to cancel that Blockbuster thing today."
Wife: "You're right."

Sunday.
Wife (at computer): "Aww, man!"

Sure enough, we'd been charged that very day. I have to admit, that was an unexpected maneuver, given that it was the weekend.

Well played, Blockbuster. You are indeed a worthy adversary.

I logged into my wife's account to get a phone number to call. Nothin' doin'.

You'll rue the day, entertainment fiend.

Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent their customer service people:

To Whom It May Concern:

We have been evaluating your online rental service for the past two weeks and have deemed it unsatisfactory for our current needs.

My wife logged in today to cancel our trial membership only to discover that we have already been billed for a new full month's subscription to this service. We do not intend to use your service further, and have not received any new DVDs in the mail since time of billing. As such, we formally request that you cancel our subscription and tender back to our credit card a refund in the amount of $19.57.

As a final note, we find it most inconvenient that e-mail is the only communication channel available between us and a representative from your company. A telephone is much more personable, and expeditious. This barrier to the customer relationship is but one example of how your service has left us unimpressed.

If you cannot execute our request without further discussion, we can be reached at the provided telephone number.

Thank you for your time.

Here is the response I received that very day, irrelevant stuff removed:

Subject: Account Cancellation and Refund
------------------------------
Response (Blockbuster Online) - 07/09/2006 04:01 PM
Hello,

Thanks for contacting BLOCKBUSTER Online Customer Care.

Per your request, I have canceled your Blockbuster Online membership. You will be receiving a separate e-mail confirming the cancellation. I have also reviewed and refunded your account, $19.57. Please allow up to 3-5 business days for the refund to post to your account. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

I am sorry to see you go, and hope you reconsider in the future. Because we value you as a customer, I would still like to offer you a choice of plans that may meet your needs.

2 at-a-time, maximum of 4 rents a month for $11.99 plus tax per month
-or-
1 at-a-time, unlimited rents for $9.99 plus tax per month
If either of these plans interest you, please let me know and I will be happy to reactivate your account with the new membership plan, which will start on your next billing cycle. You may also contact our Customer Care at 1-866-692-2789. Our Customer Care Hours of Operation are from: 8:00AM - 6:00PM Central, Monday through Friday.

Thank you for your patience.

Elaine
Customer Care Associate
BLOCKBUSTER Online

As it turns out, as long as you adhere to the general principles of negotiation, services are negotiable even when you are clearly in the wrong.

Are You Fat With Debt?

I'm not a huge Oprah fan, but in recent reruns (I said I wasn't a huge fan) she has really been pushing her Debt Diet, in an attempt to help people in debt break free.

The website for the Debt Diet program features a number of tips on how to treat the credit card debt hemorrhage. A significant number of tips are based on the idea that merely asking creditors for a break can yield huge results, including lowered interest rates and waived late or annual fees.

If you're unsure about how to approach this subject with a credit card representative, here's a handy sample script you can use, courtesy of Jean Chatzky, financial editor for the Today show.

33 Minutes...

That's all it took for me to just re-negotiate my cell phone agreement. My wife and I were tired of our old plan. We're loyal customers, and it would clearly be more hassle for me to attempt to switch providers and then get a good contract. Why not just see if my current provider was willing to deal?

Knowing it wouldn't help to go into the conversation without the details of my current plan, as well as a comparison of current plans and introductory offers, I spent about 20 minutes online, checking for the latest deals. Then I reviewed my statement from the cell phone company for the last month, which lists the subtleties of my current plan and my account overall. Then I made the call.

If you can believe it, the provider's customer service call tree dropped my call three times before I successfully connected to a live person, but rather than giving up, I just kept calling back. And rather than bashing the poor customer service rep who finally received my call over the head with it, I just filed the knowledge away as leverage in case I needed it.

I spoke with a very nice woman who clearly valued my business. In an attempt to avoid as much miscommunication as possible, as well as having her offer me additional useless services for more money, I started out by telling her that I am inundated with very competitive offers, and stated exactly what it was that I was looking for. I was transparent about the fact that I'd rather stay with my current provider, but that the other offers on the table made leaving seem attractive.

The CSR was very understanding, but subject to the limitations of the software the company uses to add and upgrade customer plans. Basically, it didn't provide her the ability to do much in the way of subjective credits to my account. I simply pointed out to her that I'd been a loyal customer for about five years, and she went out of her way to get creative about giving me some help.

As a result of our efforts, I ended up with 300 additional anytime minutes, a $6.50 discount off of my current monthly rate, a two-hour earlier nighttime start time, and no new service contract.

No new contract!

That's huge! Most providers require a two-year contract these days!

Not bad for an hour's worth of surfing the web and chatting it up on the phone.

My General Strategy

My goal is to illustrate each of my points with a story of service negotiation victory in the coming weeks, but I'll lay out my mode of operation here as a preview.

Please bear in mind I'm not saying that each of these tidbits are required for achieving a discount or freebie; in fact, I'm sure that some people have been very successful without some of them. I am saying that each of these will put you one step closer to achieving the desired results with little or no risk to you.

As I see it, the important things to remember are:

• Be kind and courteous: The person with whom you are negotiating may hate his job, and dealing with a jerk will worsen his already bad day.


• Be persistent: These are businesses, and they don't like giving stuff away. You may have to try two or three or eight times before you see some results.


• Be bold: Don't be afraid to presume that the person on the other end of the conversation is willing to negotiate, despite whatever he/she may say at first.


• Be aware: If there are competitors in the market for your business, do your homework and find out exactly how far they're willing to go to get it.

I will update this strategy as we go. With the input of others, I expect to refine this list to something that yields 100% satisfaction.

I Can't Be Clearer

If you're paying more money than you're comfortable with for a service you probably don't need, I urge you to shrug off the shackles of installation fees and 2-year minimum contracts, and embrace the purchasing power laying dormant in your pocketbook.

I intend this blog as a repository for my experiences in negotiating customer service reps down to cheaper rates, one-time discounts, and freebies. My sincerest hope is that this would not only inspire others to adopt the practice of paying less, but also that those encouraged by what they find here would share their stories too, as a means of animating and enlightening everyone else they know toward the same.