This guest post from Justin is part of the “reader stories” feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity and with all sorts of incomes.
Normally, we personal finance aficionados aren’t the fighting sort. We’d rather use our spreadsheets and calculators than our fists. However, there’s a time and a place for us to get aggressive. 
Remember, when it comes to your money, no one cares about it as much as you do (one of the core tenets of J.D.’s financial philosophy), and sometimes you have to remind others that’s the case.
I’m generally a passive individual. In fact, my wife would say I’m a wimp. But when it comes to my finances, I’ve come to realize that I need to stand up for myself and make sure I’m getting — and keeping — every dollar owed me.
I learned to fight for my money about four years ago, after reading an article that said you could call your credit card company and ask to have your rate lowered. Really? Just like that? You just have to ask? I tried it, and sure enough, after explaining that I’d been a loyal customer who paid on time, I received a rate cut of 8%. That’s when I first fought for my finances — and I’ve been fighting ever since.
Let me share some more examples.
- Back in December I hired a company to clean my former residence after I moved out. (I know, not a very frugal act, but sometimes you have to trade money for sanity.) They came. They cleaned. I went back to inspect the place, and I saw some shelves that were still a bit dusty. The floors seemed cleaner, but not clean. In the past, I would have shrugged my shoulders and said, “What are you gonna do?” This time I picked up the phone and calmly, politely, and rationally, explained that their services did not meet my expectations. They knocked $40 off my bill.
- This winter I received one of those shocking gas bills that you drop on the floor and run away from. After recovering and studying the bill more closely, I realized that the bill was based on an actual reading. I checked my gas meter against the numbers on the bill, and realized that the two were way off. The gas company had made a mistake. (Shocking, huh?) I called them with my reading, and they adjusted the bill. This resulted in a bill that was $50 lower.
- My wife and I receive our internet service from AT&T. Our experience with them has been…trying. During one of my many calls to their “customer service”, I actually did raise my voice, which I don’t recommend. Because I hounded them and let them know I was unhappy with their service, I received a discounted rate that was $15 less/month than the normal rate, and instead of waiting for them to send a $100 visa gift card as part of a promotion, they applied that $100 directly to my account.
- Two years ago I had the roof replaced on my house. It was an insurance claim after wind damage. The roofing company did a fine job, save for one aspect. On the front porch roof, instead of using flashing, they simply nailed up unfinished two by fours. When I called to complain, a rep came out and told me I just had to paint them to match the house. I explained to him that this was not my job, and while I’m no roofing expert, I have never seen two by fours take the place of flashing. Soon thereafter, some workers came out to the house, ripped off the offending two by fours, and replaced them with flashing that blended in seamlessly with the house and trim. Why they didn’t do this to begin with, I don’t know. Thus, it took some fighting on my part to get it done right.
- The same goes for returning purchases. I don’t believe in return policies, warranty periods, and all that legal mumbo jumbo. If you sold me something and it hasn’t performed as it should, I’m going to return it. Actually, I’ve found that at most department stores, home centers, etc., the employees won’t make a fuss about returns. As long as you’re being reasonable and not returning a five-year-old blender with margarita residue caked on it, they’ll oblige your return. I had a coffee maker I received as a Christmas gift that was close to a year old. It started to leak. Unacceptable. Back to the store it went, and I earned a $50 store credit for my troubles.
Now you might be reading this and thinking, “Is it worth it?” Or, “You sound like a jerk.” Or, “I’d rather have a few less dollars than be fighting with people on the phone all the time.”
But think about this: A five-minute phone call that results in just $25 back in your pocket means you just earned $300/hour. Would you turn down a job that pays $300/hour? If you really care about your finances, and you want to get rich (slowly), you need to show it. You need to fight for your money — because no one cares about it more than you.
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Nice! I agree that people should speak up if they aren’t happy about something, but what tends to happen is people get angry and they react in anger — then they feel like a jerk afterwards. If you deal with a situation calmly and politely (and with realistic expectations!) you’re more likely to get a good result. (This is my years of customer service speaking here!) People who come in with threats or unrealistic expectations aren’t people you’ll go the extra mile for. I’ve found that if I calmly go in and say “here’s what’s wrong, and here’s what I think we can do about it” I usually get the help I need with no hard feelings on either side.
Unfortunately, some companies (like my cable company) are trained not to escalate claims to a manager (who has the authority to help) until you threaten to leave, so sometimes that’s a necessary part of the game. (Took me five phones and eight months to settle an over billing issue — and only then because I threatened to leave unless they stopped overcharging me)
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I did that with the cable. They gave me a 6-month promotional discount but charged me an “unbundled” fee; I added basic cable to eliminate the fee but then they reduced the discount without a warning. I told them I wasn’t happy with their maneuver and wanted to *downgrade to a cheaper plan*, the rep said he “wasn’t authorized to make that change” but gave me a fat discount for the next 6 months. I’m happy again.
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I’m not sure how it is in the U.S., but in Ontario we basically have a choice between one cable company and one satellite company. They don’t have to work very hard for their customers
Eventually I was able to get them to cancel the mistaken charges and refund my money, but that’s all they offered.
One valuable lesson I learned from this experience is to read every bill even if you’ve automated the payment. I would never have spotted the mistake (and future mistakes!) if I hadn’t been watching.
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I think it’s the same thing here in most of the US– you either get Direct TV (Satellite) or you get cable (which are regional monopolies). It’s a Pepsi vs. Coke kind of situation.
I forgot to mention in my previous post that my interest in these services has to do with the internet, since I do 90% of my TV watching on the internet (Netflix, Hulu), the rest can be found OTA (Sunday political shows and public TV news).
Where I live it’s basically a choice between a phone/internet company and a cable/internet company.
The cable company (Comcast) is marginally better than the phone atrocity (Qwest), but that’s not a huge array of choices, unfortunately. [Qwest I believe either owns or is allied with Direct TV, btw]
One thing I’ve learned is not to succumb to the “6 month discount with 2 year contract” deals. Since the companies are not great, you’re bound to complain, and the contract takes away all the leverage you might have.
That lesson cost me good money a couple of years ago, but it’s not one I’m bound to forget. Since I can now drop them at a moment’s notice, they have to work to keep me as a customer.
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Hey! Ontario resident here … I just went through a “I’m paying too much” convo with Rogers – here’s the summary in case you’re with them, it could help!
Call in, and ask for the customer retention department <- that's the only department who can do anything for you (deal wise), if they are reluctant, all you have to say is "Well, I'm planning on canceling my service", that will get you through immediately.
Tell retention that you heard about the promotion for new customers, where if they trade in their bell satellite they get a rogers HD cable box free for a year.
Explain that you've been a customer for 'x' years, paying on time, and expect to be treated as well as a new customer.
Bingo, I got my cable box free for a year at that point, took about 30min, but I didn't raise my voice, it was all very civilized
Hope that's helpful
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I think it is fair to expect to get what you pay for. I know when I started paying more attention to my hard earned money, I stepped up my expectations and now pay closer attention to what I’m paying for. I’m willing to ask a lot more questions up front, too. I tend now to expect occasional mistakes, omissions and misunderstandings.
The difference between jerk and reasonable is tone, persistence and reasonable expectations. If you’re unhappy, expect to have someone listen, apologize for inconvenience, and resolve the problem. Be calm and specific about the problem and what you need to have done to be satisfied.
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I think one of the reason that people get stuck with inferior service or gouged with fees is that people are too complacent. “Oh it’s only 20 dollars…” That sort of thing. Your article is a good reminder that people need to speak up.
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I agree with the above commenters. If you approach things nicely and reasonably you get results. Way to go Justin, for being brave and asking.
I had the pleasure of having lunch with a diplomat from the US state department. She had negotiated with goverments all over the world on behalf of the US. Well our lunch was subpar.
She asked to speak with a manager. Manager comes over. “we have been to this resturaunt before and always had excellent service, however today was different.” In the most amazing way she calmly and factually stated all that was wrong with our meal (the hamburger was cold in the center, we waited 45 minutes for our meal, our server only came by once and never filled our water glasses)
“I expect an adjustment to the bill” Whew, what a great line. And they did!
My husband was with me and we were in awe! After we saw that model of negotiating we have been more willing to try it on our own.
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We’re big fans of just asking too. It’s amazing what you can get if you’re a good customer with a high credit score.
http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/just-ask/
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The kind of people who don’t think it’s worth it are the same people who say there’s no point in protesting. You should always let someone who is supposed to provide you with a service know when they have failed you, whether it’s the pizzeria down the road or the government you voted in!
The only exception is family. Don’t complain to them, they don’t want to hear it.
Sometimes you can try and complain again and again and not get anything back. I took a train back from Aberystwyth to London Euston back in March. We were delayed by 2 hours, which meant by the time I was back in London the underground wasn’t running anymore and it was much harder for me to get home. I emailed customer support and after 2 weeks they finally got back to me saying they would investigate my claim, but I’ve never heard from them again. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in situations like that.
The other problem I have is my student housing. I pay £150 to live in a tiny room with a shared kitchen. They “refurbished” the rooms and made us move, but there’s loads of problems still with my room and bathroom. Despite complaining directly to management at the front desk, things have still not been fixed. I don’t want to keep complaining because the staff are rude and unhelpful and I have to see them every day, but I feel like I’m being ripped off
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There certainly are times when we don’t have power, and even the politest of complaints will go unaddressed. Free market is where your voice will most likely be listened to. It’s quite possible your landlords have absolutely no problem in filling those rooms, so they have little interest in change.
You can threaten to move out, but you need to be prepared to really do so.
As for getting a satisfactory response from a nationalized transit service, hmm, very optimistic.
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Sorry, I missed out a vital word there: it’s £150 a WEEK. Yes that does include water and electric, but I had to buy internet from their provider for £20 a month. Okay, so it’s a central London address (SE1 postcode), but it’s not even that close to my university!
I would have left in the first term and tried to find somewhere else, but the company locks you in with a contract. You can’t leave until the end of the year without finding someone else to take your place in your room. It’s a horrible system designed to take advantage of students who don’t have time to shop around for somewhere to live before term starts. I’ve only got 1 term left, and I’m definitely NOT going to be living in halls next year.
The problem is my university doesn’t own the housing, all the halls they have for their students are managed by private companies. Private companies are money grabbing and don’t care about students. That’s not to say that student housing run by the university would be immaculate, but it would probably be subsidised.
As for the train problem, thanks for the advice, I’m going to try and contact them through the post.
Thanks for all the advice everyone
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Ru, do you still have your tickets? You need to complain in writing (on paper, not email) usually, but if you’re over an hour late, you’re entitled to compensation under the passenger charter. Make sure you’re complaining to the right company and ideally use their form. The amount of compensation is related to the value of your ticket, and depends on the train company. Typically it is in the form of vouchers that expire in 12 months.
Chase it up. The west coast line into Euston is notoriously poor, but I’ve never had a problem getting compensation, often up to 100% of the ticket cost. If you can prove additional costs such as taxi fares due to the underground having closed, you should be able to claim those too.
Good luck.
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For your student housing, since you’re not getting a satisfactory response from desk management try going farther up the management structure. Contact their bosses and see what happens. Even for subsidized housing, you should have properly working, safe conditions. Don’t think of it as they’re only getting your 150, they’re getting your 150 + whatever the government/uni is paying to subsidize that housing. Now, I’m in the US so maybe this doesn’t apply, but when I’ve had problems with a rental I pointed out to the management that their end of the bargain is to provide safe, functioning housing and timely maintenance. If they’re not holding up their end of the lease, then you’re not obliged to pay them the full rent. Perhaps suggest a 50 reduction until everything is in working order. It’s not a threat, and really only advisable if you’ve been a tenant who pays on time and in full, simply a statement of facts.
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Withholding rent is usually a very bad idea, especially in student housing (it can count as a “debt to the university” and prevent you graduating or get you into other academic hot water). I would go further up the management chain though.
Having said that, £150 is very cheap, and you do get what you pay for. I’m assuming this is pcm. Most student rooms I lived in were at least 3 times that (for a medium sized room with a shared kitchen, and some of them not very nice). In my college, even the “budget” rooms were more than that, and they were literally big enough for a bed, a small wardrobe and a shelf. No desk, no chair. If you’re paying £150pcm, you may just have to accept that you’ve got cheap rent for a cheap room. If it’s £150pw, that’s a different matter.
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It’s per week, he added this in a follow up comment.
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Whoops, I need to clarify. I’m advocating telling his landlords (whoever that may be) that their actions justify a reduction in rent. That putting a price or number on it, makes it more real and shows them that you’re serious about your complaints. This is what I meant by not a threat – you’re not doing it yet, rather opening negotiations for a satisfactory outcome. Maybe you’d be willing to put up with the lack of repairs if the rent were cheaper and you can point that number out to them, or for recompense for the months of inconvenience you’ve had to put up with until the repairs are made.
Sorry about that – definitely needed clarification.
I agree, withholding rent can land you in a lot of trouble and they can trash your credit even if you’re completely in the right.
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What a timely post. In the last three weeks, by simply being persistent and insisting I speak with a supervisor, I’ve cut the monthly charges for home phone bill from AT&T in half, had AT&T Mobile reduce the monthly cost for my iPhone and give me free texting for six months, and had the interest rate on our Master Card bill reduced. (Note: It helped that I had just checked our credit reports the night before and could say that I had the highest FICO score available, so it was crazy to be paying the interest rate they were charging.)
This week I received a quote from our usual tree people to prune a few branches away from our cable line. The quote came to $415 and include work on other trees in our yard that I didn’t request. When I called, the explanation was that a two-man crew was required on jobs and he wanted to keep the second guy busy. I said I only wanted work on the tree in question done but he said the rate would would be the same. I said, “I can’t afford that. You’re not the only arborist in town, and I’ll have to call someone else.” Even though we’d used this company for years, I was ready to find someone else. Within five minutes, before I’d even had a chance to log on to Angie’s List and do the research for a new company, I got a call back from our tree guy offering me their minimum rate of $250. Although I still thought it was too expensive for pruning a few branches, I accepted.
In this economy, if people want your business they’ll be willing to bargain. It never hurts to ask. And keep asking even when you’re told “no.”
Speaking of that cable line, that’s my next target — the cable company. Wish me luck.
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I’d suggest you check out your satellite options before calling. You’ll get a promotional rate that you can go back to the cable company with, let them know you’re switching, and they’ll match it or better.
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Great reminder here. But what do you do when a person won’t budge won’t escalate to a manager? In an apartment a few years ago, I paid for my own electric. I scheduled a day to get the electric out of my name (a few days after I moved out because that was the only appointment they had). No one told me I needed to be there or anything like that.
A month later, I get a power bill. And not for my usual $15-20 summer amount, but for $80!!! I guess the new tenants like AC. Turns out they hadn’t put the power in their name, and the power company “couldn’t get into the building” to check the meter. I managed to get those tenants to cough up $60 (they wouldn’t pay the full $80 because I had lived in the apartment one week of the month). But the electric company refused to budge. I scheduled another day to get electric out of my name and also instructed the new tenants to call and put the electric in their name as of the billing date.
A month later, I got another bill. Thankfully, just for 15 days (until the date where I had scheduled getting the electric out of my name, which worked this time). I tried in vain to get the tenants to pay or the electric company to charge it to their bill. I hadn’t lived there for months at that point. I called, and called, and went round and round with the rep. She wouldn’t escalate to a manager, and she said there was nothing she could do.
It still galls me that I paid the bill ($40). I was working an internship where I only made $200 a week, so that $40 was a lot.
Is there something else I should have done? I definitely know, in the future, to call the electric company early. I’ve already scheduled turn off for my current placing (moving out at the end of the month). But what do you do when you “owe” money for services you obviously didn’t receive and when the new tenants are freeloading off your account?
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You take the new tenants to Small Claims Court, and name the electric company in the complaint as well. It should cost under $10 to file.
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That would have been nice, but I had moved out of state at that point. The cost to travel back would have been significantly more than $40. I’m just happy I got the initial money out of them, and I’m ticked at many parties. Most of all, mad at my former landlord. He required verification of electric into my name for me to move in, but he obviously didn’t worry about it with the next tenants.
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Yes, I must agree. Small claims court is a very underutilized resource. Make sure you have documentary proof, however. Bills, statements, etc. In most places that have a small claims equavalent you can represent yourself (or you may even not be allowed to use a lawyer and have to represent yourself)
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Of course you have to stand up for your rights and against bad customer service, defective products, and outright thievery. If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will?
Every time you let a lying cheating sociopath get away with their scams you are rewarding their behavior.
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While I am supportive of demanding quality service, I think returning something past thirty days or outside of the warranty period is going too far. It is a risk we take as consumers and where the term “you get what you pay for” came from.
I don’t know the specifics about the brand of coffee maker you were describing but I for one am not going to expect that a $9.99 Wal-Mart coffee maker is going to last that long. It’s almost expected that such a product will fail.
For the record, I use a french press which is pretty much the cheapest and most reliable (fewer moving parts) than most modern coffee makers. In other words, I don’t have some $200 coffee machine.
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And every time we let people get away with taking our hard-earned $9.99 for a defective coffee maker we encourage the companies to purchase junk and make junk. Why do you think American auto makers are in such trouble? The “buy American” philosophy let them get away with making crap cars when the Japanese and Koreans were making high-quality, reasonably-priced vehicles. Nobody was holding the American automakers’ feet to the quality fire, and now they are in deep trouble.
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I have to conditionally agree and disagree. I think it depends on the price of the item and the return period. I think almost any product should be usable for more than the 30-45 day return policy a lot of stores. If it’s not designed to be a single use product, then 1 month of use isn’t even the minimum I would expect a product to work.
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This is awesome! I’ve learned the “skill” of negotiating from my mother at a very early age. The author is correct: no one could give a rip about your money and what’s being done with it, as long as it’s going in their pocket. I’ve dealt with my internet provider most recently. They are willing to work with people who call in to request a discount because so many people don’t! Just mention the word “cancel” and they change their tune quick. I think a little threatening can go a long way. As far as those who feel like they can’t get anywhere, I would probably remain on the phone for as long as possible until you get a supervisor. Either that or hang up, call back and immediately ask for a supervisor. The people who aren’t supervisors do not make enough money to care about your problems. I’ve gone as far as to tell them I would be reporting their actions ( or lack thereof) to the BBB, or whomever could punch them in the gut with disciplinary action. I think negotiating truly is a skill. This is why there are so many lawyers (I work for one)!!
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Even when you are being offered some inadequate compensation you might still improve the offer with a bit of persistence. I was offered £18 worth of vouchers for rail travel after delays and cancelled trains that I complained about. I declined and asked for the cash. It was forthcoming. I would have been prepared to accept the travel warrant if necessary but it is nicer to have a cheque.
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Those are good examples of why you need to fight for your money.
I haven’t been great with this facet of saving, but I will try harder to negotiate. Usually, I just say “oh well, what can you do” like your example.
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when it comes to your money, no one cares about it as much as you do
As is made obvious by how much RGS readers care about the money of cleaners, utilities, roofers and retailers.
It seems obvious that the general rule in play here is, “if I can convince you to give me something, then it’s mine.” Both the companies in these complaints and all the commenters who’ve asked for discounts/refunds are doing the same thing. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it — turnabout is fair play of course, but don’t pretend that (for instance) asking for discounts is any different from charging high prices. In general, the way that the economy works is that each person tries to get away with just as much as possible right up until someone calls him on it — I doubt you’d feel bad if you convinced the cable company to give you free service for a year, they’re not going to feel bad if they can convince you to pay $70/month for service that they’d be making a profit on even at $50/month, either.
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It’s funny how many people will demand compensation for a mistake that hurts them, but won’t speak up when the mistake benefits them.
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I have a similar view about working over-time at work: nobody’s doing anybody any favors. They aren’t offering OT because they know I can use the extra cash – it’s pure business. And, I’m not taking them up on it for any reason except that I could use the extra money. Quid pro quo.
However, I take a slightly different view of the service provider vs customer relationship. Yes, I hate to say it’s more adversarial. It’s all about late fees and interest. If I’m slow to pay, then I incur late fees or interest charges and maybe even a ding on my credit report. In most cases if there is a similar disruption or subpar service in return I have to ask for compensation. This is fine in cases where they can’t know about the issue(like buying a shirt and having it fall apart during the first wash), but I’ve noticed that even when they know no one offers apologies first anymore(like long checkout lines). They wait for people to complain because they know many won’t and that saves them money, but it’s terrible customer service. Sometimes all I want is an apology and acknowledgement of the situation, but if the company forces me to instigate it then I want compensation as well for the fact that they didn’t want to step up.
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I think that a lot of people are non-confrontational, so that let’s the big guy win a lot just because the little guy doesn’t say a word. I do pick my battles, and I’ve won a couple =) go over your bills, only pay for service that performs to what you expect (ie last night we were comped drinks at a restaurant because of slow service. We didn’t complain loudly, just noted to the hostess we didn’t have a server after being seated for 10 minutes. Service after was very nice and the comped drinks a nice surprise. And it will get us to return there). Learning to complain and do it well is a good skill to have.
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Yes, definitely pick your battles, or at least know your battlefield.
I would rather walk out of a restaurant than berate the waitstaff– that’s just asking to get spit and who knows what else in your food. This is one place to be nice when complaining. The hospital is another.
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One thing I have learned about negotiating is the power of the personal touch. Once, after going thru the chains of command regarding an insurance issue — they wouldnt give me homeowners insurance because my dog was a therapy dog at a local childrens hospital which they deemed an unacceptable risk — I wrote a letter to the chairman and included pictures of my dog on the beds of several sick children. Ended up getting coverage at a great rate. Recently I went directly to the cable company customer service desk and reduced my bill by fifty dollars a month after being told on the phone that it wasn’t possible. Didn’t have to raise my voice once. Another lesson — persistence pays.
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Great advice! Using the perspective of saving $25 for a 5 minute phone call means $300/hr really hit home for me. Instead of being so quick to think, “it’s not worth it” I need to take a moment to really evaluate the situation and then make a decision. Thanks!!
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“Is it worth it?” Or, “You sound like a jerk.” Or, “I’d rather have a few less dollars than be fighting with people on the phone all the time.”
I don’t think anybody who reads this blog is likely to say those things! Part of it is money of course, but part of it is also affirming a narrative about myself that I respect myself and will not allow someone to abuse me.
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No, but some of us have wives who think that way….
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We are a big fan of asking too. Our internet “promo” expired with Time warner last month. We had 20mbps for $35.00, it went up to $50. We shopped for other options and found a little cheaper option, $30, but that would have us go from 20mbps to 15 mbps. We were hoping they would at least let us keep the $35 bill. They “matched” the other company’s bill and kept the same speed. So we came out ahead by just calling.
And another time asked by “accident”. We went to buy some special pillows in Bed Bath & Beyond. They didn’t have the model we wanted, but said they could order online and send it to us. we won’t be able to use the 20% off coupon though. We discussed in front of the rep. about target having the same model for cheaper, we just came to BBB for their 20% off. We didn’t do it on purpose, that really was the case. We thanked the rep and started moving. He asked us to stop and he will check what he can do. He came back with matching the price target had, let us use 20% coupon AND offered free overnight. Yes, we will take 2. It never hurts to ask.
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I’ve never had an experience with a product or service where I’ve had an such an issue. Whenever I buy things, most of the time I buy from Amazon.com which is cheap and always reliable. I stick with my same cell phone provider I’ve always had since I’ve upgraded and downgraded my plan with them many times over the years and never had an issue. Maybe its a stroke of luck, but part of it is if a company is reliable, I find myself always return to them for a purchase.
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You can almost always renew magazines for less than the offers they send you in the mail or on line.
Just do a little research–check the blow-in cards or the on-line offers for new subscribers. Then call the customer service line, explain that you’d like to renew but that the terms are wrong. Ask–politely–for the rate they offer new subscribers.
I’m a magazine fiend, and with the sole exception of the New Yorker, this has worked every time. They will even credit the difference to your account if you have an automatic renewal which has already kicked in.
Furthermore, almost every customer service rep has seemed genuinely happy to help with this.
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This winter we received a shocking gas bill too, but it was shockingly low! I didn’t feel motivated to complain. A week later a gas company guy shows up and tells us our meter is broken. He fixes the meter, but by that time we had consumed 4 weeks of unmetered natural gas, which saved us about $200. Not bad!
I wonder how many people take action when they are UNDERcharged for a good or service. In the case of the gas company, I figured it was their problem. On the other hand, if I find an item on the bottom of my grocery cart that wasn’t paid for, I go back into the store and pay.
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That was dishonest and you should have notified them of the problem.
If you had overpaid your bill, and the company noticed but said “Oh well, that’s her problem” I’m sure you’d be upset, right?
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I thought this was a very well-written post. Very to the point, concise, snappy. Thanks.
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Your post inspired me to call ATT today! I’ve been patiently waiting (read: i don’t care anymore) for an appropriate corporate discount to appear on my wireless bill since last October, with 2 attempts and no results so far. Today I called back and was polite but persistent, and received credit for the full discount, retroactive to October! Additionally, they have corrected the problem for the future and I do not actually have to wait the “1-2 billing cycles” as quoted on the website. Thanks for the reminder that it’s worth it to fight for your money!
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I agree. Good post! Too many people don’t return things or complain about poor service because they are afraid to feel uncomfortable, and think it won’t make any difference. I’ve seen things given away on Freecycle, for instance, that still had the price tags on them.
Returning items, challenging wrong ring-ups, etc. is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Just remember, start out *nice*. Trust me, calling up and saying “hey, is there someone there who can help me with this, I’m really upset about this” but being nice, gets the rep on your side.
If you feel guilty about this, then make a point of taking the time to object if you get too much change, etc. and compliment good service.
However, if a company does play hard-to-get (like the phone company who I had trouble with, but because I complained every month, I ended up getting the phone services for free while they tried to figure out what the problem was), in the end you can push the envelope (here in the US) by contacting your state attorney general’s office and asking them to send a letter. Most SAGs can’t do much, but the letter is threat enough to get people off their duffs.
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Well, when I consider the time and worry I put into it, it certainly doesn’t compare with a $300/hr phone call, but I fought my ex-landlord for my $340 security deposit that was wrongfully withheld. I might not have been getting a good value for my time with that one, but it was a matter of principle.
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This article makes me say “heck yeah!” I have been fighting for my money for years, and have learned by experience that 90% of the time, just ASKING gets you cash.
I friend of mine lost a dollar in the vending machine at school the other day (university). THEFT! I took her to the student hospitality services office and explained that her dollar was taken by the machine. They had her fill out a simple form and immediately gave her the dollar back.
She thanked me after and told me “I was just going to cut my losses” and I said “I don’t believe in cutting my losses”.
If I am unsatisfied with a product, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, and no matter the time it has been in my possession, I will attempt to return it. I am polite and fearless and have no qualms asking.
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Awesome, and so true! Nobody cares about you and your family like you do.
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With regard to your final poimt, returning things that don’t do what you expect them to.
The law is very much on the consumers side in this regard. Everything comes with an implied warranty, no matter whether there is a written warranty, or a verbal warranty at the time of sale. Unless the product is specifically marker “AS IS” at the time of sale.
This ensures that the purchase does what it is supposed to do, and/or is fit for a particular purpose. Tese are governed by state law and can be good up to 4 years.
I’m with you. Take the crap back and get a replacement or your money back.
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>I wonder how many people take action when they are UNDERcharged for a good or service.
I found that I always feel better when am being fair. So unless it’s totally impossible (like realizing the mistakes when I’m 1000 miles away already) I take action when I’m undercharged and take action when I’m overcharged. In my experience when I’m reporting undercharging, the store owners/workers are thankful about it, and their smiles make me happy as well.
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Agreed! Though I’m always surprised at the reaction I get when I do. I don’t want praise — just to do the right thing. What goes around, comes around.
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I agree here. I had an incident where for whatever bizarre reason I got a significant amount of change more than I should have. I went back to the store and gave the overpayment back. The cashier was very appreciative. The main reason I did this was because I had been a cashier before and I could just imagine what it would have been like if I had been that amount short at my cash-up. Your “good fortune” could very well be jeapordising someone’s job.
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I must be doing something dreadfully wrong. I have never EVER had a customer service phone call take five minutes! I don’t think I’ve ever even gotten off hold in five minutes! It’s rare that I spend less than an hour on a call, and even then, I end up with maybe a $15 adjustment. I wouldn’t turn down a $300/hour job, but I would turn down a $15/hour job if the job was waiting on hold for 40 minutes only to talk to people who couldn’t or wouldn’t help me once every 8-10 minutes! That sounds miserable! I’m willing to pay someone $15 not to have to deal with customer service.
Maybe the deeper problem is that my customer service calls are always with either AT&T or DirecTV (on an account I was supposed to be removed from over a year ago).
If it really worked out to $25 in five minutes, you’d be on to something, but when it’s $15/hour, forget about it.
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“But think about this: A five-minute phone call that results in just $25 back in your pocket means you just earned $300/hour. Would you turn down a job that pays $300/hour?”
NOt to be nitpicky, but this is not earning $300 per hour. It’s earning $25 in 5 minutes. Unless you can repeat this 12 times per hour, over and over, you’re not really earning $300 per hour.
Not to say doing these things isn’t worthwhile. You’ve certainly demonstrated that it is. But usually after getting a couple good pops of savings, it’s pretty much done. It’s not like you can keep doing these things all day every day to make/save money.
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I read somewhere that the most efficient use of your time is picking up a coin you see on the street.
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What?? You don’t have to read this, you can just think about it. It all depends on your flexibility and the value and frequency of the coins around you. When I was in Russia, I realized that it didn’t make sense for *anyone* to pick up kopeks.
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I would also add that, yes, I very well might turn down a $300 an hour job, depending on what it was. Some very good salespeople make money like that, also CEOs, but both of those jobs sound miserable to me and would not be worth even $300 an hour. Money isn’t everything.
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When I bought my engagement ring I learnt this lesson. I was talking to my dad about it and so he picks up the phone and phones the store owner. (And we’re not talking a cheap jewellery store here)
It just so happens my dad bought a pair of earrings a few months back and after explaining what a good customer he is, my dad got a 20% discount.
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I had a similar issue with AT&T. I called to switch to DSL only (no land line) on 11/1 and it took until the most recent bill (dated 3/22) for them to apply the correct monthly rate the rep promised me…almost 5 months later. In between there were a few phone calls, lots of emails and a couple threats to cancel. All that work for the rate I was promised originally. I’ll think twice before renewing with them for another year.
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I’m a longtime renter in an old (1950s) building where people tend to stay a long time. It’s in an expensive neighborhood and rents are high.
A couple of years ago we had issues with the building’s central A/C unit. Like, every time there was a heatwave, the unit crapped out. After two repetitions of this, there was some rage.
The third time it happened, several of the tenants went to hotels when the internal temps topped 85 degrees … and reduced their rents by the amount they had to pay for their hotel rooms. They posted a notice in the elevator stating what they were doing, which is how I know.
I don’t know if it was actually *legal* but the landlord clearly didn’t want to fight with a bunch of lawyers, doctors, and bankers about a few thousand dollars.
And not long after that, the central unit was replaced.
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Just today was our annual call the internet/phone company to extend the promotional rate and get discounts for the coming year. And guess what, they not only extended it, but lowered the monthly bill by another $10. 15 mins for $120 in annual savings.
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Unadvertised discounts, negotiating for basic services, and everything other than simply getting refunds for bad service or defective products is actually *not* a good thing. Price obuscation is the biggest obstacle toward an ideal free market system. If companies wont give you their best price up front, it makes it difficult or even impossible for a normal person to compare the price many different companies offer.
Case is in point is television service. Direct TV, Dish Network, and the local cable company all offer introductory rates, long term contracts with the ability to raise rates without notice, discounts for anyone brave enough to ask/threaten, etc… All of this obfuscates the actual real price of a month of television service. This causes all but the most dilligent consumers(and we here at GRS *are* the most dilligent consumers) to be unable or unwilling to get a true comparison.
So as a whole we lose, even if a small handful of people win at the rest’s expense.
PS: Until things change, you should still negotiate without feeling bad. No sense in becoming part of the illiterate majority.
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I’ve gotten items replaced after the warranty period expired by telling the company with true conviction that 90 days (or whatever) was not a reasonable lifespan for that product category. In one case it was an electric fan, which should have lasted some years, and in another case it was a set of high-end hand clippers for the garden. The fan wasn’t terribly cheap, and the clippers were quite expensive. Neither item was priced to be a disposable, so there was no way I was willing to accept such short usable lives for the products.
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We tried negotiating with the cable company for several years regarding their “NFL channel.” My husband wants to watch football and his team doesn’t play much on regular tv. So, he pays for the NFL channel. Until they increased the price to $300 !! We have called and asked about reducing the price and are told that new customers pay $199. But we’ve been cable customers for 10 years. Can’t we have that price? They tell us they will do that for us. So, we are happy. Unfortunately, they never initiate the channel and so, we end up not getting what they promised. The good news is that they didn’t charge us for it either. My husband gets upset when they don’t provide the channel after a verbal agreement but I look at it differently. We just saved $200-$300.
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