Author Topic: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?  (Read 3397 times)

Penny McSave

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How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« on: February 17, 2017, 06:26:40 PM »
So, my 1 year introductory price just ended with my ISP and I called to see if I could score another killer deal. I was super polite and said, "Not sure I feel comfortable paying the new rate, do I have any other options available to me?" The CSR put me on hold for a good 10 minutes and came back with a "best offer" of $89 for internet and t.v. After my mind boggled for a minute I said, 'Sorry I don't watch t.v. and that's well above the $65 I was trying to avoid paying so guess I'll just take a downgrade in speed."

Now I'm paying the same as before but for 5mbps. :/ Should I have just cancelled and gone with another company? Should I have threatened to cancel? How do others manage to keep the same plan locked in?

MsPeacock

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2017, 06:58:39 PM »
Sometimes I've been successful at requesting a lower price, other times I've had to switch providers. There are only two ISP in my area and they aren't too interested in bargaining with current customers it seems.

the_gastropod

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2017, 07:29:58 PM »
It's really obnoxious that all the internet providers do this mess. For the past few years, I've canceled at the 1-year mark, and either signed right back up with the same provider, or switched providers (depending on what's cheapest). I've never had a problem doing this. I figure it takes me about an hour of effort each year, and saves ~$500 per year.

Syonyk

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2017, 08:18:19 PM »
I don't.

I've got two ISP options, both rural wifi, and both of questionable reliability (one worse than the other).  I work from home and rely on this to earn my living, so I just accept the $200-ish/mo I pay for an aggregate of about 15 down/4 up (in actual use).  I'll probably cut the plans back a bit soon once I figure out better what they actually provide and I can fail between the two.

"Keeping my employer happy" is more useful to me than the money savings I would get (and, really, if I have one and it fails, I drop to cell backup, which is about $10/GB, so... doesn't take much there to be more expensive than my ISP, especially if a few work boxes pick then to update).

alsoknownasDean

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2017, 02:43:24 AM »
Yeah might as well look at cancelling and switching.

Are there many ADSL options, or is it cable only?

moonpalace

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2017, 06:41:39 AM »
It's really obnoxious that all the internet providers do this mess. For the past few years, I've canceled at the 1-year mark, and either signed right back up with the same provider, or switched providers (depending on what's cheapest). I've never had a problem doing this. I figure it takes me about an hour of effort each year, and saves ~$500 per year.

I almost did this this year (where I live there are very few options at all, and only one option for cable internet). But then I lost my nerve and downgraded speed instead.

Glad to hear that quitting and re-upping works. Would sure beat just downgrading speed, since I'm now at the lowest available cable speed (10Mbps). Although this is fine, it is noticeably slower than our old 25Mbps and I would rather not go lower.

nolefan21

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2017, 07:56:03 PM »
Mine just went up to $60/month and I'm on the base level plan that is good enough for streaming (50mpbs?). Time Warner Cable. I can't believe it went up from 44.99. No other option in our neighborhood though.

bacchi

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2017, 09:07:42 PM »
Yeah. I cancel, partner joins. Next year, partner cancels, I join.

It's fucking stupid but that's the (semi) monopoly game.

FIRE me

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2017, 09:16:48 PM »
So, my 1 year introductory price just ended with my ISP and I called to see if I could score another killer deal. I was super polite and said, "Not sure I feel comfortable paying the new rate, do I have any other options available to me?" The CSR put me on hold for a good 10 minutes and came back with a "best offer" of $89 for internet and t.v. After my mind boggled for a minute I said, 'Sorry I don't watch t.v. and that's well above the $65 I was trying to avoid paying so guess I'll just take a downgrade in speed."

Now I'm paying the same as before but for 5mbps. :/ Should I have just cancelled and gone with another company? Should I have threatened to cancel? How do others manage to keep the same plan locked in?

Most ISPs are getting stingier with the price reductions. Like you, I had zero luck getting a reduction this year. In previous years, just mentioning the name of a competitor was enough to get a reduced price.

Runge

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2017, 09:34:54 PM »
I was on the phone for 45 minutes this year. Finally got the new customer price but had to agree to a one year agreement. I stepped down the speed and bought my own modem. I'm skeptical about getting a discount next year, but if I have to be on the phone for 45 minutes to save $30/month, I'm all in.

khangaroo

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2017, 11:33:34 PM »
There are 4 providers in my area (DirecTV, Comcast, Frontier, and Dish) and I toggle between the 4 every one/two years depending on the contract that I'm on. Started off with frontier for $40 for 15 MbS then switched to DirecTV for a bundle that cost $160/month that included TV. After 2 years I switched to Comcast for $130/month with a better TV package and 100 MbS, although the WiFi still sucked so I only ever got those speeds on LAN. In November, I decided to cut the cord and went back to Frontier for $40/month at 30 MbS and I'm happy with it so far.

So if you're lucky enough to have multiple ISP then definitely cancel and jump ship over to the next guy. However, the most infuriating thing is setting up the appointment to have them switch over your internet because someone has to be home and their window is 8 AM - 5 PM... Right, because everyone has nothing better to do than wait for the cable guys to come. But luckily it'll only be once a year or once every two years.

WackyTomato

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2017, 01:40:14 AM »
In my experience re: Internet and mobile phones, threatening to cancel has always worked a charm for me.  However, for this to work, you have to do your homeworks about what the competitors are offering.  You can always use that scarecrow tactic of politely pointing out that there are better prices out there.  I'm conscious this may or may not work for folks living in rural areas, etc.  In Canadian major cities, we have Rogers, Bell, Tekksavvy, etc. so smart are cost-conscious consumers can play these companies against each other...

Retire-Canada

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Re: How do y'all keep your internet at a good price?
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2017, 08:00:41 AM »
So, my 1 year introductory price just ended with my ISP and I called to see if I could score another killer deal. I was super polite and said, "Not sure I feel comfortable paying the new rate, do I have any other options available to me?" The CSR put me on hold for a good 10 minutes and came back with a "best offer" of $89 for internet and t.v. After my mind boggled for a minute I said, 'Sorry I don't watch t.v. and that's well above the $65 I was trying to avoid paying so guess I'll just take a downgrade in speed."

Now I'm paying the same as before but for 5mbps. :/ Should I have just cancelled and gone with another company? Should I have threatened to cancel? How do others manage to keep the same plan locked in?

My internet is too expensive, but I have not found a lower cost option locally. I'm hopeful that will change as I think the service should cost about 50% of what I am paying.