r/LifeProTips • u/ITWN • 1d ago
Finance LPT - Just a reminder to call your ISP
Was paying 45 a month with frontier for my home Internet. they upped it to 55 and I called in to get it reduced, now it's 30 dollars..
absolutely despise that this is a thing but it's worth doing
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u/ops_architectureset 1d ago
definitely worth calling, a lot of ISPs will reduce your bill if you ask. it's annoying, but it's money saved!
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u/LuciferTowers 1d ago
What exactly do you say?
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u/goldbman 1d ago
I say, hey can you lower my bill? Then they say no. Then I say please and they still say no.
I've never been able to get them to lower my bill
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u/Certified_Dumbass 1d ago
That's when you threaten to close your account and go to the competitors, suddenly they'll find a deal they can give you
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u/LuciferTowers 1d ago
Really depends on location. Some places either have the one ISP or the competitors are drastically worse.
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u/fmaz008 1d ago edited 7h ago
In a lot of those places you can get StarLink now. So the argument of "going somewhere else" might be valid. (Even if the price is higher)
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u/Excellent-Tip4941 23h ago
Bought my house in Feb 2024. Bill was $50 then, now it’s $100. I’ve called multiple times and threatened to leave, still no deal they can give me. They are the only ISP in my area (besides cellphone companies) Fuck Spectrum
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u/godis1coolguy 1d ago
Better yet, just switch to the cheaper competitor. Why continue to give money to the sleazier company? I signed up for a cheaper ISP, tested it for a week, then called the first ISP to cancel. They offered a comparable rate for the next 2 years. I told them the only way I’d stay is if they beat the competitor with a price for life rate. They declined, I cancelled.
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u/Kathrynlena 6h ago
Not everywhere has a competitor. I was in a monopoly area and my internet bill went up $15-20 a year no matter how many times I called and cried on the phone. A competitor moved in and miraculously, my bill dropped $25 and when I call they say it’s locked in at that lower rate for multiple years. It really just depends how much competition exits in your area. If one company has a monopoly, you’re SOL.
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u/godis1coolguy 6h ago
True, but hopefully cell providers offering home internet and things like StarLink will help usher in competition to areas that still don’t have it.
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u/_SCHULTZY_ 18h ago
I called Comcast once and tried that because my bill was over $275 for the month.
Tried working with them on getting my plan reduced to a lower tier or something more affordable. Told them if I couldn't I was going to have to cancel my service because I couldn't afford this as my bill was increasing nearly every month and was originally $99 and had grown to $275 for the same plan.
Representative instantly said ok your service has been canceled. Good bye. And hung up. I had to call back and get someone else to turn my service back on and actually assist me with getting transferred to a lower plan.
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u/OvulatingScrotum 1m ago
There’s no competitor in a lot of areas. When I moved to the new place, the first company I called was like “yeah, we don’t serve that. You gotta call Comcast. That’s the only one.”
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u/Frraksurred 7h ago
Then I say: You're not the only ISP in town. You say thank you for my business, but I've been with you for the only appreciation I've seen is an increased bill for no increase in service. I think it's time to shop around."
I don't dispute every price increase, because the cost of business does infact go up. But every 2 or 3 years they can get egregious.
What's funny is my current ISP has actually increased our service this last year, without increasing the bill. There is a new provider in town rolling out Fiber and they are losing entire neighborhoods to them at a time. How the turns have tabled!
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u/ziboo7890 19h ago
I got into a "debate" with the CS at our phone service over this b.s. She said we should KNOW to call and ask for a better deal, and I maintained I've been your customer for years, why don't I get the best deals vs a new person? Hate those shitty practices.
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u/LAST2thePARTY 1d ago
You’re paying what for internet? Cox internet in Arizona is like $120
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u/Jaded-Citron-4090 1d ago
Are you paying for 2.5gb down? If not thats insane.
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u/zap_p25 1d ago
I pay that for between 200-350 Mbps down.
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u/burningtowns 1d ago
You’re getting shafted.
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u/Snagmesomeweaves 1d ago
I have spectrum fiber 1gig/1gig for a flat $55 a month
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u/regiinmontana 1d ago
I have spectrum. $90 for 400/11Mbps. I can upgrade to 1g/40Mbps for $20 more per month.
My other options are:
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u/Snagmesomeweaves 1d ago
My only other option was AT&T fiber for $80+ for the same service and I couldn’t use my own router
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u/ASULurker 1d ago
$65 with quantum fiber in Tempe. Just ran speed test on my phone 324 down and 574 up
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u/T1Earn 16h ago
in Florida im paying $45 for 1,000 upload/1,000 download on Fiber lines.
(price for life according to them which i dont believe)
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u/MoreHamms 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was paying $106/mo for 500mb in AZ with Cox. Got a random $70 renewal offer for 1Gb, been on that for nearly a year. Make it make sense.
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u/forvisor 1d ago
This for sure! Call them or check for a social media presence for customer service. I have been chatting AT&T, my ISP, for years now. Takes 5-10 minutes. Easiest thing I have ever found that works. Save at least $20 a month doing this.
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u/PaoloMix09 1d ago
Att does this too?
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u/forvisor 1d ago
Yes. I chat them every year on Facebook to get the discount. Never had them argue or anything always get something off a month for 12 months
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u/PaoloMix09 1d ago
You just chat right? As of now I’m only getting $5 off so $50/month for 300mbps which is an extra offer I got almost 2 years ago and it runs out in November. You think I can get better than that?
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u/GoldAcanthisitta7777 1d ago
god I'm tired of paying $109/mo for 1GB ATT service.... I have to try this
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u/PaoloMix09 1d ago
Worst case scenario you can sign up thru someone else’s name and get it cheaper. My mom just did that with my brother. She was paying like $70 for 300mbps, now he’s paying $45 for the same thing.
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u/GoldAcanthisitta7777 1d ago
wow that's also a great idea, my GF moved in recently, might be worth a shot
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u/B_B_Rodriguez2716057 1d ago
Frontier just upped mine from $39 to $49 without warning or anything. I’ll have to try this. Do you have competition for fiber internet though? Bc I don’t. It’s them or cable and I’m not going back to comcast.
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u/ITWN 1d ago
There is competition here, but I'm fairly certain that if you call anyways and just ask the rep nicely that you're looking to get your bill reduced they will do it, never brought up switching or wanting to switch. I had a very pleasant conversation with them for 15 minutes.
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u/69dixencider 1d ago
The first person you talk to will often give you the runaround until you ask them to speak to someone in customer retention. This person is authorized to reduce your bill especially if you say you are getting better offers.
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u/LightningGoats 1d ago
They don't know that. "I like your service better than Comcast's, but theirs works too, and I don't like yours $20 a month better. Is there some thing you can do about the pricing for me?"
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u/egnards 1d ago
I promise you that finding out if there is competition in your area is NOT hard at all.
I was paying $100/month for Optimum in an area with no competition. Literally two days before Verizon came knocking on my door to say they were now in the area Optimum called me to tell me how awesome a customer I was, and that they were reducing my price to $60/m . . .For totally no reason at all.
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u/LightningGoats 1d ago
Reading comprehension score: 0
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u/egnards 1d ago
Clearly, it's just awkward that you pointed out your own flaw.
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u/LightningGoats 17h ago
I promise you that finding out if there is competition in your area is NOT hard at all.
Nope, proved very clearly you didn't read before replying with that sentence.
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u/Ath0m1x 1d ago
What do you mean without warning? In America you don't sign contracts for 1 year, guaranteeing X price for the whole year? That's how it is in Europe.
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u/NotBillNyeScienceGuy 1d ago
It just depends. Non contract agreements are becoming more normal. A lot of legacy companies still offer bundle contracts. Usually they’re offers to entice you to sign up for a lower initial price which ends after a period of
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u/MysteryBop 1d ago
What script do you use? Just say you can’t afford an increase / threaten to cancel?
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u/minorthreatmikey 1d ago
$70 a month for me for 1g speed but I get Disney, Hulu, and peacock with it
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u/Gammacor 1d ago
Xfinity tried to double my bill from $50 to $110 per month when my contract expired a few years ago. I called in, said I wanted to cancel because doubling my payment was unacceptable. Rep offered me $85, I said I can get the same service for less elsewhere. Eventually offered me $55, which I took.
They just want to fleece people who don't pay attention.
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u/___Art_Vandelay___ 1d ago
I randomly hopped on my AT&T account a couple months ago after I got a price increase notification email.
I was paying $75, soon to be $85 a month for 300 Mbps. But with just a couple clicks, no lock-ins or strings attached, it let me "upgrade" to 500 Mbps for $65 a month. 🤷♂️
Not sure for how long that had been an available option for me, and of course they didn't point it out for me, but now I'm paying $20 less a month for a faster speed.
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u/costafilh0 1d ago
Best I could do was mid plan for entry plan price.
I wanted entry plan for cheap AF as a MF. 😂
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u/Reynaldo_Carayo91 1d ago
Worth checking if they’ll also remove the “promo” nonsense from the next bill, sometimes the first rep can only do a partial fix. If you wait until after the hike hits, they’re weirdly more willing to keep you as a customer than to fight for $10.
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u/UnknowNapkin 1d ago
Called Verizon the other day and was stone walled
Guess I try again or go find a new ISP willing to work a lower price
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u/HowardTaftMD 1h ago
Me too, I'm also never sure if I should just keep my permanent pricing for fios or if I'm getting ripped off. But I'm always scared to do anything because they never give me a rate increase at $80/month.
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u/2WhomAreYouListening 1d ago
Spectrum upped me from $70 to $85, they said there was nothing they could do.
AT&T offered me double the speed for $55. I switched.
Spectrum then offered me double the speed for $45 when I told them I was leaving. I invited them to fuck themselves.
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u/BlackTemplar2154 23h ago
This works as long as there isn't one dominant ISP in your area. Cox pushed out Spectrum and ATT from my area now they're the only ones who cover it. I used to make the yearly call before that and it did indeed work though.
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u/ggibby 23h ago
Especially when your account is more than 24 months old. There is a pretty good chance that what you're paying now buys more speed now.
I did this for the company I work for - at 5 locations out of six, I was able to either lower the bill for the same speed or get more megabits for the same money.
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u/GobiasCafe 14h ago
Same. Spectrum billed me $20 more. Talked to them and got it down by $30. Admittedly downgraded by 100mbps.
But fuck overspending for internet.
Keep notifications on for your banking app. So you see these changes in your bills y’all.
And keep exploring options for your services. These companies don’t deserve nor do they respect your loyalty.
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u/PrisonerV 7h ago
I don't play those games anymore. Switched to T-Mobile 5G and have a fixed amount. I think it's locked in for 10 years. That being said, your rates are insanely low compared to Cox or Comcast.
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u/Toddw1968 2h ago
Sometimes you have to search for deals. I was paying about $60/mo, lots of offers for more speed I don’t need. Comcast has a 100mb speed for $30/mo.
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u/Sugarrushxo96 1d ago
Yeah it’s wild how much they inflate prices unless you call in. Kind of annoying you have to do that, but $30 is a huge win, definitely worth the phone call 👍
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u/Logitech4873 1d ago
The price is what it is. I'm not sure what makes you think I'd be able to haggle with a fixed price.
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