My Xfinity Price Negotiation Strategy to Lower my Bill
Comcast, or “Xfinity” as they like to call themselves these days, had thrown me for a bit of a loop lately. The live-chat method had always worked for me in getting discounts and promotions on Comcast services, but lately they’ve been sticklers. I had written a very old post on the Get Rich Slowly site in the past that highlighted how to cut your Comcast bill – and gave the actual chat transcript that cut my cost by 33%. That post is outdated, and few have had much luck with Xfinity’s live chat team in recent years. Maybe Comcast management read that post and decided to “toughen up” the live chat team? Whatever the case, new Xfinity negotiation tactics were needed.
Sure, I could get rid of cable completely. But, I love live sports and find enough educational value in other programming. And stacking streaming packages can cost just as much, if not more, than cable TV these days. So, I decided to go back to my old method of getting a Comcast discount – a good ole’ fashion negotiation by phone.
Before I go into the negotiation and what the result was, I’ll first highlight what my package and price was (post 2-year contract expiring):
- “Popular TV” with HD DVR: $90/month with fees (full price)
- “Fast” Cable Internet (400 Mbps): $40/month (discounted)
Total price: $130 per month (+ another $25 or so for other related fees).
Note: Xfinity frequently changes their speeds and package pricing and names, so research what the current offerings are in your area, and substitute in the script. It’s the technique – speak to the right representative, threaten to cancel, get offered a bundle at new customer pricing, eliminate fees – that works, not the product branding or even pricing specifics.
How to Cut your Comcast Bill: Step-by-Step Phone Script
I’ll now walk you step-by-step how I was able to negotiate by Xfinity price down to $90 per month.
1. I picked up the phone and called Xfinity customer service number @: 1-800-934-6489 (1-800-XFINITY).
2. I state (“disconnect service”) when prompted by the automated voice prompts.
This should get you connected to an Xfinity loyalty or retention specialist, who have more power to offer discounts than other customer service reps.
3. I lead my negotiation with the competition.
Comcast fears losing customers to AT&T U-Verse, who is offering up some great discounted packages to new customers.
My discussion was almost identical to this – and this Comcast script has reportedly worked well for hundreds of readers:
- Me: I’d like to discontinue my service.
- Comcast Rep: OK, may I ask why?
- Me: Because I need to lower my bill and AT&T U-Verse is now available in my neighborhood and has some great offers for me, including fiber internet and streaming for much less than I am currently paying. Or, I’ve been looking at a few streaming services as well.
- Comcast Rep: OK. Well AT&T doesn’t offer as many HD channels, but I can look to see what kind of package we may be able to offer you.
- Me: OK, I’ll hear you out.
- Comcast Rep: OK, so we have a new offer where you can give you the same price as a new customer, with a 2-year contract: $79.99 for Fast 400 Mbps and Popular TV cable with 125 channels. There is also a $10/month DVR fee.
- Me: Are you able to cut the DVR fee?
- Comcast Rep: Now you can cut the Xfinity HD DVR and set top box fee (my tips on how to do this), but you need to stay under 20 hours of programming recorded. If you don’t want a DVR, there is a $8.50/month set-top box fee per device (note: now $10/month per device), but you can get rid of that by using a Roku with the Xfinity Stream app, Amazon Fire, or certain smart TVs. You can also sign up for eco-bill and get a discount there. After all of that, your price would be $93 with a 2-year contract.
- Me: Are you sure you don’t have any cheaper packages?
- Comcast Rep: Yes.
- Me: OK, please make the switch.
- Comcast Rep: OK, should we add on Xfinity Voice too?
- Me: No thanks (I have Ooma digital phone service, and it’s free).
Score another one versus Comcast’s dreaded customer service.
4. I Saved 34%!
I was able to cut $47 (34%) off my cable/internet package, while getting the same channels and same internet speeds. Over 2 years, this will save me $1,128, and then I will negotiate a new 2-year contract again, or switch to U-Verse.
5. Stay Congenial
I want to point out that I was friendly, yet confident with the service rep. It may sound cliche, but treat others as you would want to be treated and you will get better results. Act like a jerk, and you’ll strike out.
6. Bundling Often Results in a Better Deal
If you’re going to be an Xfinity customer, it almost always saves you money when you bundle. Xfinity frequently has deals that allow you to bundle Xfinity Mobile with Xfinity TV and Internet, lowering the combined total prices of those services – often with prepaid Visa cards as a reward. If you live with an Xfinity Internet/TV supported area, bundling Xfinity Mobile (see my Xfinity Mobile Review for more info) with those services will usually result in the lowest total price versus buying from separate providers. You can find current Xfinity bundle offers here if you’re interested in bundling services.
7. Eliminate Extra Fees where you Can
Important Note: I also previously got rid of the Comcast modem fee by purchasing my own modem and router – saving me another $15 per month (yes, Comcast has recently raised their modem rental price). This is something you 100% must do too. This is in addition to the $10/month TV box fee noted above.
Comcast has recently been advertising Xfinity “Supersonic Wi-Fi” offering. Broken down, “Supersonic Wi-Fi” is really just Xfinity’s fastest (and highest cost) internet tiers (Gigabit or Ultrafast plans) paired with a new Wi-Fi 6E router (which they are marketing as the “Supersonic Gateway” as part of their package Xfinity “Supersonic Bundle” deal). Even better – Wi-Fi 7 is now new in the market. I recently took a look at the new Wi-Fi 7 versus Wi-Fi 5, 6, & 6E technology to determine if Wi-Fi 7 is worth the cost.
I don’t think it’s worth it. I would recommend replacing your Xfinity xFi modem by buying a Arris S33 modem and pairing it with a TP-Link AX3000 (Wi-Fi 6), TP-Link AXE5400 (Wi-Fi 6E), or TP-Link BE9300 (Wi-Fi 7) router if I were buying today (see the articles linked to on the “Important Note” above for a full list of good modem/router options). This setup offers the same speeds as Xfinity and pays for itself in just over a year (saving $180 per year), and then it’s free for as long as they live!
I’ve also written more broadly on how to get rid of your ISP modem rental fee (if you’re not a Comcast customer).
Cut your Comcast Xfinity Bill Discussion:
- What did your Comcast negotiation look like? How much did you save and how did you get it?
- Comcast CSR’s: Now is your chance to tell all! How can customers get the best deals and how does Comcast set these policies (retention specialist can negotiate/others cannot). Please share! (you’ll remain anonymous, of course)
Related Posts:
Last time I called Comcast and tried to negotiate, they were having none of it. I did exactly what you did, except when I got to the part where I said I was thinking of switching to AT&T because they were cheaper, they were like “Ok we’ll discontinue your service! You’ll need to return your equipment to the Comcast store in your area. Would you like to fill out a survey before we end the call?” And that was that. I was left blubbering on the line.
I ended up switching to U-verse anyway when they came to our door and offered us a permanent (yes, that’s right, permanent) price that was lower than anything Comcast could ever come close to ($97 for 350 channels with over half available in HD, a dvr in both rooms, Starz, Showtime, Encore, and 12mbps dedicated line internet). Now I can DVR the newest episodes of Dexter while I’m surfing away, for under half the cost of the same thing from Comcast.
this year Comcast has been impossible our bill went from 145 to 179.00 for the preferred package with phone and internet I have called 2 times and they claim they cannot do anything to lower rate last year we were told we had a promotional rate which expired and I was told to call back this past February for another promotional rate no luck they have the worst worst customer service
I was the king of this with Directv,,17 years worth. Now where I live I am forced to take Comcast. Dialed number after number just trying to get costumer service ever!
This is when you shop on their online deals that are available on their website, or call during the day time when American representatives are available. Do this only IF your OUT of contract. The one thing Comcast likes to do is get customers under contract by whatever means necessary. This for them is a bonus b/c it’s guaranteed income and if you don’t abide than you pay a hefty early termination fee, either way it’s a win for them. If you are still under contract and not getting results you can try this method that I’ve found to work well… Call Comcast and use the prompt for the upgrades/downgrades department and once on the phone explain to the rep. exactly what happened (even better if you can get a senior advisor on the phone) tell them you were promised another discount once the first had run out and now they are going back on what they promised. You then need to say something like this “i would like to downgrade my services, honestly I would cancel it if I could but I can’t because of my contract.. so just downgrade my account to the cheapest service available ( I believe this is like basic cable which is usually around $20+).” Being under contract doesn’t mean u have to keep the same package, you just have to keep one of their services till contract is up. This method had worked for me every time they refuse to reapply a discount or give me a better package. An advisor is actually who told me about this, basically even though you are under contract Comcast would rather lose $10-$20 from you instead of having you downgrade to $30/month or less from a bill that was once $130 or more per month.
I recently talked with someone 1 from Comcast & wanted Only Basic service they told me it would lower my $189.92 bill by only $11.00. I could not believe this, Have HD preferred bundle. Am I getting ripped off or what????
My TV, Internet and phone are $238 each month. No HBO, Starz and many others that require a subscription in order to watch outdated shows. I really don’t mind not being able to view these shows. What I do mind is that bill. I really wonder what the name of my bundle is. Screwed would be my guess.
Look into other services I was able to find a 179$ bill with alot of channels I am pretty sure HBO will be on it. My thing is how they get you a month in advance. Your paying 2 bills. I’m getting 550$ dollar bills. Part of it is paying before the month ends. I don’t get how I pay for Jan. In Dec. Then get a bill in January I am started to think they are scamming me
See if you can downgrade to a starter double play. It starts at 79.99 per month before taxes and fees you have to agree for 2 years. They are sneaky and they don’t tell you the plan goes up $20 a month for the second year. But my bill was steadily climbing just like yours. My bill was almost $230 a month to years ago. It was down to $160 most of the year now it’s $198 again.
Yeah me 2!!! And I’m not really happy about it. 🙄
I dropped Comcast phone service over a year ago.
Bought me MajicJack dongle and service. *Yearly* (not monthly) cost for MajicJack phone service is $43.
I hardly use my home phone anyway, so I couldn’t justify paying Comcast whatever exorbitant phone fee I was paying.
Thank you MajicJack — ha, ha!
Stick it to da man!
I dropped my phone service with Comcast only to find out that its cheaper to have 3 services than it is to have 2?!! I’m currently paying $250.00 a month for Comcast!! Its absolutely ridiculous!
I just moved here and both My Husband and I are very new at this Wi Fi, but for rent We need it or We will be fined, can’t pay with Money Orders that is a $50. Fee. Before at the end of August We had a $55.00 credit with no payment due. We agreed upon $109.99 monthly payments (Yes from Comcast) totally up to $130.00 monthly payments. So with the $55.. credit and now it shows that the bill for September 28,2016 is $188. . Where did the credit Go and what happened to the $130.. monthly payments? This is totally upsetting.
They love to quote you these package costs, however that does NOT include their service fees, taxes, nor equipment fees which easily add up to a LOT! We get charged $5. just for a mandatory broadcast fee and $3. for a mandatory regional sports fee. Yep, regardless of what you watch on t.v. or what bundle or package you have. For instance my “bundle” price at a discount is $139.99 but with all the fees added on that we can do almost nothing about, my total bill is $216.78!!!! What a bunch of crap!
Mine was supposed to be 179$ it’s 243$ I’m living off 700 a month! It’s crazy. They charge a month in advance and if every cent isn’t paid,and before the next month you are charged again.
AT&T told us they where raising the cell phones another $5 a more or month, and throttling bandwidth – so we dropped them for TracFone which for Us, is like $19 / Month instead of $80 dollars a month =MINIMUM=
AT&T Go bleed someone else.
Did the same with comcast, called them up told them Verizon was putting in fiber throughout our area and sorry we had to drop them.
Comcast Dropped the price to half, and Increased the Internet speed,
all just for a 2 year contract. I could have done it even for 1 year,
but – It’s all I need, at almost twice the speed and below half the price.
They even sent me a $75 refund credit as a paper check for the previous month.
Bottom Line: Your TV should be FREE or almost free, and your
Televison, Internet, and Cell Phones combined should be under $60 a month.
If you are paying more than $60 a month for all of that you are getting SCAMMED.
Hi, I am paying Comcast\Xfinity $225.00 a month for cable tv, Internet & phone. And; I never got my 2 year locked in contract plan. It just kept going up since. I call and try to get my bill down and get hung up on. I go to the center and speak to them in person and told to call retention center which I can’t reach because I get hung up on by a rep first. What is the direct phone number to the retention center or the loyalty department? Since I have been a customer for over 20+ years.
We also have a 2-year contract that started about 10 months ago. Don’t be fooled – our rates have increase 3 times in the last 10-month period, and we have actually LOST two channels that we watched frequently. I guess my definition of “contract” is very, very different from Comcast’s definition.
Same here. Comcast could care less that I switched to U-Verse. Saving $100/month and getting more to boot. Never looking back. One of the retention specialists told me that Comcast changed their comp so if they cut costs, they get dinged and if they retain for higher rate, they get more $$. They no longer care if people walk away. Saying goodbye to Comcast was a happy day indeed!
Do you mean “Comcast couldn’t care less that I switched?” If they could care less then how much less could they care? 10% 20% 50%?
Ned has a small pen15. A boy with a boring life. A person with so little to do he goes on correcting people. You are a sad, pathetic, excuse for a human. Dive on a bed of D*cks Ned.
I “liked” your correction on “could and couldn’t care less.
Ned M, did you mean “10%, 20%, or 50%?” I added the commas and “or” that you accidentally forgot!
Just tried to change my bill in store and got the worst employee ever. Said that dish is looking more and more appealing every day, and all she said was “yeah dish is a good company”. Ended up just keeping my same bill with a little added. The thing I was trying to do was lower my bill before the terms expired. (almost $300 with all of extra fees if I didn’t get this before it happened, right now im at $222). I am essentially stuck.
I have comcast, I watch TV, and I need fast internet. ATT internet is garbage in my area and this is the only thing that works as it is described as far as reliable internet speeds go. Want to cut cable for internet TV? Yeah right, now that they’ve added that data cap with how much I already use the internet, if I used an internet enabled device for TV viewing, I would be screwed because I would def. go over the data cap. This is just ridiculous.
What is U-verse internet speed? And is their internet good? Internet is more important to me than TV.
I agree this no longer works! The cord cutting gurus tout cutting the cord but they are totally ignorant about Comcast and it’s games. I don’t even read their baloney anymore. For example, they tell you to to cut the cord for cable, keep the cheap internet access and look at fire sticks, Roku, etc and save loads on your Comcast bill. NO, NO, NO. I called Comcast today to cancel all things Xfinity I’ve come to despise, and keep the internet. I EAS told that would cost me $80 a month, not $39 because I wasn’t a new subscriber. $80 a month defeats the purpose of saving by also having to subscribe to Roku, Netflix, etc. it adds up fast! So the hateful, greedy approach by Comcast to punish us dastardly people who dare to consider cutting that over priced cable is to charge so much for basic that it’s not worth it to cut the cord. I’ve come to dislike the cord-cutting so called experts as much as Comcast. They are not telling the whole story, apparently haven’t done any research on the games Comcast plays, therefore are not at all useful providing advice on how to truly lower your Comcast bill!
You nailed it! I keep seeing all of these options for cutting cable but most of them are worthless without quality, high-speed internet. Like you, Comcast is essentially the only choice where I live (Denver) if one wants reliability and speed. There are a few alternatives, but they are slower and have loads of complaints/bad reviews when you do a little research.
I just now did it with great success! I was calm and commented on the weather in the Philippines. I waited patiently for the girl to stumble through the script. I stated my issues and got: Upgraded internet speeds 150mpg for 12 months at $79. Upgraded modem and wifi. ( but I will be purchasing my own soon) and free next-day human installation of said equipment. Yay! Be calm, friendly and have the details of the new offer available.
I cut $36 & added DVR. Said I was quitting for FIOS.
Not quite an epic win but I just got $15 off my monthly bill.
That’s all they were willing to offer me. Buh-bye Comcast!
My bill jumped from 150 to 250, guess my 1 year is up!!!! oooo crap!!!!! 100 dolor difference HOW!!!!!
I am going to try and see what I can do… I am on the triple play comcast basic package. I am not afraid to switch tv to directtv that seems a lot lower almost half the price regularly unless I miss understood what site says.
I cant seem to find anywhere on my bill that tells me if I signed up for 1, 2, 100 years and when that would end. Lets hope that does not get in my way LoL.
Comcast has no mandatory contracts.
I called Comcast because my bill jumped to $230 a month. They told Me they can add a phone, which I do not need and drop me to $196…with a 2 year contract…bs.
I just called them today inorder to improve our rather slow internet and get rid of cable because we already have at and t for direct tv qnd the rep said the only thing that wouldnt double our bill for better internet would be to pay for phone and cable both of which we already have with different providers, doesnt make any sense why you cant get internet only for a cheaper price. Smh.
No there is no mandatory contracts. But if you agree to contract it will lock your price in.
Oh yes they do!
it’s not a mandatory contract, but it’s a contract. You can get out of it any time by paying the penalty. In mine, the early termination fee is $230. but that’s reduced by $10/mo. So, after a year, it would just be the remaining $120 termination fee. Which- might be worth it if you can save more than $10/mo
When your current contract is up (whether they somehow got you to agree to a 2 year term, or maybe you just didn’t know you had options), whatever the case …do not take their 2 year (most common) or even 1 year agreement! They have the same deals, sometimes better with no term limit penalties. The offers or promotions to get are the no contract 1 year deals that lock in your rate for 12 months without penalty. I say sometimes better…because you’ll find deals on their site, for example, Triple Play 12 month locked rate w/no agreement for $99/mo or the same Triple Play w/2 yr agreement for $89/mo.
Many times they gear the 12 month locked rate w/no term agreement for new customers, but after your contract is up that is basically what you are. Because now you can flee to a competitor and in my handful of cases Xfinity has given me exactly what I wanted in order to keep me as a customer. Seriously! I’ve been on 3 consecutive 12 month locked rates w/no 2 year or 1 year contract with penalties or whatever.
But, you have to use chat and do it online. Don’t call unless you absolutely have to. Be nice, explain that you wish you could have all of their great products but just can’t afford it and that you know Dish is doing TV & internet for $29 or $34 or whatever the promo is at that time and Xfinity will do whatever they have to do to hep you out.
They’ll even start quoting packages that I’ve never even heard of or have seen on their site or anywhere on the web for that matter.
This last time I had Blast Plus+ which was very, very fast internet and 45 TV stations, Free HBO & Streampix since I watch 99% Amazon Prime & Netflix. The 12 mo no agreement, locked rate was &59 which I thought was great! Then the 12 mos expired and my next bill was the reg. price of $89 +$10 modem + taxes = $109 roughly.
I got on chat and explained that with my financial hardship i was barely affording the promo at $59 + $10 modem + taxes=$75, so I was going to have to drop TV & just do hi speed internet (at the time was a 12 mo locked rate of $19/mo w/no agreement) to watch my Netflix & Amazon Fire.
The chat agent said she totally understood and if she could give me the same deal for less $$ would I consider that? I said of course and while she was putting the plan together I was thinking she’d come back and save me $10/mo or something similar and I would still go down to just internet.
Well…I just about SHAT myself when she said she could give me 55+ TV stations, high speed internet, free HBO & Streampix for just $39/mo + $10 modem + taxes = $55!!! No term agreement but 12 mo fixed rate. So I bought my own Arris Surfboard Xfinity approved gateway from Amazon Warehouse Deals for $28 total…shipped in 2 days and now my monthly cost to Xfinity for internet & cable is $45/mo total!!
How? What you mean? Is there a way to get out of them? Can’t stand the way they are internet has been throttled so slow yet the prices keep increasing
Update:
Last month-
On the phone I tried to negotiate my double price increase after my contract plan ended, I was told that they would cancel my service if that’s what I wanted. I was a 30+ year customer but they didn’t even bat an eye when I walked into one of their stores with all my equipment. I learned from this site just what to do… I took my wife with me, had a NEW account and contract set up in her name & just like that… got the NEW customer plan pricing and new equipment. The biggest pain was having to put back in all our tv series into DVR, but our bill went from $208/mo to $99/mo. And when this contract expires I’ll go in with her and once again become a new customer and we’ll just keep doing it over and over and over! In fact even the customer service rep at the counter knew what we’re doing and it appears that Comcast would rather do more paperwork for a new customer instead of just giving the same deal to one that’s been with them for decades! Therefore let the games begin, and for that monthly savings, will just continuously be new customers every time a contract runs out.
I signed up last year to get performance internet and multilatino max tv for $69.99 for 12 months and then the rate of $89.99 for an additional 12 months… with taxes and modem rental I was paying $83 and change a month but this month I got the new rate and a bill for $105.05, it may not be a lot for most people, but for couple of college students it makes a difference.
I had to call a few times until I got someone willing to help me, she put me in a Multilatino Ultra package (a lot more channels!!) with the same internet speed, free HBO for 6 months and an extra digital box for the TV we just got for the bedroom, that for $79.99. That’s pretty good considering we were about to request an extra digital box for $8.50 a month!!
Also we just got a cable modem on black friday, so we will no longer pay the $7 rental fee, more savings for us!!
She told me the promo was only good for 6 months, but that I could call back in 6 months to get me switched to the newest promo available at that time
Good luck with getting a new promo , I can not tell you how many times they have told me that and there is not anything at this time for existing customers only new ones, once they have you they are not helpful to you at all after your promo time has ended sorry to say .
I just used some of your technique to try to get my bill lowered. It was fairly successful… I got my bill lowered from $130 to $100, I got the DVR fee waived for a year, and free HBO for 3 months (but I will have to cancel after 3 months or I will be charged). It wasn’t easy, because I was on the phone for nearly an hour and I had to ask about every discount they offered, and I had to know exactly what AT&T was offering. The CSR eventually figured out that AT&T is not offered in my area and it hurt my bargaining power.
My suggestions: Do your research on competitor pricing, and don’t be afraid to ask for things like waiving DVR fees.
wow..my comcast bill is 225 dollars right now!!! WTF… I have a family of 5 and one pay check.
highway robbery, IMO, 99% of the channels are nothing I will ever watch. DVR, cable modem rentals…and we have one hook up, up stairs so we can get the basic cable, and half the time this doesn’t work right.
PLUS..the DVR and comcast programming guide is @#%%. Ancient technology.
I’ll be looking to drop comcast altogether and go with just a cheap internet connection, netflix (9 dollars a month) and use cell for all phone needs.
The thing is, CSRs can only offer discounts that are made available by corporate and marketing. Their power is limited as far as lowering bills without drastically lowering service level. Retention specialists do have a few more options available to them that really aren’t available to anyone else but even these are either just the same rates that are available to new customers and generally mean an *increase* in services or just a standard $ amount off to keep you for 6 months. The CSRs can’t customize specials for anyone and, unfortunately, quite a few people take it out on the CSRs who are there, honestly, just to help as best they can. Also, any time you take a survey, you are ONLY rating the specific person you talk to and NOT rating Comcast as a whole so if you were helped by someone but are still disappointed in with the company, remember, your ratings don’t mean a thing to the bigwigs but mean quite a lot to the worker you spoke to.
Right on the money (literally), speak to a retention specialist. Dropped my bill 30%
Just called to lower my bill and basically had to upgrade to lower it. Went from StarterXF for $146.95 to Digital Preferred for $121.95. Not too bad for a phone call – even after my first year price is up, the Digital Preferred is still cheaper than what I had according to the rep. We’ll see when the time comes. I’m still considering the Ooma phone service which could bring my bill down another $35 or so. I just wish I would have pushed for a DVR to be thrown in too!
I’m trying to go from Preferred XF Triple Play bundle back to Digital Preferred because I’m paying $179 a month (which I can’t afford) and they just put in another price increase for December. They keep telling me Digital will no longer be available. Everyone has to switch to Xfinity. I can’t even get them to switch me to the Starter XF Triple Play which is $55 cheaper. Plus I don’t have HD TV and the channels they list are mostly for HD TV.
The worse thing is, since I got Xfinity a year ago, I’ve had nothing but trouble. every month. Either the TV is out, the phone or the internet is out, but usually it’s the TV. I’ve had these guys here 4 times and now they tell me nothing else can be done. They switched out the cables inside and out, new modem, etc. The icing on the cake was Tues. this week when the TV went out again Support told me it was my box and they were to set up an appointment for Saturday. No TV until Saturday???? WTH was I paying for? Anyway, support said they’d try to get another appointment closer to yesterday. Never heard back. TV came back on 10 hours later but I couldn’t change the channel and got stuck watching some stupid movie…then the picture shrank for 40″ to 6″ square. Called again. Autobot said there was an outage in my area…even though I had internet and phone? Finally after another 8 hours, everything straightened out. This was Wed. morning. At 6 p.m. that night, support called to verify my appointment TWO WEEKS FROM the date I had the problem. This is total bull. Nothing but a bunch of liars there.
I want out of Comcast/Xfinity but I don’t think there are any other services in my area except DirectTV or Dish and we live in woods so in the summer I wouldn’t get TV? I’m so frustrated. :(
I ou PLEASE get me an amerean yhear you. I have Centur Link DS slow or Com SUCKS…. I am a disaled veteran fighting cancer. To get my Double [play and switch from DISH whom I LOVED . Started at $88.00 six years ago.I am now at *$188.00 and have not changes one thing .Nothing.The Ignorrant Immigrant out sourced customer immigrant workers are RUDE..I could not understand her.I said Niceley ” I can not understand you, can you Please connect me to an American Speaking Supervisor.” She put me on hols sfter 27 mintes with her for another 29 minutes and no one ever picked up.You Blow Comcast.I would have tried your cell phone service.No Thank you.You Price Gouge your Loyal Customers..Bad
Two months ago my Comcast bill went from $158.06 to 164.60. About the same time I noticed that the IFC and Science channels had been removed….You are not authorized, etc.
They went up on the price and removed channels. I called them today and tried to get the 2 channels back (I found out these channels had been moved to a higher tier)and was offered instead $20 a month reduction in my bill for a year.
I’m really grateful for the reduction but I still want my channels back – I’m wondering if this would be worth pursuing further and how should I go about it?
And I agree with what most people say – Be Nice, it works!
IFC may be be available on the Sling TV service.
Everytime I have tried in last two years I get ok see you. Sorry to lose you. And we pay over 150 a month for cable and internet and phone. I don’t use phone and tried to get rid of it and they said if we did that it would be more expensive…what? And they refuse even me being nice to change it. I would totally change to a different provider but husband refuses since it was a pain last time switching from astound to comcast…
I just did almost exactly what you said, except I researched DirectTv and had prices in front of me to use. I was also seriously considering switching after seeing I owed almost $400 for 2mo of service. I was paying $178.65 for Digital Preferred and Internet, along with HD DVR and 2 HD boxes,and before tax and fees($197 w/ fees). They lowered my bill to $121.95 for 6 mo. for both TV and Internet, for a savings of $56.70, after that my bill will go up $20. It all worked out and I’m glad I came across this post.
I was paying 240 for a Comcast bundle and assumed “bundle = savings,” which is far from the truth. I actually found out I could sign up for Directv though Costco! Its wholesale pricing. Costco adds in a $300.00 Cash Card, NFL ticket for both season, and a 100% free install. Plus each person gets a costco directv customer service number that differs from corporates. All live operators that speak English and
Same thing happened to me….
My promo ran out and their fees went up….
No other cable provider besides dish or direct….
……..really makes me mad…
I followed your instructions (the phone prompts, of course have changed). Nice script; it played out perfectly. Saved $38/mo. with exactly the same service package.
Like you said, it helps a lot to have current information on Comcast’s competitors’ deals, in our area Frontier Communications, and to be patient. Thanks!
Good helpful post. When trying to get a better deal from Comcast its better to remain calm and just get the job done. I think many people are so mad at getting ripped off that they blow the whole negotiation. Customer retention reps have more power to give you a better deal, especially if you name the competitors deal.
Try speaking with your local Comcast rep. The deals they offer are even better. I once wanted to go from being an internet only customer to being a cable customer as well. At the time I was paying the discounted rate of $30 for 12 Mbps internet. When I got on the chat the person on the other end refused to offer me any bundles that were being given to new customers. In fact I was told that I would have to pay $130 a month for cable plus internet (I wanted the digital starter package). Then the person on the chat said that I should contact sales. What was worse, was the fact the the woman in sales was even worse. She couldn’t care less if wanted to leave or stay, her attitude was like “Boo Hoo cry me a river”. She said that I would loose my promotional internet rate as well and I would have to pay $145 a month. At this point I was so upset that I said I’m done. She literally said “Too bad”. When I was almost about to call Verizon, my friend hooked me up with the local comcast rep. This guy was much more helpful and listened to what I was asking for He had deals that weren’t advertised on the site. He got back to me on time and in fact even after I had made a choice for the $80 package for Internet + digital starter + $10 for the HD cable box, he got back to me telling me that there was another deal I should look at. At the time I wasn’t interested in the triple play bundle but he said that they were offering the bundle at no contract for a promotional rate for $89 a year and $109 after that. I would be getting Blast + Premier Cable + phone service with a free texting plan. This was a no brainer. I took it up and got my ATnT texting plan dropped which saves me $20. ON top of it all I don’t have to pay any installation fees. My college at work was paying $210 for the exact package and when he learnt that I was getting if for basically 40% of what he was paying he literally blew a fuse!
To recap, try finding out who’s the local Cable rep these guys are far more helpful than anyone on the phone.
How do i find a local cable rep to speak to?
Thanks so much for the suggestion. The “customer loyalty” agent dropped my bill from $160/month to $90/month for agreeing to a 2-year contract. Woohoo! Awesome advice.
Comcast is thieves
Sounds like great advise. The only alternative we have is Dish. Not as easy but give ita try.
I used your suggestions and added this: I calculated what it would cost for similar services with two other providers (Century Link and Direct TV) I calculated what I would pay if I came to Comcast as a new customer. I compared the annual costs of each of these scenarios. Then when I spoke with the rep who handled the line to “discontinue your comcast service” I calmly told him my findings in great detail. I then added that it appears that I would save $1600 the first year and $720 subsequent years by leaving Comcast for their competition while receiving more channels and cooler DVR features. Further, I mentioned that it’s evident Comcast awards its loyal customers by billing them $470 more per year than its new customers! I then gently added, ‘this hardly seems fair does it?’ The flabbergasted rep said hold one minute and I’ll see what I can do. Six minutes later he was back, discounted my monthly fee $55/month and gave me 3 free months of DVR. I think I will make it an annual event to make this call. Thirty minutes of research to save over $600? You bet it’s worth it. I still may jump ship to save an additional $1000. But I’ll stay put for now. Overall, consider if all customers speak up like this; maybe companies will get the message that there’s a price to pay for not taking care of your existing customers. Thanks for providing this empowering forum.
Great story!
You’re lucky. I’ve been with them since they took over Time Warner back in the ice age. There’s no customer loyalty for me except raised prices. I’ve also used the loyalty vs. new customer pricing, got the hold on and then told there’s nothing they could do for me.
My hubby and I watch maybe 10 stations, 20 at the most. Don’t need 140 stations. Don’t need the music or Latino stations. Don’t need any sports stations. Yet I’m stuck with all of them.
Hey friend thank you for the insite. I googled how to lower cable bill and came upon your site. I couldn’t remember the word I heard on a TV show of who to talk to…and it’s a RETENTION SPECIALIST. thank you for that. Debra
I followed the suggestions. The person on the other end was far less than helpful. The best I could do was them taking $15 off the service and throwing in HBO for 6 months. Better than nothing, but not by much.
Tried calling 2 separate reps and neither were willing to help me. I told them that RCN and Fios had better deals for the same tier internet and Comcast wouldn’t budge. We will officially be canceling Comcast. Maybe they will try to sway me when I make that phone call?
I dropped Comcast TV today after being with them for long time. Four months ago my TV +Net jumped from 84.14 to 147.97 and because I had an automated payment I didn’t know that for while. I called and talked to three different people about too high payment. No one of them tried to find solution, so I canceled TV and left Internet for 64.00.
I just cancelled mine due to promo ending… This doubled the price. I told them i had dish and direct tv and had both of their specials in my hand. They were unwilling to negotiate at
All and told me to return the equipment and get a receipt. I have nothing now but will
Make another call next week to give it another round. Verizon isn’t in my area and the
Only options are dish and directv…
I tried to haggle with Direct TV. I have been with them since 2010 so after 4 years I came across these sites. I haggled $25 off my bill for 12 months. The other day, I called them for another promo, they said they have nothing besides free Cinemax,Showtime, etc. I called a week later, they said ,”they have a $5 off promo for 12 months.” I cancel my services so my account is not active anymore. The Direct TV still works even though they disconnected my services.
Just called Comcast and went thru the phone tree to the discontinue service. I was told by a recording that the wait is long about 15 mins, but instead, I got a customer rep on the phone after about a minute. Explained to her that the bill has gone up too much and I would like to cancel. She immediately went on to say that she can check on what she can do. She at first offered to upgrade me to HD premier for about 20 bucks less than what I am paying now(I have preferred plus currently). But I told her I don’t need the extra channels. So she then offered me the same price for new customers on the HD preferred plus package. I told her I could do that and she locked in the rate for me. I wound up saving about $45 bucks and I am going to cancel my HD-DVR which I almost never use anyways. So I am going to save about $55 a month. Not bad for a 10 minute phone call! Thanks!
Don’t cancel your DVR! Just ask for it to be thrown in for free. I’ve done this twice now…they will at least give you 6 months free DVR service.
03-May-2013
I received the dreaded bill for May 2013 and they are again jacking up my Comcast price to $72.63. Unacceptable! I’m now making preparations to either switch or cancel. Playing the Comcast price shell games is really starting to get old. I’ve been having to do this since 2004.
13-May-2013
On the phone with Comcast again. Called to cancel service. I explained that my bill was again too high. Amy Rep #PG quoted me $49.99 for 6 months for basic cable and my internet service. This rate is good for 6 months. Said a label would be sent out. Need to watch for the June bill and see if the price gets lowered as promised. I will have to watch for my November bill and see if it goes up again and will have to call back then. After past patterns, I’m quite sure that I will have to call them back in June. We will wait and see.
End of Log
So I called Xfinity/Comcast twice today to try and get my bill lowered. I went from $189 for Triple Play (HD Preferred XF Bundle, 1-addtl line, DVR) to $254 a month in a matter of 3 months. Apparently my “special” pricing ran out. At this time, 6/11/2013, they wouldn’t do anything for me. They would downgrade me and I would lose channels and pay less, but still pay the regular rate. They told me the only offers they can give me must raise my bill at least $10/month. I qualify for a special rate of $199/month Bundle because my current bundle alone coast $189. BS!
I called back frustrated and asked to hear all my options to a lower bill….none were offered except downgrades/losing channels and services. My next step is to do as the article above says and threaten to leave for AT&T… however a co-worker told me he tried that a little over a month ago (April 2013) and they would not work with him and they called his bluff. He just got At&T hooked up after 4-weeks of no cable/internet and said that At&T has a ton of their own issues you have to deal with, although he has a lowered bill for a year :-). But I like Xfinity, I have not had issues with them, the cable, phone or e-mail or internet. I don’t really want to leave them.
I will now contemplate whether to call up and threaten to leave, hoping they don’t call my bluff….to be continued.
I’m so tired of my Comcast bill. Reminds me of that Who song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
I love my DVR but paying @$170/month for a convenience item is crazy. I’m seriously thinking of going to basic cable. I have no issues with the services, but the bill is ridiculous. Same with the cell phone bill!! How did we get by in the 80’s without all this stuff?
I did call a few months ago and got my bill dropped by around $15. They let me keep my phone but took it off the bill.
I don’t even have DVR services and pay $179!
I finally got fed up with Comcast and cancelled my cable completely last month. I have a 6 year-old that loves her Disney and Nickelodeon channels, and I love watching baseball and football. However I hated getting a bill from Comcast for $183 for cable, internet and phone. First we called and got the HBO and Showtime cancelled, which dropped my bill to around $140. I then ordered a Mohu Leaf antenna for $40 through Amazon and cancelled all of my cable. (I live 20 miles from the television transmission towers, so needed the help). Ordered Hulu Plus (which unfortunately only carries a few shows I watch). I already had Netflix. I now pay about $60 a month for my internet and phone, $8.50 a month for Netflix and $8 a month for Hulu Plus and have plenty to watch. And Comcast calls me about every two weeks asking me if I would be interested in getting my cable back at some very low prices.
The most important thing about dealing with any cable company, don’t be afraid to cancel your cable for a few weeks or months even. Switch to Netflix or Amazon Prime or something along those lines. They will call or mail you offers to come back. They need you more than you need them.
So who is your internet through?
Your script worked for me. Before taxes, my bill is now about $500 lower annually (I know, I know…for now)…..Thanks!
I called Comcast several times but they would not budge in terms of lowering my bill. I only have internet service and want to keep just internet. They told me my $34.99 promotional deal ended, went up to $44.99 and then stated my bill will be going to $80.00. How do I get them to keep it at $44.99 or even $34.99?
It’s a lot tougher to negotiate when you only have one product and you’re not paying that much for it.
Here’s an experiment to try: see what rate they’ll give you for internet if you add home phone. If it’s a good deal, take it, then cancel phone a few days later. Not sure if it will work, but worth a shot.
ok, i will try it when they raise my bill again, thanks!
If you care so much about the service maybe you should consider paying for it instead of complaining about how your cable bill is so high. Cable is a luxury and not a privilege. Can’t handle it? Spend time with your friends and family. It’s not a tragedy for someone to cut their cable service if they can find something they enjoy more than spending hours on hold to “negotiate” a lower deal..,
Its more like 10 minutes and its surely more productive than sitting on the internet for hours giving holier than thou speeches about going outside.
Screw you, what do you work for them? Comcast has a monopoly and they don’t care!
Well, thanks, Cate. I will be sure to pass your advice on to my 86 year old, blind mother-in-law who is paying an outrageous amount for her cable television.
I have utilized the online chat channel to lower my bill for years. As you have recently cited, their online channel has really tightened their onus of retention responsibility and they no longer work to find an alternative package.
Additionally, the established tactics for negotiating with their retention specialists no are no longer as effective as in the past.
I asked the specialist I spoke to today about this, and insinuated in my conversation that there was, perhaps, an enterprise level policy change. He explained that Comcast is now enforcing already-existing policies in place that involve price targeting/price enforcement/package non-renewal and then launched into a 20 minute speech about how if everyone kept getting the same package repeatedly, they wouldn’t be able to bless all of us with their ever-evolving suite of products. He then stated that packages are meant to serve as introductory tools for new customers to experience Comcast’s amazing levels of service.
It was at this point that I couldn’t sustain the conversation without becoming belligerent, so I decided to disconnect before the vitriol building behind my breath served to dismantle my entire point of calling in the first place.
He did mention that the industry is a promotional industry and that Comcast now expects to lose customers to the cyclical promotion game. So I’m taking his advice and moving on.
It is also a good idea to get the name & id number of the representative you are speaking with. one day I was having truble with my outside wiring (my dog chewed it), made an appointment for that, and was upgrading I was going to have the hd dvr delivered in the mail, while i was setting up the appointment for the outside wiring I was told by the representative that since the technician was already going to my house, she could cancel the equipment that was being sent and he could just set that up for me, I asked and much would that cost? She said it would be free, nope!! When my next bill came I owed 75 dollars for the instillation, wich was bs I called comcast and I was just getting the run around, even had a representative tell me they didnt have a supervisor, I would just hang up after speaking with about 4 diffrent representative’s I came across a reasonable one that did have a supervisor, was transfered and was able to get my $75 back, there are good representative and there are bad ones do make sure you get the id number and name.
They are not negotiating anymore from my recent experience. Without competition they can pretty much do as they please. If it was not for my wife and her HGTV and Food Channels I would can the cable TV and stream everthing.
Had some luck lowering my comcast bill this week. Didnt get anywhere with the chat agent, had to call the retention department and play sweet on the phone. Used two main arguments, 1) friends paying less and getting more channels and 2) why pay 100+/month when I could be doing Netflix/Hulu and paying 15/month. I made sure to tell her that I’m rarely home to watch live TV so I had no problems waiting a day to watch last night’s episode.
Thanks for the advice GE and fellow readers. Good luck!
Just followed your method and got my Comcast bill lowered by almost $26 per month for 12 months. I was also able to get more channels and faster Internet as part of the deal.
I called first and they didn’t offer me any help with lowering my bill. Like others have said, they tried to upsale me. So I went online and used their chat. The original rep eventually transferred me to a Sales Specialist, who gave me the lower offer.
Used your advice, got the new X1 receiver, more channels including hbo and same internet speeds. Lowered my bill by $40.
Call went like so…
called in, rep greeted asked why i was calling. told him was planning to move next month and wanted to cancel just one of my services to pursue something else. offered newer much lower plans instantly and an x1 that i was waitlisted for and was supposed to receive a call weeks ago that i never got. told him well i’m unsure, got a account review card the other day and tried calling but it rang and rang for 25 minutes and i gave up. apologized because of the weather they are having on the east coast, used my sales position charm and turned the focus to the weather to gain grounds with the rep then asked to hear him out on the plans. then got the hookup of the century with free installation on the x1 as well.
This is great if switching companies. But who’s the equivalent of the Retention Dept if I’m calling to negotiate rates as first time bundle buyer (longtime phone customer)? Who has the real power to negotiate eg at ATT besides Cust Service Supervisors?
Hey Mr. Miller…thanks so much for your post! I just followed your instructions to the letter. I was able to add XFINITY internet and upgrade to HD that increased my bill by only $1.38! Wow! I am currently paying Comcast 77.53 for digital starter and two additional digital adapters and $25.50 to AT&T for HSI Elite internet = $103.03. Quoted price from Comcast is $78.91 for both services. I do own my own modem so saved on that fee, too! Thanks again, Kim
Thanks for these tips. I took the chat route to see if I could get a reduction and it took some effort but I eventually succeeded. I had the HD Premier triple play bundle and it had just jumped up by $20 to $179.99. With taxes and fees it was over $200/month.
I started by chatting with someone regarding my bill and expressed concern that the costs were getting too high and that AT&T and DirectTV were offering much lower rates. Plus I’d been with Comcast for over 15 years and I didn’t think it was fair that new customers got much lower rates than loyal customers.
I got nowhere with the first guy who offered me a starter package, reduced internet speed, and I’d have to pay $17.95 for the X1 DVR that I now had for free in my package. The result was it would cost me more to get less. I said that wasn’t helpful so he passed me to a sales person who was much more sympathetic. He got me a package with fewer channels, which was okay because we weren’t watching half of the ones in our current package, same internet speed, and he added the X1 DVR for $7.99 and HBO for $10. Total cost will be $145 before taxes and fees. I’m very happy.
I just called them with no intention of getting a reduction – I finally got around to setting up the roku in the basement and decided to just get rid of the cable tv. I was paying $260 for their triple play bundle with showtime and 2 extra dvrs. The customer service representative told me he would work out a better deal for me, and dropped almost $100 off my bill…just like that. I asked him to give me a quote without the tv part (i want to keep internet and phone) and he quoted me $9 cheaper – seems pointless to get rid of tv for $9 so i’ll just get rid of the two extra dvrs and showtime and save another $50.
Would like to get cheaper internet and phone, but not sure which company can offer the speeds that comcast offer and i want to keep my email address.
Just got a great deal calling the 1-800-COMCAST number and saying I wanted to cancel, which put me straight through to the customer loyalty dept. I’m an internet-only subscriber and I’ve been paying $66.95/mo for the 20mb/s (Performance) d/l speed. I said I can see on the website that 50mb/s (Blast!) is going for $63.95. They said that’s only when bundled with TV or phone.
So, what she did offer was 12 months of TV+Blast!+HBO for $49.99/mo, or internet only for $54.99. With no added costs on the bundle deal, $49.99 is obviously the way to go, plus I can then cancel HBO through DirecTV to save another $17/mo. Win-win!
Funny you should say this because my comcast bill was slowly going up every month. I called and spoke to a rep. In retention. I asked if we can somehow lower my bill. She quoted me a package that would lower my bill by $40.00. She said the package included streampix for free for 12 months and I would pay $10 a month for HBO. I accepted the offer and had the tech install the new dvr boxes. Come 4 days later streampix was not working. I called and they chaged me temporarily $4.99 to get the streampix running again. Promised me that the chage would fall off in a day. Of course it didn’t. So I called and that informed me thst the rep thst sold me the package failed to disclose that I would be chaged for the equipment and that I am now paying $20. More than what I originally was paying. They refused to fix the error the rep made and said that can only offer me a package that would cost me $50.00 more than what I was paying. I was so mad I could spit nails. After being on the phone for 10 hours and speaking to 24 reps. Finally a rep. Promised me she will take off $20 a month on my bill. That made me a little happier. Even though I was swallowing the 3movie channels they took away from me. So one day I called to pay my bill and I discovered that the rep. That promise $20 off my bill failed to give me that discount. I havebeen on the phone for 4 hours and spoken to 7 reps. With no resolve. I reported a complaint to the better business bbureau. In the meantime I am waiting for a call back which I doubt they will follow through. Do not use comcast!!! Or should I say ” FRAUDCAST!!!!
My bill went up $35 this week – $20 for the package “expiring” and $15 for HBO that I didn’t even know I was getting free (I know – I just pay my bill online and don’t even look at the paperwork). The billing department tried to upgrade me to another $20 per month, and said there was nothing they (or a supervisor!) could do. I spent almost 10 minutes just trying to get to the supervisor (never did) before finally googling and ending up here (thank you!) Most aggravating 20 minutes I’ve spent on the phone in a long time.
Skip the frustration and take this article’s good advice!!! Just know that the prompts have changed – if you want to get to the Customer Care team you have to click the prompt that says “Cancel all service” – that will route you to the folks who will give you the old package pricing. Don’t be afraid to hit the key for “cancel service.” I was a little nervous, without knowing what else is out there. But at the end of the call, the guy even said, “Next year when the price goes up again, do just what you did to get to us – hit cancel service and you’ll get to us. We’ll take care of you.”
Just got off the phone with em…no such luck this time around. Had some things removed from the bill, but TV and internet were apparently locked in to promo prices, which couldn’t be reduced. Digital Starter and 50Mbps Internet @ $170/month, same offered by WOW for $115. Still managed to knock ten bucks off. Not sure that was really worth the phone call, but it got my dad off my back. Worth it.
Comcast has been a nightmare!! We had the economy tv with 50mgb Internet for 6 months bill was $62 a month. We had to call at least once a month because our Internet would lag so bad we couldn’t even check our bank statements without timing out. Everytime we called our internet had misteriously dropped speed and the agent had to raise it back up. We were told it was our modem and we needed to rent one from Comcast. That didn’t fix the problem and we started paying for that rental. Our package expired, our bill went up $40. I called to seriously cancel service. The person talked me into a package after 2 hours of me trying to cancel my service. She said it was the same tv with 25 mgb Internet for $5 less than what we were originally paying (bill would be $57 a month). Perfect service doesn’t need canceled then…WRONG! I got off the phone to find out our tv was only getting 3 channels. Called back, that department was closed, tech guy changed service back at an even higher cost, now I have to call Monday to truly cancel service. I will never use Comcast again! God help the people that choose home security with these crooks.
I JUST got off the phone with Comcast! (6/2/14, 1:25 pm) They would NOT reduce my bill, so I will be looking for less expensive service within the next 4 days.
I just notced this week that Xfinity had increased my bill at somtime in the past four mounths agofrom $232.00 to $69.+, and my wife and I are both living on SSDI which is around $3000.00 per month, way too little for what we can afford, but wife is in need of a CABLE TV intervention.It’ not worth that confrontation! But I went online and saw X had offers $40 less for way more than we we’re getting! Been with X since 1991 and price just goes up & up! I ordered the better offer with the X1 system, self install kit to save $69 service fee, I’m tech savy and can plug wires in an do checks. But called back to see if they were going to send a new wireless router/modem! As on the web site showed a new one, the rep told me the did not have self install kits as I’m looking at it online, thier site dated 6/12/2014, today is the 18th! But she was addament that I was wrong, wrong, wrong! Told her I ordered it so check and see also the web page, but she’d have non of it because she said someone gave me bad info???? Well I called right back to speak with a diff rep. and as I was oringaly told I was getting the self install no matter what the piece of sharp edged iceburg arguded with me about, I was also given a small but adaquit xtra discount for the hassle. Still it all too expensive but some good came along for me. I saw I could have saved more on a small service revision but the wife said No! I’ll just sneek it on later once the dust settles afer the installation, you married guy’s understand? PEACE!
I did mean increase from $232.00 to $269+, sorry!
I purchased my own modem to save * dollars a month, it really did not take long to pay for it self……………..But where I failed was Comcast never took it off the bill. (wife pays bills) so it took over a year for me to find the error. Comcast refunded 6 months worth. SO CHECK THOSE BILLS
Tired of paying almost 250 a month we decided to call and see what could be done. I originally had HD Preferred Xf at $169.95 and my boxes are: 17.95 HD DVR, 8.00 second HD DVR promotional, 9.95 for 2 more. First my husband called, got a rate of 139.95 with more channels, told to upgrade to X1 and then we would have main box and companions for 10 each-upgrade would cost 39.95 technician fee, and 99.00 installation fee. So, we talked and I called back and got a different person who just didn’t seem to care that I don’t want or need more channels or pandora on my tv-but, she gave me a rate of 139.99 for HD preffered plus, told me that with installation it would be 263.79 the first month, then 203.84 each month after. I said, one of the companion boxes could be basic which is now only 1.99 a month, so then my monthly rate would be 193.89. Called today to try again-I just want a bill around 150-175, why is this difficult! I don’t need a thousand channels….so got another rep who started at 149.95-I interupted her and said, I’ve had 3 reps, 3 prices, I just want what I have or fewer channels and I don’t want to pay more than 150/175 a month. Plus, I’m willing to pay the installation fee for the X1 boxes if that will in the long run take down the cost of the converters (currently 46 down to 32). She came back with a promotional 12 month rate for the same pacakge I have now with better internet at 119/mo for 12 months. But couldn’t give me info on X1 boxes, transfers me….new guy tells me to upgrade would be 184 for installation-$99 installation, $39.95 tech fee, $15 cost to change out each box. I said I thought installation was changing out the box, why am I paying $15 for each box. Eventually I lost it-asked for supervisor, he transferred me to a number that just rang and never went to voice mail. Now, I’ll call back later and see if I can just get a better rate on the boxes I have-not that interested in X1, just trying to stay with the times. Why is comcast so difficult! Uugh-had to vent here so I can move on.
Count me as another Comcast “victim” of their notorious expiring promotion scam. My Double Play with Blast bill shot up $40! I went online and it looks like I can get a Triple Play X1 package for about $20 more than what my new Double Play bill is, which actually doesn’t sound too bad, but I do not need or want Comcast phone service (or paying their $39.95 installation and $8.00 voice modem fee!). I chatted online with a clueless Comcast rep. He kept asking me all these inane questions like how many TVs I have, do I play video games, what are my favorite TV channels, etc. I half expected him to start chatting about plot developments on House Of Cards or Scandal! All I wanted to know is if I could get a price break on Triple Play and he would never answer me directly! So I ended that chat and tomorrow might try calling Comcast. I would cancel TV completely and just get internet but my antenna reception is weak and I like to watch local news. It is so sad that in most of the country you only have one choice for 50mbs internet speeds.
Comcast just upped my bill by $33! I phoned and tried to negotiate, but no luck. They implied that if I didn’t want to pay, they would disconnect my service.
So what do you do for internet if I discontinue all my comcast (phone line-I dont need; tv- i dont need; internet -I DO need). I wont pay my bills at a WIFI cafe (not secure).
Any advice??
I am so disgusted with these bloody pirates!
I too am a victim of the all of the sudden expiring promotional pricing and my bill going up almost every month! I am now up to $205 for the triple play bundle. I have no HD or DVR service and no premium channels, yet being charged a premium price for things I am not using.
I don’t understand how they can justify charging so much money to have channels I never look at or have any interest in.
Any channels worth a darn to look at are all being moved up to the Digital prefered tier so even having the basic tier is worthless!
The fact that they charge such an inordinate amount for TV content that consists of more than 50% commercials is thievery!
The fact that they do not display any pricing for any of the platforms or tiers (without the promotional price) is disturbing and deceptive to say the least!
Why has no-one filed a class action suit against these guys for deceptive business practices and GRAND THEFT?
Whatever happened to the ALA Carte thing Congress was pushing for them to do?
Its not enough that I cancel my service with these thieves, but I want to punish them for ripping me off! I unfortunately am not in a position to stir the pot at this time!
If it wasnt for the Blast Internet (which I need for work) I would have dumped Comcast a long time ago. There are no comparable bandwidth providers in my area (North Florida) so they have me by the short hairs!
Sorry about the rant but there is nothing that gets me on my soapbox quicker than Comcast.
Ever since they took over for Time Warner in my area the cable experience has gone into the toilet, and now Comcast wants to buy out Time Warner!?!?! Please FCC, don’t let this happen! Comcast is already a monopoly!
If every one who wrote a comment on this site did also file a complaint with the BBB, I am sure Comcast will get their act together sooner or later.
The BBB? How will that change things? That’s like everyone buying a new BMW and the complaining to the BBB that you paid to much. You might feel as ripped off as I do, but we aren’t by definition being scammed.
Your point is taken, but you’d be just as well off complaining about Comcast to the McDonald’s drive thru workers as you would to tell BBB.
If the only pizza place in town is charging you 100 bucks a pizza, but everyone is paying that, is that a scam? It isnt. It just sucks.
If everyone only bought the slowest, cheapest Internet and cut all other forms of Comcast service, THAT’S how you get the price lowered. And I don’t know how much they can up the internet at that point. There may be some laws in place for that. If not, we can create another forum strickly to tell others how much we hate that too.
It’s ‘technically’ not a scam but in most places Comcast is the only option for internet fast enough for 2018. It’s called a monopoly. That’s illegal, but apparently not if you are a huge telecommunications company.
Thank you for this. I essentially used your exact script, except there is NO competition for Comcast where I live. So I just told them I was canceling. Bill went from $159 to $117.
Awesome article thank you very much.
Not a 20 something but tried this advice today and they knocked my monthly bill down about 35$ while adding extra channels etc. Thanks for the advice. They negotiated without any of the usual run around.
Good Tips.
What is helpful is to become armed with the facts from competitors specifics. Direct TV, etc. Generally, they offer promotions and can include $100 gift cards. In general, this arms you as a consumer who should get the most bang for your hard earned dollars.
In the past, Comcast has worked to offer comparable things or may throw in extras to keep you as a customer (Free HBO for a year, etc, waiving DVR rental for a year)in order to get a package deal within your expectations.
I managed to save $15 from what I was already paying monthly, with the next teir up on TV package and a faster internet package. I was satisfied with this and remained with them.
Definately buy your own modem and do not pay the monthly rental fee. This pays for itself in short time.
Their promotions change consistently to remain competitive, if you have been using their service for years and pay the same rate for years, it is worth giving Comcast a call to see what they can do for you. You may be saving some dollars while increasing your service.
Worked for me. Called in about canceling internet service because Verizon offered better rates after comcast increased my bill due to promotion ending, and they cut my bill by about 15$ for 12 months.
Nice Article… thank you
Your strategy works only if there are other options for internet, phone and/or television. In my area in New Hampshire Comcast is the ONLY provider for internet services. I just re-negotiated by annual triple play cost on the day it expired and was told verbally and in writing (an email from Comcast) that my triple play cost would be $149.99 per month. When I received my bill a week and half later, my triple play cost was $164.99. Assuming there was a mix up, I called Comcast to get my price to $149.99. After being on the phone with them for literally one hour, transferred 4 times, the last person told me they would not honor the $149.99 price (even though I have it in writing) and I have to pay $164.99.
If I were you Chris, I would file a complaint, with the Better Business Bureau for unfair business practices against Comcast, especially since you have your proof (email vs. bill) in writing. If only… everyone that has been stung by Comcast’s bad business practices filed a complaint with the BBB, I am sure Comcast will get the message that they cannot continue deceiving their customers and get away with it too.
I’m also in the situation where Comcast is the only one to service our building. They must know it too. When I called in to cancel, they didn’t even ask why. I went completely through the process to cancel and then had them hold off on cancelling until I called back. Apparently this process doesn’t work unless you have a valid option for changing.
I recently retired and immediately got on the horn to those robber barons, Comcast. The girl that answered was a real sweetie pie. Remarkably, she couldn’t have been nicer or more accomodating. I received a 1 year promotional package with more channels (which I didn’t want), and most importantly, sliced a whopping $60/month off my bill. I asked if I could date her, but she said I was too old for her. If I live long enough, I will call again in a year when my promotional package expires. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the babes name so most likely I’ll get some gargoyl next time.
just got off the horn with comcast. I used this script and was surprised at how easy the call went. our current bill, which reflects the ending of our promotion on the 8th, went to $123 from $75. the rep I spoke with was able to get us down to $80. I’m expecting the new total to be b/t $10-$12 more than what we were paying, but about $40 less than what comcast was trying to charge us. thanks!
I called the number today to cancel my internet service because my apartment started providing internet service with $35/month and my current promo rate is $48 and it will be expired soon. After the promo rate expires, my bill will roll over to $66.95/month just for internet service. Apparently, I won’t pay this much just for basic internet service. So I called the number and it transferred me to their loyalty department. By that time, I just wanted to cancel my service and didn’t even think of negotiating price with them after I have failed attempting to lower my price through online chat. The lady who answered my call was nice and able to offered me discount with $34.99/month for same package and the promo price is good for a year instead of just 6 months. I think I should call the loyalty department early so I would not need to speak to customer service in every 6 months just to get a new promo rate.
I agree! The rep I spoke with locked me in for the next two years at a reduced rate but told me to call them before the two years is up to see what other promotions they can offer then. Forget calling customer service!
I called the 800 number today as my bill just went up from $34.99/month to $66.99. The lady told to me about new services I could add for a few more dollars a month but that was definitely not helping me lower my bill. So I said I wanted to discontinue my service and she transferred me to the loyalty department.
The second lady from the loyalty department did not want to give up any discount. She said I had signed up for a 12-month new customer promotion and that I was told when I signed up that the price would go up past these first 12 months.
I am not willing to discontinue my service as I hate wasting time with technician visit and so on.
So I’ve just signed up on billxperts.com so they negotiate on my behalf. Will post a comment if they get me any discounts.
OK so I heard back from Billxperts.com and they were able to lower my bill to $39.99 per month. This is nearly $30 off the price I currently pay so I am really happy with that.
Seems like this company is a good option.
called today to renegotiate my bill which was $181. tried to cut off my phone which obviously i dont use at all,but they countered if ill it cut off the first year would be 120 for just cable and internet and 140 for the next year (2yrs contract).wtih the bundle for 2 yrs my bill would be 114. i guess im stuck with them again.
Thanks for the tips!
Before reading it, I wasted several hours conversing with a sales specialist & his supervisor over chat who did absolutely nothing.
I called the number you gave & said I may want to discontinue service, the rep immediately hooked me up! I went from $139.99 per month down to $89.99. They threw in HBO as well. I’ve a very happy camper. Thanks again!
I know – call to cancel a portion of your service and wait for the next billing cycle; they’ll change your name to ASSHOLE Smith and you can negotiate free service for life!
This was really helpful. We only use Comcast for Internet service. I’d been comparing other area providers, found one was definitely worth looking into. I called Comcast and followed what you said.
The rep told me that Internet-only deals are fewer, as they do so much with bundles now. But she did drop us from full price ($67) to a 12-mo promotional price of $45 per month.
I’ve got a new cable modem on the way too, so will shortly be getting rid of the modem rental fee.
Thanks for the great tips!
Has anyone been able to negotiate a better deal while still on contract
Okay.
Followed the script and saved $15 a month. If I turn in the HD box, I can save another $10 a month. That helps! The Comcast person I spoke with (Brandon) was very helpful.
When I called the customer service number yesterday (the number on my bill), the guy said he could not lower my bill.
Thanks!
Score. Thank you so much for this! I have chatted and called Comcast at least 5 times over the last 6 months and met with staunch refusal to do anything about my bill that increased from $99 triple play to $185, and seems to be still going up!
With the advice in the article, I went straight to a request to cancel my service. The rep answered the phone “customer retention” and immediately asked what he could do to keep me as a customer. I was first offered a package with more channels for $109.99 and an X1 box for $9.99 instead of the $17.99 I was paying. I said no thanks I don’t need that many channels. Was offered economy package (same internet, phone and a few less channels that I don’t use) for $92.99. I requested waiver of $9.99 fee for DVR/X1 box and got waiver for one year. Also got waiver of $15 fee to mail the new box.
And I asked to backdate my current bill to the lower rate – yep got that too for at least two months. He said he would try to backdate it further. My total price will be $102.85 because of a $10 modem fee (need to get my own).
great job!!!
Helpful advice, thanks. I first signed up for Comcast at a two-year deal of $45 a month (before taxes) for 25mb internet and a landline. After one year it jumped to $65, I called 3 times and got a different story every time, the first two times I waited for a change in the bill I was getting but nothing happened. The third time the rep found an “extra special deal” for me, the total bill was $22 a month, including taxes. I asked if I would receive a new contract, they said I could see it online (I never could find it). A month ago it jumped up to $66, then last month it went up to $100. I took your advice, they lowered it back to $66 for a year. Since I got such a low price for so long I figure it all averages out. I can get ATT in my area, a year from now I’ll reconsider and may switch.
called comcast today. tried to get a simple $10 loyalty discount renewal for 1 year which I always get every year because I always call when the discount expires. I have been with comcast for over 25 years so I think I deserve it(makes me feel good and why can’t I feel good!!) Retention specialist kept repeating the discount had expired and was no longer available. she instructed me to remove services I am not using and that is how she would help me lower my bill. She said I have too many discounts such as free HBO for 6 months ($15/month and free HD for 1 year at $10/month so therefore I am already saving $25. therefore, her logic is to reduce my digital preferred . I told her I would actually lose the $25 savings at the end of the promo terms, (July 2015) not renew either service, and then I would need my measly $10 loyalty discount. I pointed out that comcast would lose more money if I changed from digital preferred than they would if they gave me the $10 loyalty discount. She said “make sure you return the HD box when you leave comcast”. And I will!!!! I agree with other comments on this site that comcast has tightened their promos and discounts. I will change to uverse today.
I followed the script and I got a better deal. Double internet speed, HD Digital Preferred w/ HBO, STARZ, Stream Pics + the new cable boxes (most current). Paying $10 a month more, rather than the $80 more it was set to go up.
I have internet and phone with Comcast, and they did absolutely nothing for me. Such bs.
They jacked up mine from $88 to $121, no advance notice. We need to all file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Federal Communications Commission and write our senators and those in congress for more regulation on the cable tv industry. Comcast is seeking to buy Time Warner who owns Bright House Networks. We need to stop that merger from happening or the monopoly would be huge and nothing would stop prices going through the roof. The government can put additional regulations on cable tv that would make it harder for jacking up prices without notice and how high they can go. The FCC is enemy #1 to Comcast, write them and tell them they need to stop the big GREEDY bully Comcast!
It sucks we have to play these games, but it IS worth it to spend 30 minutes or so and save $400+ a year. Well, at least for me it is. My 2 year ‘agreement’ just ended so I ended up using their chat feature. You seem to get better agents if you actually sign into your account, go to contact us, chat, general billing question. This way they already have all your information and are ready to deal. Ask to be transferred to the sales department once you get in the chat room. They will transfer you to another agent. A sales agent. I simply stated what I wanted and told him about a new offer I had seen on their website. Premier Triple Play $109.95 for a year. I was very polite, offering thank you for your time, and I appreciate all the help checking on offers. He eventually came back with $129.99 for a year. The best deal I had seen was $169.95. Boom there’s $40 savings a month. Plus my internet speed doubled, all premium channels and new X1 box. No upgrade fees. No installation fees. I went thru 1 chat very quickly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to deal. Exit and come back to chat another time. The second time worked. Just shows that the offers all depend on who you get and if they feel like helping you. Also helps if you always pay your bill on time. The agent noted my good customer record before agreeing to the deal. Silly games we must play for this monopoly. Wish I had other choices for Internet but I dont.
called in today but took a different approach. i have a Preferred Plus triple play bundle for 189.95 plus equipment monthly rate is 222.89 before taxes. i called in and stated i wanted to remove the phone service. the agent told me that i was in a bundle pricing. i have been out of bundle pricing for over a year. after informing the agent of this he was like we can offer you to keep everything as is for 149.95 saving 40-45 dollars a month. i was like ok.. that we can so.. save me 480 buck for the year :)
Scr*w Comcast. First off all, they LIE when saying they are going to lower your rates after “negotiation”. Because your services and price are not based on a “contract” they can tell you one thing and do another – which they routinely do.
The game is to tell you that they are going to reduce your bill by x-amount, but mysteriously the reductions never appear on your bill. And when you inquire later on, they always “dummy-up’ and no one knows what was supposed to have been reduced/eliminated/upgraded, for what amount or when. They simply keep charging whatever they want.
I have spoken to them several times in the past where my bill was to have been reduced significantly afterwards – never happened.
Another thing is I use my phone for a home business and have to have call waiting fully disabled. With the sky high prices Comcast charges, do you think they have this feature available as a customer-controlled feature? No. And don’t bother calling tech support to deal with it because you will get run around like an Olympic track star.
So basically I said forget it, signed up with ATT and received a similar package for almost $150.00 dollars a month LESS for 24 months.
Buh-bye Comcast. And don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
After all you’ve been through, how can you say “and don’t let the door hit you”. You actually want the proverbial door to hit them smack in their thick heads, so they can somehow get the point, hopefully sooner rather than later!
The Comcast phone number you gave actually dials Dish Network.
Here is a copy of the transcript from my recent online chat with Comcast. I called 800-COMCAST first. They would not help me and directed me to call online. This is my online chat who would not help either. Then, I called the retention department and they told me they couldn’t do anything either despite the rate being published online for new starts. Frustrating! I am going to FIOS.
Your chat transcript
This is an automated email. Please do not respond to this email address as it does not accept incoming email.
You : Hi Chris, a customer service representative directed me to the online chat to get a better triple play package promotion. Can you assist me with this?
Chris : I’d be happy to assist you in making your upgrade and provide you with the information you need.
Chris : Do you mind if I ask a few questions to assist you better?
You : Sure. Thank you for your help!
Chris : Thank you for being a Comcast customer! May I please have your address and zip code to assist you better?
You : 78 Judy Way, Aston, PA 19014
Chris : Thank you for providing your complete address.
Chris : Just to clarify, you are looking to upgrade to Triple Play right?
You : Yes. My current internet speed is too slow @ 6/1 Mbps.
Chris : For the TV service, may I ask what channels are essential to you?
Chris : How are things coming along?
You : We like the HD service. History, Food, Nat Geo, Science, Travel, Discovery, TLC. We enjoy the movie channels too, but they are not essential.
You : Sorry. Just typing away.
Chris : How many TVs are you planning to connect? How many are HDTVs?
You : I have 3 HDTVs. Currently, only 1 has HD hooked up. The other 2 are connected with Digital Adapters.
Chris : For the Internet service, may I ask what type of things do you do online?
You : The kids do online gaming with XBOX. Smart TVs, laptops, tablets and smart phones are hooked into our Wi-Fi.
Chris : Based on the address you have shared, there are multiple results showing. May I ask for your First and Last Name?
You : Steve Maiale.
Chris : I appreciate the information.
Chris : Based on your latest billing statement, you currently subscribe to Premier Double Play and XFINITY Voice Services. Just to clarify, are we looking at having your monthly bill lowered?
Chris : How are things coming along?
You : Lowered or at least comparable … FIOS offers a Preferred Triple Play package with 280+ channels (85 in HD), 50/50 Mbps and Voice for $99.99 + rental fees, taxes, surcharges, etc.
You : They will give me a full year of HBO gratis too. I don’t particularly want them to dig up my yard, etc. for installation. Can you help me get something in that ballpark?
Chris : I completely understand that you want to lower down your monthly bill. However, I can only assist you with adding services or upgrading here on this website. To discuss lower priced options, please call our Customer Service Team at 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278) for more information. They will be able to access your account information and see what options are available to you.
Chris : May I offer any additional assistance for you today?
Chris : How are things coming along?
You : Honestly, Chris I feel frustrated because no one wants to help me. I am looking to upgrade to a Triple Play. Are you not able to assist with that? The 800-COMCAST team sent me to you and now you’re sending me back.
Chris : I completely understand. However, we are unable to offer you a cheaper rate than what you are currently paying right now.
Chris : How are things coming along?
You : What do you have to offer? Can you not keep me in a comparable range with something similar to FIOS’ bundle?
Chris : I completely apologize, however, only our Customer Care can assist you further in lowering down your bills.
You : I see a $119.99 bundle with HD, 50 Mbps and digital voice online. Is that not something you can do?
You : That is $10 more than my current plan, but FIOS fees etc. the $99.99 package comes to approx. $173 per month total which is nearly $10 more than I currently pay.
Chris : I would recommend that you contact our Customer Care for them to assist you better in getting your bills lowered. Please note that we have different offers here online and via phone. There might be offers here that is not offered via phone.
Chris : Do you have any additional questions that I may address?
Chris : How are things coming along?
You : No. They told me you would have the offer I just quoted. I feel like Comcast is forcing me to go to FIOS because no one will help with a Triple Play package. Thanks for your time.
Chris : As an online specialist, I can only assist you with adding services or upgrading here on this website. We are unable to offer you deals that does not apply to you.
Chris : Thank you for visiting Comcast today. I hope you’ll come visit us again soon.
Chris : Have a great day.
Just got off the phone with Comcast. We had(3)converter boxes (1 of which is a DVR), 110 MB internet connection, all of the premium and sports channels with the phone @ $244/month. Did away with (1) box, cut all extra sports channels and all premium Channels except HBO, cut internet speed to 25 MB’s and was given a promo package good for a year at $174.00/month. However, HBO is now being billed at $5/month for (6) months (included in $174. figure) and will increase to $10./month after 6-months. Thanks for the tips!
About 7 years ago. 2 nhl strikes ago I cancelled my $49.99 package and got a cheaper package. Today my package costs about $12.00 a month. I don’t know if they still offer a basic/basic cable. Maybe I am grandfathered in. Theyhave been calling lately to offer a bundle. No thanks
I have Triple Play through Comcast. I have over the years negotiated with them for better rates. My bill had creeped up to $273 total per month over my previously negotiated bill of $223.00. This time around, I shopped Direct TV. I contacted Comcast to undergo my ritual negotiation. Without sacrificing any of the high end services, my bill was lowered to $208.00 (including taxes) for two years.
I currently subscribe to the HD Premier. I originally got the plan at a new customer rate after having Cable TV and Internet only. I saved almost $100 by switching. It then shot up $80 after the promotion ended. I did the Internet chat but they could not help. I contacted the retention area and through your strategies, they renegotiated my 2 year contract on the same package and saved me $60 a month. Will try again when this contract is up.
I pay $154.82 EVERY MONTH! Because I have their cable and land line >.< I am a student! I can't keep doing this. We are going to cut land line and just use our tracphone, and I am going to try to do your approach for the other two, we also use their modem.
Thanks for such a refreshingly hope-inspiring article. I wanted to offer some knowledge and background, as I spent 3 years working for the local phone company (Verizon, before it sold to become Frontier.) I’m VERY familiar with Comcast’s (and others’) policies, retention offer capabilities, and wanted to touch on that.
They have more latitude than we all think. Comcast must present a tier 1 (of 3) “decent” counter offer to retain service. You can resist, then they increase the intensity of asking and give you tier 2 (nicely discounted.) If you go through the entire call, and let the entire experience play out, you can suddenly bluff “buyer’s remorse,” then decide… I don’t know about all of this, I think Verizon (or whoever) may have the better deal. THIS IS WHEN THE TIER 3 DISCOUNTS ARE COMING IN; expect a call transfer to get access to the tier 3 discounts. Again, agents can’t access these; retention specialists or disconnect queue agents do.
My experience is that whatever your target monthly bill is (within reason,) there is every single possibility they can help you achieve it.
Now, this post is not without it’s on inconsistencies. I’ve been behind on my bill for six months. I just want to get it out of my face, so I pay what’s required. Now that I’ve woken up and started thinking “what am I even paying for,?” I looked at the itemization. My monthly bundle charges are $159.99. What the heck? I remember being told to anticipate around $100.00 a month. That is acecptable to me.
I have a newer television but it does not have an HD adapter; therefore I can’t view in HD, have no interest in it, and don’t benefit from the channels. My current package is an HD one. I liked HBO (especially on-demand,) but got saddled with Starz, which I came to enjoy. When I truly examine my viewing habits, I only use: on-demand, starz itself, and ion televison for reruns. That’s it! So, TV has to go (or be cut.) I’m afraid of having nothing to watch or having to go buy stupid boxes and things to get basic channels, but comcast can do this.
Telephone? Don’t even use but once a day. I don’t do the cell phone thing at all (how I pulled it off, don’t even ask, just resistant to the extra bill to be honest,) but still don’t even have use for all those features and calling whatevers. So, any inflated price has to go!
Internet is tricky. I need it for work, but do not run a business. My career is in gaming now. So, I’ve got this package (which they refuse to list on the bill) that ends up speed-testing at, for cable internet, 60.15Mb/s download, over 12.34 upload. Yes, it’s costly, and it’s called “Blast!” service. I am having a very, very difficult time trying to figure out if this is really even being used… or what my minimum needs are for the heavy, heavy-duty gaming I do. I ran some real-time “how much bandwidth am I using right now?” tests and concluded this entire part of the plan is unnecessary, too.
I will make my call today, and make sure I pay attention to the little asterisks, if you will, that tricked people like Lori (above) as well as myself. Guaranteed bundle prices for x amount of months typically make the caller put it out of mind simply because it’s not an immediate concern. Because of this, the normal “pricing” will jump $30-$100 a month, literally, once your package pricing expires. There are no contracts with Comcast unless you physically sign your name. That is true. The average lock-in period (or guaranteed rate) is either 6 or 12 months. 24 month bundle price guarantees are available IF YOU NEGOTIATE THEM! Only retention (disconnect queue) agents can assign that long of a guarantee, by the way.
During my call, I’m also going to do the buyer’s remorse bluff with no true intent of leaving Comcast. I appreciate the article, by the way, about getting your own cable modem. That’s on my to-do list but is an unaffordable one time price; so, stuck w/ modem rental for now.
I hope some of the details here helped someone else; I apologize for my long-windedness, and wanted to offer additional insight if anyone wants to know more about how these guys work w/ regard to pricing and negotiations (and what they can/can’t do.) Right now, you can NOT change (lower) services using the online chat. You must call in to downgrade at all, or discontinue service. Of course, if you want to upgrade, you can do it all online. I find this incredibly silly and unnecessary, as I prefer the efficiency and security of having a documented convesation; with internet chat, at least, they can’t over-commit and under-deliver (especially with non-recurring discounts!) A transcript and agent number will force them to give such discounts if they don’t follow-through.
I will press for help online and even insist, but I predict having to call in, in the end.
Hi, this question is for anyone to reply …….
Since Comcast CHOOSE to not allow online screen chat service for retention/disconnection, and since Comcast CHOOSE to not conduct retention/disconnection dialogues by email, why doesn’t the customer simply audio-record the Comcast C.S. conversation on the phone? I have not seen any comments even mention initiating a recording on our end. I think Comcast still has an announcement “Calls may be recorded for quality assurance”, and some/many state laws allow a person to record a phone conversation IF just one of the two parties agrees to the recording, so of course the customer agrees to his/her own recording and starts recording on phone. I think the law in those states do not even require the recorder to inform the other party of the ongoing recording. The laws are different and stricter for face to face recording. I have heard of free apps for smart phones for recordings. Recording should protect consumer when/if Comcast says one thing and imposes another. PS cannot wait for Google Fiber to be in every major city. competition is good for us!!!!
So currently I have Comcast Blast 105, and Uverse TV. I work for AT&T and with my discounts I pay $50.00 for Comcast internet and $57.00 for Uverse U200 + 1 DVR + 1 wireless receiver. So I pay a total of $107.00
I want 150mbps Comcast service and 2 STBs with the 220 channel lineup, would it be better for me to order the package on the website and then talk them down or should I try to get the discount right away by trying to add TV? I want my bill to be $80-90
If you can live without some of the channels in Digital Preferred, and go with Digital Starter, you should be able to get that bundled with internet for 79.99/mo for a year. I just did. Initially it was going to be just 25 mbps internet, but I balked, and poof – upgrade to Blast. It’s a 2-year agreement, and yes the price goes up to 99.00/mo the second year. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Yes, that’s just the “price creep” I was trying to avoid. But it’s a big drop in our bill, and I don’t think we will miss the channels too much. Yes, I’ll be sad without ESPNU and Nat Geo, among others. But not worth the extra we were paying for Digital Preferred. I’m not sure how much more for a second STB?
Yeah, I got my dreaded Comcast bill last night with a big bump. I knew it was coming. However, I got a helpful and resourceful agent in the biz retention area and I ended up with the same pkg and an increase in internet speed to 105/25 from the old speed of 25/5 for an increase of $5 in my bill. I guess I should consider this annual increase “routine” as an opportunity.
FWIW, FIOS is highly competitive in my area right now with a 2 yr contract.
I initially spoke with a rep in Mexico and then asked for my service to be discontinued. I was transferred to a retention rep and explained the current AT&T cable/internet bundle of $55/month for 12 months. I was given the option to downgrade my cable to 55 channels and keep my Blast internet speed. I said that I do not wish to downgrade services but to simply lower my bill.
I was told to hold… the rep came back with the following:
We can keep you at your initial promotion locked in for a 2 year duration.
I’d say that is a win in my book.
Thank you Comcast!
When I received my Comcast bill this month it had jumped to almost $200 for the triple play package. My first call was to an account rep who said she could do nothing for me. I then Googled “how to lower my cable bill” and found this site. After reading through all the comments I decided to try another call. This time I went with the option to cancel my service. I told the rep that my bill had gotten too high and I was looking at AT&T. He asked a few questions about my viewing and Internet habits then said he could drop my plan by $50 a month and keep the same services I have now for the next 2 years. That was agreeable to me. Thanks for the helpful tips. They do work.
Just got off the phone with them. My bill was set to go to $168.49 (Double play I think, 50 MBPS, HBO, 2 adaptors, Regular DVR, own my modem and no phone. New deal: Pref. Double play with X1 box, HBO included same internet speed for $115/month first year and $135/month second year before taxes/fees.
I’m happy with that. Live in Portland, OR where it is pretty competitive and Google fiber hopefully coming in a few years.
Well, they may not be cheap, but neither is running a network of fiber optic lines. I have left them twice and done dish and I think it was Direct TV, but I always go back to Comcast. I like having TV when it rains, snows and sleets, and I got tired of hearing “you satellite connection is down”. Comcast is reliable all the time, and I always seem to come back. I guess I will pay the price for that. They never go down.
I think Comcast and other cable companies should have a senior discount. Most are on fixed incomes and don’t watch many channels. Who needs 50 channels anyway? We remember when T.V. was free with 11 channels. Step up to the plate Comcast and be the first to do something. God knows you make enough money off of your customers and we still have to watch commercials which pay for air time.
I’d settle for a “loyal customer” discount. Loyal customers are the ones who pay the most on the scale.
Why do I feel like I’m talking to a used car salesman every time I talk to Comcast support? I am at cliff’s edge with dumping all of Comcast. Can the other providers be any worse?
You are. No.
I just finished a live change where the Comcast agent could reduce my bill by $33.00 per month by going to Starter Triple Play with a 12 month contract. I don’t like contracts, any got-you with this option?
Comcast’s 12-month agreements usually aren’t contracts but rather are a 12 month price lock. I always get the 12 month price guarantee. Just remember at about month 9 or 10 start checking their website, google search “Comcast Xfinity specials”, and actually look at the sales flyers that they bombard you with in the mail. Because after the 12 months they automatically keep the service going but charge the regular retail monthly fee which is ridiculous & outrageous. So, that’s when I ALWAYS change to another 12 month price agreement.
Go to your account online to see if you actually have a contract with an early termination fee of $100-$200 or just a 12 month price guarantee. With the latter they can’t raise your fee for 12 mos, but you can end service at anytime.
Secondly, whether you are in a 1 or 2 yr contract or a 1 yr price guarantee agreement you may always upgrade or downgrade to any service. You’ll still have to finish your remaining contract if you are in one but, for instance, if you’re paying $139 for a triple play with 15 mos left on your contract and you get a mailer advertising a similar package for $99 you simply go to their online chat and tell them you’d like to switch to the new pkg because of financial hardships. You can even go from a $200/mo pkg with let’s say 13 months remaining…to a $19.99/mo wifi only special.
Just used the online support and had my rate for internet and phone drop from $98 per month to $69 per month for a year. Very nice!
No matter what price you “negotiate” with Comcrap you have to call every three months and commit to at least three hours every three months to keep that rate. It’s ridiculous. We have had every problem you can think of but my favorite is when some asshole told me I just wanted HBO for free, something for nothing according to him. I never wanted it to begin with, they through it in one time! I tried to report him and, naturally, Comcast did nothing about it. Now I just remind them of this jerk every three months and ask the status of my complaint ?
Thanks a lot. Good tips
thanks, after the initial shock of seeing my bill skyrocket well over the $200 line I too made the call. First offer was back to rollback to my last increase (about $170). I countered with how about back to my pre 1st increase $150 range and got them to agree to it. Asked for retroactive and got that too. They wouldn’t do either back when I balked at the increase to $170.
I had gone past my 2-year promotional window, so my bill had gone up to $170 for Digital Starter TV plus HBO & Stream pix plus Blast Internet (100 Mbps+). I called & was transferred to retention (“Loyalty”). I stated I would be traveling and would have a house sitter, so I wanted to cancel. Instead of canceling, I let them “talk me into” keeping a package for my house sitter. .
I bumped Internet down to “Performance” (50 Mbps) and TV up to “Preferred,” with HBO included. This is a “Non-Agreement” rate of $99 ($113 total) for 12 months, goes up $20 for second 12 months, and is based on me having my own DOCSIS 3 modem & TiVo, using just CableCard. I saved $57.
Just received my October bill in which the base rate which went up $20 for Comcast Starter Double Play including Internet access from a monthly total including taxes of $78.76 to $100.18. After calling the number provided I was shuffled around(probably in an India call center)about four or five times to a lady who offered to give me back a $20 discount for six months — saving me $120 plus another $19.44 in taxes and fees for a whopping total of $139.44. I can picture myself calling in again around May of next year to get another discount?
Called about the $30 increase in my bill that I just got last night. Was told nothing they could do. Googled and found this page, read it, called and asked to disconnect service. Worked just as it was written about. Explained that I wanted to figure out way smartest way to terminate my service because bill was too high and I was going to go to Verizon FIOS. Gentleman explained why my bill went up (promotion ended) and said he’d like to check if there was any other package he could find that met my needs. I said very nicely that he sure could, I’ve loved being a Comcast customer for decades, but the difference in price is just too great, and the lady I spoke to an hour ago said there wasn’t. He ended up putting me in a digital economy double play (was Starter XF triple play so I lost like 100 channels, 98 of which I’ve never watched anyway!) that broke out the phone separately but he had a free long distance promo. Saved me $56/month.
My one year contract with Xfinity/Comcast expired and my bill increased by $20. I’m a girl on a budget so that was $20 I did not want to pay, Called to try to get it decreased and was told the only thing I could do would be to buy the modem to have the equipment rental of $11 taken off. Called today and went directly to Cancellation department. Told the Rep I was going to cancel if I couldn’t get a lower bill. She “found” a rate that is even lower than the original discounted rate I had. That’s going to be even lower when I buy my own modem. HALLELUJAH!
This was a very helpful article. Our Comcast bill had exploded to $276 for internet, four TVs, and phone (which we never used – part of a bundle). I called and immediately went to cancellation. The rep (a very pleasant woman) went right to work with my request to change my plan. Ended up with exactly the same service minus one of the TVs and the phone. Ended up with monthly bill at $158 – that’s 43% savings! It took 35 minutes. Thanks!
Thanks for these stellar tips! Our bill is a bundle package of internet, phone, cable and home security. We were paying $345 per month (!) so I spoke to a customer rep for two hours. The lengthy call was worth it as I drilled the rate down to $193 per month with an upgrade at no additional cost on my internet speed, going from performance tier to to Blast (4x faster)and replacing a DVR box that was $19.99 a month to the HiDef box at $10 per mo. Additionally I was comped Starz for two years and given a $10 monthly credit for the next twelve months for a total of $120 credit. I also negotiated that the installation fee for the new modem be waived that would normally cost $50. All in all a big win. Now I just need to be sure to make this call once a year!
I called Comcast today to try and reduce by $219 bill. Was told by the first rep that they could reduce it to $205. I said that doesn’t help me, so she put me through to retention. She couldn’t do any better. When I said I would have to check out what Verizon is offering, she just asked if there was anything else I wanted to ask her.
We currently have HD preferred with HBO and STARZ. We don’t watch either of those and told her that. I also told her we don’t have any HD tvs, but she told me that the packages are all HD now and that HD just offers a better picture (??). We do have the dvr and another box as well as the modem/router and a couple of additional outlets for $3.99/mo. One of which I don’t believe we are using. The equipment alone is $38.
I was rushed today, so I will try again, maybe checking what Verizon is offering first. Since we will be moving within the next year, I don’t want any long term contracts.
What you were told about HD is incorrect. I have a package now where HD is included free for the first year but after the first year I have to pay extra for it. I asked my Comcast rep why it wasn’t always included and he told me it’s because some people don’t have HD sets and don’t want to pay for it.
Here’s a tip you might want to consider. We recently moved within the same city (1 mile away). A Comcast rep showed up at our house and asked if we would be interested in getting Comcast service. He offered me a triple play package that included phone, Blast Internet, and Digital Starter TV with an X1 DVR, HBO, Cinemax, STARZ, and Showtime along with HD service for $89/month plus $10 for modem rental and taxes and fees extra. My monthly total cost is $111.30. It’s a 2 year package but after 1 year I have to pay the HD fee ($9.95) and the premium stations are no longer free. But I was paying about $219/month at my previous home for much less. The trick is to find a local Comcast sales rep in your area. Don’t call 1-800-COMCAST and expect to get the nest package. The individual reps that go door to door have better rates and can give you exactly what you want. The downside is that you have to cancel your old account and start a new one. I was able to move my phone number over along with my email accounts, but it took a lot of effort on my part.
Slightly incorrect info there but you are right about the sales rep! Door to door salesman have to have an upperhand at rate codes so that they could actually make a sale.So the call center reps(Like muah) doesn’t have things like X1 Dvr 0x24>$5×12 or premiums free for 6M and etc.But you got HD free for a year because we just simply have it available to give.That’s it.
I just followed your call plan. Lowered my bill by $38.91 for 12 months!
Thank you for this article. I used your script to start the conversation, and was able to get my bill reduced by 25% while adding additional premium channels and getting a DVR! Thank you again — very helpful.
Just got off the phone with Comcast. I said I was leaving for Dish as the price has just gotten too high. Thanks to you I just saved 50 bucks a month for the next year for the same package I currently have. Thanks!
Got my Comcast bill yesterday and it was much higher than normal and I didn’t know why. Called customer service and found out that my 2 year contract had expired.
I have the Preferred Double Play TV & Performance Internet ($99) with HD ($10) + taxes ($7) AND free HBO and Streampix for a total of $116. Now they were squeezing me for $141. Not a huge difference, but you gotta nip escalating costs in the bud, right? Also, I own my own modem (A MUST!).
I asked customer service, “Is there someone I can talk to who can help me negotiate a new contract?” She TRANSFERRED me over to “The Loyalty Team” which I think is an advantage over selecting menu option #4 which indicates that you may want to cancel your service. Selecting #4 immediately forces the customer to play defense whereas getting transferred puts the customer on offense, a far better place to be.
I told the Loyalty person the truth: ” I want to stay with Comcast but I can’t absorb this increase. I really like the package I have and I want to keep it. Can I get the same package for the same price?” She clicked and hummed for about a minute (keep quiet as they work your deal) and she told me she could offer me the exact same deal for $11 LESS per month with another 2 year contract. So I’ll pay $105 for the next 2 years at which time I’ll call back and ask for the same deal again. Cheers!
So you thought! Your overall bill is $105 for now but when business changes occur everywhere you will still get an increase because the agreement(Not contract) only protects the bundled services price and not the entire bill price plus more then likely you’ll have a promo rolling off a year from now which will be another spike.You people need to stop following nonsense because you gonna get ya feelings hurt like i be doing to people lol.
You won’t have that deal for 2 years. They up it usually by $25 the second year but often won’t tell you. They just did that to me in my second year of the two year contract.
Just reduced my bill by ~50% with Comcast. My promotional period for Performance Internet ended, and they were charging me $75/month (includes the modem rental). I told Comcast I was going to transfer to AT&T since the price was too high, but that I preferred the Comcast service, and the guy offered me the same offer for Performance internet at $30/month for 12 months – with the modem rental its $40/month.
Also I’d like to note that I called the 1-800-XFINITY number first to ask for other options and I got nothing. When I called the number in the article, and told them I was going to leave for AT&T – I was immediately offered my same promotional deal of $30/month for 12 months. Thanks mate!
Just hung up. nope.. they want to take away in order to lower..no premium channels and it will go down to $129.00 a month.. but I can send back box tht records in exchange for a standard and that will lower it by $20
I had a super nice lady in the loyalty dept. still she said she had nothing to offer me and this is the direction they are taking.. she didn’t seem to care that I may have to go to ATT and was a sweetheart.
snap!!
over and out.
BECAUSE WE DONT!! lolol You have the ultimate decision to go where you want based on your needs but you threatening to cancel is completely fine with me! lucky we can’t say slick remark on the recorded line because i’d say”DO you want me to send you a going away gift with that?” haha.the pricing is what it is,and yes with a 2 year agreement and/or upgrading its cheaper for a while until the business has a rate increase.But if your an existing customer on a TP pref+ and your promo expire don’t think you can get another one for another 2 years.ITS A BUSINESS STILL AT THE END OF THE DAY! how do we make money off of people constantly getting $50 off their bill every month?Were losing money at the end of the day if we were to continue that’s why it’s not an option.If you wanna downgrade to lower your bill sure no problem.But to keep what you have hell nah.Pay that bread or go to someone else.#Simple
Let’s see, you have the infrastructure already in place (cable lines already laid, a connection to my house, etc.), so how exactly are you losing money if you reduce my rate? Or you’d rather just lose a customer completely to your competition? Your company is still making lots of money off of me, even if you reduce the bill $30/month.
Thanks so much for this advice, I had spoken to Comcast Customer Service before I searched for additional comments. I was told that the account promo had expired and even though there has been quite a bit of trouble with internet bandwidth and prior to that voice quality that I should be happy that I had never been charged for a tech to be dispatched to diagnose the Comcast network problem. Needless to say, I was appalled at this approach from customer service. I was then told that they no longer had a customer retention dept and that no one would do anything regarding the increased rate $20/mos and no promo’s currently available (for a 82-year old long-term client).
Your recommendation worked perfectly, I contacted 800-266-2278 and indicated that I was considering disconnecting the service. When I spoke to a Customer Retention/Solution Specialist I explained that the increased bill warranted me shopping for my Mom and that I am a U-verse client and wanted her to disconnect Comcast and move to U-verse.
Well, I was told that they wanted to keep her business being a customer for more than 20-years and that they wanted to review promo’s available. The net result is that she has received a $20/mos discount for the next 12-months. I also requested and was given the website to verify removing the modem and eliminating the monthly cost – http://www.mydeviceinfo.comcast.net
I will definitely investigate removing this $10/month cost for both my Mom’s Comcast account and then for my U-Verse (as I recently got AT&T to reduce my bill $50/mos with a promo – not eliminating any services that I had been paying the reduction of the modem and wifi router would be assume.
Thanks again!
I found this helpful. Didn’t think I’d get a major bargain and didn’t, but did manage to knock off a few $ from the monthly bill w/o having to go contract.
I’ve been overpaying for too long, but dreaded dealing with these people. For $110 after tax I got 50mbps downstream, and limited basic cable with HBO and some other crap (which we don’t watch). Mind you all programming came through on a 10 year old receiver only capable of standard definition programming.
Anyway, called them up and said I was going to cancel – so they sent me to the retention department. The lady said ZERO promotions were going on, and since I had asked for internet-only promotions the best they could do is get me on a 3mbps plan for $40+ tax per month.
3MBPS!!! We went back and forth for a bit, with me prodding to see if I could get anything else out of her. Nada. So I cancelled.
Former Comcast employee here,
Speaking as someone with exclusive knowledge of the inner workings of Comcast’s front line, I want to reinforce that this article contains the best strategy to reduce the bill. I scanned through some of the responses and it seems that this thread could benefit from some of my insight. As full disclosure, I want to say that Comcast took really good care of us as employees and I was in no way unhappy to work there, but there are a lot of customers who are frustrated and my motivation for posting this is just to clear up some common misconceptions, and offer some insight/advice for those who care to read this post. Also at the bottom I will vent – so read at your own risk.
For those of you who get nowhere with negotiating with the reps on the phone could be either;
1. Speaking with a billing agent (not a retention specialist). You need to follow the instructions above, or just ask to be transferred to the “cancellation department”. Reps in billing/tech support/etc. have little power to offer a lower rate because that’s not their job so their system is not built with all those wonderful promotions you seek so don’t get frustrated with them.
2. I’ve seen a lot of people who have a crappy payment history. If you are consistently late making your payments, get late payment fees on your monthly statement, or have had your services turned off for non-payment within the last 6 months… Don’t expect to get a retention deal. If you tell them that AT&T/Directv/etc. is offering a better rate and you are considering switching – they will most likely ask you when you want to stop the billing with us lol.
3. You may already be on some kind of promotional rate. Now before you start crying about the cost, look at your statement and see if there are any line item deductions for your services. You may notice that the full cost of the Performance internet is $55.95 but below if there will be a -$10x12mo. Ten bucks may not be the deal for you (hence the reason for the call), but if those codes are still on your account, for some reason their system will not display any better offers to the retention specialist (their hands are tied.) There is a way around this however. You can ask them to put you in a full price package without any discounts. (E.G: the full cost for Starter cable and Performance internet is $126.95. You may be paying $109.99, but once they remove the discount and update the system – the next representative will be able to go in and VOILA! All of a sudden appear the $79.99’s and $89.99’s which is what you want.)
4. Worst case scenario – you can always cancel your service, and create a new account with a “new customer offer” under your spouse’s name (or uncle, friend, roommate, etc.) This is frowned upon from the company’s standpoint (for obvious reasons), so don’t expect the same rep to do this for you. However, once your account is fully deactivated, any Sales agent on the phone will be foaming at the mouth to set you up for “new” service with any package that you’ve seen online/TV commercial, etc.
Now a little bit of perspective to those who moan and groan about this process, and expect them to just keep the prices low;
You need not fool yourself. Comcast is a FOR PROFIT company. That’s kind of the magic of being a business and not a government – they choose what they want to charge for service and it’s not a Democracy. Don’t like it? Cancel and go elsewhere. Pricing is based on competitor’s rates, market demand and supply. Think about it… why SHOULD they keep lowering your bill every time you introductory offer ends? Who are you to say that they can afford to charge less for the services? Are you the CFO, do you know how much it costs to negotiate broadcasting agreements and then parse out the per subscriber cost on a NATIONAL level, all so you can drool on your couch and stare blankly at the ever-so-important Honey Boo Boo and Little People of LA episode that you think is so important you cannot live without it?
You need internet and Comcast is the only option? That’s bullshit, there are other providers out there – you can’t say that you don’t have a choice when it comes to internet. All of these arguments boil down to the fact that Comcast actually built something that’s way faster than the competition in the respective market – that’s called innovation, customer service has nothing to do with it. Don’t like what they charge or how they treat you as a customer? Cancel them. It’s not like Obamacare where you need to show proof of internet when you file your taxes every year or you get fined. Go take your laptop to a Starbucks and your public Wifi. Comcast like any company provides a service for cost. They clearly disclose the full cost of the various packages – find it online or on your monthly statements. Just because they offered you $50 monthly reduction for the first year or six months doesn’t entitle you to that price for life – if you call and ask nicely and you pay your bills, well you have a good chance of another reduction. What a concept!
It’s a matter of perspective: Say you were out shopping for a car and you determined that the cost to lease said car was give or take $300/mo. in the area you live in. Now let’s say that the dealership you were at is running a special in which the lease payment for the same car is $150 for the first year, then balloons to $250 for the second year, before finally landing at the $300 price you would have been prepared to pay out of the gate, had you not run into this particular special. How is if that you expect the payment of the lease be reduced back to $150 after the two year is up? You wouldn’t. Now imagine that every car company does this with their leases – wouldn’t consumers eventually start associating the actual VALUE of the lease at $150/mo even though it’s actually $300? Well that folks is what’s going on in the Cable/Internet world and don’t kid yourself – EVERY COMPANY OPPERATES THE SAME WAY weather you threaten to switch to AT&T or DIRECTV ETC, you will still be given an introductory price followed by an inevitable increase back to FULL RATE.
So there you go. Hopefully this was useful to some – this last part was more of a therapy session for me.
TL,DR:
Former Comcast employee concurs with the author of this article about useful methods of lowering your bill. Stop expecting Comcast to change their whole business model for your comfort, get off your lazy ass, call Comcast and ask for a better deal or cancel and quit cryin’.
well said .
Thanks for your informative message. I’m an 82 year old widow and recently called customer service when my bill jumped $28 and change. It was very frustrating because the lady had an accent I could barely understand, but did figure out she was unable to help me. After a few days I tried again and when another lady I couldn’t understand answered, I hung up rather than trying to speak to her. This happened again a few days later, but this time I did say” I’m sorry, but I’ll have to call back later”. So a few days ago I tried once more and think I got the first lady again. She told me to check on line for promotions for current customers (the same thing she said the first time). I told her I had checked and could only find deals for first time customers. She started trying to tell me about how deals change every 2 weeks, but the first time she said they change the first of the month. Nothing made any sense, so I thanked her for her time. This is why I am so frustrated! I’ve been a Comcast customer for as long as they have been the provider in my area. We started with Jones Inter Cable in 1978 and Comcast bought them after just a few years. I have my bill automatically paid by AMEX, so it has never been late…therefore I consider myself a good customer.:)In a few days I think I’ll try getting in touch with Customer Retention to see if I can persuade someone to give me a better deal. It takes me several days to get up the courage to make a call that I think will probably turn out like the others. LOL! Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for your time of explaining the way Comcast does business…and for taking time to read my thoughts.
Sincerely’
Fran
Thanks very much for the helpful insight into lowering our bills.
You can take your political statement and hike, however. Capitalism is about fair competition, and no, there is no other option for the vast majority of us, and very soon there will be only 3 cable companies in all of the U.S. Whatever you’re telling yourself about how it’s fair and reasonable and all we have to do is cancel, fine, tell yourself. But Comcast isn’t the most hated just because they change bills without warning, or because they charge late fees for things that aren’t late, or because they throttle speeds that are already paid for. We despise them because they manipulate the government to prevent fair competition. They aren’t at the top of the food chain because they’re the best, but because they’ve bought the most politicians. And we are angry, resentful, and unforgiving about it.
This isn’t about and unwillingness to pay our bills. This is about the gun pointed at our head.
Interesting, but a lone individual against a massive company is not a fair fight. That’s why we need government. Internet, phone, etc. rates are way cheaper in Europe, for example and faster. So, what we need is government regulation to even the playing field. If you feel competition between the little guy and huge companies is good, good for you., I don’t. That’s why we pay taxes.
This is absolute crap, some people DO literally only have ONE option for cable in their area. Where I live it’s either 1-3 mbps DSL through verizon, or Comcast. That’s it. They are literally my only option for high speed internet – RCN, Dish and DirecTV, none of them offer it. You need to really learn about actual cable monopolies.
Just do an Acct. churn…
call in and cancel your service. Go online immediately after and open a new acct. from the website with the promotional deal offered.
when you get your confirmation, call in and cancel the self install package. Inform them you have a router from a previous acct and would like to use it.
Congratulations enjoy your lower promotional rate for the next 6 months
Thank you!! Just chopped $35/month off my bill!
This is crazy. I pay $220 a month for cable, internet, and one DVR. With no other options in my area, and yes Comcast is seriously the only company that services my area with the cows and such, I can’t even lie and say I have better offers from someone else because they know they are the only company the reaches out here.
So my bill for Jan to Feb increased by $200! $176 for Jan, $379 for Feb.
In that time span I always replaced my motorola set top boxes with smaller X1 boxes I assume to continue to receive HD channels. I am still trying to sort this out but I’m sure the jump was because of this upgrade.
For March the bill is $259, I have the triple play package and one DVR, and own my own cable modem.
So this is my current situation.
– Can the reps in one of those Xfinity stores be able to give me great deals like the reps in the retention dept?
– Anyone else see an increase in their bill after doing a similar box swap to continue to get HD channels? What if anything did you do to reduce your bill?
Typo in my post.
From “In that time span I always replaced ” to
“In that time span I replaced”
I had Blast Plus (cable, 150 Mbps internet) with a non-promo rate for a while. Called up today and rep was able to offer a 12-month promo to discount bill for same level of service by ~$16/mth, and when promo ends, I’d be paying about the same as I was before (barring the yearly increases), so not bad for a few minutes on the phone. :)
This is for the former comcast employee who posted as Anon on March 9, 2016 at 11:57 pm, when you have a chat session or speak with a rep and things get heated does the Comcast rep put anything within your account like “Difficult Customer” or “Asshooooole” just wondering if new reps who take a look at accounts knows if it’s going to be a rough call right from the get go?
My experience was to always keep it respectful – the worst I’ve seen is “customer upset/shouting…” interactions are audited constantly and the notes are there for all to see – supervisors, managers, directors, vice presidents… etc.
Ok, just went through the script. Didn’t go exactly the same, but brought my bill down $100/mo. Thank you for your help
Thanks for posting this script. I’ve heard that comparing to competing offers is less successful than it used to be. I said only that I wanted to disconnect my service, and by otherwise following the script, I was able to lower the price of my internet-only plan by 30% and got a 50MBPS speed increase. Nice!
This article was so helpful! Just had my bill knocked down by $100 bucks!
Followed script, lowered internet from 54.99 to 29.99 if i sign up for autopay, 39.99 if not. THANKS!
My bill for the Comcast HD Triple Play Premier just jumped from $144.95 (with $75 1st year monthly discount) to $219.95. After reading the script, I tried the Comcast chatline, saying it was too expensive and was looking at other providers. The rep came back (after about 5-7 minutes looking at my account) with an offer of $159.95 for the same service for 24 months. I took it; a savings of about $1400 over 2 years. Thanks, G.E. Miller!
I bought my own Modem and comcast sent a “kill” signal and rendered it unusable and I was forced to rent theirs. the rep tried to tell me the modem was outdated though it was the same model as the one they offer.
@Elfnet – Ya I call Bullshit, this is the stupidest thing i have ever heard… Comcast cannot “kill” modems. You must either be inept when it comes to technology or just stupid in general.
@bsdetector Yes, they can phok-tard. How else do they soft disconnect your internet service DA. You, obviously, are inept in technology and beyond stupid. Your closed mind probably believes everything you read and told. Here’s one for you, “Modems can’t be hacked. And, are indestructible.”
For everyone else, firmware is sent to the modem easily. The firmware contains settings that can throttle and stop service.
Just tried to lower my bill. The only thing the retention department would offer was a $5 loyal customer discount. I have to say that’s not showing much appreciation for being a loyal customer. I asked about lowering my package because I do not need the speed that I have and the rep insisted that I should not lower from 25mb to 10mb that I would not be able to stream Netflix. All the research I have done says otherwise.
I was really hoping for a better outcome but Comcast has proven once again that they really don’t care about loosing customers.
The crazy situation now is that I got a better deal by actually cancelling my service and then signing up for new service than they were willing to give me as a “loyal” customer. Evidently, threatening to cancel doesn’t cut any ice any more. I’ll probably have to go back to switching providers every 12 months. What a bore!
internet only. went from 66.95 to 49.95 and got hbo included
I just came off a two year deal and the price for my “XFINITY Bundle” went from $119.99 to $147.95 (23% increase). I just called the CSR and was super nice to her. I told her I was very interested in renewing my two-year deal, and what could she do for me. I’m now back in for $89.99 for the first year (39% off the off-contract rate) and $109.99 for the second year (26% savings from the off-contract rate). Heck, even that second-year rate is cheaper than what I was paying on the last contract. I didn’t threaten to leave; our conversation took about 5 minutes. I’m astonished, to be honest. Now let’s see if they get the billing correct going forward…
I’m stuck in a 2 year preferred XF bundle contract that just jumped in the second year of the contract. The last time this happened I called to get my bill lowered and the only way to break the contract was to upgrade which kept my bill about the same for the first year. I don’t want to upgrade again and get stuck with a higher bill again. I guess I’m stuck and the only way to lower would be to go out and get my own modem which would save $10 a month. I don’t have other viable options such as direct tv because of tree cover. How does noe get out of a Comcast Xfinity contract?
By the way, I went from $144.22 to $176.95
Jusr cut my bill $25.00….THANKS A BUNCH!
I currently pay $79.95 for my “Preferred Double Play Bundle Service” and they are also charging $9.95 for “Digital Starter” under “Additional Xfinity TV Services”. Now when I look online, Digital Starter is another TV package with 80 less channels. Everytime I call to have them explain why I’m paying for 2 TV services I get different answers like, “it’s part of the Preferred package” “it’s part of the Converter fee” & “it’s like a ladder, partial payment of the lower TV service is charged in order to have the Preferred (upgrade) service”. WTF?? After being able to rebuttal all the BS, at the end the ending is always the same, they cannot give me a straight answer and refer me to yet another specialist to call. Is anyone else having this issue or heard of something like this?
Currently our double play bill is around $132.88 , this after a chat rep told me iam being charged normal rate- even though I agreed to 2 years, ending october2017. Still am confused. 2 months ago our bill was $103, last month was higher around $132!.👎! I’ve yet to call retention team..but thinking about wanting to disconnect and work out bill issue from that- hoping they will reduce bill, all the while retaining our package, cable channels. Just the billing part that needs tweaking
Very good information. Lucky me I fkund your website by chance (stumbleupon).
I havbe book marked it foor later!
I don’t have the time to scour the price points in Comcast. My IN service with Comcast just went up from $80;55 to $85.55. Two years ago I canceled my high speed internet service (about 25-30 Mbps). That’s all I had from Comcast. No ph., no network TV. A month later, I restarted my subscription at the introductory price of about $40.00. That was in effect for one year.
Why increase customer rates in this economy? Because this Comcast/Xfinity corporation doesn’t put value on loyal customer relations. No monopolistic corporation in their right mind would ever consider positive customer relations as anything other than anti-social.
People are aware of Comcast/Xfinity’s monopoly and how they’re getting screwed month by month, year by year. Comcast knows how the economy is crippled yet, they keep increasing rates. Definitely a zombie organization gradually loosing it’s status in the present economic environment.
Inflation is nowhere near the rate that justifies Comcast’s rate increases.
There are alternatives to Comcast/Xfinity however.
I have the X1 Preferred Triple Play (Bundle), and I currently pay around $180/month for another year. Here is the breakdown of fees:
$119 base monthly price
$41.52 equipment fee
$10 wireless modem fee
$9.95 DVR fee
$9.95 digital converter fee
$11.22 HBO/month, soon to be $15/month
broadcast TV fee & sports fee is $10
taxes fees $10.
240 channels
Landline Phone – Don’t use
High Speed Internet – 200 mbps download / 10 upload
I asked specifically if each individual item could be waived at all and they answer was no to all of them.
So I called DirectTV and had them on my other phone, they quoted me:
Choice package – all TV’s, DVR access, HD access – no additional cost – all channels from Comcast included, including sports channels, and include 2017 NFL Sunday Ticket at no cost – $60/month includes all fees except state and local taxes $6-$8. Because I use AT&T wireless for my cell phone, I am guarantee this $60/month price for 2 years + 3 months of HBO/Showtime/Cinemax/STARZ for free. After the 3 months:
HBO $17.99/month
Showtimes/Cinemax/Starz $13.99/month each
Installation fee of $1 and a $200 visa reward card.
PLUS – I’d save $40/month on my cell phone bill. ($480 savings in a year!)
Direct TV told me to stay with Comcast for the internet. in which case, Comcast said they have 2 different promotions going right now, a $59.99/12 months or a $69.99/12 months depending on the promotion. When figuring out what it would cost me to use DirectTV’s cable price + Comcast internet price, George from Comcast said the 12 month promotion is for new customers only. (Then why tell me those prices at all?). For current customers, we would pay anywhere from $89.95-$94.95/month for just the high speed internet.
Even after telling George from Comcast what AT&T could provide and asking him again what he can do to retain me, he said I already have the best price and a better price than most customers already have. He said some pay $230 a month and I should be happy paying $180. … … (excuse me while I go scream in a pillow).
The *only* thing keeping me with Comcast right now is that we have at least 20 disney movies recorded that my 2.5 year old watches on repeat. I don’t want to lose those and am curious how I could transfer them off my DVR. Comcast was NO help to try and retain me and my service even with DirectTV on the other phone.
“My bill was $113 with blast and digital package. The both neightbors next to my house split the wireless internet with me now and they get over the air antenna tv broadcast, each one paid me $30 monthly for use my wireless internet with a strong signal so I can only pay $53 to comcast. That’s was my “solution” to solve my problem with xfinity since the go up every year and I’m so tired to deal with the customer service folks. My SSN can’t keep up with Comcast prices. My neighbor behind my house will joint the team in April for $30 more (he has a triple play a $149 and can’t wait to ditch it). They get a strong signal. I hate comcast but they are the only provider in my area, it’s a monopoly, they can charge anything. I don’t need 300 channels and I don’t feel bad for doing this, I’m saving my money and my neighbors money too”. James Nelson
Does anyone have any experience dealing with Verizon? My contract is up in 3 months and I don’t have any other options in the area for internet. I’m not sure what I could use as leverage if I were to negotiate. Comcast is in the area, but does not service my community.
Jan 2016! I forgot to put a date in my Post so you know When this applies!
Great info here, thanks. I think if you’ll lock into the 2-year contract you can definitely get a reduction. I was paying $252 per month and by telling the original operator (after politely hearing options) that I’d probably cut out TV altogether and just stay with the Blast she moved me to a CRA(?) I had HBO & Showtime plus Blast. I work out of my home and the research I’ve done on other options indicated that Comcast offered the fastest service in the area.
Anyway, after the convo with the CRA I wound up dropping Showtime (still getting everything else allegedly) i.e. same tier but without showtime (I still will have HBO) for $141.00 plus tax. We’ll see how that goes but I locked into a 2 year contract. Another thing to note I’ve been a long time customer of Comcast (since ’91) so that helped as well. Good luck! So that’s about $100 less per month…
Well, me again! I spoke too soon. I just checked my cable and they had switched it already, but instead of them dropping Showtime, they dropped HBO and included Starz! Well just called back and they said it would cost and additional $3 to have HBO ($144.99 plus tax) since they didn’t offer HBO included at the price the CRA offered me 2 hours ago. I went ahead and did it, still nearly $100 less than I’m paying now. I didn’t know who I spoke to originally so it sounds like a bait and switch but who knows. Once again we’ll see what happens!
Part One (2/2/17) Thanks to all the posters here. I lived in in Buffalo for ten years where my Time Warner TV and Internet were part of my building’s package. I moved to Pennsylvania and was told by the Real Estate agent that Comcast was the only provider. First mistake to believe him. Second was in a moment of weakness to be baited into buying Comcasts Triple Play bundle. My billing came to $220 a month comprised of: HD Premier XF Bundle with all the movies channels, On-Demand, “Blast!” Internet access for $119 (promotional) which is $154 (bundle price) to $216 (actual price). Hardware is, a HD/DVR main box, a second HD box for the bedroom, and a rented Modem ($10 monthly forever). Phone is bundled with the package which I don’t use. Total is $79.00 for Installation divided over 3 months.
After binging all month (and sobered up) I read this blog! My goal is to get an affordable unbundled price which will not increase appreciable yet give me what I need for general cable TV with the rest of my services over streaming. CenturyLink only has 10mbps in my area. They said it would be fine for streaming Netflix HD but the blogosphere says otherwise. But I had the prices in hand when I called Comcast. I followed the script above. I said “Disconnect Service” at the right prompt. I asked the agent her name and ID# (this is important!) The Retention Agent was polite and actually helpful. It took about 20 minutes to put together a new package with only a minimal amount of subterfuge and lying on my part (grin). See Next Post.
amazing
Just called and actually had more trouble with the automated system than I did getting my internet bill lowered. Simply stated my bill had gone up $15 a month in the last 6 months and I was thinking about canceling but I was calling to see if I could lower my bill before moving forward with the cancellation. Had a really nice rep. she gave me the blast package (twice the speed I had) for $20 less a month for a year.
Comcast is Required By Law to offer LOW income / NO income families / households 1.5 MBPS Internet for $10 a month.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/237477/comcast_offers_10_a_month_internet_option_for_low_income_families.html
1.5 is fast enough to get & send emails,
read the internet, watch YouTube 480,
and even play some games.
This is a Federal Law, to keep us poor people connected (i.e. everybody on welfare & food stamps).
If you are unemployed, call comcast to reduce your bill. If you find a great job you can switch it back up to more later.
But if you are low on cash, The LAW says comcast got to help you.
Or cancel comcast altogether, and just use your phone for emails and internet.
TracFone has the cheapest SmartFone switch over plan… bring any old AT&T smartphone to TracFone, buy a year card 4500 minutes 4.5 GB data. Data you can buy at 1GB for $10. AT&T charges $70 for 6GB, so TracFone is cheaper than AT&T , Cricket, Sprint, everybody.
We signed up for double play package sometime in July 2016 for $69.99 a month. But few months before Jan 2017, the promo is gone, now pay 99.99 a month. – was able to get deduction in bill…but only $5.00 so as to not disrupt DP pkge and cable channels. Wanted more but was only offered to drop channels and reduce internet speeds.
Wondering if there is a dept that can be lenient towards seniors and disabled people living under same roof. We are practically paying comcrud with our ssi checks lmao. Would like to see our bill be reduced from $118 down to $110🙏🙏 $8.00 that’s not much effort. But its a start
Question for G.E. Miller – this may have been asked already, but I didn’t read thru all the comments.
We have Comcast Triple Play, and their rep said that we can buy a modem, but I has to have a phone jack. So the modem you recommended wouldn’t work. Do you have an alternative recommendation for triple-play ppl? Or do you recommend not taking the triple-play bundle?
They took-off the HBO add-on, as I never watch HBO.
They gave me much faster internet. (They know that AT&T is putting-in crazy fast Internet in my neighborhood right now, and targeting Comcast customers. AT&T owns DirecTV.)
I will drop-off their horrible DOCSIS 2.0 modem at the nearest Comcast store. It has never worked, and that will reduce the bill too.
A couple years ago I bought a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. Works great. I have my own wifi router too.
My bill dropped over 30%. :0)
We’ve had pretty good luck striking a deal when local Comcast sales reps make door-to-door visits in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, it only occurs about once-a-year when competitors are our knocking on doors trying to get home owners to switch, but the local sales reps are usually much easier to deal with.
Was able to lower our bill. We have double pay…and dont watch hbo everyday, so opted to get basic double play. Hbo is blocked now. Bill should be reduced from 121 to 111. For 12 months. Hope can renew service next year at same price. Will monitor our bill because we dont trust comcast
Tonight I lowered my Xfinity Double Play from $74.95 to $39.99 just by using online chat. I started off by telling them I had to change my services to the mailing advertisement price of $19.99/mo for 1 year of internet only due to financial hardships and not being able to pay the bills any longer. They came back and offered the same double play with Basic+ TV, 25 Mbps internet, Streampix and HBO(not 3 mos., but for the entire term) for just $39.99 for 1 year with a guarantee of no increase until April 26, 2018!
Timed this and was able to negotiate a new deal in 9mins 55 seconds. Promotion deal ended, was paying $50 for 200mbs originally and got bumped up to $69. I called and said I needed to cancel. They were able to hook me up with a 49.99 for 100mbs after a couple questions. I simply dialed their main number and said I would like to cancel as I couldn’t afford the 69.99 a month.
Thanks Comcast for the hassle free call, it was actually nice to call you this time. =)
Wait!… You were paying $50 for 200 mbs/month of wifi & now you are paying $49.99 for 100 mbs/month of wifi?
So, you’re paying the same price for half the wifi speed. That doesn’t sound like much of a negotiation to me. And it sounds like even worse of a plan. I have Basic + TV AND Performance wifi internet and negotiated from $84.95/months to $39.99/month!
Supposedly they don’t let you go with the same promotion that you were previously on so I couldn’t get back on the 200mbs one. 100mbs is fine with me and as long as im not paying over $50. I wish my negotiation skills could have got me the 39.99 a month one but im good with what I have now as long as I am not paying 60 to 70 dollars for simply internet and 100mbs is more than enough for gaming and streaming.. ^_^
Roger that. I did all of mine through chat and was lucky enough to have just received an ad in the junk mail/coupons for Xfinity hi speed only for $19.99/mo for 12 mos. so, I got on chat and asked them to downgrade me to just that deal because I was having financial hardship and didn’t want to get in bad with Comcast by not being able to make the payments. She typed back that she understood and asked if I would be interested in keeping my same exact plan for $39.99? Duh….yeah, of course. Though I didn’t act like I won the lottery, I just plainly said said thank you for your offer and I should be able to pull that off.
Just remember to use ‘chat for new service’ sinc you’ll get a salesmen and they want to make a sale. And, because you can’t trip up and you can take more time crafting the perfect lines to send by proofing before sending.
Remember….you can always upgrade or DOWNGRADE with Comcast Xfinity. I’ve had Xfinity for 3 years + since that’s the cable company where I moved to and have never signed a 2 yr agreement. Just get the promotion that locks your price for 12 mos pay the regular price on the 13th month and then keep your eyes open in the mail & newspaper, on their website and in your email box for their current promotions and use chat to downgrade to the lowest promo because you have financial hardships and won’t be able to afford reg. price and they will give you whatever you want or close to it for much cheaper.
I started with Blast! Plus originally w/Xfinity…45 + cable Chanel’s and their highest Mbps internet plus HBO & Sreampix for $59.99. On the 13th month I paid $89 and then contacted chat for new or moving service. When they find out you have service and aren’t moving you just explain that you won’t be able to make that payment and don’t want to mess up your good standing with Xfinity or you might have to shop the satellites for a lower promo price. They came back and said they could keep me on Blast! Plus for $49 instead of $59 which by then had turned into $89. It’s really an easy system. And since I pay so little I also have Netflix, Hulu & Amazon Prime($4/mo for loads of great.Tv, music, books & shopping w/free 2-day shipping since I’m a college student). I have saved the $49 yearly fee 3 or 4X over since I buy soooo much from Amazon….large, pricey shipping items too!
This info was really helpful! Thanks a ton I will keep this in mind for when my contract is up! That’s legit haha!
It’s not true in my case. I wanted to drop TV service and they said my internet 25mbps will be $75/month. So, I called again and another guy said that I may try to sign up online where the “special” offer is $39.99 and see if that will work. Then I would call them again and explain that I have online offer and if they be so kind take that TV off and let me use online special. So, I get the email saying I need to call, because my online order has issues. I called again and she started explaining me that special offers ARE FOR NEW CUSTOMERS and NOT FOR CURRENT CUSTOMERS. Get that? So, I don’t know who talked to, but it’s not what comcast does. Anyway, I may just disconnect from comcast completely and use Verizon for some time, they have offer of 50mbps internet with no contract. And then try comcast again with a special offer. Also, make up your mind when you about to sign up, THEY DON”T DOWNGRADE services, especially bundles for nothing, you will get a downgrade but almost at cost of 50% more than before. Also, order online if you can, because you can select to opt from that scam with the “installer” guy. I didn’t have any internet and that’s why I had to chat with them via the “direct” internet cable connection. Yes, even though you don’t have internet but have a comcast cable, you can get their “sign up” page and they really own you. They know you are desperate and you have no choice, this is the worst. They do have offers, same as on internet. But next time you call them, they say they don’t use online prices. Liars. So, they insisted on $60 technician visit fee, or no service activation. It’s funny that I said to that hindu guy that I am using the internet cable the very moment chatting with him, and he kept assuring me the pole connection is dead and technician needs to connect it. I completely lost all respect for them, actually I never had much even years ago. While ordering online, you can select self-install package – $0.
And just so you know the only contracts are the two-year agreements. If you get a promotion that locks your pricing for 12 months that’s not a contract that’s just a guarantee that your price won’t go up for 12 months so you can always drop it or change it without any penalty you only get penalties when you have two year agreement
Thats also good to know, They try to trick you into thinking you can’t leave them during that 12 months. Nice, good information!
All you need from Comcast is a reliable high speed internet. Go get a Firestick at $40.00 per television and all you will be paying for is the internet, no more being billed for a cable box, a dvr you don’t even need a phone line. There are also network ready boxes that you can connect from the modem using a CAT5 or 6 cable and you can have all the channels, record as many shows even add external drives to increase the number of shows you watch. And the best part of all, you finally do away with commercials on your TV, some of the boxes will sense when the commercial is starting and it will forward to the next segment of the show, and it’s hands free. All you have to do is pay a one time charge for either the firestick or the Channel Master DVR+, or there is the ROKU 4 and if you purchased a 4K tv it will be the first ever you’ll see the full function of your 4K tv.
It is an interesting read, and the comments have given me a lot of ideas too. But, in my experience, you can save the most money by getting the best price for your connection while you are buying it. There are a lot of ways to do so. In my case, I chose the top plan among the Charter Spectrum Internet Plans at www. S9 .com/charter. The comparison really helped me weigh the pros and cons. I got a free modem, a great price, and a seasonal discount. I did save a lot of money because I did my due research before committing to a plan.
I’ve tried 3 different times in the last 6 mos to call in and lower my bill. The first guy was a complete jerk and even when I asked, “there’s no way for you to get me anything to try and keep me as a customer? Not even 3 months of free HBO?” and he said no. Ended that call real quick. 2nd call they were able to give me 3 free months of HBO/STARZ and the 3rd call was the nicest guy, patient, loved being a CSR for sure. He not only waived my equipment fees (didn’t know that could be done!) of $15/mo for a year, he encouraged me to get my own modem since it’ll pay for itself after a year and that’ll save us about $120/year just for paying the rental on the modem. He then extended the HBO/STARZ another 3 mos. It really depends on who you get on the line with who’s willing to help you out.
I recently called Comcast with the same approach. I was a long time customer and was tired of paying for over $40/month just for their hardware rentals. Plus I haven’t used their landline service in like 3 years. I was offered a cheaper package for about $40/month less but it still wasn’t low enough. So I asked for a price on internet-only. I’d be satisfied with just having Netflix and Hulu Plus. He quoted me $89.95 as the lowest internet-only price! What a ripoff! I actually did take the $40 off price just so I can now shop for a cheaper internet service. Unbelievably, FIOS is still not available in my area.
I have been playing one against the other for years. Usually I am able to avoid switching. However, just today I switched. I am paying 75 dollars per month for two internet only accounts. They offered to go down to 49 for my 30 up and 5 down service. How could I resist Verizon’s 50/50 for 39. I already ordered two used Fios modems from Amazon. End of story…that is until next year when Verizon jacks up the bill.
Let’s face it. Here in the Maryland suburbs just outside DC there are only the two of them unless you consider satellite which is crazy because of the bandwidth restrictions. We are talking about an essential monopoly even though there are two companies….that is not enough to keep prices competitive.
I would love to see the Justice department at least attempt to launch an anti-trust case against the two of them…even if the government did not prevail.
Cable television, home internet access, and home phones can be replaced by books/imagination, a trip to the library (free internet access), and a cheap cell phone. If you are asked to pay a price for something and you believe that price is too high, don’t buy it. It’s quite simple. Cut the addiction. You don’t need TV or a home intenet connection, you just don’t. You may want it, but you don’t need it.
Yea, but you do. Try going to grammar school, high school, or college, and not have internet. Try paying bills, or applying for a job without regular access too your e-mail. Also, I work from home, and internet is an absolutely necessity. I’ll agree that TV isn’t necessary.
Just tried this! They were able to cut my bill by 53% (I did the math) and I also got higher internet speed as well as HBO. Thanks for this blog!
Just cut the cord. I had Triple Play with Blast! and was paying about $140. Rate was then raised to $189. If you have any sort of TV, they kill you with the fees and equipment rentals – these can easily increase your bill by $40. Cancel it all, and just get the basic internet for $49.99. I did that, and got Sling for an additional $20 a month. It has all of the channels that I watch anyway, and I don’t have to pay extra fees. Who watches more than a handful of channels on cable anyway? 95% of them are worthless. Many of the news stations also have streaming apps, and if you live within 75 miles of a large metro area, invest in a $20 HD antenna – I get almost 20 channels that way. As others have said, also invest in your own cable modem – they can be had for $70 and will pay for themselves in 6 months. It’s super gratifying for me when I only have to pay them $49.99 every month, and I literally miss nothing about my old service.
I’ll just add that I had initially called and threatened to leave. They were only able to reduce my bill by like $6…what a waste of a half hour. Comcast has been becoming more belligerent and it’s harder for people to get their fees reduced. Event if they can give you their $99 Triple Play, with fees and mandatory rentals, you’re already paying close to $150 – waaaay too much if you ask me. I also got sick of having to call them and play their negotiation came every year – it’s ridiculous and insults my intelligence.
I agree about just canceling Comcast because of the ridiculous rental fees but here’s how they get you. I thought I’d cancel TV and phone and ask them for ‘internet only’ service. I figured I’d pay around $50/month and also use Netflix and Hulu. But he quotes me a price of $90/month! For internet only! And that’s not even their top speed. What a racket! That’s why they always want your street address because they know whether your street has fiber available. If it doesn’t, they know they’ve got you. I’m sure if someone had to dump Comcast and go with crappy DSL for a few months, Comcast would come back and offer internet for $49.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I just used your information to negotiate my bill back down to the original promo price with DVR thrown in for free and 3 months of HBO free. Thanks for the simple tips, it made the discussion less stressful and was done with the call in 11 minutes!
It worked today 5/3/2018 for me. I have been doing it every year for 8 years. My bill had jumped $30. So, I called and spoke real nice to the lady. Even found out she was from the Philippines so I mentioned I had been there. Built up a small relationship just to make it personal. I added Cinemax (which I don’t really need) and reduced my original bill by $1. Blast Internet, basic cable plus HBO and Cinemax = $75 taxes and fees included
I’m glad it worked for you. Unfortunately, every 365 days they will increase your bill, and you will have to establish a personal relationship with some other employee, and wheel and deal to (maybe) get your rate down again. It’s kind of comical that they force people to do this, or else get ripped off.
Thanks for your advice Mr. Miller. We followed your steps and had some success. Here are the specifics:
(1) Phone Contact Was Quick: When phoning Comcast, the “disconnect service” recommendation worked like a charm; was talking to a real person in customer retention in less than 1 minute.
(2) Old Rate: We had the “triple play” “HD Digital Starter” at $120/month (plus modem, taxes, etc,) with No Contract.
(3) New Rate: Comcast suddenly raised service to $160/month
(4) Negotiated Rate: Following your advice, reduced the rate back down to $120/month, but with one big Catch 22 . . . a Two Year Contract (with $10/month penalty for early cancellation.)
(5) Only solution . . . call Comcast before you end service and have them switch you to a “No Contract” plan. Then you can then cancel that plan without penalty.
Thanks again for your help. David in Sacramento
The advice worked out for me. However, if the customer rep seems unfriendly, just hang up. If the rep don’t want to offer you a good rate, hang up. It took me three calls and I got again the same promotional rate for a full year again with Starzz included.
I learned one tip to save money with Comcast but not until I was calling to cancel. I told the rep their service was too expensive, and one reason was that I was paying $45/month to rent all their cable boxes and remotes. She said “well you can return all your boxes, buy streaming boxes, ie Roku, Chromecast etc and install the Xfinity app on them”. My mind was already made up to cancel, but it would have been nice if one of the other reps mentioned that the other 8 times I called over the years to reduce my rate. I paid almost $500/year to rent their stuff. I definitely won’t go back, Hulu Live has anything I want to watch for $39.95.
I called them and got no flexibility when I threatened to cancel. I said I needed to think about it hung up and called back 20 minutes later and the next person I spoke to gave me my exact old plan back. I wonder if I could have just kept calling forever until I got what I wanted or if they would get wise to this. Probably depends on how their system is set up.
Wow, talked with a retention specialist and she straight away asked what time I wanted it disconnected. Great service Comcast.
Comcast victim. I live in the worst area possible where the only cable co is Comcast, their monopoly is sick. I was paying $258 per month (in NJ) nothing extra, 2 tvs, DVR HD, no premium channels… I try to keep internet only but they want $110 with taxes and all. Ridiculous, I cut the cord.
If you don’t have a competitor to go with, switch to an internet-only setup, then get Hulu Live via Amazon Firestick or smartTV, Roku, etc. There’s no fees and you get a majority of the channels Comcast offers.
11-10-18: Appreciate the thread. Would be very helpful if the posts were dated. If not automatically by this website, then each poster could add it. Prices and promos, Comcast, change frequently so the date would be handy. For me, have ‘net only – no contract. Paid $49 base and $54 with fees (monthly) a year ago. Now, after 12 months promo, the price (with fees) will be $72 per month (‘net only). The rep, in Customer Loyalty, could do nothing and I tried, Lord knows I tried, to negotiate a better price. She said even a manager would not be able to help. She could only offer me a better price through a yearly contract, which I do not need as I’ll be moving. Even a lower contract offer, would still be more expensive with cancellation fees vs. having the higher, no contract, price. I did see a nice offer, $39 internet, 60 Mbps + 10 channels for $39 – NO CONTRACT. So it said on the website. Yet, when I spoke with the CS she did not have it. Bait and Switch? If Comcast were not about the best ‘net service in town, I would look else where – and have many times over the years. I will try another CS soon, as one will say something different from another. Good Luck everyone!
We signed up with direc tv around Black Friday when they had a promotion in Costco it was 54 a month for preferred and 3 months hbo and start with a 300 visa gift card to Costco and 10 dollars off for every person we refer so we referred my mother in law and father in law and only ended up paying 34 with a 2 year contract and had free nfl season for the rest of the the next year so not a bad deal at all and had a lot of channels. Now that was 2 years ago and now the bill is going to go up to 120. With Comcast we have internet because where I live direct tv only has cable and the internet is expensive and it’s not even that great it always goes out and disconnects all the time. The first year it wasn’t so bad I was on a promotion for 49.99 blast pro 250 but of course because it’s blast pro 30 extra got added so 79.99 a month. After the first year was over 10 more dollars was added making it 89.99 plus tax and now another 10.00 just got added making it 101.00 a month. That with the 120 making it 221.00 for both I decided to go to Comcast online and look at the deals as if I was a new customer to see what is offered because if you sign in and look or call they will not give you the same offers as new potential trying to hook customers. So I found a deal 220+ channels, starz for free, 150 internet, for 114.99 plus equipment charges of course, now make sure you add this up your self online before in stores because they might have a higher priced then you did because they did me but I showed them and they corrected their end and it came out to 165.00 a month. So 56 dollars cheaper than what it was going to be. Oh and you do not really need blast pro it’s just a name my mom has the 150 internet and I had the blast pro and honestly I felt hers worked better then mine did.
This advice worked for me. I first contacted them via chat and they explained that the best they could offer me was what I saw in My Account offers. I wasn’t very happy with that because my bill would go up 18% in one year, and I’d get fewer channels. I let the chat rep know that I was going to have to think about it and explore other options like DISH Network. He said they didn’t want to lose me as a customer and that he wanted me to reach out to the Loyalty Team to see if they could offer me a better price. I reached out, was very polite, and simply explained I was frustrated by the 18% increase and that I’d been a loyal customer for 15 years. The rep on the phone was sympathetic and helpful. She gave me 3 options, all of which provided me with the same service (220+ channels and 150 mbps internet)I was receiving already. I ended up saving $21/month. Very pleased with the outcome…assuming my bill is correct next month. :) My account is showing the new rate already though, so I feel fairly confident.
Once again, after 2nd, renegotiated year was up, I called, got to their ‘retention of service” person and started negotiating. Telling them what it would cost me to just get their internet and buy outside streaming services for my needs. The price was so much different, he didn’t even try to match. I cut the cord. Now have DirecTV Now (including HBO) for my live TV for $45/mo, plus I have Amazon Prime anyway, plus just got Hulu basic for $0.99/mo. Way more content than I can consume. DirecTV includes cloud based DVR- so no more DVR fees, separate room fees, “regional sports” or “local affiliate” fees. Just my internet ($50/mo) plus my Streaming service ($46/mo). Have had this for 2 months now, and don’t miss Xfinity at all. Saving $1K/yr. Cable TV packages- with all of their additional charges, even with negotiated discounts, are no longer competitive with streaming services.
On the phone I tried to negotiate my double price increase after my contract plan ended, I was told that they would cancel my service if that’s what I wanted. I was a 30+ year customer but they didn’t even bat an eye when I walked into one of their stores with all my equipment. I learned from this site just what to do… I took my wife with me, had a NEW account and contract set up in her name & just like that… got the NEW customer plan pricing and new equipment. The biggest pain was having to put back in all our tv series into DVR, but our bill went from $208/mo to $99/mo. And when this contract expires I’ll go in with her and once again become a new customer and we’ll just keep doing it over and over and over! In fact even the customer service rep at the counter knew what we’re doing and it appears that Comcast would rather do more paperwork for a new customer instead of just giving the same deal to one that’s been with them for decades! Therefore let the games begin, and for that monthly savings, will just continuously be new customers every time a contract runs out.
The script in the original blog post worked well for me just now (Nov. 2018). Got offered a $25/month discount on my basic internet-only package. I told the phone-bot I had a ‘question about disconnecting service’, told the service rep about a competitor’s price ($50/month) and told them I wanted to leave for the competitor unless they had discount or deal I wasn’t aware of. He offered the discount right off the bat…took me less than 10 minutes in total!
Bingo!
Really appreciate this article.
For me, there are two important pieces of data missing from the comments: 1) a time/date stamp; 2) the location (city/state) of each person making a comment.
Date stamps would be useful because it might help site visitors spot trending changes in comcast’s customer service retention strategies–like other very large service companies with uneven customer service performance, comcast’s policies appear to be prone to shifting from time to time, as if they’re trying new strategies, rolling out a “kinder, gentler comcast” public relations campaign to improve their corporate reputation while a pending merger is before the FTC, etc.
Comment-makers’ location info would be useful in another way. the current comcast behemoth is actually an aggregation of competitors the company acquired over time but never fully integrated into a seamless whole. In effect, because each regional division was literally its own company, with its own culture and business objectives, before comcast swallowed it up, each regional division’s customer service objectives, strategies and styles may differ based on that acquired division’s history as an independent company.
https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/11/5978481/comcast-confessions-there-is-no-one-comcast
I have been getting promos as an existing customer for the last 3 years. This year I called around 6 times already with no deal. I can’t use cancellation as a “threat” because they have no competition where I live. Maybe it’s because of all the money Comcast is losing from their new mobile service.
And this is December 2018 (adding date for future reference).
Good post for the date, LJ. This website needs to add the post date to the comments.
12/2018
I had 25MB speed at $24.99 ($19.99 with ecopay) for a year. I called to cancel and they would not budge on the $49.99 regular rate so I cancelled and they said ooook. I got an email the next day in my Comcast email that they don’t want to see me go and to call them. I called the number which the rep said is a new retention department. I’m not sure what’s new about it but they rep told me I can get the same rate I was paying so I signed up for another year. He said he couldn’t make it a permanent rate.
I guess the AT&T fiber expansion may be starting to affect their customer base or at least it is in my area.
I thought that a jailbroken Fire TV Stick would be the answer. It wasn’t.
I recently found a place that lets you get everything in HD for less than $30/mo. They are giving out 24 hour free trials. See for yourself: http://verycool.tv
Why do people continue dealing with the likes of Comcast for TV?
I have to use them for internet – it costs me $51 per month (their cheapest option is just fine) – I stream plenty of things in HD.
I then use one of the streaming services (Sling, YouTube Tv, etc…) when there is compelling content on – like during the football season. That costs anywhere from $25 to $40 per month. So worst case, I’m paying $90 per month. With the click of a button, I can cancel for a couple months if nothing much is on or I’m out of the country. No appointments, no ridiculous fees (like an HD fee – really!), no fees for installation. Just get a cheap Roku stick, Chromecast or Amazon TV stick (around $25), connect to your wifi and you are good to go.
If you are in a big metro area, get an HD antenna (around $35) for all the local channels. It’s free.
I am amazed the lengths people will go to continue to get ripped off.
It’s partly included with my condo fees, that’s why I keep it.
Call back and get it lower. I’m on Digital Economy 100+ Channels and Internet Blast 150 Mbps for $64.99. I’ve had this for years and just keep having them renew my promotional rate. On second thought, if you have a Xfinity store close by, go try and negotiate with them. They have helped me out with rates as well. If one person doesn’t give you the answer you want, keep trying.
Cut Cable Now
I dumped XFinity after they jacked up the price to $200 / month.
Sling, Hulu and You Tube streaming too about a week to adjust but much better service and fewer commercials
Just to test the waters, I asked how much to add NBA Pass. Their Answer $150 / Month
HARD PASS on XFinity
Perfect guide and nice points discuss to save money. I also use xfinity internet and your points give me benefits. Thanks for sharing these guidelines.
Well if your generation (seniors) hadn’t elected Reagan and his people (basically cutting your share of taxes and burning the social safety net), maybe you wouldn’t be in the situation you are now. Ah, well. The worst part is, we (your children) are still going to have to deal with all the problems you created for us, even after you’re gone.
Who are these people getting better deals? I was on the phone for 20 minutes with a retention specialist that could care less that I had been a Comcast customer for over decade – always paying my bills on time and willing to switch to AT&T for a better offer. I guess the old adage “it takes more money to gain a new customer than keep an old one” has gone out the window. I’m still fuming at being tossed aside so easily. I asked for a call back from a manager, but after reading all of the comments here, have very little confidence that that will change anything. Still fuming from this call and am planning to switch to AT&T now.
I followed your advice. Not only did I receive a $32.83 a month discount, the price stays the same forever unless I change service! I have been a customer since 2014, maybe that helped? I am very pleased and thank you for your step by step instructions!
As a former comcast rep that has worked regular Customer service, retention, and the escalations department. Look to third party people to get better deals on comcast services. I’ve seen premier services with an HD dvr, blast Internet, and phone go for $75. This happens only through third parties.
My husband and I switch back and forth whose account Comcast is inm so we can take advantage of the new account promos. I have tried to negotiate with them, but they are pretty much impossible. This last time, I am eating an early termination fee for the security system of $210 and found a company to monitor it with no contract for $10/mo. That plus taking advantage of the new $34.99 promotion we will cut our Cable/Internet/Home security from $160/mo down to $70/mo! And still have On demand, 30+ channels, a monitored security system and 60+gb internet. I another can save an additional $13/mo if I buy another modem as well.
Don’t believe that call us back in 6 months or call us back in a year and we’ll lower you bill again. It is BS. Comcast gives nothing in writing to the customer and enters no record usually of what they just told you.
Bit confused and really not trying to be a jerk here… but between article and comments, seeing talks of 8Mbps and 12Mbps?? Is that more for casual use?
I’m just trying to get a general sense of price-per-quality. Recently as of a few months ago or so, my bill went from $160-ish per month up to $217.02 per month.
Currently I have their Triple-Play package which is home-security system/alarm , X1 TV with DVR/cloud in living-room and master-bedroom (HD Digital Starter 140+ channels), and Blast Internet which boasts up to 275Mbps. Perhaps because I’m an avid gamer the lower stated net speeds seem bizarre in this day and age, and I even get perturbed when I have a stand alone download going at less than 100Mbps (not so much “speed entitled” as much as it’s the fact I’m being price-gougd for 275Mbps, even though I’m fully knowledgeable of the fact there will be SOME bandwidth bottle-necking and drop-off).
What bugs me is bill says the “Service Package” costs $143.00, yet it goes over 50% more of package cost with additional fees ($217 – $143 = $74. While half of $143 would only be $71.50!) Fees used to be less, hence why it only used to cost like $160-ish.
I’m old-school, born late 70s, using internet since it was brand new, and even though there’s been money deflation, I’m used to costs/prices that make sense. Gas prices today are bad enough, but compared to what I’m paying Comcast, I know some people whose car payment and modest-house payment, combined, cost about as much. With overall cost of $217, each of the three services averages just around $73 each. That seems INSANE to me and rather misleading-as-hell as it pertains to their “Service Package/Plan” advertised prices! -_-
Just noticed Comcast upped the DTA fee to $6.99 per month. I don’t know how it can be justified! I have had the same two DTA’s for YEARS (ever since the fee was $1.99 per DTA). I had a conversation about this several years ago with Comcast and I never could get a straight answer about why the fee increase. Seems to me their fixed costs are the same and variables, maybe increased somewhat. Equipment is the same at my end. Also Comcast just ripped TCM out of my package an put into something called “Sports and Entertainment” at a higher tier. More money grubbing.
Gave up DirecTV and thought just cause we had internet with them and thought they had great TV but was we wrong.If you watch Monday night football you might want to get you a $20 antenna from Walmart because they only play it in low resolution witch will drive you nuts watching it. Now the Andy Griffith show or maybe even Bonanza western would be ok but not the NFL what are they thinking? Glad they have a 30 day cancellation because Im not paying $150 to watch 90’s quality tv Im just not.
Did exactly what article said, called 800#, when asked said “service cancellation”, replied “no” to is this because you are moving and voila cust service rep on line asking what he could do for me. Told him not happy with $10 increase this month, said they are charging more for older equipment rental and thought that was ridiculous and that it should actually be going down. He kind of agreed with my logic and said their new package plans have most of the same stuff my old one did for less and he cut the cost of 2 setop boxes in half. Total went down $37 per month. Going to purchase a new Arris Modem/gateway and that will know another $14 per month off.
thanks — great info & in the comments too — really helpful!
@Kevin Konieczny
That’s what happened to me. I’ve been a Comcast Customer for appx. 30 years and always call to make a “deal” when a contract is about to expire. I signed a deal (2 years) in Feb. 2019 for appx. $182.00 per month. (cable, internet, landline phone) I even asked when I was signing if I could count on that amount so that I could work it into my budget. I’m disabled and live on Social Security. Every penny counts. “Oh yes, give or take a dollar or two your bill should be in the 182-185 dollar range for 2 years”. My last bill jumped from appx 182 to $201.90. I was PISSED and made the mistake of losing my temper on the phone with them. I’ve never had my bill jump that much when under contract, But sure enough, (as Kevin said) this time, after the first year, it jumped almost 20 dollars. Business is business, but Comcast ?….man, if I could dump them I’d do it in a HEART BEAT. They’re sneaky…and greedy. What a lousy way to do business.
I just signed up for $30 Comcast plus $14 equipment. As soon as my account was activated I could connect – had not installed the modem/router. Am I just picking up a local hotspot that might disappear. Do I really need their equipment? Every thing I need from the internet seems to be working without their equipment. Fast loading, stream movies. What’s going on?