My Comcast negotiating experience

I have a Comcast high speed internet connection and I am pretty satisfied with the service. The cost for it was  $33.99 (with taxes and rental for the modem~ $37) for 1 yare which ended in Jan 2009 and my internet cost shot up to $ 42.99 (with other fees it was ~ 47/month). I had a 6Mbps download speed plan with Comcast which was good as I download and watch a lot of streaming content but the increase in fee was hurting,  so I decided I will call them and try to get it down.

Attempt 1: Fail

In Jan 09, in less than 2 minutes the representative got me convinced that they could not lower my rate and the only way to lower my rate was to accept a much lower download speed ~ 1Mbps , which was for about ~29/month.

Attempt 2: Fail

In April 09, frustrated by the higher rate I was paying, I thought of giving this another shot. I got Windy on the line, who was not at all helpful and not at all aware of the plans Comcast had. I asked her for a discount/promotion/etc., she did not offer me any and also said that I could not downgrade my plan…! I just thanked her and was off in less than 3 minutes. I did not want to talk to someone s o unaware.

Attempt 3: Yippee….

On the same day, 5 minutes later I decided to give this a final shot,  I  had reached Windy by selecting the option of Cancel Service, I did not want my call to get routed to her again, so I selected the option of billing inquiry, hoping to get someone else, and I did, now I straight away told them I wanted to downgrade my service as I could not pay the high rate I am currently paying. This is how it went.

Rep: Sir, let me see how I can help you. Can you provide me with the telephone number associated with you account or your account number.

Me: (why would I know my Comcast account number, Gave my telephone number).

Rep: I see your monthly rate is 42.99/month but that is the best rate we are offering unless you are a new customer.

Me: I know, can you downgrade my account to a lower speed.

Rep: We have a promotional offer on 1Mbps for 6 months with a rate of 24.99/month. After that the rate goes to 33.99/month

Me: Oh, the speed sounds too low. Do you have some other plans?

Rep: Let me see Sir (goes away for 1 minute).

Rep: Sorry for the long hold. I can offer you 34.99/month for 6 months on your existing plan, if you would like to continue with the same plan.

Me: (Hell ya..! I want 6Mbps download speed, partly excited not trying to show) That does not save me a lot per month.

Rep: (Works out all the calculations, says)  For only 10 dollars a month more  (as compared to 1Mbps plan) you get 6 times the speed and you get nearly 20% off of your current rate. (I got an intelligent one..!)

Me: (With no more will to negotiate). Ok I guess I will take the offer of 34.99/month.

Closing comment:

Well I did not save a lot but ~ $7/month for 6 months (so ~ $42) that was a well worth conversation.

Did you ever try to negotiate your plan with your service provider? If not, then now is the time.  Let me know in the comments about your experience.