How to lower your cable bill when there's only one provider in town

Don't think you can lower your cable bill because there's no other cable provider in town? Think again.

Negotiate cable bill

If there's only one cable company in your town, you may think that they hold all the cards when it comes to trying to lower your monthly bill.  However, several consumers we spoke to prove this isn't the case.

Read on to learn how other cable customers managed to lower their cable bill when dealing with only one cable company.

Call the New Sales Department

Calling a the customer retention department is a smart way to reduce your bill, but David Waldron, 55, of Harrisville, Rhode Island, uses another tactic. He simply calls the new sales department.

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"Once a year, I call the sales department which is designed for new customers, but does take calls from existing ones," he says. Waldron has a good reason for doing this. "If you make the regular customer service/billing/tech support telephone call, you will get a friendly, but restricted customer service rep as opposed to an incentive laden sales rep," he explains.

Waldron makes a point of having a long but polite conversation with the sales rep.

"I first remind the sales rep of my history as a customer and my monthly payment (which embarrassingly is substantial). I then proceed to remind them of what they already know and that is that the bundling of cable channels is in the cable company's and broadcaster's favor and not the customer."

Waldron says he patiently explains that he and his wife watch just about a few of the 500 channels they pay for.

"Ultimately, the sales rep, as they are trained to do, will go through my TV account and find channels that can be eliminated for a $10 savings here, and a $5 savings there," says Waldron. "My last call, as is typical, [the sales rep] came up with a special that just happened to be available where he could upgrade my DVR service for less money than I was paying for the basic DVR service," he says. Waldron says during his last call he was able to reduce his monthly cable bill by about $25 per month, and actually improving his TV services at the same time. "So it is possible, especially if you go through sales," he says.

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Say You're Going to Cancel

When dealing with your cable company, it can pay to say you're planning on terminating service - even if you're bluffing. This is something Jason Fisher, 27, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina attempted when he called Time Warner Cable about his bill.

"I subscribed to Time Warner when I purchased my first home a little over a year ago," he says. "The day the first year's contract was up, my rate increased at least 25 percent." Fisher called to negotiate a lower rate, but the customer service rep told him that discounts were only for new customers.  "They told me the only way I could get the rate I had before was to drop my service for at least 30 days, then re-sign up," he recalls.

So Fisher told the rep that was exactly what he would do: Cancel his service and use NetFlix for 30 days. Lucky for Fisher, the rep was concerned with him canceling his service, even if it was just for 30 days. "Fifteen minutes later, I had my old rate back," he says.

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Indicate Your Interest in Internet Streaming

Another negotiation angle to use when there's only one cable company in town is to mention the many Internet streaming services available to viewers today, says Bakke.

"Mentioning streaming services is a great way to negotiate a lower cable bill - especially since they’re so cheap," says Bakke. "Netflix and Hulu Plus are only $8 per month, and Amazon Prime costs $99 per year. Plus with Amazon, you get free shipping on all purchases at that website."

To score the lowest rate available, be sure to mention the cheaper Internet services, says Bakke. This shows the cable company that you've done your homework.

Mentioning a switch to an Internet streaming provider is how Jonathan Pickett, 38, of Macomb, Michigan, negotiated his Comcast cable bill when his contract ended.

"Most recently my bill spiked to $215 a month," says Pickett. He called Comcast and used a tactic he's used before - selecting the customer complaint option on Comcast's automated phone system.

"There is a button you must push that lets them know you are unhappy with the service and are looking to change providers," he says. Once he had a real person on the phone, he simply said his bill was too high, and he was going to switch to an Internet service provider. "With the advent of Hulu and everything else online it was not that hard to convince them to lower the bill to $120 a month plus taxes and fees," he says. Pickett says his new price includes Internet, HD television, and sports channels.

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Hang Up and Try Again

Persistence pays off when dealing with cable companies, and if one person says "no," don't give up. Keep calling until you get a customer service rep who will negotiate with you, says Brad Kvederis, 36, of Moraga, California.

Kvederis is a customer of Comcast, the only cable and Internet provider in his hometown.

"I was paying Comcast over $70 per month for broadband and a barebones cable TV plan, and (like many others) called and threatened to switch to Dish Network for television service in hopes of getting a better rate," he recalls. "I was told that dropping cable TV service would save about $25 per month, but at the same time, my rate for broadband would increase by about $25 per month, so my overall bill would remain the same." When Kvederis pressed the issue, the Comcast customer service rep remained polite, but firmly refused to give him a discount.

So Kvederis simply ended the call.

"My solution was to hang up, call back immediately and repeat the exact same request to a different customer service representative," Kvederis says. "This one didn't give me any trouble, and she quickly arranged a $15 monthly discount from a list of promotions that were currently running."

Kvederis says that though customer service reps may have a script they're supposed to read from, they can make different choices. "Just like two referees might call the same basketball game differently, two different service reps will often give you two completely opposite answers," he says.