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Can I bargain with Adelphia?

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Hokie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-01-05 04:11 PM
Original message
Can I bargain with Adelphia?
My 12 month discount for broadband Internet just ended with Adelphia. I was getting 4 MB service for 32.99/mo. Now it is 42.99. I can get 3 MB DSL from Alltel with a 12 month contract at 34.99/month. Has anyone negotiated a deal with Adelphia by threatening to leave? If I do leave Adelphia I am taking my TV cable business too and switching to satellite. I have been happy with Adelphia broadband but leaving is no big deal. I use an e-mail forwarding service so changing e-mail addresses will have zero impact on me.
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RoyGBiv Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-01-05 07:08 PM
Response to Original message
1. I don't know ...
That's the short answer because I have no dealings with them.

Most large cable providers, however, will offer you discounts in various ways if you say you're going to leave, particularly when you include taking all your business away. The key is to do it calmly and rationally and understand that a negotiation is a two-way street.

Customer service people are "trained" by angry or otherwise irrational customers not to try too hard to save a customer intent on leaving or who makes demands that they cannot meet. Doing so often creates more headaches than it cures. You'll be talking to someone who has rules imposed by the company on what he or she can do. "Make friends," while still being firm, and he or she will likely do whatever they possibly can. Make their day worse than it already is, and you may as well go somewhere else and not bother with the call. I don't mean to sound presumptuous with this. I've just been on the other end a lot and know what motivates me and the people with whom I've worked.

Is Adelphia a three-service (the so-called Holy Trinity of video, data, phone) provider? If so, and if you don't already have phone service with them, I can pretty much guarantee they can and will do something for you if you'll switch your service. A friend of mine saved $40/mo overall recently by doing this, and he actually improved his service.

All in all, as they say, it never hurts to try.

Just as a caution, I'd suggest you be wary of claims of 3Mb/sec DSL. That is very likely a top-end speed. The average for DSL is generally around 1.5Mb/sec, with the upload speed less than half that, if that's important to you. Your mileage may and probably will vary depending on numerous factors. In my experience, outages are also a bigger issue with DSL than with cable broadband.

I don't want to knock DSL too hard, and I know the technology has improved over the years, but I will knock some of the companies that provide it. Read the contract carefully. You may be committing yourself to things the salesperson doesn't explain well, including very high cancellation fees, no guaranteed price on your phone service, which will be required, and requirements to upgrade that service. In short, add all the numbers and figure out what the bottom line is. You may pay less for the Internet service individually, but combined, you may actually pay either the same or more.

Disclaimer: I very much am a penny-pincher when it comes to things like this, and I also demand a certain level of quality in my service. This is advice is all based on local experiences with those demands in mind.
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jayfish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-02-05 08:53 AM
Response to Original message
2. Best Thing To Do...
is call and tell them you are switching to another, cheaper, provider. They will usually offer you something to stay.
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