For the longest time I vowed that I would never pay for cable or satellite TV. For the first 33 years of my life, I didn’t, and I got along just fine. My wife and I do enjoy movies and TV, but we had found ways to get our favorite shows without paying the high cost for TV service.
This past month my wife and I made a decision to get cable TV. I didn’t really want to get cable, but my wife wanted to because she doesn’t enjoy the process of watching streaming video through our Xbox as much as I do. She enjoys the ability to just turn on the TV, flip through the channels and just watch something without having to look up a certain show. She also enjoys the social aspect of watching TV by being able to talk with friends about certain shows the day after they air. Me – not so much. I understand her reasoning for wanting to get service, so I gave in. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do my best to get a great deal.
Researching The Best Cable And Satellite TV Deals
Once we had decided that we were going to get cable TV, I moved into the next phase – research mode. I started saving all of the cable and satellite TV flyers that we received in the newspaper and in the mail looking for the best possible deal on cable. The deals I found were ok, but nothing to write home about. I kept them all just in case I could hobble together a deal of my own.
Next I tried finding a good deal or promotion on TV service through an online reseller or physical store. A lot of them will have rebate programs available that will give you big incentives if you sign up. One offered me a $100 Amazon gift card if I signed up. The only problem with a lot of these sites or stores is that most of them are selling you cable service at a higher price than you should be paying. For example, for cable tv service with comcast (who we ended up going with), most of the resellers were charging $54.95 for the package we ended up getting for much less. So you may be getting rebates and bonuses, but you’re paying for it through higher monthly subscription prices.
After checking all the reseller sites trying to find a deal I moved on to one of my favorite resources, the forums at http://www.fatwallet.com. Through those forums I was able to do a search for all of the latest deals that people had been able to find through Comcast, Direct TV and Dish Network. Many of those deals were much better than anything I had been able to find online or in the newspaper.
After some more research on FatWallet I found that most people weren’t able to get the great deals on their cable bill just by ordering service through the website, or by phone. The trick was to go on the company’s online chat and to work with the sales agents on there. From what I could gather, the agents when you call are actually Comcast employees, and they toe a hard line on giving discounts or special deals. The chat agents are outsourced, and are more likely to give you a deal. I found the chat agents much more helpful later on when I was ordering.
Ordering Cable TV Service
After doing our research we finally decided that we’d rather have cable TV service since we didn’t want to have a satellite dish mounted on our garage. The pricing seemed comparable – as did the channel lineup. So we proceeded to try and find the best deal through the website, over the phone and through the online chat.
Through the website: Cable TV in our area comes mainly through Comcast, so we set about finding the best possible deal on digital cable through them. After checking the website for special deals or discounts – the best deal that I could find on service was for 6 months of their digital starter package for $29.99 plus $15 rental every month for the HD DVR cable box. $44.99 a month for the service we wanted. After the first 6 months the pricing would revert back to $54.99 a month plus $15 rental. $69.99 a month after the first 6 months! No thank you.
Over the phone: Next I called Comcast’s phone agents to see what type of a deal I could talk them into over the phone. Over the phone they offered me a similar deal to the one I had seen on the website, except they offered to throw in the HD DVR box for 1/2 price. So it would be $36.99 a month for 6 months for everything. That’s a little better than on the website, but I wasn’t satisfied. I hung up and called back to get another agent. This agent wouldn’t go any further than the other one, they would give me 1/2 off on HD DVR service, but no free premium channels or further discounts. Even after telling the agents that I knew other people had gotten a better deal, they wouldn’t budge. Time to move on to the chat.
Through the online chat: I clicked on the chat icon through Comcast’s support section, and was quickly transferred to the “sales chat”. I told the agent that I was trying to get a deal that I knew several other people on the forums had gotten. I wanted to get the digital starter package for $29.99 with 1/2 price HD DVR, for 1 year without price increase. I didn’t want to worry about the price going up after only 6 months. The chat agent quickly agreed to the deal, which made me realize that maybe I could get a little more out of him. I told him I still wasn’t sure I wanted to move ahead with it. He said that if I signed up now, he would also throw in HBO free for 1 year. Normally HBO can cost up to $15/month. With that I agreed to sign up. So here’s what I got.
- 1 year Digital Starter Cable TV Package: Normally $54.99/month – we got it for $29.99/month. (we got an extra 6 months of this deal by chatting)
- HD DVR cable box: Normally $15/month – we got it for $7.00/month.
- Free HBO: Normally $15/month – we got it for free for 1 year. We’ll cancel after that.
- Total: Normally our cable package would end up costing $84.99/month. We’re currently paying $36.99/month.
Things To Remember When Signing Up For Cable Or Satellite
When buying cable or satellite tv there are a few things you can do to ensure that you get the best possible deal.
- Research the best deals: Save all the flyers and circulars you get, do internet searches for online resellers, and check deals forums to find what kind of deals other people are getting on service. Once you know what deals others are getting, it’ll give you a better idea of what to shoot for.
- Figure out what kind of deal you want: After finding out what deals are available, figure out what package you want, what price you’d like to pay, and what (if any) extras you want. Since you’ve already done the research to find out what the best deals are that others are getting, you can now use those as a baseline for your own deal.
- Contact the company through phone, website, chat: Contact the cable or satellite TV company through different contact methods. Sometimes you’ll find that one method is more successful than others at getting you discounts, free premium channels and other bonuses. For us the online chat at Comcast had the most friendly agents who were willing to give the best deal. Make sure to get it in writing!
- When your promo period ends, re-negotiate your deal!: One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people make is to not re-negotiate their cable deal with their 6 month or 1 year promo period ends. That means their monthly bill jumps from $30-40 up to $70-100! Don’t make that same mistake. Make sure that you re-negotiate your deal when it comes due, and make sure that you continue paying only as much as you need to. If they don’t give you the same or a better deal, cancel!
Do you have your own suggestions or tips for getting a good deal on cable TV? Do you have ways that you save on your TV bill? Have an experience signing up for service that you’d care to share? Tell us about it in the comments!
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Always have a way out. Getting the best deal means you have to have another option so you can negotiate.
I agree with Craig, you have to be willing to walk away or you risk getting sucked in. These same tactics can help you get improved deals on your current service. Do your research and save some money.
P.S.
Glad to see you have joined the 21st century.
Kyle´s last post ..My Identity may have Been Compromised
Whew, I wish I had read this a week ago when I was signing up for cable/Internet/phone services with ATT/Directv.
I did try the website first, and they had the best prices, but when trying to order services, for some reason, the online form would not accept my new address, so it directed me to call by phone to order my services.
Of course, when I called in by phone, the pricing was different, and not only that, I ended up not really getting the best deal for what I wanted, just because of the general confusion caused by trying to order these types of services by phone, mainly because there are so many options and details to consider and the customer service reps keep pushing options on you.
However, I did have some redemption by complaining a little after I had already ordered, and I did receive an additional discount that I wasn’t first given, just because I decided to complain about their bait and switch tactics used over the phone.
I’m actually still in my battle, trying to get better rebates and discounts, you really have to stay on top of these companies and all of the discounts they offer, as they’re not always applied as promised.
Oh well, I’m stuck in a contract for a little while now, so we’ll see how it goes, but if I only knew then what I knew now…
Max´s last post ..Cashbaq Shopping Rebates Network $5 Free Registration Bonus
also try and have no contract
Becky Rivera´s last post ..Today I am 30
Great tips although it does seem somewhat time intensive to try each of the avenues of phone, email, and chat to get a deal (although it very well could be worth it depending upon the deal one is able to work out and for how long the special pricing will last). BTW I loved your other post that you linked to and I am going to try out Playon ASAP for my XBOX 360. Thanks!
Credit Card Chaser´s last post ..Ever Wonder How Credit Card Issuers Can Pay Out Cash Rewards? Ask 7-11
If you’re signing up for directTV, you get another $100 off if you get a friend to refer you…also your friend gets the same. They spread it out over 10 months, but it’s truly worth it….anyone wanting to sign up and needs a referer, message me on twitter
Toddriffic´s last post ..toddriffic: @MoneyMatters big mistake not throwing to 2nd…. #damn
So what I’m hearing is that this is 36.99 a month that isn’t going to good causes, and time spent nickle and diming that wasn’t spent doing good deeds. Shame.
Some companies won’t deal. I was a Verizon FIOS person from the early days and when I told them that Cablevision (Optimum) was going to give me a better deal they said good luck. Part of the negotiation is with what company you talk to. Market share is king.
You’ve got a good point there. In our market there is at least a little competition, which makes it easier to get a deal. You also have to be dealing with a company that is willing to give you a deal.
After a year though, you’re gonna be paying through the nose and you’ll wish you never signed up. Plus, Comcast will start upping your rates every other year or so. You’ll lose in the end.
We won’t be paying through the nose at year’s end because we have a couple of cards up our sleeve – we are willing to cancel, and we have a backup plan.
Great post and clearly a hot topic. Thank you for the mention. I’m glad to see that the forum community at FatWallet was of value as a resource for you.
Laura Pagles
FatWallet.com
I love Fatwallet Laura, i used them in my search for a good TV deal as well. The only problem with Fatwallet is that it has TOO many deals to be had, resulting in overspending!
This is pure bull. I’ve tried the Comcast., Directv, Dish Chat and those people cannot give you a better deal than by phone! The Chat is outsourced and given fixed guidlines.
Not sure what to tell you. It worked for me with Comcast. Your mileage may vary.
I chatted online with Comcast yesterday as well as spoke to them on the phone. No deals to be had. They would not budge off the promo price of $44.95 for digital preferred for 6 months. All I asked for was the promo price for one year and that I was willing to turn the satellite off. Market share does not seem to be a priority with them; profits are at the top of the list.