Negotiating with Verizon

[Anonymous]

Our initial two year Verizon Fios contract is about up. The cost is projected to rise substantially and I want to see if we can negotiate it back down. The thing is, I'd be happy for fewer services but the way they bundle everything makes it impossible (e.g. we have the triple play but never even set up the landline). We'd cut cable altogether if it weren't for sports, but by the time we'd pay for Netflix/Hulu and some kind of sports package on top of Internet it would add up.

Anyone have some successful negotiating tips? I don't want to go back to Comcast, Verizon's service has been better.

[Anonymous]

We could not negotiate. We switched our phone to magic jack - not perfect but fine and then shut down the account and opened a new one - just internet and cable in my name (kept the same phone number on magic jack). Only real way to do it. I was never able to get them to negotiate for several years and this is the only work around I found.

[Anonymous]

We now have Verizon (new home) and it is very concerning that they do not renegotiate. We have had RCN at previous house for years and while national (1800 number) wouldnt negotiate, I was always able to get the same promo deal with local people. Not sure if verzon has local offices, but I would call them first if they exist.

[Anonymous]

I tried to negotiate with them under the guise that I couldn't afford the price increase. That CSR sent me to their collections line... When it was determined, I wasn't actually late yet, they forwarded me elsewhere where I got a price that was less than what they were charging but still more than the original promotional price.

I also tried the tactic of "well ok I will cancel and my husband will sign up for your promo listed on the website" and that was a no go.

[Anonymous]

Verizon would not negotiate with us either. The only thing they would offer was upgrading our services but we knew in 2 years the price would be even higher and we weren't looking for a bundle (adding TV).

[Anonymous]

Comcast sends us (Verizon FIOS customers) an offer every 1-2 weeks in the mail. Keep one of those, then call Verizon up and mention it. They can negotiate based on that... thoguh we only got $5/month off.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Doesn't sound encouraging! The funny thing is that when I login and they give me options for the next two year agreement, I can almost get the price down to what we pay now simply by keeping the same internet speed (15 mbs) which we'd be fine with. But then if I go to add to my cart the price jumps back up another $40 per month despite the lower speed. Blech. I guess that's a place to start when I call though.

[Anonymous]

Don't call and say you want to negotiate -- say you want to cancel your service. That's when they will make you an offer.

[Anonymous]

This is discouraging. I was just quoted a price that is about 40 per month cheaper than what we are paying now for 2 years. It includes more than what we are getting with Comcast but I'm concerned about the price jump. I guess I could just go back (rather threaten to go back) to Comcast. Very discouraging. I'm wondering if it goes the other way. Could I go to Comcast and tell them I want to cancel and get a better deal from them. That would be way less hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't call and say you want to negotiate -- say you want to cancel your service. That's when they will make you an offer.

Just be prepared for them to call your bluff. That's what happened to us, but I followed through on the cancellation threat and moved to RCN. A hassle but their price jumps aren't as steep.

[Anonymous]

PP again- I really think it depends who you get. I threatened to cancel literally a week after a friend did it successfully.

[Anonymous]

I was able to negotiate if that's what you want to call it. Contract was up a few weeks ago and they gave me the same price for all the same services. We also have the triple pay bundle. I told them I didn't want more channels which was what the current offers kept defaulting to - I just wanted what we have now - I think it's ultimate HD? The one thing I did change was I switched to FIOS Quantum which meant I had to get a new router and switch out all our cable boxes. But by doing that, I actually saved money because the of the way they price the box rentals. Before we had 2 separate DVRs and one non DVR box. Now we have the Quantum which is only 1 DVR box and two non-DVR boxes. It's all connected though. Not sure how each thing breaks down, but the total price is the same as what we have been paying for the past two years.

After hearing all this, I feel lucky that I was able to keep our same pricing!

[Anonymous]

I can tell you how you negotiate.. You phone them and say you are canceling the service because its so bad and their customer service is a joke.

They will offer you something for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you how you negotiate.. You phone them and say you are canceling the service because its so bad and their customer service is a joke.

They will offer you something for free.

They only offered me a $5 discount. I had to cancel and restart.

[Anonymous]

We dropped cable tv and no kidding one week later I call re. a fios internet question and I get the schpeel for major new customer offers that magically I was eligible for (went from triple play to double play the week before) as a potential new triple play customer. I had tried calling to get those deals for the past month calling and speaking to various departments. Pff.

You can also try to specifically ask for retention - just don't deal with whoever picks up. They usually have more offers available to give though nothing like new customers. gl.. p.s. we ended up just cutting cable completely permanently so they really blew it..