Thread: The 'Art" of Negotiation

One thing that being in the car business taught me is everything is negotiable, Everything

What brought this up was in the last week I received my Home Phone bill and my Car Insurance bill for the past 2 years my phone bill has been $50-$54 I had negotiated that bill when we decided that we really did not need the home phone other then for emergency calls... This phone bill bumped up to $67 last month $64 so I called..


I simply asked "Why" ??? I got the "Well our prices have changed", my response "And your services haven't" ??? I then explained that like everyone else, I have to really think about whether a land line is even needed any longer, our house has set that need at $50, if the bill stays in that range we "Need" it once it goes over that range we no longer "Need" it.. Putting the ball back in their court, their response was "Well sir we can adjust the payment for the next 2 years" I said "Good idea, I'll keep the phone for the next 2 years and we'll talk then" savings = $408


Car Insurance was the same it jumped $52 for 6 months I called "Why" ??? answer "Well our premium for Idaho went up" my response "Hmmmm 5 years and no claims, my vehicles have only gone down in value which means less monetary exposer for your company, and I have added 2 ATVs and a Boat to the policy since we began"
Them "Well sir our premium for Idaho has changed"
Me "Hmmm ok let me put this another way, at $52 more I start shopping, just like I did when you got me as a customer in the first place"
Them "Well Sir we do have a discount that may apply let me check and get back with you"
Me "Good idea"

Savings = $104 per year


Total for the next 2 years $616 that is some more razors


Every business right now is all about customer retention, if they raise the prices for no apparent reason call and ask "Why" ??? especially if you can shop other companies...

As my good Italian buddy says " ifa you dona ask you dona get". You got nothing to lose and something to possibly gain.

Bob

I'll keep this lesson in mind when I visit your website...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

One thing that being in the car business taught me is everything is negotiable, Everything

[snip]

Every business right now is all about customer retention, if they raise the prices for no apparent reason call and ask "Why" ??? especially if you can shop other companies...

I think this is THE crux of the matter: specifically, if you can shop other companies. Sadly, here in SoFLA so many of our "choices" are no longer choices.

Cable TV: Besides Comcast, there is no other provider; and DirecTV/Dish are non-starters (cableTV is included in condo association dues, and no external dishes are allowed).

Telephone: Having landline phone service is a "must", given the hurricane/tropical storm activity -- when the electricity goes out, cellphone's stop working (as do cordless landline phones).

Internet: Cable or telephone company (DSL), take your pick... but there aren't any discounts (and you'll be among the lucky, if your download/upload speeds are anywhere near the advertised speeds for which you're already paying.)

As for automobile insurance... well, I can't afford either a beater OR the insurance coverage (we won't even discuss gasoline or upkeep).

I guess I'll just spend more time honing...

Now isn't that the way to deal with businesses? All this crap about evil corporate America. Without us customers and the revenues from our pockets, they're nothing. Vote with your wallet and they get the message. Any industry (medical insurance??) subject to competition would be affected the same. Those that understand the liberty of the free market negotiate, those that don't, legislate.

Yes it is a good point but only if you can shop around. My quarterly electricity bill is in the $550 range, and the electricity company recently sent a letter telling us that the prices per kilowatt hour are rising by something like 20% on the normal tariff, and almost 40% on the discount tariff (making it no longer a discount tariff in my book, but anyway...).

I went shopping around for another supplier, turns out they are all doing exactly the same because the electricity generator is upping prices, and in my part of the world there's only one of those. And there are not many people rushing to build carbon emitting coal burning electricity generators to provide competition nowadays. And the government just reduced the incentive to put solar electricity panels on the roof to the point where any savings over the years are more than offset by the initial outlay for a house of my size.

So unfortunately when it comes to my biggest bill I am a price taker.

James.

VoIP can still work as long as you've got a UPS and/or a backup genny. Since we don't use the landline a lot, $25 lasts us about 6 months ($1 per month for the phone number, 1c per minute anywhere in North America). Unfortunately, too many businesses are selling to captive audiences, so Vaseline is often the only option for the consumer.

Rule number 1 of negotiation is: The party that is prepared to walk away will win… every time.

Rule number 2: The party with the most information will win… every time.

If you combine rule number one and rule number two, well …

My bride and I visit a number of Antique shows and flea markets. We have a routine, when one of us asks the other “What do you think of this? The other, frowns, shakes their head slightly and starts to walk away.

This weekend this exact technique, netted us a rusty but pristine 4 inch Dunlap, made in USA bench vice for 12 dollars and a 50-100 year old, well-worn uchipped, 7 inch basalt mortar and pestle, (Molcajete) for 8 dollars.

Health insurance in my state is a bitch,wife and I are to young to get medicare,Are 1500 private Health insurers in this country (for the self employed) only 6 are allowed to broker Insurance in my state,all are owned by blue shild anthem.
I pay $1050.00 P/Mo. for health insurance,No Vision,No dental, never a claim, 10K deductable.
Some companys have Iron clad monopolys,and there is not a friggin thing you can do about it

Insurance of any kind, but particularly health insurance, is a funny thing. Any kind of insurance is a gamble, in the true sense of the word. However, to the person wanting insurance it seems like a necessity because to them the stakes are too high, especially when it comes to health. To the insurance company, it is all just a gamble, and a gamble weighted in their favour by design (so not really a gamble at all in fact).

I've trained a lot of actuarial students, some of whom even had the brains to go on to become one. To the actuary you are a data point among millions and millions of other data points. You and your actions help them categorise and quantify risk, work out expected time to "failure" (pay out), and all those fun things that go into what they like to call "premium", but I consider more the "minimum stakes of living".

And when it comes to medical insurance, the whole issue is cloudy. Why do we need medical insurance? Everyone breaks down and dies eventually - you cannot insure against that. In my mind medical insurance exists because of the exorbitant costs the medical "profession" (and I use that term lightly) have managed to foist on us over the years. Why are we not complaining about the cost of machines that go "ping"? Or the "Specialist" who turns up, cups your testicles for 30 seconds, and charges you $500 for the privilege? If medical treatment didn't cost ridiculous, unmerited, and unscrutinised prices, health insurance would be very much more affordable.

James.