Haggling with Rogers Cable

I discovered today that I can (or have to) haggle with Rogers Cable to get a good price for my service.

Here’s the background: I’ve been with Rogers Cable for my internet and cable service ever since I moved into my apartment in 2001. The bundled package I was paying for expired in November, and my monthly bill went up from $98 per month to $116. Yikes! Considering I don’t watch all that much television, that was too much.

So I phoned them up this afternoon. I wound up in two separate queues, as I went to the sales queue first; I should have been in the customer service queue. I got used to having a phone glued to my left ear as I typed.

I knew, from Rogers’ web site, that the prices they were quoting were for new customers only – they were six-month promotional prices designed to win newbies over, after which they had to pay full regular price. But I didn’t know what the full regular price was, and what options were available to me as an ongoing customer. I was prepared to drop down to Basic Cable if necessary – I’ve mostly just been watching basketball, and the Raptors suck so badly right now that I can do without that if I have to.

So I finally got connected to a customer service representative, after having established my identity by giving my first and last name. (Does anybody ever phone up Rogers Cable and pretend to be someone else so that they can load up somebody else’s cable with unwanted service? Just wondering.) The customer service person explained the standard service option for the channels I had been watching, which was more than I had been paying. Oh well. Basic Cable it is.

The customer service representative then offered me a 15% discount on my services if I kept them the way they were. I thought about it, but this was still more than I had been paying up until now, and I just don’t watch television much. I asked, “Can I go down to Basic Cable now, and then back up to this discount if I decide I want it?” She said no, it was a limited time promotion.

At this point, I was starting to get angry and frustrated, but with no place or person to get angry and frustrated at – it isn’t the customer service person’s fault that Rogers’ pricing policies are convoluted. She is having to work on Saturday, and is probably being paid low wages to do so. So I can’t get mad at her. (Which is why I am writing all this now – I can vent in my blog instead of at a helpless customer service drone.) But I don’t like “take it or leave it” offers, so I said fine, I’m going to Basic Cable.

At this point, I guess I fell into a new category of customers – People Who Are Actually Willing To Downgrade Their Service If Necessary. This gave her authority (I suppose) to offer me an even lower rate – which was actually lower than or roughly equivalent to the rate I had been paying before my discount package expired. I was happy with that, so I took it.

But I hate having to haggle. (It’s why I’m glad I don’t own a car and am not planning to buy one – I hate having to negotiate a price. They should come up with one fair price for everyone, and charge that. Hmph.)

On an unrelated subject: I’m becoming paranoid about car drivers. I no longer will step in front of a car unless it has come to a complete stop. Decelerating and almost at a stop won’t do it – especially in these conditions, in which people are underestimating how much time it takes for their brakes to actually operate. This means that I am standing in the middle of intersections more than I used to.

Clearly, when I get old, I am going to become one of those eccentric people. (If I’m not already.)