We signed up for cable internet when moving to the house, and there have been some times when it’s just had a lot of different issues. Fortunately our neighbors leave their WiFi access point open, so we can just use their internet during this time, but it does get a bit annoying. We called up the cable company the last time it was down and had them come look at it, they took care of it and were on their way. I decided to call up their service office just to see if I could get anything for all of the service issues that we’ve had to go through, I was very nice about it and calm, and I got a few months service out of the deal, and it was easily $200 saved just for making a phone call.

Companies don’t want to lose your business, they know that over the long run giving you a bit of a break now will save them from a lot of lost earnings over a very long period of time. They will understand that they made a mistake and usually will work very hard to make the situation right. When you are having service problems, whether it be internet, cable, phone, utility, cell-phone or practically anything, usually you can turn it into an opportunity to save some money. Here are some tips for negotiating some free service when you run into service problems.

Don’t Just Let It Go – Quite often they’ll come and fix the problem and you’ll just thank them and send them on their way. Don’t let it end like this. Make sure to mention to the service person that you don’t think it’s fair that you should have to pay full price for receiving sub-par service.

Remain Clam – Customer service people hate whiney and angry customers. The person you are talking to did not cause the problem, so don’t talk to them like they did. Be very calm, nice, and cool and explain the situation in a kind manner giving them all of the relevant information.

Let Them Know How It Affected You – When your service goes down, make a note of it. Most customer service people won’t take it at face value that your service has been down “a lot.” Write down specific times and be able to show them that, this will further your argument for getting a deal.

Be Flexible – Not all companies are going to bend over backwards for you and you will not always receive a great deal, free service, or some money back. Remember that it is a business out to make money, and if you can’t convince them to give you a year of free service, that’s okay. Take what you can get, because it’s better than nothing.

Mention Some Compensation – Quite often customer service people just want you to go away, and they know that a great way to do this is to give you something. When explaining your problem, casually mention that it would be nice to get a couple of months of free service for having to deal with such problems.

You’re not always going to get free stuff when having to deal with bad service from a company, but a lot of times you can and it’s definitely worth trying. All it takes is one phone call and you could easily save a decent amount of money.