How I Saved my Friend 25 Percent in 5 minutes
My friend has a home surveillance service that costs him several hundred dollars a year. He has it even though his neighborhood has virtually no crime and someone is almost always inside his house. And the worst part: he rarely turns the alarm on when the house is actually empty. He only uses it during his annual trip out of the country.
Talk about a waste of money.
Compelled to help my friend out, I told him to cancel the service. I explained the economics of the situation. And I told him the next time he wanted to waste hundreds of dollars, just give the money to me and I’d happily take him out for drinks at a nice restaurant.
But he would not listen to any of my reasons.
No matter what I said, he said he psychologically needed that feeling of security. He worried that he would be burglarized after he canceled, and he would have to live with regret.
I was tempted to explain the economics again, but I doubted it would have done much good. His preferences were too stacked against purely monetary reasons. And I felt the situation was sticky; I, too, would feel guilty if he were robbed after he canceled.
So I came to compromise. Well, sort of.
I told him that he should still call to cancel his service. That way, he could at least get a lower rate. Here is how his call went:
Friend: “Hi, I’d like to cancel my service.”
Company: “Oh, really sir? You are a valued customer and we would like you to stay with us. If price is the issue, would it help if we lowered your rate by 25%?”
Friend: “Wow, that is a tempting offer. Can you send me a new bill and I will think about it?”
Company: “Absolutely sir. I will send a new bill and the offer stands for 30 days. Is there any thing else I can help you with?”
Friend: “No, that’s it. Thank you.”
Company: “Okay. Have a nice day, sir.”
That call took him about 5 minutes.
And some caveats: you obviously cannot do this too often or your company will catch on. And some services counter by not limiting the discounts (like cell phones nowadays).
But I bet you can save somewhere, like on magazines, online subscriptions, or auto insurance. How much easier can it get?
