Trying to Negotiate Bills? New Data Reveals Which Companies Are the Most Likely to Cut a Deal

You’ve already been thinking about cutting the cord, the monthly charge is just not worth it. Besides, most of the content is available via streaming.

But, your relationship with the cable company is a long one, and they at least deserve the benefit of one last chance. So, you hop on the phone, get put on hold for half an hour, and then start those feisty negotiations to get your bill lowered or your walking.

Most consumers have experienced a situation similar to that one in the past, whether it be with a cable, wireless, or satellite radio company.

Sometimes the negotiations work, sometimes they don’t; a lot really depends on the type of day that customer service rep is having.

But, how much stock can be placed on the company you are trying to cut a deal with?

With the help of data provided by Truebill, a personal finance management company that helps you optimize and stay on top of your subscriptions, LenEDU has analyzed which companies tend to be more generous in their negotiations with customers looking to save money by knocking a few dollars off their monthly payments.

Continue reading to see which companies bring consumers the highest success rate when negotiating price, in addition to which companies knock the most off their bill.

The Data

Which Companies Do Consumers Have the Most Success With in Negotiating Bills?

Consumers may have a better chance at successful negotiations with some companies over others. Lets take a look at what Truebill’s data revealed.

For a company to be considered in the following table, Truebill had to have a minimum of 100 negotiation attempts with that company. Customers of SiriusXM had the highest success rate in negotiations. Consumers had negotiation success rates in the 80s with three other companies, Suddenlink, Centurylink, and Dish Network.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, customers of T-Mobile had far and away the lowest success rate in negotiating down their bill, with a success rate in between 10 and 19%. The next closest rate was Verizon Residential (Fios), where consumers were able to knock down their bill between 30 and 39% of the time. Finally, Comcast (Xfinity) users posted a negotiation success rate in between 40 and 49%.

Sue Barber, a customer of SiriusXM, can testify to that company’s willingness to negotiate:

I have negotiated with SiriusXM almost every time it comes up for renewal. I suggest that the amount they are charging is too high, and that I will have to cancel the service. They try to push back, but if you hold firm they will transfer you to the person who will perform the cancel.

However, that person will offer you a deal that is at least half of the original renewal amount if you agree to stay. I accept that new price.

Sue Barber, SiriusXM customer

Which Companies Knock the Most Off Their Bill After Negotiating With Customers?

So, now that there is a better idea of what companies are the most likely to engage in customer-friendly negotiations, how much can consumers expect to get knocked off their monthly charge?

Below, you will find graphics representing which companies reduce their bills the most on average as a result of bill-negotiation.

When it came to how much companies actually knocked off the average customer’s bill, SiriusXM once again led the way; the average SiriusXM customer was able to decrease that monthly charge by 40% or more. Immediately behind SiriusXM was CenturyLink, ADT Security, and DirectTV, who all fell into the 25 to 29% range in terms of the percentage the bill was decreased by post-negotiations.

Contrarily, there was a logjam of 8 companies in the 10-14% range when it came to those who typically knocked the least off a customer’s monthly charge. Those companies were Optimum Cable Vision, RCN, Verizon Residential (Fios), Cox Communications, Sprint Wireless, Suddenlink, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless.

One of the companies that fell just about in the middle when it came to reducing its monthly expense for negotiating customers was Comcast (Xfinity), and Comast customer J.R. Duren has had experiences that can support that data.

We do a year-to-year contract with Comcast. Each year I call them to renew and negotiate my bill. Since we started service with them in 2015, our bill has never gone up, which is pretty rare considering how low-priced the company’s new-customer packages are. 

J.R. Duren, Comcast customer

Ultimately, it seems that most companies can be pretty flexible in their negotiations if you just take the time to call them and have a frank discussion. If you do decide to go that route, Duren has a few pointers.

The key to negotiating your bill is to be courteous and listen to all the options the company provides. Comcast knows that people are cutting the cord.

They want to keep their customers. In this sense, it’s a buyer’s market right now for cable. So, when it’s time to renew, call them and see what they can offer. 

J.R. Duren, Comcast customer

Methodology

Data supplied in the above tables and graphic was collected from negotiations Truebill underwent since January 11th, 2018 to February 28th, 2019. When doing negotiations, Truebill stored the [1] service provider, [2] monthly bill before negotiation, [3] monthly bill post negotiation, and [4] whether the negotiation was successful. With that information, Truebill was able to determine the success rate of negotiations by service provider, average savings per success and attempt, and maximum savings. Only bills that were eligible for negotiations were included in this report. Bills with incomplete information (e.g. account number missing) were excluded from the analysis.

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