How to Negotiate With Retentions; Getting the Absolute Best Deal

[erab]

do you work for bell?

[htan]

no, i don't work for bell - the advice written is based on what has worked for me

[Schnitz]

Cant believe this one....My corporate plan is coming due with Bell & I haven't been impressed with the offers so far. MY corporate plan is gone so they are pushing just regular personal plans which I can get the same or better with other providers.
Now I get a corporate offer from Rogers, in writing, very clear & concise, looks completely reasonable...& Bell says they can't even match it?
WTF? If Rogers can do it there is absolutely no reason Bell can't offer the same....I have been completely happy with Bell until I starting dealing with my renewal....Unbelievable.
One last call to speak to someone tomorrow...(its the principal of the thing!!) & if no luck...Hello Rogers!

To start I use every Bell service.
Same thing happened to me. I wanted to add a Blackberry to my account. Did my research and went to Bell and asked if they could match (not beat) the Rogers deal. Answer I got was 'nope'.
I asked why not. No real answer, just can't (even CSR was baffled). Asked for the suprevisor and yadda yadda they beat the Rogers deal.
It's unfortunate they make it so difficult.

[damatick]

right now im on a corporate plan. The plan is very good and meets all my needs.
I pay $25 for the plan, and get 200 min, caller id, vmail, evenings at 6. I pay another $5 for 500 text messages.

so my bill only comes to 31.50 a month. What kind of bargaining power do i have when renewing my contract?

I'd like to get a good data plan added and upgrade to a smartphone. and maybe get free texting?

and suggestions?

[htan]

@damatick

use your current plan as an anchor to negotiate a new plan from the ground up?

[signalpirate]

hey guys.. i have a dumb question. how do you get thru to retentions? i can't just call and say "please put me thru to retentions".. and at the same time i can't just call up and say "hey i want out" hoping they tell me to hold on a sec and put me thru to retentions..

[damatick]

@damatick

use your current plan as an anchor to negotiate a new plan from the ground up?

well since my plan isnt a lot of money, what can i use to negotiate why i should get anything extra?

From bells viewpoint, i may not be a high value customer since i'm not paying them with a significant amount of money. I'm worries they might just simply deny my requests and tell me to go to another provider if i want a better deal? Or is this the wrong misconception i should have?



Also when I call *611, do i ask to get transferred to customer retention or just simply deal with the CSR agent who answers my call?

Secondly, Is there a procedure/script i can follow in initiating some kind of negotiation or do i just have to wing it?

[SoroSuub1]

well since my plan isnt a lot of money, what can i use to negotiate why i should get anything extra?

From bells viewpoint, i may not be a high value customer since i'm not paying them with a significant amount of money. I'm worries they might just simply deny my requests and tell me to go to another provider if i want a better deal? Or is this the wrong misconception i should have?



Also when I call *611, do i ask to get transferred to customer retention or just simply deal with the CSR agent who answers my call?

Secondly, Is there a procedure/script i can follow in initiating some kind of negotiation or do i just have to wing it?

Call *611 and say 'English', then say 'Cancel' or 'Cancel Phone' (forgot which) to the automated menu system.

After a bit of waiting, you'll get through to an agent. There he'll ask what you need. Saying 'I'd like to cancel my phone' works after which he'll ask you why. You don't have to answer that, but there are simple responses like 'My contract is up and I'd like to shop around now' works.

Either way, as a previous customer, you're supposed to be easier to keep than finding a new customer.... so they'll work harder to keep you than they would to get a new one supposably.

[VE9LRN]

well since my plan isnt a lot of money, what can i use to negotiate why i should get anything extra?

From bells viewpoint, i may not be a high value customer since i'm not paying them with a significant amount of money. I'm worries they might just simply deny my requests and tell me to go to another provider if i want a better deal? Or is this the wrong misconception i should have?

Keep in mind that for them to add an extra feature costs pretty much nothing. They want $5 for an unlisted number with a landline. Do you really think it costs them $4.50 a month if your name is not in the phone book? If anything they should pay you since they will make money from people who now have to pay to look you up in the directory. Way back in the 70s it was possible to have your name not printed in the regular white pages but people could call directory assistance and look you up. This kept you safe from telemarketers. They abandoned the service because it was labour intensive but nowadays they charge an arm and a leg for directory assistance and it's all done with robots.

SMS is as cheap as air. The only real cost is the billing process. As long as you don't try to spend less they should be able to give you some extras if you are willing to sign a contract for any length of time. Data is also dirt cheap. You can watch tv all day for a few dollars a month.

[T&T]

I recently renewed a 3 yrs contract with Bell.

My new plan:
$20 + HST
200 minutes weekday
unlimited after 6pm
unlimited weekend
call display

Is it a good deal?

[goku_vegeta]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Safari/533.18.5)

I recently renewed a 3 yrs contract with Bell.

My new plan:
$20 + HST
200 minutes weekday
unlimited after 6pm
unlimited weekend
call display

Is it a good deal?

For the average user without text and data, I'd say you actually got a pretty decent deal, I'll be speaking to retentions sometime soon but what worries me is that most of the plans I see here on the forums, that are from retentions are renewed over 3 years, and I seriously hate contracts after this last 3 year one, Ill try and see if they'll let me go month to month with a decent retentions plan.

[LickTheEnvelope]

? Just say "i'm thinking of cancelling" really.

[ChocBoyWonder]

Im using an HTC Touch on 45/700 (no longer offered). I also have UMB (no longer offered) and $5/WLD (no longer offered). My contract expires on Nov 16, 2010. I like my 45/700 plan and want to keep it as well as my unlimited long distance and dont really want to loose those. I want to upgrade to the desire or another smart phone but the listed data plans are horrendous. Has anyone successfully negotiated a data plan that is not advertised? I wish the 30/6GB would come back. I want to know if there is someone like a sales rep who can turn this on. I was speaking to Rogers yesterday to see what they offered that compared to my plan and they mentioned that they are not advertising the 6GB anymore however the code is still in the system and can be used to activated it. Does anyone know if this is the same with Bell? I want to update to a smart phone but $20 for 500MB and $30 for 1GB?!?!?! In this day and age this is ridiculous. Does anyone have any input or suggestions to help me out. I have exhausted going into different bell locations and calling and speaking to different agents. The only thing I got out of calling/going in was the realization that none of the people I spoke to were consistent (with the exception of one rep at SQ1).

[CorSter]

Wirelessly posted (HTC Touch: BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.771 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

From my understanding the 6gb/30 has been removed from the Bell sales system altogether. Which sucks, really. I would upgrade to a Desire Z if they had it, but because they don't, Bell isn't locking me up for another 3 years.

[jproy12]

I think I might have posted this in the wrong section, either way, posting it here also...

Alright, here is my plan with Bell mobility, I just want advice, and if its a good deal, or not...

Uber Value 15.25
-3 Way Calling
-Call Waiting
-Unlimited Nights and weekends (6p.m. to 7a.m.)
-200min Local Minutes

100min CDN LD (Ends at the end of my contract, Feb 2012)
Bell Wireless Calling Promo (Bell to Bell unlimited) (Ends at the end of my contract, Feb 2012)

Blackberry Smart Bundle35
-500 MB Personal Email (BIS) & Internet (I was sure I had unlimited)
-BlackBerry Messenger
-Windows Live Messenger
-Unlimited sent and received Text Messages
-Call Display
-Message Centre • Attachment viewing

Sys Access Fee + 911 ($9.70)
$ GSM Card – International Service
SPC Premium Smartphone ($7)

I am paying 75.65$ a month tax-in, am I getting ripped off? (I think I am, and really bad) I still have a good year and 4 months to go, can I resign a new plan/contract before the end of the 3 years? Or will I have a penalty fee?

I was sure I had unlimited Internet usage, but after seing my last couple months bills, I only use on average 200mb/month, how can someone use way over 500 to 1gb? I want all the same features above, I use them allé

I have a blackberry Storm2, and really want the Blackberry Torch (9800). Can i upgrade before the end of my contract? It's been only a year and 8months since I signed for my 3 year contract...

Thanks
JP