After doing the research described earlier, I decided I could get the best price with ATT U-verse. Along the way, I did all I could to lower the price and discovered a couple of little known ways to save more money.
Here's the breakdown on what I was paying before I switched:
ATT standard phone service, local only, no features (call waiting etc.) $28.56
MagicJack for long distance $ 1.67
Internet, w/ 1.0 Mbps standard DSL $30.oo
Dish Network, with one receiver and one DVR $64.99
with the Dish 100 pkg, the second cheapest after the family plan
MONTHLY SUBTOTAL $125.22
TOTAL FOR 6 MONTHS $751.32
I had planned to switch to ATT's standard DSL and Direct TV, but it turned out it was not available in my area, so I ended up with U-verse. My new package not only provides the best price, I have upgraded several services. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
First, here are some general tips. I think a lot of these will apply to other companies as well.
- Resign yourself to talking to someone on the phone at some point. To be sure you get the best price, you need to get at least two competitive bids from the same company, one online and one by phone. And, if you don't like what the first person offers, you can always call back. Their hold system is a nightmare. Use a speakerphone or headset and have a stack of laundry to fold or something... this may take a while.
- It helps to have a phone number that should get you to a person rather than a hold system. Find this on one of my favorite websites, get human.com. The number for AT&T is 800-288-2747 (& hit "0" after each prompt, ignoring their automated messages). The site lists ph #s of the major cable, satellite and telecommunications providers,plus banks, insurance, automotive, retail, travel, technology and more.
- The phone operator, I spoke with offered me (in addition to the standard deal) an extra $25 Visa gift card on direct TV and an extra $75 gift card off my home phone/Internet. This is in addition to the rebates shown on their website. She insisted she had only a limited quantity of these gift cards and this was a special just for me, but in fact, I spoke with two operators, and they both offered them. I think as long as you don't seem too easy to close, they offer them quite readily.
- I thought I'd found the best price and proceeded to start ordering the services I decided on, only to find out that DirecTV and AT&T DSL Internet were no longer available in my area (although their website said they were...) So, back to the drawing board, where the operator proceeded to extol the virtues of U-verse. U-verse starts out more expensive even with their basic package, especially the TV part. So I expressed my great distress over all the time wasted researching DirecTV and AT&T DSL -especially when their website misled me into thinking it was available. I asked if that was her best price. I told her I just couldn't afford the additional money for U-verse, not in the budget, blah blah blah. That's when she offered to discount this service by $20 per month for the first six months.
- That brought the price down in the range of the original deal I was looking at. But only for six months. So I pushed a little more. "Well, that sounds better, but do you think you could do the $20 off for 12 months, instead of six? She said no, but then made a great suggestion. The basic package I was planning to buy (U200) came with a $100 rebate. The operator, Susan (now my best friend), lowered her voice a bit and said "for $20 more per month you can upgrade to the U300 package -then you get a $200 rebate and you can call after the first month and downgrade to another package- so you still net an extra $80." Sold. With U-verse there is no commitment/contract, so it's no problem to downgrade the package. It may take closer to 2 months to get my rebate (and you can't downgrade to U100 until you do) but that will still net me $60.
There are a couple of other ways to increase your savings:
- If you buy online you can go through one of several great online rebate sites (more on these in a separate post.) For AT&T, there are several that offer an extra rebate if you link to AT&T through their website. The best deal on ATT (right now) is from FatWallet.com. They will give you $12.50 - $55 back, depending on the service(s) you order. Be sure to check several sites when you're ready to order as the deals change frequently. Many of theses sites will also list coupon codes for any extra savings available. For more on getting the most out of these rebate sites, I'll be doing a post soon with more details.
- If you get an AT&T Universal MasterCard, they have one with a special feature. Set up payment for any and all AT&T services (wireless/home phones, Internet & TV) on auto pay with their card and you get an additional 10% rebate for the first 12 months and 5% after that, indefinitely. If your monthly charge is $90, that's an extra $108 back to you, the first year. The only catch is you have to charge at least that same amount ($90 in the example here) each month for something else, but that's easy enough. Just put your gas bill or car insurance or something on recurring auto pay, and make sure you choose an expense that will equal at least the amount you need, then you don't have to worry about it. (P.S. -my ATT Universal MasterCard has the lowest interest rate of all my cards. Of course every situation will be different, but it's not likely they will give you the discount but then charge you higher interest which would offset it.)
- And speaking of cell phones, there is generally not much additional savings to be had by bundling this fourth service in with the rest. But I did discover one interesting option. If you have AT&T wireless and elect to have it added to your bundle, it qualifies you for the "AT&T Unity plan." With this free program calls to/from your wireless phone to any other AT&T line (cell or land) do not count toward your minutes. If you are not currently an AT&T wireless customer, there is sometimes an extra $50 rebate if you activate a new wireless plan, and sometimes some extra money through the rebate sites.
- And don't forget referral bonuses. I couldn't get one since I already had AT&T wireless and home phone. But if you're a new customer, you can generally get a referral bonus. Most companies offer the bonus to the current subscriber that does the referring and to the new subscriber. So even if you already know what you want and no one helped you decide on it, there's an extra 50 bucks in it for you if you can find a friend that already has their service and have them "refer" you. In fact, if they did nothing for it, keep your $50, and tell them you'll split their $50 with them. That way you make $75 and they should still be very happy to have $25 gift wrapped and delivered by you. Some companies also offer other bonuses (on top of the cash) such as three months of free premium movie channels if you come to them through a referral. Info on referral bonuses is on the company's website.
I hope these tips can help you save some money too. If you have any other ways to save money on phone, Internet and TV please pass them along in the comment area. I'll be especially interested in the best ways to max out your savings with some of the other companies, since my research was somewhat focused on AT&T.
So here's the rundown on my new plan. I'm basing this on the first 6 months. Admittedly, if I kept the same service, my savings would be less. But I'm reasonably confident that Comcast, Dish or Direct TV will be running some great deals to get me to switch. And with most of the other deals for new customers, the great price is for 3-6 months, and you are locked into a contract for 12-18 months. At least with U-verse I can take a better deal when I want to.
U-verse Phone, Local & Long Distance w/call waiting, caller id etc. $32.70 x 6 = $196.20
U-verse Internet 3.0 Mbps (3x faster than before) $30.00 x 6 = $180.00
U-verse 300 TV - 2 months at $79 $158.00
U-verse 100 TV - 4 months at $44 $176.00
Subtotal $710.20
Rebate -$200.00
extra $20/month off -$120.00
Subtotal $390.00
-10% = $351.18 for 6 months or $58.53/month,
That's a savings of $66.47/month, $400.14 for 6 months, and 53% off!!
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