Showing posts with label utilities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label utilities. Show all posts

January 2, 2009

DEAL: T-mobile Monthly Plan Discount

I've talked a lot about AT&T discounts because so many people have iPhones.

What if you are stuck with T-Mobile and want a discount too?

T-mobile also offers corporate discounts. Even if you don't qualify, there are codes floating around the internet that can qualify you. Search the mighty google!

For example, here is a 12% discount
  1. Call T-Mobile (1-877-453-8824)
  2. Navigate phone system to get to a real person
  3. Mention that you are a member of the Federation of American Consumers and Travelers. They may ask you for the code promo: 10045TMOFAV
  4. If unsuccessful, hang up and go back to step 1
Discount takes 1-2 months to take effect.
Read more!

December 22, 2008

DEAL: High-speed Internet retention discount

When you first sign up for high-speed internet, there are often some great promotions through which you can get good pricing.

What do you do when the promotion runs out and your bills shoot up?

For the past several years, I've had service with Comcast, Cox, Charter, and RoadRunner. I've been able to get my bills reduced for every single company.

No company want to lose customers. This is especially true for internet service providers, for whom customer volumes are necessary to improve the bottom line.

They therefore employ retention specialists, whose job is to keep you subscribed. This department has access to special deals that other customer service reps may not have access to.

Here is what you do
  1. Call your service provider (for phone #, look on your bill or their homepage)
  2. Navigate the phone menu system to talk to a real person
  3. Say you would like to cancel your service. They may transfer you to a retention specialist now.
  4. Key question that you need to be asked: "Why would you like to cancel?"
  5. State that the service is too expensive and you will switching to a competitor to save money. Be sure to be specific about the competitor and pricing.
  6. They should try to see what can be done and adjust your price depending on what is available. If for some reason, they don't offer you anything then don't panic. Just set your cancellation date for 1 month in the future so that you can just call again to "change your mind".
I did this yesterday for my Charter HSI bill which had increased from $19.99 to $54.99. I got it reduced back down to $19.99 for the next 6 months. 6 minutes on the phone saved me $210!
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Pro: Save money on your bills
Cons: Can be time-consuming.
Read more!

December 17, 2008

DEAL: Make $125 in AT&T referral credits

Now that you've qualified for the AT&T premiere discount plan, gotten your 200 free monthly minutes, and gotten your 200 free SMS messages, you must feel pretty smug. You've milked AT&T dry with all your slick deals, huh?

Oh no you haven't.

AT&T offers a $25 AT&T gift card for every person you refer to AT&T. Have a friend that wants to get an iPhone?? Great. If you serve as their referral, not only do you get a $25 AT&T gift card but your friend also gets a $25 gift card. You can do this up to 5 times per year, yielding $125 total in gift cards.

What the heck can you do with AT&T gift cards? You apply them to your monthly bill! They work for anything on the AT&T website including monthly phone bills. You can even buy an iPhone.

Ok well what about you poor souls with no friends?? Well you still have some options. You see, there are other places where people have no friends and want AT&T referrals.
Basically, you register for these forums and post a message requesting referrals. Then, it's up to luck whether someone actually messages you.

How to get started with earning AT&T referral money
  1. Register on the AT&T referral site
  2. Find a willing referral (this is the hard part)
  3. Login to the referral site
  4. Submit referral name and email address. This generates a referral link that will be emailed to your referral.
  5. Referral must sign up for a new AT&T wireless account using the generated email.
  6. Go back to step 2 (up to 4 more times).
  7. Wait 90 days or so to receive your gift card. You can track the status of these credits on the website.
I've already received and spent my $125 already. 6 more months and I'll be able to do it again. Pretty nice, huh?
Read more!

December 14, 2008

DEAL: AT&T Deal Summary

Once you've gotten a great deal on that iPhone, you want to optimize the value of your monthly plan.

There are many promotions of AT&T that aren't really publicized. But I'd like to tell you all about them.

The following will work with any AT&T wireless plan (including iPhone 3G)
  1. Reduce your monthly bill by up to 28%
  2. Add 200 free minutes
  3. Add 200 free SMS messages
  4. Get $125 off your yearly bill
  5. Pay with Amex SimplyCash credit card for 5% cashback
There you go. Cellular plans can be quite expensive over the years. But these tips should help with your bills.
Read more!

December 13, 2008

DEAL: AT&T Monthly Bill Discount, Part II

This post is for those unable to qualify for the AT&T FAN discount I previously discussed.

Let's say you REALLY want that AT&T Monthly Bill discount. You won't be able to get the free 200 minutes or free 200 SMS without it.

Here is what you can do. Many people are members of those big warehouse stores such as Costco or Sam's Club. If you are a Costco member, you may be able to qualify for a 15% discount off your AT&T monthly bill.

This requires some more work than the other deal.
  1. Go to the real AT&T store (can't do this online)
  2. Say that you are a Costco member and would like to receive the company discount
  3. Show your Costco Card
  4. AT&T rep will (hopefully) apply the 15% discount to your wireless account
  5. If unsuccessful, repeat step 1 at a different store
Technically, this shouldn't work since you are a Costco member, NOT an employee. But a lot of AT&T employees don't know the difference. You may have to try this at different AT&T stores if initially unsuccessful.
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Pro: 15% discount off monthly AT&T bill
Con: Need to go to AT&T Store and be a Costco member. Taking advantage of AT&T since you aren't an employee. Be prepared to be shot down as this is not guaranteed.

Please post your experience with this in the comments
Read more!

December 12, 2008

DEAL: AT&T 200 Free SMS messages per month

If you are a heavy user of SMS, then boy do I have some good news for you.

I previously described how you can get 200 extra free minutes per month. Did you know you can get 200 free SMS messages per month, too?

The steps are the same as the other deal. But the code is different. This time the code is CLL2. If course, if you want to do both deals, just mention both codes in the conversation.

Here are the steps again to take advantage
  1. Sign up for AT&T Premiere Discount. THIS STEP IS NECESSARY
  2. Call AT&T customer service at 1-800-331-0500
  3. Hit the option to cancel service (this won't cancel your service but instead will transfer you to a real person)
  4. Lie through your teeth with conviction: "My corporate manager said there is a feature that can be added to my account for 200 bonus minutes"
  5. When asked for the code, say "CLL2". If CSR is clueless, say "The code is something like CLL2"
  6. If unsuccessful, hang up and go back to step 2. But this time be nice and try to flirt!!

You may need to have a certain type of FAN account to get this so YMMV. It's harmless to try for it though.

EDIT 12/28/08: There's a chance that the code might only work for certain FAN accounts so YMMV.
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Pro: 200 free AT&T SMS messages per month
Con: Requires lying. Need to spend some time on the phone.

Please post your experience with this in the comments
Read more!

DEAL: AT&T 200 Free Minutes per month

It sucks when you go over over your allotted cell phone minutes. And it sucks even more when you get that dreaded cell phone bill at the end of the month.

Well. if you were able to take advantage of the AT&T premiere monthly discount, then this should definitely help.

Here's how you can get an extra 200 minutes every month.

Once you get a AT&T business account, there are actually codes that can be added to your account to activate certain features.

Steps to get discount:
  1. Sign up for AT&T Premiere Discount if you haven't already. THIS STEP IS NECESSARY
  2. Call AT&T customer service at 1-800-331-0500
  3. Hit the option to cancel service (this won't cancel your service but instead will transfer you to a real person)
  4. Lie through your teeth with conviction: "My corporate manager said there is a feature that can be added to my account for 200 bonus minutes"
  5. When asked for the code, say "U200". If CSR is clueless, say "The code is something like U200"
  6. If unsuccessful, hang up and go back to step 2. But his time be nice and try to flirt!!

Wallah! 200 free minutes!

You may have to try several times before achieving success. This definitely works though.

EDIT 12/28/08: There's a chance that the code might only work for certain FAN accounts so YMMV.
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Pro: 200 free AT&T wireless minutes per month
Con: Requires lying. Need to spend some time on the phone.

Please post your experience with this in the comments
Read more!

December 7, 2008

DEAL: AT&T Monthly Bill Discount

I don't know anyone that doesn't have a cell phone anymore.

Those bills (especially iPhone) can get pretty hefty especially if you go over your minutes. It seems too that there are a lot of bogus fees and taxes added on.

But there may be a way to decrease that monthly bill.

You may qualify for some GREAT discounts through AT&T business.
  • Fedex 22%
  • Costco 15%
  • Mayo Clinic 24%
  • Brown University 15%
  • HP 27%
  • Office Depot 15%
If you qualify, you apply the discount to your existing plan. No need for any new sign up. Your contract is NOT extended if you apply for this discount.

AT&T determines your eligibility through your email address. The thing is, you can try your school address (*.edu) which likely qualifies!

Here is what to do
  1. Submit your email address that might qualify (try corporate and school addresses to see which is better). Look to the right on the web page.
  2. If you qualify, they will send you a link to the discount site
  3. On the site, register your existing account to apply the discounts
If you are NOT eligible by your email address, try this alternative.

I get a 24% savings on my phone bill every month!!

After doing this, don't forget to get your free 200 minutes and free 200 SMS messages.
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Pros: Can get from 5 - 28% savings off your monthly bill
Cons: Not everyone eligible

Please post your experience with this in the comments
Read more!