Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Good Deal

I got an email today that my subscription to the newspaper had expired and I needed to renew right away to avoid an interruption of my paper.  

I realized I was paying $60 for the year to get the Saturday and Sunday papers only.  We never even read the Saturday paper, we really only want Sundays.  So I decided to call and ask if we could cut out the Saturday paper and get a cheaper price.  

I was initially told that the price I was paying was the price for Sunday papers only and that Saturdays had been thrown in as a bonus, so they couldn't go any cheaper.  I told the gentleman that it cost us $1 per week, therefore $52 a year, to get the paper out of the machine down the street.  I said we would prefer to do that than overpay for a delivered paper.  

He then put me on hold so he could speak with his supervisor about getting us a better deal.  When he came back on the line, he informed me that he could get me the Sunday paper only for $48 for the year.  I took the deal! 

See, it never hurts to ask...I'm thinking about doing the same thing with the cable company!

9 comments:

Linda S. Socha said...

GReat! Newspapers are struggling to survive. I have had the same issue here and I finally decided I rarely read the Sunday paper. I confess, I would miss not being able to read the Sunday paper when I want to do so!
Hope your summer is off to a great start
Linda

Jeanette said...

Gday Christina, good on you for striking a deal.I love my daily paper always read it while having my breakfast. I get our daily paper delivered everyday at $1.10 per paper and sundays $1.80 per paper.my monthly paper account is roughly $47.oo
depending if its 4 or 5 weeks.I must try make a deal also..

Duke_of_Earle said...

Christina,

I (re)learned the same lesson the last time I bought a Dell computer over the telephone. I spec'd out the machine, let the rep quote me a price, and said, "I really didn't want to pay that much." He immediately took a couple hundred off the total.

I thought that was awfully easy, so I paused and said, "That's still a little high. How about . . ." and offered another $500 off. He had to get his supervisor on the line, and we agreed on a price between my offer and the discounted price he'd offered originally.

I didn't know Dell would accept less than their advertised price! Who knew that the newspaper would, either!

Dad

Fred said...

I called Bright House to cancel for a better deal from Verizon. And, what do you know, they had a deal that beat Verizon's. I'll do it every year from now on.

Merle said...

Dear Christina ~ ~Good for you on
the paper deal. I am glad you liked the Middle Wife story. Kids tell it how they see it.
As far as I know the story of Irena
is true. I hope it is and as Al Gore was mentioned, I tend to think it is
true. Glad you enjoy the jokes and posts. Take care, Love, Merle.

Jack K. said...

The answer to the unasked question is Always, NO.

It never hurts to ask. You never know what you will get.

Keep up your good works. Every little savings counts.

Merle said...

Hi again Christina ~~ Sorry to make you feel old with that list I posted. I looked up Irena on the
internet Google d her name and she was well known during and after WW2 so I am sure it was true.
Take care, Love, Merle.

Peter said...

Good luck with the Cable Co... I think you'll need it.

jiggins said...

The answer is always "no" unless you ask right? I am always asking.. haha. I live in Vegas and there is always some better deal.. just gotta fond it! Nice work :)