Yes, you can get a discount from AT&T (and from other service providers) if you just ask, and manage your account by making sure that when your offers expire, you call them back to re-new or re-negotiate new offers.
Doing this was documented last January when I was on Good Morning America demonstrating how this is done.
On December 8, one of my U-Verse discounts expired, so I called the phone company again to re-new. So now I am good until June 13, 2010. This will go in my calendar and I will call them yet again on the 14th of June, 2010 and do the same dance.
On January 6, 2010 another one of my discounts expires, so I will call them back on the 7th of January to see what they will do to work with me.
I really like AT&T as a company and I love U-verse.
No, I don't want to switch to cable or satellite, or for that matter to Hulu mostly because I really do like the experience of watching live TV and doing so in HD on a nice home theater system.
$10 x 2 = $20 = $260 per year in savings. Add in another 33% to gross up for taxes and that's another $85. Add it all up and that comes to $350 just for picking up the phone, spending 5 minutes 4 times a year and doing this dance.
$10 per month may not be a big deal to one person, but if you had 2,000,000 customers (AT&T has more than 2,000,000 U-verse customers) that comes to a $700,000,000 savings in gross dollars.
Even if you don't need or miss the $10 per month, do something good with the money.
Manage this savings and give the $350.00 to someone in need - maybe a charity that was obliterated by Madoff. Maybe someone less fortunate than you. Maybe your local PBS station, your church, mosque, or synagogue.
Or, if you are not in the giving mood, take someone you love out for an amazing dinner, a night or two in a nice hotel.
It's the little things that add up, and just by calling the phone company, you can save like I do.
