# Negotiating with companies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444 "2014-05-14T15:49:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/1 "2014-05-14T15:49:47Z")
I thought I had unlimited minutes on my cellphone plan. Up until this month, I was wrong. I discovered this when my bill was about $400 higher thn normal. If I contact my cell carrier and say “look, I can’t pay this now, but I’m entirely willing to pay it over three months or so, along with the regular bill,” how likely are they to say “we’ve heard that before, pay up or we cut you off,” particularly since the payment is already late? I’m inclined to think they would, since they’re entitled to the money, it was my own mistake\*, and no harm will come to them from closing my account and turning me over to collections. If it is worth the effort to negotiate, whom would I want to speak to – the first person who answers the phone? The Billing Department? Is there a specific person/job title I should ask for? \*When we got the plan in 2012 we got the slightly less expensive 1500-minute plan because we never really used voice at all. In March of this year, due to changed circumstances, we started using voice more, but because we’d never gone over the cap before, I’d forgotten there was one. I’ve since switched to the unlimited plan ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/2 "2014-05-14T15:57:39Z")
**Moderator Action** This is more of an advice and opinion sort of thing than a factual question. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/3 "2014-05-14T15:59:39Z")
My advice would be to call their customer service department. Be nice and courteous and explain that you made a mistake. Some companies will work with you and, if they believe that it was an honest mistake, will often reduce the bill and/or work out a payment plan with you. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/4 "2014-05-14T16:07:15Z")
Just pay $130 today and for the next 3 months, plus your normal monthly bill and whatever late charges they add. If after the 2nd month they seem to be seriously threatening to turn off service, call and do your best to reach anyone who can help. Cell phone carriers do their best to hire call center workers with as little training as possible and essentially no authority. I would say the likelihood of the carrier shutting off your service or threatening to will in no way be effected by whether someone on the phone claims to be approving a payment plan. If you call them up and say “But Fred noted on my account that I was going to pay over 3 months!” someone will tell you there are no notes and they’ve never even heard of Fred. On the other hand, they’ll probably just charge you a late charge each month and not shut your service off. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/5 "2014-05-14T16:10:20Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > My advice would be to call their customer service department. Be nice and courteous and explain that you made a mistake. Some companies will work with you and, if they believe that it was an honest mistake, will often reduce the bill and/or work out a payment plan with you. Second this (especially the being polite and nice part). It’s possible that they will retroactively put you on the unlimited minutes plan. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/6 "2014-05-14T16:27:56Z")
Call them. They are accustomed to deadbeats who don’t want to pay at all so I think they will make every attempt to accommodate an admission of guilt and a reasonable, friendly request to make good. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/7 "2014-05-14T17:18:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Second this (especially the being polite and nice part). It’s possible that they will retroactively put you on the unlimited minutes plan. Third this. My girlfriend screwed up by leaving her phone on in Europe and got tonnes and tonnes of roaming charges. She called them up and got the charges cut in half for no good reason. I think that the phone companies know that overage and roaming charges are well above what it costs them to provide the services and are more than willing to cut them as a “show of good faith” if you show you are a generally diligent customer who made an honest mistake. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/8 "2014-05-14T17:26:53Z")
Agree with the others. Worst case just pay the bill off over a few months. They’re unlikely to take any action as long as they are receiving payments. But just for calling and acting reasonable they’ll probably cooperate. They have a million deadbeats to deal with who will never pay anything, they’ll cooperate with someone who is going to pay them. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negotiating-with-companies/688444/9 "2014-05-14T18:16:30Z")
I have done this MANY times with ALL my creditors, and they never say no, except in two cases: I recently made such an arrangement, and now I’m asking again too soon (like the second time in 6-12 months). Or if I recently made such an arrangement, but I didn’t make the payments on time. But you certainly can ask. And it doesn’t need to be anyone special. Nowadays, sometimes I’ve even done it by phone via computer: “According to our records, your current bill is $421.38, of which $346.45 is past due. Press 1 to pay $421.34 now. Press 2 to pay $346.45 now. Press 3 to pay $150 now and $45.23 will be added to each of your next six monthly bills.”