Ask to Get It Waived - How I Saved $485 In My Recent Move
My wife and I have just moved into our first home and there is no way anyone can budget enough for that kind of thing. There is a fee for EVERYTHING. If you’re not careful, you’ll pay hundreds of dollars more than you have to when you move to a new apartment or house.
It started with my Grandmother when I was a kid. I remember going to Toys ‘R’ Us with her and when we got to the checkout counter, she would say, “can you take 20% off for me?” Wouldn’t you know it!! They would!! Not every time, and not always that much. But she always got some kind of deal. All You Have to Do is ASK.
My Savings
1. Moving Truck - I got a U-Haul because I had some stuff at that storage space to pick up anyway. I got the one-way price of $130 which includes up to 59 miles. I knew I was going to drive more than that, so when I made the reservation, I said, “Is there any way we can make that up to 99 miles?” She said we could and I Saved $40.
2. Trash - I called Robertson Sanitation to get my trash service started and the nice lady let me know that there will be a $39 activation fee as well as a $10 dollar fee for the big trashcan. I said, “Are those fees waivable?” And, “yes sir,” was the response, so I Saved $49.
3. Gas, Water, Electric - Where I live, all three of these utilities are serviced by a different company, and I only have one option for each. All three had service connection fees of $40, $20, and $99, respectively. On each occasion, I asked for the fee to be waived, and it was so I Saved $159.
4. TV - I switched service from Comcast to Direct TV because I already had all my other services from AT&T so I figured I might be able to save more that way. Turns out, Direct TV is about $30 less per month than Comcast for equivalent service. When starting service there is a $49 service fee and a $99 installation fee. I got both waived an Saved $148.
5. Home Phone - Normally I would say you’re an idiot to have home phone service, but I work from home so it is my business line. There is a “bonus room” in my house that I turned into my office, but it had no phone jacks. I called AT&T and they let me know that it would be $89 to install a new jack. After asking to waive the fee, I Saved $89.
Totals
Moving Truck - $40
Trash - $49
Utilities - $159
TV - $148
Home Phone - $89
Total Savings - $485
No Reason Not To
I have had a lot of people tell me that it’s weird to ask for discounts or for fees to be waived, because that is just what it costs for something, but I know better. I used to be a bit embarrassed to stand in line with my grandmother because I new she was going to do something like that. Now, I would be embarrassed to pay full price for just about anything! You can always get a better deal. All You Have To Do Is Ask!
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March 5th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
nice! That’s a great feeling. We were unable to get a cap price on our home heating this winter and this month’s 100+ gallon delivery came in at over $3.85 a gallon! So I called and said, “What can do you for us regarding this pricing?” And they knocked it down to $3.39 a gallon - just for asking.
Like you said, the first few times you feel funny about it, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get!