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April 02, 2007
Pay less by threatening to cancel orders: Part II
I posted last week on how to lower your bills by threatening to cancel things like cable and gym memberships. This should also work for other recurring bills like magazine subscriptions, newspaper subscriptions, cell phones (after the 1- or 2-year contract has expired), bottled water delivery, etc. If you're worried that the service might actually call your bluff and cancel the service, do something like this:
You: Hello, I want to cancel my subscription to the fruit of the month club.
Fruit Club: I'm sorry to hear that. Ok, I'll cancel it right now.
You: [Oh crap, I actually can't live with my monthly delivery of papayas and jicama]. Oh, I don't mean this instant. I meant, I'd like to cancel that starting in two months.
Fruit Club: Sure, I'll just note that on your account.
The next day, call back and say that you've changed your mind. You'll get a different representative and that way you won't have to be embarrassed about how cheap you are.
This can also work with one-time orders that haven't been delivered yet. But first, a little background:
My girlfriend and I have never bought new furniture except for our beds. Everything else we have - couch, desk, dressers, dining table, coffee table, end tables, etc. are either hand-me-downs or bought used. We decided we would finally buy a new couch since we're tired of having springs poking at our backsides and the orange, brown, and yellow stripes are slightly outdated (though my mom insisted on buying us a slipcover after she visited and saw it, which we really appreciated).
We looked on craigslist at used couches for a few months until we realized no one sells nice used furniture. Everything is either hideous to look at and/or horribly overpriced. Also, 75% of the time people brag about how much they paid for something and then seem to think that just because they paid $5,000 for a sofa that should have cost $2,000, that they can turn around and sell it to you for $2,500. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. If you paid retail on furniture, you got ripped off. For example, someone wanted $1,500 for this and originally claimed to have paid $2,100.
I rest my case.
So eventually we settled on a couch from Restoration Hardware. Now, I like RH but their prices are jacked up by around 50% on every item. For the couch we liked, retail price was $3,274.56:
Couch = $2750
Shipping = $275.00
Tax = $249.56
I knew they had a sale every year around Thanksgiving and it was September, but luckily my girlfriend agreed to wait. In November, I found an online coupon for 20% off, got a $88 rebate ordering the couch by linking through Upromise.com, and paid with a 1% cashback credit card. With those discounts, the total came to $2,505 and I felt like I was only getting ripped off by $1000, not $1500.
But here's where the canceling part comes in. The couch delivery didn't show up when it was supposed to in mid-February. I called to find out.
Me: Where's my couch
RH: Oh, they had a fabric problem at the factory. It won't be delivered until late March. They haven't started making it yet. I apologize for the delay.
Me: What?? That's six weeks late!
RH: I'm very sorry about that. [She did actually seem sorry]
Me: One of the reasons we went with Restoration Hardware was because they promised to deliver in 4-6 weeks but it won't be delivered for 12 weeks?
I didn't raise my voice. I find it's better to talk to the reps with a pleasant, but firm, tone. Also, I find it better to distinguish between the company and the person - that is, I make sure that they know I'm disappointed that your company screwed up, but I'm not mad at you, the lowly phone rep.
Me: Have you charged my credit card yet?
RH: No, it's not charged until the item is shipped.
Me: Well, just cancel the order
Now, I had absolutely no intention of canceling the order - the girlfriend would've killed me. But you always get a lot of chances to "change your mind" if you don't get anything out of them.
RH: Well, once the order is placed and you cancel it, it's subject to a restocking fee.
Me: Restocking fee? You just said the couch isn't made yet. By being 6 weeks late, I'm sure Restoration Hardware has broken the contract I agreed to when I bought this. They didn't even bother to call and say the couch was going to be late. This doesn't seem like typical service from Restoration Hardware. So go ahead and cancel the order.
RH: Well, I'd have to talk to a different department to do that.
Me: Ok.
RH: Well, they're only available on weekdays [this was a Saturday].
Me: Ok.
RH: We'll call you back Monday or Tuesday. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me: Yeah. You know, I'm surprised. I've bought a dresser before from RH [total lie] and the service was great. But now the couch is late, RH doesn't call to tell me, and, I know you've said you're sorry, but that doesn't really help. I'm just surprised you're not offering any compensation.
RH: Oh, would you like to find out in we can offer compensation instead of cancelling the order?
Me: Absolutely. That would be great.
RH: Ok, expect to hear from us early next week. I'm truly sorry about this.
On Monday morning, RH called me back. Now, I was just looking for a $50 gift card to buy come couch coupons. Instead, they asked if an additional 10% off plus free shipping would be enough compensation. The price came out to be a shade under $2,000, or 60% of the starting retail price. I quickly agreed to that. Plus, the couch ended up being delivered only three weeks late.
Now go bluff your way to lower prices by pretending to cancel!
Posted by brian at April 2, 2007 06:41 AM