Thanks to the internet, consumers have more and more information and knowledge at their fingertips. On Amazon, I can compare various brands of toothpaste to find the cheapest prices. Autotrader allows me to click through hundreds of cars without the hassle of dealing with sleazy car salesmen. However, one thing that remains as opaque as ever is, ironically, the cost of internet itself. It can be difficult to compare plans across different providers because of the different bundling options. I don’t have cable or a landline, and I get my cell phone through another provider, so all I need is basic internet.

Custom vs Preferred vs Extreme vs Ultimate TV? And do I really need to be able to connect 100 devices? In my area, I have Verizon and Comcast. When we first bought our house 4+ years ago, I signed a 2-year deal with Verizon for $29.99 a month. After 2 years, I signed another 2-year contract at a higher price of $44.99 a month. I expected some sort of increase, so the $15 was tolerable. Another 2 years passed and the price automatically jumped to $59.99 a month which was the regular non-contract price for me. I called to see if I could get a cheaper price if I signed another 2 year deal. The customer rep offered by $59.99 if I signed a 2 year deal. I reminded him that that was the exact same price, that they were charging me now, and he only responded with that was the only offer he could give me. Comcast had a promotion in my area that that $39.99 a month, but I had to either rent their equipment or buy my own, which would’ve been a $100-$200 one time expense. I didn’t really want to go through the hassle of switching to Comcast, but at least I could threaten Verizon with leaving and see if they could match Comcast’s offer.

I called Verizon again and asked if they could give me a price that was more comparable to their new customer contract which was $39.99, and they called my bluff. So I begrudgingly decided to make the switch and scheduled my cancellation with Verizon. I also read on some forums that I could also re-sign up with Verizon, using my wife’s name and thus become eligible for the new customer promotion. So that was going to be my plan.

But, not 20 minutes after this phone call, I got an email from Verizon offering me $45.99 per month to stay. Of course, I wondered why didn’t they offer that to me in the first place? I called Verizon to ask about the offer. This time, the rep says they have another offer for $39.99 a month for a 2 year contract, which is the same as the new customer promotion which the previous rep couldn’t give me. So now I’m back to $39.99 a month. Victory is mine!

Somewhere along the line, I realize that the rep is just reading to me whatever shows up on their screen and that they have no, or very little, control as to what they can offer me. I don’t know who created their promotion algorithms, but it seems that Verizon gets more incentive to sign up new customers than to retain existing customers. Since I had already cancelled my plan, I must’ve been considered a new customer, although I didn’t have to get any new equipment or pay any additional one-time fees. My plan is that next time my contract is expiring, I’m going to call Verizon to schedule a cancellation a couple weeks out and then call back to see if I could get any retention offer.