Here’s a quick tip to help limit expenses. Don’t be afraid to ask for a late fee to be waived on your bill. No matter how careful we are, sometimes a bill slips past us, like my AT&T home phone bill did this month. The result was a $6.05 late fee, not a lot but still money I don’t want to just give away. So I called AT&T to request a courtesy waiver of the fee. After a total of 10 minutes on the phone, I had the late fee taken off of the account. Very easy, indeed.
Especially in this economic environment when consumers are looking to cut discretionary spending (yes, in this day and age a home phone is discretionary), service providers want to keep you as a customer and are willing to show a little love to do it. Here are a few tips:
- Try your best to pay on time. If you do the late fee isn’t an issue in the first place. Also, you are less likely to have success in these requests if you are frequently late.
- Be nice. Phone reps have some discretion, meaning it is up to them in a lot of cases whether to grant your request. They won’t want to help you if you are a total jerk to them.
- If at first you don’t succeed, ask for the supervisor. It very well could be the case that the rep doesn’t have the power to waive fees, but their supervisor probably does.
This can work for many different types of bills, and it never hurts to try. This is usually very easy, so no need to stress about it. Quick and easy money back in your pocket.