Exercise your rights!

Are you getting a good deal each time you part with your cash?

Example: Whenever you’ve half-eaten an unsatisfactory meal in a restauraunt or eating establishment, do you pay without protest, yet secretly complain about the food, service etc, or do you instead ask to see the manager, politely cite your consumer rights and ask that the meal be taken off the bill? Most people opt out of the latter in order to save face and not “make a fuss”, preferring to forego the embarrassment of what seems uncomfortable
Bollocks! Stand up for yourself! Make them fight for your business and your custom. You are entitled to 100% satisfaction and they need you as a customer next time you’re hungry. You don’t need to be a bully, just informed.

Be discerning

Don’t spend the rest of your life getting ripped off. Any product or service you purchase should live up to how it is advertised; it should do what it says it will, how it says it will, when it says it will. Customer apathy accounts for much of the profit made in business, but I for one am not interested in a financial rogering due to laziness.

The restaurant scenario is common but illustrates none the less that every product and service is part of our expenditure – for this reason you deserve and are entitled to more than an inferior product at full price. Don’t be frightened to speak up… afterall, the customer is always right.

Be cheeky

Did you know that if you’re a regular customer with product and service providers you can, at the company’s discretion, get a reduced rate/tariff on phones, electric, gas, broadband, cable, sky etc. Simply phone the customer service line of whomever you want a cheaper deal with (I suggest trying it on with all your providers) and you’ll be put through to a “customer retentions” department, who’s job it is to hang on to all its customers at it’s own expense. This means they’ll squeeze slightly less out of you each month for say, your broadband, but at least won’t lose you to the competitors.

Tell them you’re considering switching to another provider as you can get the same service for less elsewhere and they’ll usually agree immediately to give you a better price. Most people will never bother to put in this effort in order to save a bit of money each month and basically justifies this discretionary power the companies have to “lose a little to save a lot.” Think of it this way: the majority of customers already and always will automatically, robotically, mechanically pay over the odds without knowing they are entitled to negotiate a better deal.

Be firm

If your provider says “No”, so what? This is only the worst that can happen. Switch then. Get a better deal and save some cash. Tell them firmly, politely and adamantly you’re canceling the subscription (unless on a contract) because you’re unsatisfied, and the only way you’ll remain a customer is if you get a discounted rate. Once you say this they’ll soften up, back down and play ball. A victory for you, a customer retained for them.

Why pay more? Whether it’s because you’ve been treated badly, received a poor product or paid for an overpriced service, remember, you deserve more. A saving of several hundred pounds for the rest of the year could be achieved in what takes only 10 – 15 minutes over the phone. Take full advantage of being a consumer and exercise your rights.