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Email template to ask your internet, phone or cable provider to lower your monthly bill

Your monthly bill for internet, cell service, cable, or a similar ongoing service has crept up, usually because an introductory rate ended or a fee was added. Providers routinely give lower rates to customers who ask, because keeping you costs them less than winning a new customer. Phone reps are trained to talk you into a bundle instead. Email, or the written chat transcript most providers offer through their account page, gets you a plain number in writing, and you can compare it with a competitor's offer without being rushed.

Before you send

  • Your account number and the name on the account, exactly as it appears on the bill.
  • Your current monthly total and what it was when you signed up, so you can state the increase in dollars.
  • How long you have been a customer and whether you have paid on time. A long, clean record is your main bargaining chip.
  • A real competitor offer for a comparable service at your address, with the price and the speed or plan details. Check availability first; an offer you cannot actually switch to carries no weight.
  • A rate you would accept. Decide before you write, so you can recognize a good answer when it arrives.
Subject Request to lower my monthly rate, account #[account number] 
Hi [provider name] team,

I've been a customer since [year], account number [account number], and I've paid on time throughout. My bill is now $[current amount] a month for [plan name and speed or plan details], up from $[original amount] when I started.

[Competitor name] is offering [comparable plan and speed] at my address for $[competitor price] a month. I'd rather stay with you than deal with switching, but I can't justify paying $[difference] more each month for the same service.

Could you offer me a rate close to $[target amount] a month on my current plan, without adding services or a new contract longer than [12 months]? Please send the offer in writing with the exact monthly price, any fees, and how long the rate lasts.

I'd appreciate an answer by [date, about a week out], since the competitor's offer expires soon.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A typical reply offers a promotional rate for 12 months, sometimes with a speed bump thrown in. Ask what the price becomes when the promotion ends, and put a reminder on your calendar for a month before that date.
  • A bad answer is a bundle you did not ask for, or a "loyalty discount" that comes with a two-year contract. Say plainly that you want a lower price on the same plan and nothing else.
  • If the first reply says there is nothing available, reply once and ask to have the request passed to the retention department, which is the team authorized to keep departing customers with better deals.
  • If they still will not move and the competitor's offer is real, switch. Providers often call back with a better offer once a cancellation is scheduled.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get my monthly bill lowered 
Hi StandIn,

Please negotiate a lower monthly rate on my [internet / phone / cable] service and get the final offer in writing.

The provider and account: [provider name, account number, name on the account].
Current plan and price: [plan name, speed or plan details, current monthly total].
When I signed up and what I paid then: [year, original monthly price].
Competing offer: [competitor name, plan, monthly price, or "please find one for my address"].
Rate I'd accept: [target monthly amount].

If the first answer is no, ask for the retention team, and get the price after any promotion ends before I decide.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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