Last month my annual contracts for my internet finally expired.  But just in case I would forget, HOT and 012 called me about 100 times to try remind me that there are some limited time deals – act now! – that I had to sign up for in order to get a good deal for my next year’s contract.

But getting a deal is never about “acting now” or closing any kind of deal before doing a proper comparison.  So I had to tell the people at HOT and 012 to lay off for a while until I could get all the facts and numbers straight.

After calling a couple of internet providers, I decided that I wanted to pay ₪ 50 NIS for HOT and ₪ 25 a month for 012 (I used to pay ₪ 70 and ₪ 50 respectively).  So I waited for HOT to call back and asked the salesman about the offer.  I was offered the regular sale they had going (₪ 59 a month, one year obligation) and advised strongly to act now because (1) it was less than I was paying now and (2) the salesman was not sure for how long the offer would last.  I tried bargaining him down, but when we reached a stalemate, I suddenly remembered Dave Ramsey’s strategy and decided to give it a try.

“That’s not good enough.”  I said.  “If that is your final offer then I will have to hang up the phone and call Bezeq.”

“Let me speak to my manager” the salesman said.  After waiting for about 30 seconds, the salesman reappeared with another offer of one month free and a year of obligation. 

As a side note, the salesman wanted to begin the free month immediately, even though I already paid full price for this month.  I had to get him to agree to reimburse me for the outstanding amount of the month I already paid for (alternatively we could have started the free month next month – either way, the salesman’s original intent was very deceptive).

Next stop was 012, a much simpler company to deal with.  I called 012 and was offered ₪ 40 a month (one year obligation).  I remembered Dave Ramsey’s line and gave it a shot:

“That’s not good enough.”

She spoke to a manager and I was immediately offered one mofree month

“That’s still not good enough.”

 She spoke to a manager again and got me a second free month.

“That’s not good enough.”

“Sir,” she finally answered, “how much do you want to pay?”

“I want to pay ₪ 30 a month and get 2 free months (average of ₪ 25).

So after speaking to a manager, she came back with a final offer of ₪ 25 a month, with one free month (average ₪ 23 a month).  It’s cute how some companies do not use math when they negotiate.

A look at my saving using the “that’s not good enough” approach:

Previous internet price: ₪ 120 a month for HOT and 012 combined

Offered price: ₪ 99 (₪ 59 from HOT, ₪ 40 from 012): A savings of ₪ 21 x 12 months = ₪ 252

Bargained price: ₪ 77 (average of 54 from HOT and 23 from 012):  An additional savings of ₪ 22 per month x 12 months = ₪ 264

Total savings:  ₪ 516