This is my first post, sorry for any mistakes.

I was paying 31$ for unlimited local landline from AT&T. I had caller id, voice mail etc. AT&T puts lots of charges, fees, taxes etc on top of basic package (total of $10 approx).
I had to cancel my AT&T landline phone connection. I called their customer service at 1-800-288-2020.
I was asked the reason for cancellation. I told them I am paying high charges for the local landline, so I want to cancel the service.
Right away the customer representative offered me $5 cut on my existing bill for lifetime without changing anything on plan.

Anyway I had to cancel because I wanted to switch over to VOIP. But this would be a nice try to the existing customers who are paying such high charges for local landline phone line.

Cut the chord - telecos have been milking this cow WAAAYYY too long!

Worth a try, but I've always wondered....I've heard this strategy in the past. What happens if they don't offer anything and just continue to process the disconnect? When you really didn't want to and were just calling to try for a discount?

rickfmdj said:I got the $5 off only for a year, 1/2 off on HSI for 6mths AND a $25 instant credit. A nice $175 for the year. Great idea, thanks OP!

When did you get this? What is HSI

yasth said:amheck said:Worth a try, but I've always wondered....I've heard this strategy in the past. What happens if they don't offer anything and just continue to process the disconnect? When you really didn't want to and were just calling to try for a discount?Then you set the date out at 2 weeks or so, and call back and "push it back". Really though I've tried this (accidentally) and had no trouble getting $5 off.

Did you get the $5 off for 1yr or life ?

shank said:Cut the chord - telecos have been milking this cow WAAAYYY too long!

You're living in the past man!

It still surprises me how many people still get the shaft from At&T, Bellsouth, etc for mediocre overpriced landlines, when there are multiple options to permanently cut the cord -- Cell phones can be expanded to a home phone like base , VOIP is impossible to beat for the price and features -- yet the same folks are still paying for High speed cable internet.. high speed internet options have grown and VOIP is the only way to go. I've had $20/month Vonage for 3 years and have never had a single problem. If you lose power, you still have mandatory 911 access on your land line for emergencies - just plug in an old non ac powered phone to it. I still here the argument, "If I lose power, my phone won't work?" - guess what, 99% of people have newer AC powered cordless phones - they don't work without power either.

Cut the cord folks, POTS is on it's way out - the future is wireless broadband, 3g , WiMax -- and of course fiber (i.e Time Warner) isn't going anywhere if you must have the cord.

pdiggity said:Cut the cord folks, POTS is on it's way out - the future is wireless broadband, 3g , WiMax -- and of course fiber (i.e Time Warner) isn't going anywhere if you must have the cord.

I have two pots lines, and one voip line. The voip is pretty good most of the time, but there are times when it has delays. Slight delays, like maybe between 1/4 to 1 second, but when it occurs it is annoying. Then there is tinny sound and echoes that sometimes occur.

Voip has come a long way, but still has a bit to go yet. The pots lines are 100% good all the time.

This dilemma reminds me back when people started first buying their own phones. Up until then, everyone rented theirs from the phone company. The phone co.'s argument was, if there is a problem, we come out to fix it free. If it's your personal phone's problem, we charge you for the service call, and it doesn't get fixed. They had people so scared to buy their own phones. Now, it's a given people have their own. I think landlines will go the way of the company phones one of these days.

pdiggity said:shank said:Cut the chord - telecos have been milking this cow WAAAYYY too long!

You're living in the past man!

It still surprises me how many people still get the shaft from At&T, Bellsouth, etc for mediocre overpriced landlines, when there are multiple options to permanently cut the cord -- Cell phones can be expanded to a home phone like base , VOIP is impossible to beat for the price and features -- yet the same folks are still paying for High speed cable internet.. high speed internet options have grown and VOIP is the only way to go. I've had $20/month Vonage for 3 years and have never had a single problem. If you lose power, you still have mandatory 911 access on your land line for emergencies - just plug in an old non ac powered phone to it. I still here the argument, "If I lose power, my phone won't work?" - guess what, 99% of people have newer AC powered cordless phones - they don't work without power either.

Cut the cord folks, POTS is on it's way out - the future is wireless broadband, 3g , WiMax -- and of course fiber (i.e Time Warner) isn't going anywhere if you must have the cord.

Just of curiosity--and not TC because I am thinking of cutting off my landline. What do you guys do for the telephone line required for the home alarm system? I thought about VOIP but my cable internet was out for 5 days earlier this year.

I called and now i am saving $27.00 a month, how? I canceled the damn service all together.
Cell is all I need.