Last month Chris Olsen showed how to save money on your Telus bill. The story prompted a flood of e-mails from grateful viewers who said the tips had helped them lower their bill. And one man managed to shave hundreds of dollars off his cell phone bill.
For Greg Livesey, his cell phone is his business life line, keeping him connected with his lawn and garden customers.
And when his contract expired with Rogers he wondered if he could get a better deal. First he contacted Bell Mobility.
"He quoted me about $10 per month less than Rogers for a similar plan," said Livesey.
But he liked Rogers and decided to call them to see if they could lower his rate.
"She came back with an almost unbelievable rate almost 50 per cent less than I am paying now."
And they cut his wife's bill by a small amount, too.
Livesey thinks he knows why
"My plan had expired and my wife's plan had expired. We'd been on these numbers since 2002, so [we're] long-term customers and we pay our bills on time," he said.
Letting your contract expire puts you in the strongest bargaining position because you can switch companies at any time without penalty and take your phone number with you.
To get the lower rate Livesey did not have to sign up for a long contract -- he had the option of one, two or three years.
What also worked was his positive attitude on the phone.
He made no demands, just asked for help.
Livesey also saw our story about how to lower your home phone rate with Telus, and he saved money with that too.
His call to Telus saved him $249 per year.
His call to Rogers cut his bill by $390 per year.
And his wife's bill was cut by $94.
In total, he's saving $733 this year!
"That's real money. It is. That's real grocery-type money you are actually saving," says Livesey.
