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When Jason and I were in college, his roommates used to make something of a sport of jerking around the various long-distance telephone service providers that would call to get their business. I think that apartment switched providers about once a month, usually because the new provider had offered the guys a check for switching. As the year went on, the incentive checks kept getting bigger and bigger as the guys played the various providers off of one another. Sure, dealing with the multiple bills was a headache, but there were some months when I am pretty sure the guys made a profit from their switching, so I guess to them it was worth it.

This comes to mind because I have started to make a sport out of jerking around the cable company. Like most people, we don't have a choice of cable providers - it's Adelphia or nothing (or a dish, which is a whole different issue). Adelphia has great rates for the first few months of service, but for the last year or so we've been paying almost $100 a month for basic cable and high speed internet service, which seems like too much. So I called them a month or so ago and they managed to convince me not to cancel my cable tv by giving me a free month of service.

Now that my free month is over, I called back and threatened to quit again. This time they told me they'd give me three months of the tv for $24.99 a month, which is about half of the regular price. Sign me up! I've made a note on my calendar, and when the regular price starts up again I plan to call and threaten to quit (again). I didn't even have to ask the guy to cut the price this time - he volunteered it when I said the service was too expensive, so I'm guessing there's a whole list of enticements they can offer. Who knows what the next step will be - the introductory price again for six months? Free coffee at McDonalds whenever I want? Massage?

I encourage everyone reading this to call their cable provider and tell them you want to cancel your service because it's too expensive ... I bet you'll get a discount, too. If not, you can always "change your mind" before the cancellation order is complete.

This public service message brought to you by People Who Are Too Cheap To Pay Full Price Just To Watch Three Cable Channels.