Why, yes I am. When someone else totaled my new car (brand new, never even made the first payment) by running a stop sign on a blind corner, her insurance company tried to offer me 10k less than I'd just paid for the car. They said it lost value and I said tough, it would have been fine without their client wrecking it. Long story short, I managed to get them to come UP 10k and completely pay off my car. They also paid for 10 days of my rental until we sorted it out because my insurance company only picked up the first three. (Now we get gap insurance, LOL).
I also, in a separate incident, took it personally when a lawyer ignored my calls and freely discussed my case - with very personal details included - with a family member of mine who didn't need to know what the lawyer told him. I wrote a letter to the state bar, testified against him, and the guy was suspended from the bar for six months. I still remember the look on his face when they delivered the verdict at the hearing. He TOLD me after it started that I was a nobody and I was wasting his time. TAKE THAT!
DH is a heck of a negotiator, too, but I don't hesitate to take things on. Not for a millisecond. I think it's been one of our survival techniques! You should have seen him when he bought his truck. He went under it with the salesman and pointed to the direction and type of the wear on the ball hitch and some other little details I don't remember and told him all kinds of info about how it had been used and how it wasn't worth what they were asking as a result and the guy knocked a few hundred a month off the payment with his new price, LOL. DH is awesome!
I got one CC down to 9% from 24.9%, and DH just lowered our phone/internet $30 a month, our TV $10 a month and is working with a guy to do our web support for half what he was paying the other firm - that is a savings of $40 an hour or $400 a month!
I am not as good as DH, but I try to put in freebies. I did get 3 weeks vacation, a free cellphone and an office when I negotiated for my job 2 years ago, however.
I have no problem asking for a better deal. My thoughts are the worst they can say is no and if I don't like that answer I can always walk away. I tend to call my phone and cable companies every few months to just ask what they can offer me. I am a yard sale flea market shopper so I think that helps in improving negotiating skills. Some of my friends tell me that they would be embarrassed to ask for a lower price. My DH leaves most of the negotiating to me. But that's only because it is usually things I'm knowledgeable about, he does the mechanical type negotiations.
I stink at it, which is why I *hate* having to deal with things that require it.
I prefer things that "here is the price" and then "here is the sale/clearance" price vs. "here is the price we want & it's up to you to figure out our bottom line and haggle us down for it".
I'm pretty sure I would just like to go buy a car from Carmax or is it Saturn? that doesn't do the haggling garbage?
In a word - no.
Kate
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
Why, yes I am. When someone else totaled my new car (brand new, never even made the first payment) by running a stop sign on a blind corner, her insurance company tried to offer me 10k less than I'd just paid for the car. They said it lost value and I said tough, it would have been fine without their client wrecking it. Long story short, I managed to get them to come UP 10k and completely pay off my car. They also paid for 10 days of my rental until we sorted it out because my insurance company only picked up the first three. (Now we get gap insurance, LOL).
I also, in a separate incident, took it personally when a lawyer ignored my calls and freely discussed my case - with very personal details included - with a family member of mine who didn't need to know what the lawyer told him. I wrote a letter to the state bar, testified against him, and the guy was suspended from the bar for six months. I still remember the look on his face when they delivered the verdict at the hearing. He TOLD me after it started that I was a nobody and I was wasting his time. TAKE THAT!
DH is a heck of a negotiator, too, but I don't hesitate to take things on. Not for a millisecond. I think it's been one of our survival techniques! You should have seen him when he bought his truck. He went under it with the salesman and pointed to the direction and type of the wear on the ball hitch and some other little details I don't remember and told him all kinds of info about how it had been used and how it wasn't worth what they were asking as a result and the guy knocked a few hundred a month off the payment with his new price, LOL. DH is awesome!
Sarah -
Sounds like some good negotiating.
I got one CC down to 9% from 24.9%, and DH just lowered our phone/internet $30 a month, our TV $10 a month and is working with a guy to do our web support for half what he was paying the other firm - that is a savings of $40 an hour or $400 a month!
I am not as good as DH, but I try to put in freebies. I did get 3 weeks vacation, a free cellphone and an office when I negotiated for my job 2 years ago, however.
-Marie
I tend to call my phone and cable companies every few months to just ask what they can offer me.
I am a yard sale flea market shopper so I think that helps in improving negotiating skills. Some of my friends tell me that they would be embarrassed to ask for a lower price. My DH leaves most of the negotiating to me. But that's only because it is usually things I'm knowledgeable about, he does the mechanical type negotiations.
I think I am a fairly good negotiator...
My mortgage rate is currently 1.25% (fabulous I know)
My creditcards range from 1.9% to 11.5% (the ones I use anyway).
Duke
I stink at it, which is why I *hate* having to deal with things that require it.
I prefer things that "here is the price" and then "here is the sale/clearance" price vs. "here is the price we want & it's up to you to figure out our bottom line and haggle us down for it".
I'm pretty sure I would just like to go buy a car from Carmax or is it Saturn? that doesn't do the haggling garbage?
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis