“Is
that your best rate?” Remember this question,
because it could be worth hundreds of dollars to
you.
This column is about budgets. Not the state budget or the federal budget, but
your own personal household budget, which is the one most people are thinking
about when they’re debating the others.
Of course, the budgets are all interconnected. If the government increases your
taxes, you have less to spend. If the government increases a benefit or cuts
your taxes, you’ll have more to spend. And if you can squeeze $10 here
and $20 there out of your expenses, you won’t be as concerned about government
proposals that would affect your wallet in similar amounts.
Which leads us back to, “Is that your best rate?” These five simple
words can save you hundreds of dollars if you travel and spend some time in hotels.
You see, hotels don’t necessarily give you their lowest room rate when
you walk in the door. Why should they, when most people are willing to pay more?
So when you’re preparing to check in to a hotel, no matter what price they
give you, ask, “Is that your best rate?” You’ll be surprised
at how often this simple question will be answered with an immediate discount.
The savings can be substantial, too. After receiving the “best rate” tip
from a relative who travels extensively, I tested it during three stays in San
Francisco. It paid off to the tune of about $130! There have been other times
when the question hasn’t had its intended result, but it doesn’t
cost anything to ask, so why not go for it?
Hotels aren’t the only places to ask this question. At a local music store,
items are marked with prices far above what you will pay if you ask for a better
deal. One Sacramento musician refers to the listed figure as the “grandmother
buys her grandson a birthday present price,” on the assumption that someone
unfamiliar with the cost of an instrument isn’t going to be told about
the available discount. But ask, grandma, and ye shall receive!
Try it at the bank, too. An e-mail from a financial adviser says that if you
ask your credit card company to lower your interest rate, you have a decent chance
of getting a positive answer. The banks that issue credit cards are in an intense
competition for your business, and they will cut deals accordingly.
Banks don’t limit their competition to credit cards, either. They are all
trying to get more people to open checking accounts, take out mortgages, sign
up for safe deposit boxes and give them other business. This competition means
you have a little more opportunity to negotiate.
A recent call to Washington Mutual’s customer service number resulted in
this writer enjoying an $84 savings, simply by asking the bank to reverse some
fees. The bank was under no legal obligation to extend this courtesy, since the
fees resulted not from a bank error but from an incorrectly endorsed deposit,
but leniency was granted nonetheless.
Similarly, Sacramento’s Alhambra water company recently agreed to cancel
a late fee and retroactively reduce some service charges, shaving $20 from a
bill. The company, operating in a fiercely competitive market, just needed to
be asked.
Next time you are about to buy a product or sign up for a service, try asking
politely for a better deal. You may be surprised how positively the answers will
affect your budget.
David
Kline is a Sacramento native who has been writing about seniors' issues since
1991. He has served as Spectrum's editor for the past five years — a
period that has seen the paper receive awards from the California Newspapers
Publishers' Association and National Mature Media Awards program.
Scrapbooking
Fever Is Highly Contagious, Enthusiasts Say
Simple
Questions Can Lead to Big Budget Savings 