interesting negotiation bot.

[JustinH]

So I signed up for this negotiation bot called Trim. www.asktrim.com It does two things, it monitors your Internet Service for outages, then automatically contacts the ISP and asks for a credit. The second thing it does is bill negotiation. I have Spectrum cable, internet only and they will not negotiate off the $64.99 base price for anything. So I gave it a shot. One week later, the bot negotiated $287.14 in bill credits applied to my account, in approximately 80 dollar increments for the next few months. I have no idea what it did, and the spectrum website is down for right now, but I did verify that my upcoming bill will be free for the next few months. Anyways its a pretty neat service I would recommend it.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

And what do they get out of it? It's impossible to get something for nothing, both you and Trim.

 

[Rand]

Why do I have to login with my name phonenumber and bank account.. uh.. uh... DO they REALLY think I will log into their account with my bank info???

 

[Audios]

Yea im not sure about the bank info, Ill probably start with a credit card.

 

[kschachn]

Something smells bad about this. I don’t know what exactly but it does.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

So I did a little digging, I did find some articles on CNN Money website. Appears legit... but still unsure.

 

[Audios]

Says it takes 25% of annual savings, but only if it saves you money.

 

[JustinH]

They take 25 percent of what they save and bill it to a credit card you put on file. Since I was saving zero dollars calling them myself, I welcome paying their fee. Also I am not monitoring the spectrum network 24x7. People in my area get emails from spectrum saying sorry that the service was down, here is the credit you asked for. The network was down while they were sleeping, and the bot still asked for credit. I'll post screenshots of my spectrum pdf bill, but their website login is down right now for me.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo

And what do they get out of it? It's impossible to get something for nothing, both you and Trim.

Their website says that if they negotiate a credit for you, say $100, they keep the first $25 and you keep the $75.

 

[Merkava_4]

Can the bot get you back on the promotion rate after the year promotion expires ? My bill is going to jump from $40 to $60 after the promo expires unless I come up with a way to negotiate back to the promo rate.

 

[3800Series]

There are actually a few bots like this online went for A.I. but they tailor them for random stuff. This is most likely one of those things. I heard about a similar bot that could be used on a buying/selling forum essentially you would list items for sale (what your asking, the minimum you would sell it for, a consideration amount). The bots would than talk to each other to find out who had what and what they wanted. From what I heard it was pretty effective until the bot started making some connections in negotiating tactics and just started lying about stuff they had to get a better deal for something the other party really wanted with the idea the second party would also get something they where desperately looking for.

 

[Rand]

What the heck.. I have a disposable bank account with about 50 bucks in it... I might give this a go.

 

[BobsArmory]

Interesting but I have reservations.

 

[Kev994]

Thanks! It knocked $40 off my mediacom bill. Not sure why or how.

 

[bubbatime]

Just attach a credit card that you dont use to the account, if you have reservations. If there is any fraud, you wont be liable for any of it on a VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or Amex, for sure.

 

[JustinH]

My monthly bill was reduced from $68.66 to $46.90 for internet only. They also included a partial credit of some kind. This is for a one year term.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I tried it and within 24 hours I had a $30 credit listed on the Trim website... checked my Comcast login, and lo and behold, the $30 credit has already posted to my account. I'm in after being a skeptic!

 

[blupupher]

Hmm, just had it say it has saved me $20 on my cable bill. So this is a one time thing, or a repeating thing? I don't see anything on my bill yet.

 

[JustinH]

Originally Posted By: blupupher

Hmm, just had it say it has saved me $20 on my cable bill. So this is a one time thing, or a repeating thing? I don't see anything on my bill yet.

Mine was roughly 20 dollars per month for a 1 year term.