I recently went through my first hurricane experience in Florida. Irma just barely missed the Tampa Bay region, so we avoided the worst of this season’s destruction.
Still, a number of friends, colleagues and neighbors were left without electricity for several days.
I’ve seen similar — usually less severe — results from winter storms back in my native Wisconsin. A storm moves through and damages a handful of power lines, leaving whole streets and neighborhoods without service for a day or two.
Other times it’s a motorist who skids off the road and takes out a crucial piece of infrastructure. Or a toppled tree. Or — you know the scenario.
Lights out.
When these incidents occur, local utilities frequently step up to offer special deals and credits to affected customers. We appreciate those efforts.
But what about the other services you can’t use while the power’s gone? You still get billed the full rate for cable and internet, even though they depend on electricity you no longer have.
Here’s how to avoid paying full price for those services during a power outage.
How to Get a Bill Credit for Cable and Internet After an Outage
After your electricity returns, you’ll likely be focused on restoring your home and daily routine. Don’t forget your money concerns.
Contact your cable or satellite provider and explain the outage. Request a pro-rated credit for the days you were without power — and therefore without cable or internet. You probably won’t receive the credit unless you ask, but companies typically don’t resist granting it when customers request an adjustment.
To calculate a fair reduction, divide your monthly charge by the number of days in the month. Multiply that amount by how many days you lacked service.
Does the thought of calling customer service make you nervous? Mine too. That’s why I found a tool that can handle the conversation for you.
Trim is a bot that operates through Facebook Messenger or text messages, and it will negotiate your bills on your behalf.
It works with Comcast, Time Warner, Charter and other vendors. It can also locate cash-back opportunities for purchases and cancel subscriptions you no longer need.
You can sign up at no cost using Facebook or your email address.
Upload a PDF of your latest bill, and Trim’s AI-driven system starts negotiating. If it doesn’t succeed at first, it keeps trying until it secures savings.
You can use Trim to haggle over bills anytime; it attempts to get the lowest price it can.
When you experience an outage and want a specific refund, just submit your bill through Trim’s website, and email [email protected] to request the credit you’re seeking.
Customer service replied to my message in 22 minutes — so you’ll likely get a quicker response than you would from the cable provider.
Trim is free to use — it simply takes 25% of whatever it manages to save you on your bill.
How Much Can You Actually Save After a Power Outage?
American homes spend an average of $106 per month on “pay-TV service,” according to the latest Leichtman Research Group report. In a 30-day month, that works out to about $3.53 per day.
If a hurricane leaves you without electricity for 10 days, that’s $35.30 you’re paying for cable you couldn’t use.
You could call the cable provider and ask for that credit yourself. But in my opinion, holding for Comcast customer support isn’t worth $35.
Having someone else wait on hold and handle it for me? That I’ll do.
Let Trim manage the negotiations in this scenario, and you’d walk away with roughly $27 saved on your cable bill — with zero effort.
That eases the sting of the week you subsisted on canned goods and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, right?
Also, if you’re preparing for future outages, consider checking these power outage tips to make life during a blackout easier.
Riley Carter (riley.carter@example.com) is a senior writer and newsletter editor at Savinly. Say hello and share a good joke on Twitter @rileycarter.
