I’m a big fan of calling and negotiating a lower bill with companies. Heck, I’ve even written about it in detail HERE. But for whatever reason I’ve never tried to lower my bill with our alarm monitoring company also known as ADT. I just kept paying whatever they were charging me and didn’t think twice. This was until they recently raised my bill to $39.99 a month. I figured okay, enough was enough, let’s see if I can get this bill lowered. Just how bad do they want to keep me as a customer? Here’s how I saved $156 with ADT by a simple 4 minute phone call.

How I Saved $13 a Month ($156/year)

After calling ADT at 1-(800) 280-6946, I told the first customer service rep that I wanted to cancel my alarm monitoring service.

He immediately asked me why and I told him “I found a cheaper alternative”.

He then transferred me to what he termed a “customer retention” or “customer specialist” rep.

I can’t remember exactly what their title was, but this is the employee who has the power to actually lower your monthly bill.

See Also: Learn to Negotiate with DishNetwork, DIRECTV, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast (and Save Hundreds)

What Did I Do Next?

At this point I essentially repeated myself and told the ADT rep “I found a cheaper alternative” and wanted to cancel.

Having never dealt with ADT before I wasn’t sure what her response was going to be.

After all, I really didn’t want her to cancel me on the spot as I didn’t want to deal with switching companies if I could avoid it.

She immediately asked how much cheaper the other alarm service was and I told her “$6 per month”.

Since I was currently paying $39.99/month, I thought she might offer $33 or $34 a month to match the offer.

Not gonna lie, I was kinda shocked when she said, “how about $26.99 a month?”.

Of course I jumped all over it. She even let me pick the length of my contract.

I opted for a 12-month contract as I figured I can call back and get the same price if I decide to stick with ADT after my 12 months is up.

For literally 4 minutes of my time, I saved $156 over the course of the next year and get the piece of mind that a home alarm system provides.

Key Takeaways…

1- Never pay full price with ADT. They are always willing to work with you and get you a deal.

2- Analyze the competition. Know exactly what you could get with a cheaper alarm company. Use that info as ammunition when making the “cancel call”.

3- Threaten to cancel instead of asking for a lower price. If you call and just ask for a lower price you may save some money, but you usually won’t save as much compared to the cancel threat.

4- Think about your contract period. If you’re not sure how long you’ll be in the house, consider the 12-month contract at the lower rate. Otherwise, if it’s a fantastic rate you might want to lock it in for a couple years.

5- This tip applies to ALL alarm companies. If ADT is willing to lower my bill substantially you can bet your bottom dollar other alarm companies like Bay Alarm, LifeShield, and FrontPoint are willing to do the same.

Ask the Reader: Have you ever lowered your bill with ADT or any other monthly service? If so, how much money did you save?

By Kyle James

Amazon Prime Wardrobe was recently introduced as a new Prime benefit that allows you to try on clothes before you actually buy them. Think of it like an in-home dressing room, where Amazon will actually send you the apparel and shoes to try on at home. But with any new Prime feature, there exists some clever tips and tricks for ultimate success. Here are some handy tips that will allow you to get the maximum benefit out of Prime Wardrobe.

What Exactly is Prime Wardrobe?

Prime Wardrobe is a new program for Amazon Prime members that allows you to order items and have them shipped to you so you can try them on at home.

Don’t like them? Simply ship them back to Amazon and you’ll never be charged.

Items are WAY more than just clothing and also includes shoes, jewelry, watches, luggage, and even novelty items.

See Also: Save Money at Amazon: 8 Hacks to Make It Happen

How Do I Sign-Up?

Currently, the program requires you to request an invitation.

I requested an invite and was immediately accepted.

I think if you’re a long-standing Prime member and order frequently (like my family does), you should be good-to-go.

How Long Can I Keep the Clothes?

You have 7 days after you receive your order to initiate the return process.

This serves as plenty of time to give them a whirl before deciding.

Which Items are Available for Prime Wardrobe?

I was really impressed with the sheer number of items that are available for Prime Wardrobe.

We are talking thousands of clothing and shoe styles from top brands like Lucky, Calvin Klein, Ella Moon, Guess, Kate Spade, Adidas, and Karen Kane to name a few.

Pretty much all Amazon Essentials items qualify as well which gives you a nice chance to test out the quality.

Side note: I’ve ordered a couple Amazon Essentials dress shirts and golf shorts and have been really impressed so far with the quality, especially given the very modest price tag.

Are Shipping and Returns Free?

YES! Free shipping both ways.

This is where the program is kinda awesome as clothing is one of those items that is SO hard to shop for online as you never know how it will fit.

Prime Wardrobe takes all the risk out of the equation by letting you try items at home and mail them back for NO charge if they don’t fit or you simply don’t like them.

When it comes to returns, your order will come with a return shipping label which you just stick on the box, drop off at your local UPS, and you’re golden.

How Many Items Can I Try at Once?

You have to order at least 3 eligible items to qualify for Prime Wardrobe, no minimum dollar value is required.

The most items you can order for a single shipment is 8.

What Happens If I Only Return Some of the Items?

Then you’ll only be charged for the items you decide to keep.

The cool part is you won’t be charged anything until you keep something beyond the 7 day “try on” period.

When Will My Credit Card be Charged?

Your credit card will NOT be charged until you decide to keep something.

So in essence, you could order 8 items totaling over $1,000 and not be charged a cent if you return them all.

Pretty cool way to try on outfits in the comfort of your own home.

Hacks for Success….

1. Be Aware of What Amazon is Trying To Do

Amazon is banking on many shoppers keeping items that they kinda like, but don’t love, because they don’t want to go through the effort of boxing items up and dropping them off at UPS.

Don’t be one of these shoppers!

Go into this program with the mindset that “if you don’t love it, you’re sending it back, guaranteed!”

2. Take Advantage of $20 Off

Amazon is currently offering a $20 off your $200+ Prime Wardrobe purchase.

This only works if you “keep” at least $200 worth of clothing or shoes.

It’s also worth noting that if there’s a better promotion available at checkout, you’ll score that discount instead.

3. Always Search from Correct Spot

To make your life easier, always search for specific items that qualify for Prime Wardrobe.

Just click the drop-down menu in the search bar and select “Prime Wardrobe”.

4. Which Prime Members Have Better Chance of Getting In?

Prime members who are active, and order frequently, have a better chance of getting accepted into the program.

But my guess is that as this program becomes more popular, Amazon will open it up to all active Prime accounts.

5. Be Aware That Shipping Takes Longer

If you need the outfit or shoes in 2 days, Prime Wardrobe might not be right for you.

This is because orders take between 4-6 business days to get to your doorstep.

Ask the Reader: Have you tried Amazon Prime Wardrobe yet? Was it a good experience?

By Kyle James

Photo credits to Amazon Prime Wardrobe.

On the surface, the Home Depot price match policy seems fairly straight-forward. But when you start digging into the details it gets really confusing and can even differ by Home Depot location. With that said, let’s dig into it and see if we can make some sense of their price match policy. Please leave your experience in the comments so we can learn from each other on this one.

What Exactly is the Home Depot Price Match Policy?

Here are the specifics of their in-store price match policy:

• From the Home Depot site, “If you find a current lower price on an identical, in-stock item from any retailer, we will match the price and beat it by 10%.”
• All you need to do is bring in the ad, printout or even a photo (of either) with you to the register for validation.
• Don’t be in a hurry as the Home Depot employee may need to contact the competing store to validate the lower price.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of May 2020, the 10% “price beat” that Home Depot had for years is no longer store policy.

See Also: Home Depot Employee Tips for Getting the Best Deals

What About an Online Price Match?

Yes, you can indeed get an online price match when shopping via Home Depot.com and finding a lower online price elsewhere.

But they’ll factor in shipping costs when figuring out the price match.

Also, when price matching Amazon.com the items must be sold directly by Amazon and not a 3rd party seller.

Items must also be currently available from the competing website and available to ship to your address.

Also, be aware that they’ll match the lower price, but not beat it by 10%.

To make it happen, you can call the Home Depot at 1-800-430-3376 or visit their website and start a live chat.

The rep will verify the pricing for you and help you place the order.

See Also: 7 Highly Clever Ways to Save Money at The Home Depot

MORE THAN 1 PRICE MATCH PER ORDER

From the comments, someone tried to get a Home Depot online price match on a washer and dryer when the price dropped $150 each the day after their purchase. They were told by the chat representative that they only allow “one price match per order” even though this is nowhere to be found in their stated policy. If this happen to you, call 1-800-466-3337 and talk to someone directly and explain the situation as this is NOT right.

Will Home Depot Price Match Amazon (or any online store)?

For online purchases they absolutely will.

For brick and mortar purchases, it gets a little fuzzy and seems to be left to the discretion of the individual store manager if they’ll price match online pricing.

Home Depot really needs to fix this policy as it has caused a ton of confusion in recent years.

Here is the bottom line: If you find a Home Depot location that tends to have a more inclusive price match policy, you’d be smart to shop there all the time as you’ll always be able to get online pricing and have the product in your hands immediately.

If you run into any push-back from a Home Depot employee, be sure to stand your ground and involve the manager and HD corporate (if you can).

Most Home Depot managers will cave and give you the price match.

Again, all items must be sold directly by Amazon and not a 3rd party Amazon seller.

See Also: 11 Things To Know to Get a Lowe’s Price Match

What Products are Excluded from a Home Depot Price Match?

Yes, there are some important exclusions…

Custom or special order products. – Includes things like custom doors and window coverings.

Volume or wholesale discounts.

3rd party or discount site items – This includes 3rd party items sold on Amazon.

Open-box, reconditioned, refurbished items.

Sales tax is excluded.

Rebates, free offers, and one-time-only promotions. – This includes bundle offers.

Competitor pricing due to typographical error or misprint.

Pricing from membership-based retail wholesalers. – This includes Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s.

Competitor bid and auctions site pricing. – This includes eBay.

I’ll keep this list of exclusions updated as new ones pop-up.

Can You Combine a Coupon with a Price Match?

If you have a Home Depot coupon in-hand, NO, you CANNOT also get a price match on that purchase.

I was hoping you could but alas, it is not possible.

I verified this with a Home Depot store manager.

See Also: All The Hardware Stores That Price-Match Home Depot and Lowe’s

What About Price Matching on Black Friday?

Surprisingly, YES.

Most store won’t price match on Black Friday, but Home Depot is not one of them.

So if you find a killer deal at Lowe’s on Black Friday, Home Depot (brick & mortar) will not only match it, but they’ll beat it by 10%.

This where the magic of their policy really happens.

Start doing this next Black Friday as it makes for one of the best days of the year to buy tools and hardware.

Ask the Reader: Have you had any issues using the Home Depot price match policy? Let me know all about it.

By Kyle James