An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

Approximately two years ago I received a Sirius Stiletto radio as a door prize at a commercial real estate event. Unfortunately the prize only included the radio and not the subscription to the satellite radio service so I went ahead and signed up for a two contract.

That was probably 23 months more than I should have. For whatever reason, I could never get a decent satellite signal in my home where I had connected the portable device to a receiver in my office. I tried moving the little antenna all over the room and up on the bookshelves before I finally gave up. I ended up just using the Internet option which ran off the WiFi connection in the house. When the bill arrived last week for another two year contract I decided to cancel.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes on hold a very pleasant customer service rep came on the phone.

“Before we get started I have to tell you I’m a bit peeved at having to wait on hold for fifteen minutes just to cancel a contract.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” he replied, “we’ve been pretty busy today.”

I told him I just wanted to cancel my subscription and he asked if I would tell him the reason I was cancelling. I told him about the signal issue.

“What if I were to offer you the service at half price?”

It still wouldn’t fix the signal problem so I told him thanks but no thanks.

“How about if I gave it to you free for the rest of summer with the HD Internet radio option?”

“With no further obligation after that?” I asked.

“That’s correct; all you have to do at the end of the summer is call and cancel. At that point we’ll probably offer you another three months free.”

There it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I accepted.