Theresa had a contract with Helio/Virgin Mobile that ended this month, putting her in a position to negotiate. She writes that by comparison shopping and politely asking for the customer retention department, she and her girlfriend were able to knock $35 per month off the bill for their family plan. Here's how she did it.

Just thought I'd share a success story about the power of being a smart, polite, well-informed consumer!

My girlfriend and I have a family cell phone plan with Helio (now owned by Virgin Mobile) and our two-year contract ended this January. We like our service, but we wanted to pay less. Our company was already offering a new phone or $20 off our bill per month, but I thought I could do better.

So we started shopping around. We found a comparable plan at metroPCS that would cost us about $30 less per month. I didn't want to end my service, but I know it's important to be well-educated about other offers.

I called Helio to see if they could give me a better deal. They offered me $25 off my bill each month instead of $20–not enough for me. They also offered free extra minutes, but I explained that we don't use up the few minutes we do buy each month, so that wouldn't help us. The customer service rep said they couldn't offer me anything more and I ended the call.

I called back a little while later and asked to speak to customer retention. Apparently that's the magic word! I was soon connected to a friendly, helpful customer service rep. I explained that we like our service, but found a better deal elsewhere, and we were thinking of cancelling. She quickly escalated their offer to $35 off our phone bill each month! We got to keep the service we like while paying much less, and we didn't even have to commit to a new one-year contract. My only regret is that I didn't try to hold out for even more.

Keys to my success, which I've learned from Consumerist
1. I was unfailingly polite but firm in what I wanted.
2. I had researched my options and was able to back up my threat to cancel with proof of a better offer.
3. I didn't give up before reaching someone with the power to give me what I wanted.
4. I didn't jump at the first offer I received.
5. I was nice to the service reps–after I got the final offer, I even asked to speak to the manager to praise the woman who had helped me.

New York Times Now Making Money

The New York Times Co. made money last year! A $20 million profit for 2009. Revenue fell more than 11% in the fourth quarter—but it's declining less than last year. Silver linings! Celebratory year-in-review internal memo below.

From: NYTIMES MAIL
Date: Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Subject: On the Record from Arthur and Janet
To: NY TIMES INTERNET

Vol. 2 2010: Ending the Year Profitably

We are delighted to report that as a result of your dedication, courage and innovation, our Company ended the year profitably. As you can see in our earnings press release, 2009 ended far better than it began, with advertisers increasing their rate of spending across our newspapers, Web sites and other platforms during the fourth quarter. As we reported, operating profit increased both for the quarter and year.

Our fourth quarter and year-end numbers were a result of countless difficult decisions and sacrifices that were made at The New York Times, New England and Regional Media Groups and the About Group to restructure our cost base. We had to say goodbye to many colleagues and found ways to do our work more efficiently and productively.

As a result of all these actions, we have continued to reposition the Company to grow as a business while enhancing our ability to achieve our core mission: providing our audiences with high-quality news and information.

You have our gratitude for all we were able to achieve last year.

The fourth-quarter improvement in advertising trends was, of course, only part of the story. We also continued to aggressively pursue a long-term strategy that enhanced our Company financially and journalistically while providing new ways to compete in a media industry with proliferating news and information options. Specifically:

* We secured strong performance on costs by focusing relentlessly on increasing productivity and efficiency, achieving approximately $475 million in operating cost savings in 2009.

* We reduced the Company's debt by over $290 million to $769 million from its balance at the end of 2008. This means that our debt load is now far more manageable.

* We continued to diversify our revenue streams by introducing an array of new products and extending our reach to new audiences. Constant innovation and reinvention are core competencies for the Company, and we see examples of this wonderful digital creativity at all of our Web sites.

* We leveraged our brand strength to grow profitable circulation revenue, as we believe – and have been proven right – that continued strong user demand for our high-quality news and information is a testament to the value they provide.

* We also sold WQXR, our New York City classical radio station, for $45 million, and used the proceeds to reduce our outstanding debt.

With of all this said, revenues were still down for the quarter and year, and we are still in the midst of a challenging business environment. In almost every On the Record, we have talked about making the transition from a company that operated primarily in print to one that is increasingly digital and multiplatform in delivery. With that in mind, we wish to point out that online revenues are becoming a more important part of our mix, with Internet businesses contributing almost 14% of our total revenues and 22% of our ad revenues in 2009.

Last month, we announced that NYTimes.com has decided to introduce a new metered model in 2011 to create a second online revenue stream. We are already hard at work at executing this plan, and it is our expectation that this new effort will improve our ability to grow our Company.

Of course, the metered model will be one of our major 2010 initiatives, but there is more to do. While it would be helpful to have a greater sense of where the economy is heading, we are confident that we can build on our increasingly solid foundation. We will continue to streamline costs, strengthen our balance sheet and enhance our digital businesses. We recognize that the quality of our journalism is at the heart of our Company's success, but we also acknowledge that quality journalism can only survive as part of a profitable business organization.

For more information about our fourth-quarter earnings, please see the Company's release, available at http://www.nytco.com/investors.

Arthur and Janet

Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.

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