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You have been down this road before. This time it is going to be different because you have practiced. You are going to get what you want without losing your cool or spending half the day on the phone. You are going to call and get the rate you deserve.

The first thing you are going to encounter is the VRU (Voice Response Unit). This is enough to unnerve anyone. The trick is the pound sign. No, not pound the phone to bits. Pound, or the # key, is usually not an option in most VRU's. Selecting pound several times in succession usually gets you through most annoying prompts, and puts you in line for the next available agent.

You are not quite there yet. The person who is answering your call is a front line agent without any more authority to make changes to your account than your dog. One thing they do have is power. Power to tell you this is simply not an option on your account at this time or the power to pass you along to someone who may be able to help. How this power is wielded depends on you. You have to ask, politely, for a supervisor or manager. You will be asked why; that is the operator's job to determine if a supervisor is necessary or if they may be able to handle the call themselves. Remain calm, and simply ask for what you want.

There are optimum times to ask for what you want. For example, if you are over your limit, forget it. If you have been delinquent with a payment within the last 6-12 months depending on the company, this is not the right time. If your rate has changed recently due to delinquency, company policy, or you just asked two months ago and got the rate lowered it isn't going to happen. Once a year is often enough to call and make this sort of request. Pick a month. Maybe your anniversary month with the company; or call them up on your birthday as a gift to yourself.

You can get changes made this way but don't expect the sun and moon. A few percentage points are all the leeway any agent at any level is going to be able to muster for you if your payments are always kept current. Usually 3-5%. Save yourself and the agent on the other end of the line a lot of unnecessary frustration by expecting to get a little push back from the manager. That is their job.

Pick up the phone because you are now a little more prepared to navigate your way through the VRU, get to who can really help, and get a little shaved off your APR in a timely way. As a final note, don't forget to say thank you to the agent or manager, they are people too!

Learn more about this author, Rosemari Trites.
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