Cost of Doing Business?

Today, while paying my monthly bills I noticed that two of my recurring costs are creeping up by a total of about $8 a month. Not a whole lot of money but that creep upwards can be dramatic over the course of a few years.

First, DirecTV has gone up @ $4.50 a month and is now costing us $88.25 (includes two receivers and we pay for HBO, we get free Showtime for being loyal customers). I called to find out why and was told that they had a "rate increase." I complained, nicely, and the DirecTV representative gave me a $5 off coupon for the next 6 months.

Second, ADT is going up @ $9 a quarter and is now costing us $136.94 for three months. I called ADT to inquire as to the increase and they explained the increase as "cost of doing business." I explained that raising rates on good customers during gloomy economic times is a sure fire way to motivate them to find another provider. The ADT representative was very friendly and took the increase off and we will be receiving a credit.

I'm wondering if businesses are increasing costs to cover the loss of business from other customers. But as demonstrated above, it pays to call and inquire about a reduction. I was two for two today and it only took me about 15 minutes of time to save $66.00 and stop the creep upward.