We are all looking at ways to save money. Perhaps you use coupons. Keep a lookout for sales and specials. Buy in bulk. But have you thought about inquiring about deals before you check out? Consumer experts say shoppers leave money on the table by not asking for discounts, promo codes, or fee waivers, and the results can be significant:
Retail-Me-Not's Stephanie Carls recommends asking at the register whether any coupons or extra discounts are available. For online shoppers, she suggests using a chatbot to inquire about active deals.
"Are there any active discounts or promo codes that I could use? Some of the time, they have different ones that they can then give you," Carls said.
The same approach applies to fees. Stephen Perrine of AARP says consumers regularly encounter unexpected charges.
"It seems like every day we're dealing with some kind of customer service rep from an insurance company, a credit card company, a bank, you name it, trying to figure out what these extra fees are, what's this interest charge, why am I paying this?" Perrine said.
Perrine says it is worth asking companies to waive those fees, and many will, but only if asked.
Research from LendingTree backs that up. Matt Schulz with LendingTree says 92% of people who ask for late fees to be waived on credit card payments get them waived.
"It's important for people to understand that a lot of credit card issuers have policies, written or unwritten, that if you call and ask to have a late fee waived, they'll do it, oftentimes, no questions asked," Schulz said.
That can save cardholders about $30. Schulz also notes that many credit card companies do not even require speaking with a representative — some customer service phone lines already include an automated option to waive late charges.
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It never hurts to ask. You just might find it leads to saving even more money. It can also help you decide which companies you want to work with more - or less - in the future.