I might as well tell you my answer right up front. If there's going to be a price break and I've been a loyal customer of yours, you better offer me the same great rate you offer to lure in new folks … or I might just go for someone else's great intro offer – whether you issue credit cards, provide long distance phone service, deliver home heating oil, sell automobiles – you name it!

Case in point: In these here parts of upstate New York, the dog days of summer notwithstanding, this is the time to see how much it's going to cost to heat the house this winter. The fuel companies have begun advertising their introductory rates, and many of them will have booths at local county fairs, offering hot deals to entice new customers.

Given what's going on in the world these days, a major increase in the cost of oil seems to be a foregone conclusion. So do what Marc and I do as soon as those new customer come-ons start appearing in your area:

Let your fingers do the walking.
Call around to see who will be charging what for home heating oil.

Armed with the price quotes from the competition, Marc called the company that has been our long-term fuel supplier to find out what its price was going to be for the coming year. The customer service representative explained that there were two choices:

1. $2.899 was guaranteed for "pay as you go," and
2. $2.849 was available if we were willing to pre-pay … or if we signed up for a budget plan, which would cost an extra $6 a month, where we would make equal monthly payments based on what we used last year.

Tell It Like It Is!
"We've been your customers for a long time, but we&39;ve been offered a better price," Marc said, "and we don't want to feel stupid."

"Could you tell me what price you were offered?" she asked.

"Sure," Marc said, "but I'd rather not."

"I understand," she said. "Please hold."

A few moments later, a man was on the phone, identifying himself as a bigwig with the fuel company. He noted that he'd heard we had been offered a lower price, went on to talk about the importance of being suspicious of come-ons from competitors, and said that he hears from lots of people who were offered good prices for a year, only to have the price jump the next year. Then -- without Marc saying a word -- he offered a price of $2.699 a gallon, through next June 30th, or $2.649 if we pre-paid.

"Not to be confrontational," Marc said, "but just as a matter of calm discussion, it looks like your prices are flexible, too, just like your competitors. Our customers always get our best prices," he added, thinking of the books, software, and services that we sell. "But it looks as if your company is doing exactly what your competitors do ... offering your best prices to potential new customers and jacking up the price for old customers."

That&39;s when the price dropped to $2.599, pay as you go, good through the end of June, 2007.

That's a 30 cent per gallon price drop in the midst of a time of great incertainty. We'll be buying home heating fuel at the lowest price in our area – all for the cost of a few toll-free calls and a few minutes on the phone. No raised voices. No threats. No arguments. Just a simple, "we've been your customers for a long time, but we've been offered a better price."

Give it a whirl, next time you see introductory offers that are better than what you're paying – be it for home heating oil, long distance phone service, credit cards, your next set of wheels - whatever!

Tip: Don't hesitate to ask to speak to a supervisor if the customer service representative is not able to help you.

Let us know how you make out!