I talked to the former lead international hostage negotiator for the FBI about how he would go about getting a discount from his cable company. Here's what he said...

I suspected they were using Robert Cialdini Influence tricks.

Your article made it clear how they do that and how to combat it. Thank you!

When you call them the customer service rep is reading from a script. I know somebody who has worked on producing those scripts — he’s a Harvard trained negotiator. An expert. He makes sure the phrasing triggers reciprocity and subtly includes a number of other techniques to benefit them — and not you.

So when you talk to the person reading that script you’re basically going up against a top tier negotiator. Totally not a fair fight. And that bugs me. A lot.