Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bargaining

Should I call my CC company to work something out if I recently became unemployed?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:28:13 -0800

I recently (the 12th) was laid off, is it worthwhile calling credit card companies to suspend payments or work out a lower interest rates until I'm employed again? I have a large amount of debt from an ill-fated freelance photography "gig" and general overspending. I never signed up for those credit monitoring/in-case-of-emergency programs for $10 a month (wish I had). Do CC companies work with people, or will this simply cause the companies I call and the companies they work with to slash my available credit?

Thanks guys.....

How can apply game theory to help me negotiate a better deal?

matholio — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:45:47 -0800

How can apply game theory to help me negotiate a better deal? I've handed in my notice, I have a new job to go to.
I gave 4 weeks notice, but on reflection it's going to be a while before I can take an anual leave, I'd like to take my last week as leave (I have accrued enough time)

This is week 2 or 4 of my notice period.

I really don't want to work the last week, I want to spend time with my family.

Management does not want to give me the time off, they want me to use the time dumping my knowledge, and handing over to a contractor who starts next week.

I have a lot of local knowledge of my domain, and losing that knowledge presents a businiess risk, so they want to keep me as long as possible.

Denying me the last week off, demotivates me, so maybe the hand over will be low quality.

If the handover is considered bad, they can give me a unfavorable reference.

They have no way of knowing if the handover is good.

I could do a great handover and they may perceive it to be not good enough.

I have been a hard working, loyal employee, I have agood relationship with the C-Level leaders, I don't want to sour it.

The remaining time is not really enough time to do a great handover anyway.

If I work the last week, they have to pay out my accrued annual leave, if I go early they don't.

I could spend my last week, reading metafilter.

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How might I attempt to model that data, and use game theory to assess various outcomes ?

I would think they would opt to motivate me to do a good hand-over in less time and let me go early, saving some money.

Thanks

Looking for advice about getting and spending money while in Mexico.

iamkimiam — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:02:20 -0800

Traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico next week. Looking for advice and information about money while I'm there. A friend and I will be spending some time in Oaxaca, Mexico in July. We are wondering about how to get and spend money while we're there. Specifically, whether or not it is better to bring dollars in, or go to ATMs once we arrive. Why? How do conversion rates work? Should we get pesos too? What ratio of dollars-to-pesos should we have? Where is our bargaining power and when is it most effective to offer to pay with dollars versus pesos? Any other monetary info welcome as well. Thanks!

Negotiating with a NYC broker

pithy comment — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:53:07 -0800

Looking for advice in negotiating with a NYC apartment broker. I know they're all "scumbags" etc, but I find myself in the position of working with a broker and an apartment I want to go for. Yesterday in speaking with him I asked if there was any flexibility in his fee and he said "wish I could, but I can't." I pretty much just left it at that. The fee is 15% which is essentially 2 months rent. Insane! I have researched a bit and found that the apartment has been on the market a few weeks (longer than many), and we have another option, potentially with another broker. But my fear is that he'll just say, "OK, bye" because he can charge the full fee to someone else who walks in the door. What other bargaining chips do I have?

Make my aparment better!

backseatpilot — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:08:14 -0800

How do I bargain with my landlord? My lease is coming up, and I need to renew it. I'd like to use this opportunity to get some improvements done on the apartment. My rent's only going up $15 a month, though, so I don't really know how much I can ask for. Compounding the problem is the fact that my "landlord" is actually a large management company. I can ask for this by calling the maintenance hotline or including a letter with my next rent check.

Here's what I want done:
-Redo the kitchen (new floor and cabinets)
-Redo the bathroom (new floor and toilet)
-Repaint the (peeling) ceiling
-Fix the windows that don't close properly

So, how much can I reasonably expect to get done? What's the best way to ask for it? Any success stories getting stuff out of property management companies? It's worth noting that I'll almost definitely resign the lease even if these improvements don't get done.

Bargaining over the price of a bike

bstreep — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:52:04 -0800

When buying a new bike from a local bike shop, is bargaining over the price expected, and if so, how much should I be able to talk them down from the MRSP?