Trim Review: This Service Saved Me $500 On My Internet Bill, But I Stopped Using It!

Negotiating a lower internet bill can be a big hassle. If you’re looking to cut your internet bill, you may have heard about a service called Trim.

I saved nearly $500 using Trim, but then I stopped using it.

What Is Trim and Is It Worth It?

Trim is one of several companies that will negotiate with service providers to lower your bills. It’s similar to Rocket Money (formerly Truebill).

Before I get into why I stopped using Trim, there are a few things you need to know about the service.

How Does Trim Work?

Trim’s bill negotiation service works for various types of bills: cable, postpaid wireless and internet. I only have experience negotiating my internet bill with Trim.

The way it works is pretty simple:

Upload a copy of your bill to Trim’s website
Give Trim permission to negotiate on your behalf
Pay a success fee if Trim lowers your bill

Aside from bill negotiations, Trim and its competitors will cancel unwanted subscriptions for you.

Trim doesn’t charge for this service, but it does require you to link your bank or credit card account. Trim uses Plaid to connect to financial institutions and says it never sells user data.

How Much Does Trim Cost?

There is no upfront charge for Trim’s bill negotiation, but there is a success fee.

When I first tested Trim in 2017, the success fee was 25% of the first year of savings. Then, it increased to 33%.

At the time of this writing, the success fee is 15% of the first year of savings.

Here’s an example: Let’s say Trim negotiates a lower internet bill on your behalf and saves you $100 over the course of a year.

In this case, you’d have to pay Trim a one-time fee of $15 for their work.

Negotiating One-Time Credits

Most of my savings from Trim came from these bill negotiations, but that’s not why I actually signed up in the first place.

Trim states on its website that even if it can’t get you a lower monthly rate, it will negotiate one-time credits to lower your bill. This worked for me when I first signed up.

During my first year with Trim, the service negotiated five one-time credits, including a $30 credit from Comcast in 2018.

However, it became clear to me over time that Trim was more focused on negotiating a lower bill for a full year — not the smaller one-time credits.

That brings me to the reason why I stopped using the service.

Why I Cut Trim

I decided to ditch Trim after the service renegotiated my internet bill in February 2020. My rate wasn’t slated to increase until July of that year — five months later.

Trim was able to extend my promotional rate, saving me over $400.

The problem? Much of the savings Trim calculated was based on what my internet bill would have increased to after the promo rate ended — not what I was actually paying.

My original plan was to call my internet provider a month or two before that promo rate expired and negotiate on my own.

However, Trim beat me to it by starting the negotiation process five months in advance.

To be clear, I agreed to all of this. Trim will ask you if it can accept a contract on your behalf, make changes to your plan and renegotiate automatically.

I did have the “renegotiate on an ongoing basis” option turned on.

That was because I thought Trim was going to be actively working to secure more of those one-time credits that I got during my first year with the service.

How to Negotiate a Lower Internet Bill

Since my last experience with Trim, I’ve gone back to negotiating a lower internet bill on my own.

Here’s what works:

When you call your internet provider, ask for the retention department right away
Present the representative with a competing offer

Thanks to new 5G home internet options, this is easier than ever before.

For example, T-Mobile Home Internet offers an unlimited internet plan — $50 a month, no contract and no equipment fees.

Some fiber and cable internet providers are moving away from contracts to remain competitive.

If you do agree to a contract for a lower rate, consider whether you may be moving during the contract period so you don’t get stuck with an early termination fee later on.

Is Trim Really Worth It?

While Trim can certainly save you some time and hassle, you’ll need to weigh whether it’s worth it for you.

Personally, I’ve found that Trim isn’t doing anything that I can’t do on my own.

Many service providers will work with you on the price, but you must be proactive and willing to call them every year or so to renegotiate.

For more money-saving tips, check out the Michael Saves channel on YouTube!