Can Trim Get Money Back For Internet Outages
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Trim (too known equally Trim Savings and AskTrim) is one of many new tools that promise to salvage you coin effortlessly.
But is it really equally easy as signing up and letting Trim be your automated personal finance banana?
To my surprise, the answer to that question is "yes" — to an extent.
The service'due south automated features do take their limits, although Trim is expanding its offerings as part of its quest to help you make the most of your money.
In this Trim review, you'll larn:
- How Trim works.
- What Trim offers.
- What Trim costs.
- How Trim makes money (and when y'all're charged).
My experience with Trim has been a nice surprise. Trim has delivered on its promise to save me money effortlessly. Its near useful features are canceling unwanted subscriptions, avoiding depository financial institution fees and negotiating for lower bills. The platform also has a few other tools, such as a debt payoff estimator and an online banking concern business relationship to help you automatically relieve towards your financial goals.
Pros:
- Gratis to sign upward.
- Negotiates for lower internet, TV, telephone and medical bills, and can help reduce banking fees and credit card APRs.
- Can get yous credits from your cable or internet provider for a power outage.
- Trim's 15% success fee with no monthly subscription cost is the lowest pricing amid competitors.
Cons:
- The success fee is charged up-front after a successful negotiation, which may increase your expenses in the current month.
- At that place's a mobile-optimized website, merely no mobile app.
How Trim Works
Fiscal tools like Mint have changed the mode nosotros manage our finances.
We no longer need to break out a spreadsheet to budget, or log in to all of our accounts to run across how much we've spent. We tin can see our cash flow in seconds merely by opening a single app.
While these tools offer an array of useful features, they accept their limits. And at the end of the twenty-four hour period, these tools are not playing an active role in helping us make the most of our coin.
That'due south where Trim aims to make full a gap in the market. The service tries to actively help you manage your finances, even going as far every bit saving money through the utilize of bogus intelligence.
You get started past signing upward for Trim through the company's website and linking your banking concern account and credit card accounts. Then, rather than using an app, y'all'll communicate with Trim via text message.
What Trim Offers
The number of ways Trim can help you salve money is growing.
Even so, what the service is well-nigh well-known for is its automated bill negotiation tool. Information technology likewise has the ability to abolish unwanted and unused subscriptions.
This is a smart strategy for Trim, as negotiating your bills and canceling subscriptions are small wins that deliver big results.
The service can and has won users over with these quick wins.
Hither'south how these features work:
Trim Bill Negotiator
Trim tin can negotiate your bill with whatsoever internet, cable or cell telephone provider. In improver, Trim can help you negotiate:
- Credit bill of fare APRs.
- Medical bills.
- Bank account fees (including the ability to negotiate away a contempo overdraft fee).
Among competitors, Trim has the broadest telescopic of bills that it negotiates on your behalf:
| Tin Negotiate… | |
| Trim | Internet, TV, cell phone and medical bills, plus banking fees (including credit card APRs). |
| Truebill | Internet, prison cell phone, cablevision and security bills, plus banking fees. |
| Cushion.ai | Banking fees only. |
| Billshark | Internet, cell phone, cable and security bills. |
How information technology works is that afterward you lot sign up, y'all're asked to link your service provider and, if not listed, upload your latest bill.
Trim will then use a chatbot (or someone from Trim will place a phone call) to negotiate.
What's squeamish about Trim'south bill negotiation service is that it constantly monitors your bills for ways to save money.
For example, say that your cablevision bill goes upwards after the initial 12-month promotional period, or that there's a good express-time offer you weren't aware of; in either case, Trim will endeavor to negotiate a better rate.
Trim charges up to 15% of the annual savings it achieves on your behalf after a successful negotiation. (The fee varies depending on the service provider.)
So, if Trim saves you lot $200 per year on a bill, its cutting would be upwards to $30. This fee is charged up-front, not on a month-by-month footing.
If you lot're the type who never negotiates, this sometime fee could be worth it.
Withal, if I had a substantial bill I hadn't negotiated in a while, I'd endeavour negotiating myself start. Then, I'd sync the account with Trim.
Knowing this, I even so gave Trim the risk to negotiate on my behalf.
My issue was that I don't accept much to negotiate. My electric current breakdown of cell phone, cable, and internet service providers are:
- Cablevision and net: I pay $54.99 to Comcast for limited basic cable, HBO and performance internet.
- Phones: For 2 phones, I pay on average $24 per calendar month for 2 GBs of data through Xfinity Mobile.
- Utilities: Local utilities are not-negotiable through the urban center.
And then in terms of large, recurring utility and service bills, there wasn't much for Trim to do.
Simply one benefit of linking your accounts is that Trim may be able to get credits for cablevision and cyberspace outages. This is where I've personally seen the most savings.
On iii dissever occasions, Trim has been able to go a credit applied to my Comcast business relationship.
Here's a $10 credit negotiated in November of 2017:
And a $20 credit negotiated for me in October of 2018:
The third time was in Jan of 2019. The message I received from Trim was that it was a $twenty credit, simply a $30 credit appeared on my Comcast bill.
Here's the notification from Comcast:
I have to acknowledge, these notifications are fun to get. I gladly pay xv% for this service, equally near of the time I wasn't even aware at that place was an outage.
So in my situation, Trim'due south bill negotiation service has resulted in a prissy win and has been well worth the few minutes it took to sign up.
Related reading: How to get free internet (legally).
Canceling Unwanted Subscriptions
The other feature that gets a lot of printing is Trim'southward subscription cancelation service. With a quick text, Trim tin cancel sure subscriptions on your behalf.
Trim starts the procedure on its end, sending you a monthly update of any potential subscriptions.
This is what it looks similar:
And then, y'all tin can actually initiate the cancelation process past simply texting back "Cancel." Trim will have intendance of the residuum.
There are a few ways Trim does this, including:
- Sending an electronic mail.
- Placing a telephone phone call.
- Sending a certified letter in the mail in cases where information technology's extremely hard to cancel (similar gym memberships).
This feature is 100% gratis of charge, for both premium members and if you lot're using Trim à la menu.
Trim's Other Features
In one case you lot log in, there are more potentially-useful features.
While these don't salve you money directly, they can help you lot make amend fiscal decisions.
Here's what'due south inside:
- Spending assay: Trim's spending assay lets yous compare your spending month-past-calendar month, by exact appointment, and by category. I found the exact date feature pretty useful for seeing if I have whatsoever big one-time expenses coming up.
- Budget your spending: You lot can set a budget with Trim, and the service will notify you of your progress throughout the calendar month.
- Financial monitoring: Become a text notification any fourth dimension there are certain transactions, such equally your paycheck being deposited, an overdraft fee or a late fee. In add-on, get a notification when other parameters are met, like a minimum checking account balance or a big transaction.
- Trim Simple Savings account: An FDIC-insured bank account with the purpose of automating savings towards your financial goals, like edifice an emergency fund.
- TrimPay: This service helps yous pay down your credit card debt by transferring coin from your checking business relationship to TrimPay, which and then pays off your credit bill of fare bills. The idea here is to go the coin out of your checking business relationship (where you're well-nigh likely to spend it) as apace as possible, instead allocating it towards paying off credit card debt.
Notation: The Trim Uncomplicated Savings business relationship is funded through automated weekly transfers. You set the transfer amount and can alter it at whatsoever time.
How Trim Makes Money
Any time I sign up for a service, I like to understand the business model backside information technology. Trim utilizes the popular "freemium" model.
Signing up is costless, as are many of the services offered.
Trim'due south costless services include:
- Beak cancelation: The ability to cancel monthly subscriptions with a simple text.
- Budgeting tools: Trim'due south spending analysis and budgeting tools allow you to easily track how yous're doing for the month.
- Text alerts: Notifications about monthly subscriptions sent via SMS, as well as notices well-nigh large purchases and whether you're spending within your budget.
Every bit discussed, Trim makes money through its bill negotiation service, for which information technology charges upwards to 15% of the total annual savings.
Furthermore, like many other budgeting tools, Trim recommends certain financial products that it thinks might be a skillful fit for y'all. These include credit cards, home and motorcar insurance, and clean utility options (they recommend Arcadia Power).
Is Trim Safety?
When setting up your Trim business relationship, y'all can't help but wonder if the service is safe. After all, y'all're providing the visitor with your checking account and credit carte details.
First, know that the Trim app but has "read-only" access to your fiscal accounts. That means no changes can exist made (such as moving money around) without your permission, and yous can revoke this admission at any time.
Also, Trim does not have access to the passwords for your fiscal accounts, which are linked through a well-known tertiary-party service called Plaid.
Furthermore, Trim's website uses 256-fleck SSL encryption and all server-side databases.
If you sign up through SMS, Trim uses ii-cistron authentication (which sends you a text to confirm your identity).
Trim doesn't share your data, according to its FAQ:
Your data is only used for you: nosotros don't sell information technology or use it in any way other than what we've explained already. We safeguard your data using banking company-level security at all times. We don't always share your data with third parties.
How Does Trim Compare to Truebill?
The services are very similar. At their core, both companies' goal is to aid you salve money.
Truebill accomplishes this in a very like manner as Trim, with features similar identifying recurring charges, canceling unwanted subscriptions and automatic bill negotiation.
To become these services, you lot have to sign up for Truebill Premium, which costs betwixt $3 and $12 per month (with annual plans offered to lower the pricing). You then pay a success fee anywhere betwixt 30% and 60% of the annual savings, on top of that monthly fee.
Learn more in our Truebill review.
Given that, Trim stands out for its depression xv% success fee paired with no monthly recurring payment. Plus, Trim is the only automated neb negotiation tool that negotiates credit card APRs and medical bills.
Here'south a breakdown of the services offered by Trim and its primary competitors, including how much they charge.
| Can Negotiate… | Subscription Fee | Success Fee | |
| Trim | Internet, Telly, telephone and medical bills, plus banking fees (including credit card APRs). | $0 | 15% of annual savings. |
| Truebill | Net, phone, cable and security bills, plus banking fees. | $3 to $12 per month | 30% to threescore% of annual savings. |
| Cushion.ai | Cyberbanking fees merely. | $4.99 per yr. | 39% of annual savings. |
| Billshark | Cyberspace, Television, phone, and security bills. | $0 | 40% of annual savings. |
Trim FAQ
What types of unwanted subscriptions can Trim cancel?
Trim regularly scans your transactions for whatsoever and all monthly subscription fees and other recurring charges — from streaming services like Netflix to gym memberships and everything in between. Once they identify a subscription, they will then attain out to ask y'all if information technology's something you'd like to cancel.
Does Trim piece of work every bit a budgeting app?
Trim'south budgeting app isn't as robust every bit something like Personal Capital, only it's a solid way to rail your spending habits and progress towards your fiscal goals.
Within the "Your Spending" tab, yous can see your most contempo transactions, largest transactions, transactions sorted by merchant, and transactions sorted by category. You can then compare this to the previous month'south expenses.
How does Trim compare to Truebill?
The services are very similar. At their cadre, both companies' goal is to assist you save money.
Truebill accomplishes this in a very similar manner as Trim, with features like identifying recurring charges, canceling unwanted subscriptions, and automated bill negotiation.
To get these services, you have to sign up for Truebill Premium, which costs between $3 and $12 per month (with annual plans offered to lower the pricing).
That said, Truebill has what I consider a best-in-form budgeting tool with a very clean interface — and you do not have to be a paid fellow member to use information technology.
Trim Review: Endmost Thoughts
I'm excited to meet where Trim continues to go with its products.
I love the idea behind these next-generation fiscal services that are taking an active role in helping people manage their coin.
I've personally seen the about benefit from the bill negotiation service, and specifically from Trim's ability to become credits for cable and internet outages.
And the text/messenger alerts are a dainty manner to keep a close middle on whether my budget is out of whack.
I thing I'd lookout man out for is if yous pay hundreds per month for services. If Trim is able to knock $l per month off your bills ($600 per twelvemonth), you can get charged up to $90 upwards-front. There's no question it'south worth it in the long run, but just brand certain you're aware of the potential i-fourth dimension charges.
Sign up for your Trim account hither.
Source: https://www.thewaystowealth.com/reviews/trim-review/
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