Negotiating Fees Like a Ninja: How to Make $450 an Hour

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: EVERYTHING in life is a negotiation. Here’s a story that illustrates the simple power of a phone call and persistence. Effectively negotiating fees (and everything else in life) will drastically accelerate your financial independence journey.

The Backdrop

Rental Car Price Shopping

I recently made a trip that required the use of a rental car for a couple of days. I don’t have any sort of brand loyalty to a particular company. Additionally, the trip timing was flexible.

I began shopping around all the major carriers, hunting for the best deal. Towards the end of the process, I placed a Budget rental car on hold. It wasn’t the best deal out there, but the hold ensured that I would have something lined up if I didn’t manage to find anything better.

Importantly, this hold required no deposit, commitment, or money down. All that it required was a credit card number to hold the reservation. Or so I was made to believe.

Ultimately, I chose to rent an Alamo car instead that I found for a steal of a deal. I canceled my hold at Budget and set out on my journey.

Hidden Fees

Two weeks later, I began combing through my Chase credit card statement from the prior month. There, virtually jumping off the page and slapping me in the face, was a $75 charge from Budget.

I couldn’t believe it. I had scoured the rental car hold policy closely before putting my card down. This had to be some sort of mistake. While $75 isn’t a life-changing sum of money by any means, we know that hidden fees like these are one of the five silent financial independence killers.

I called up Budget’s customer service line and explained the situation. After looking up my reference number, the customer service representative, Christie, delivered some unfortunate news. Since my cancellation occurred within a 48-hour window of the trip, a $75 “no-show” was incurred per the company’s standard policy.

While I swear that this language wasn’t provided on any materials that I received or webpages associated with my initial rental hold, she did point me to some finely printed legalese buried deep within the websites archives. It seemed to support her claim.

Now, most people would grow discouraged and quit in this moment. But we can do better. Here’s how.

Negotiating Nirvana

Before stepping through my exact process for getting these charges wiped, I want to pause and give credit where it’s due. I didn’t invent the tactics or the script presented below. Far from it.

Instead, I leveraged the expertise of one of the most renowned negotiating geniuses in the world: Chris Voss. In his smash-hit book Never Split the Difference, Voss draws upon his decades of experience as an FBI hostage negotiator to explain how the masses can apply the same tactics to negotiating fees (and everything else) in civilian life.

It reads like a tactical field guide crossed with a thriller novel. He frames each lesson with anecdotes from past crises across his career. Then, he methodically breaks down the emotions, hidden variables, and precise phrasing that will put you in control of almost any situation.

While some of the suggestions might sound awkward or difficult to implement initially, it is well worth investing time to internalize and practice these strategies. As I’ll illustrate in my example negotiating fees with Budget, this stuff works!

Negotiating Fees Like a Ninja

Back to the rental car story. Here is exactly how things went down after my service rep, Christie, pointed me towards that legalese.

My Negotiation Play-by-Play (Part 1)

Cash Snacks: “Thanks for pointing that out, Christie. I see that it does mention a $75 cancellation fee. But I am still curious, what can we do to get that charge removed?”

Christie: “I’m sorry Mr. Cash Snacks, but this is Budget’s policy. We can’t do anything about it because you booked this reservation online. When you book online this cancellation policy is clearly stated on the reservation so we just can’t do anything about it.”

Cash Snacks: “I’m sorry, can’t do anything about it?”

Christie: “Yes, like I said you booked online so there is no flexibility here. We have to charge you this fee because the company policy is clearly stated when you checkout online.”

Cash Snacks: “Got it, that makes sense that this is your company policy when someone books online. How would this situation be different if I booked my reservation another way?”

Christie: “Well…Mr. Cash Snacks, when you book over the phone the cancellation policy isn’t clearly stated because you’re not on our website…so I guess we actually don’t have the same policy on phone reservations.”

Cash Snacks: “Okay understood, thanks for clarifying the policy for me. That’s really helpful. Back on my situation, what can we do to get that charge removed?”

Christie: “Well let me see what I can do. I will look further into this if you are okay being placed on a brief hold.”

Cash Snacks: “Absolutely, happy to wait. Thank you.” (cue soft jazz)

Negotiation Breakdown (Part 1)

What’s going on here? Let’s analyze the way I teed up this negotiation process.

First, I’ve engaged Christie as an ally. I didn’t try to fight the policy or complain that Budget is out to prey on unassuming customers. Rather, I enlisted her as a teammate, asking what “we” can do to solve the issue.

Notice that I also framed the discussion with an open-ended question. This subtly puts the onus back on Christie to think about a solution. When counterparties are put on the spot like this, they often begin to divulge valuable information.

One of Voss’ critical lessons is that negotiations are investigations disguised as conversations. Your aim is to get your counterparty talking as much as possible. Gather all of the information that you can about other side’s situation by asking thoughtful questions and providing them with an engaged audience.

In this case, Christie continued to harp on the fact that my reservation was booked online. I decided to shift the conversation. Rather than focus on the $75 charge, I probed into this online policy by saying: “I’m sorry, can’t do anything about it?” The tone here is crucial. Not mocking or combative. Think inquisitive and respectful.

This is a textbook Voss strategy called “mirroring.” It’s a simple yet powerful concept that plays on the fact that people love to feel important. Parroting back a key phrase mentioned by a counterparty makes them feel in control and intelligent. It garners trust and encourages them to keep talking.

Let’s see how the rest of the conversation played out.

My Negotiation Play-by-Play (Part 2)

Christie: “Great news, we’re actually able to make an exception here and waive half of the fee for you! You’ll only be charged $37.50 at this time.”

Cash Snacks: “Thanks so much, Christie. That is great news and I really appreciate it, but how can we work to get the full fee removed so that I’m not charged anything in this case?”

Christie: “Umm, well I guess I can talk to my manager about this particular situation if you are okay with going on another brief hold.” (cue more jazz)

Cash Snacks: “Yes, I’m happy to wait thank you!”

Christie: “Okay, Mr. Cash Snacks we will actually be able to waive the entire fee here. It will take approximately 5-7 business days, but you will see that charge come off your statement. Is there anything else that I can help you with today?”

Cash Snacks: “Thank you, Christie. That’s it. Have a great day.”

Negotiation Breakdown (Part 2)

BOOM. Got the job done. That’s how to negotiate fees like a ninja. Let’s analyze the way this conversation progressed.

Christie provided an initial concession by waiving half of the fee. I treated this like a starting point, not a destination. Once a concession like this is provided, it’s typically “game-over” in my mind. I feel confident that I’ll receive my full ask.

It became clear to me that this cancellation policy was arbitrarily enforced. Christie herself likely began to realize the absurdity of charging online customers $75 and phone customers nothing. I decided to press that opening politely.

I also continued to employ open-ended “what” and “how” questions strategically. Although I was winning Christie to my way of thinking, she still felt like she was in full control. These questions imply that the counterparty is the expert…that they hold the knowledge and power.

I rode this deference and polite persistence all the way to victory.

The Limitless Negotiation Mindset

The lesson here is less about nitty-gritty negotiating tactics and more about shifting your perspective on life. Reframe every obstacle, fee, or money mistake as an opportunity to negotiate.

With a simple ten-minute conversation, I saved $75. In other words, that conversation was worth $450 per hour. I’d take that deal at face value ten out of ten times. But the true values of this exercise goes much deeper.

Constantly negotiating fees breeds confidence and reinforces invaluable negotiating principles that can transform your life down the road. In fact, I often relish negotiating fees with low dollar values and small stakes. These opportunities provide great practice reps to help you grow and learn.

Ultimately, the art of negotiation is the same no matter the dollar value. The same principles, phrases, awkward silences, and power dynamics apply whether you’re negotiating a $50 late fee with your bank, a $50K raise with an employer, or a $50mm valuation on your startup.

So lean in. Welcome the discomfort, and accept that everything in life is a negotiation in some form. Just please, don’t tell Christie I sent you!

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