MSE News: Sky and the AA are easiest to haggle with

parkview094

We use Virgin Media for our Phone and broadband. Came to the end of the contract and were going to move to plusnet who unfortunately couldn't port our number. Virgin disconnections offered to match the plusnet monthly price, so we've now got "L" Broadband and "XL" TV for £22 a month. No hassle at all!

leclerc

With regards to AA breakdown, i have the minimal cover. A few year ago I rang up to cancel cos of their price and the advisor said that they could price match so this year I rang up after their renewal amount was £54.80 and asked them to price match their online price of £30.00 and in the end they gave that to me for £28.00.
Never accept the renewal price cos that means you pay over the odds.

Dot

We are with the RAC as they do a family of 5 where others are only 4 and, to be fair, their service has been excellent when we have needed them. On renewal I noticed that new customers got a better deal so I rang and asked for the same price. She was quite emphatic that, as they had dropped the price for me the previous year, they could not do it again. She let me walk away.

I cancelled and became a 'new' customer in hubbie's name.

SPh

I contacted O2 3 days ago to tell them that I wanted to switch broadband supplier without even haggling, I was offered a new 12 month contract with the same conditions but with 9 months free...an annual saving of £100!

[Deleted User]

i wish i could haggle a deal with sky, we do not have virgin media around our area so i cant ring and say we going elsewhere?
any ideas anyone?
we have hd, multi-room and entertainment but want to add movies and maybe sports but that would push it up to 75 quid a month!!!!

G6JPG

I've generally tried it for car insurance and breakdown, but the last couple of years - really, since the comparison sites have been going strong, though I don't know if that's the reason - I've either got so little it's been hard to assess (as they won't exactly match the terms of and competitor - different excess, number of callouts, level of windscreen o rlegal cover, and so on - exactly), or not got anywhere at all (with Admiral, who were competitive anyway).

So - and I realise this would be harder to assess - can you, perhaps for next time, ask for the percentage discount people are getting? Basically, I do also value my time, and - certainly for car insurance - less than about a per cent reduction I would not be too bothered about. (Others will have different thresholds, but the idea remains.)

But thanks for doing it anyway!

(I just hope it doesn't result in the easiest-to-haggle-with companies - those at the top of your list - tightening controls.)

Pmarmalade

kingkano wrote: »

How do you haggle with an energy provider?? Ask for cheaper unit prices?? Cant imagine this is possible?

This is exactly what I came in to ask.

I can only imagine this working if you're not on direct debit when your bill comes in and you phone and say you can't afford to pay??

Pmarmalade

On another note, I'm with Admiral for my car insurance (supposedly the easiest to haggle with) but every year when I use comparison tools my direct renewal price from Admiral beats them all by ~£50. Since I have no cheaper quote prices to haggle with I don't try, and I'm very satisfied they aren't just throwing me an expensive renewal price and hoping I don't shop around.

davidt1980

My first half price deal from Sky ran out last month so I left it a month and have called them back today to threaten once more to leave because the wife didnt want to ditch movies and i didnt want to ditch the sport so we came up with an agreement to ditch the lot and get freeview and both suffer because of the saving. Blah Blah Blah...Anyways, They couldnt offer me 6 Months @ £27.50 this time (saving me £165) but they could offer me Broadband & Phone instead for £7.50/month for 12 months All In. I pay £24.99 for that from Aol. So I took them up on that offer and saved £210 over the year! So Im well pleased!! :T:beer::T

sionharris

A few years back I haggled for an outstanding deal with O2. £15 a month for 12 months, 500 mins, unlimited texts and internet, free Nokia N95.

Total cost of the contract = £180

Sold the phone on eBay for £235. So I was £55 up on the deal and had free phone use for a year