Spill the beans ... What's your biggest money blag?

robynprincess

Just thought of a personal one, i booked a hotel in the USA through a website that went through quidco, shortly before i was due to go away i got an email from someone i knew who had just stayed in that very hotel and said how dirty and horrid it was, they had pictures too. needless to say i could cancel at no cost and then arranged to stay in a villa instead. still got the £50 cashback though

pineapple

Not so much a purchase more an avoidance of costs. I once got a summons for a traffic offence. I was genuinely just about to go to Africa and wrote admitting guilt saying I would miss the court date, so please could they fine me now. I might just have said something about voluntary work. Well the Africa bit was true.... Got a letter saying 'Don't do it again'. Case closed!

the_farmer

This is REAL biggy. Eighteen years ago when I built our new house I had several quotes for installing the new windows, doors and a large Victorian conservatory. This was a large house and the quotes coming back were all around the £30k + mark.

Not every company who had quoted on our windows was an actual manufacturer ... however a local manufacture had quoted a few times for our job so he came to see me to ask if i was interested in doing a deal directly with him and cutting out the middle-man.

We were in no rush for our windows and doors because this was new-build and so he asked us if we could wait until the first week of January after his workforce started back from the Christmas / New year holiday break. According to him this was the time that no one is interested in putting any firm orders in regarding domestic window and door work and this job of ours was sufficiently big to keep all his men in employment for a good three weeks.

If we agreed to this time-scale .... which insidently suited us down to the ground ... then he was willing to do the whole job for cost price as it meant it kept his men in employment over this lean period.

So, after several quotes in the beginning for thirty thousand pounds plus ..... the whole lot (including the large 20' x 16' conservatory) eventually came to .... drum roll please .... eight thousand pounds.

A saving of well over TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND pounds for cutting out the middle man :T Not bad eh.

Sarah-J

We got married on a Monday, which is not a popular day for weddings - a great thing when you want to save money, though it was pure co-incidence in our case. The first venue we went to see on our shortlist was larger than we needed, so we were discussing just having some of their rooms and not taking exclusive use - we were planning a very small wedding to keep costs down. They said they preferred exclusive use as it was better for them as well as us, so offered us a great deal that worked out cheaper than just taking the rooms we needed - basically their lastminute rate, even though we were booking months in advance. After we left I looked through their literature and noticed they had an even better off-peak deal, another £500 cheaper than the one they'd offered us. I called to say that we would like to go ahead, but being a bit cheeky, was there any chance of getting the off-peak price? They said yes :-) My husband still thinks I'm the cheekiest thing in the world as he was too embarressed to ask, but was well impressed with the extra saving! Of course we then went on to expand the wedding party to fill all the rooms, so they probably got more back from the additional food and drink, but everyone was happy.

It's amazing how many times you can get an extra discount just by asking nicely, I regularly get 10% or more off things I buy. The key is to be nice, have a bit of a laugh with it, and don't take offence if they say no.

Latest best saving was a Groupon deal for £30 Body Shop voucher for £12. I bought it through topcashback so had some cash back on that. Then I shared it on facebook and two people bought the deal via my link, which earned me £12 from Groupon for future deals, so the net result was that I got paid to spend £30 in Body Shop - happy days.

OldBat_2

I once blagged a free upgrade for me and my hubby on a flight home from the US, with Continental Airlines.
Got a free upgrade on the way out without doing anything, so on the way back, I cheekily said to the person on the gate "I am available for upgrade if you need me" with a wink and a smile.
As the flight started boarding, he came over and said that if we would like to go over to the desk, he would issue new boarding cards for business class.

£3000 worth of free comfort - made the holiday!

jinkssick

• Had a £400 debt with Nationwide, called and said I was in serious financial difficulties, would it be possible if I get a friend, this very moment to settle the debt for me at a reduced rate. They said yes, £400 to £180.

• Currently paying £30 a month (off what was a £900 debt). Seeing as its 0%, I have been paying it back for the last 3 years, filled in form last week stating that I am heavily broke and have £10 in my pockets after paying the 30. On the side saving approx k1.6 a month Lord willing.

• The wife found something like £520 in the trouser pockets of a gentlemen when she worked in a dry cleaners. Kept the money safe, (promise) til the gentlemen came back, but he never returned not for the money not for the trousers.

• There was a deal for a refurbished laptop, thought it was a steal at £300 for what ended being untouched (still works today 4 years on). When I was buying the laptop I noticed their website a bit funny, slow, stuttering, etc. Well to my horror and somehow, the button for payment was pressed more than once. To my horror I was charged £300 3x times. I had only one laptop. Called up, complained nicely and she said it would be sorted soon. Confusion meant 3x lots of payments going back into my account. Result, free laptop. Never received a reply.

t.belle

We got married on a Friday, which I realise is not the most convenient day for guests, but it meant that the beautiful manor house that we chose for the reception didn't charge us a penny to hire it out!

We also managed to get a great deal on the catering (provided by the manor house), as we didn't want to include any alcohol to be served with the meal. After discussing the options with the staff, they decided that it would be easier for us to provide our own drinks, so saving us the ridiculous 'per bottle opened' rates that these venues charge, so we bought Appletiser and Peartiser on offer in a supermarket and served it with own-brand orange juice as the third option. All in all it can't have cost more than about £90 for drinks for a wedding party of 80!

ADM34

Some years ago my partner took out a long term loan on his property. Unknown to my partner at the time, attached to this loan was PPI insurance cover for accident, sickness and redundancy, through a policy that repaid its premium in full at the end of the policy term, providing no claims had been made on the policy.

Under the PPI miss-selling rules the Financial Services Compensation Scheme recently ruled that this insurance had been miss-sold and awarded compensation exceeding £4K to cover the cost of the premiums paid during the timeframe covered by the policy.

On the expiry of the insurance term, the company wrote to my partner and advised him that he may be eligible for a full refund of the premiums he had paid, asking him to complete a form and return it for consideration. He duly completed the form and returned it, only to then receive a letter advising that, as he had made a claim on the policy, he was not eligible for a refund! As the only claim he had made was regarding the miss-selling of the PPI he challenged this with the company but was again told that as the policy shouldn't have been sold to him in the first place, he wasn't entitled to the refund!!

He went back to the FSCS for help - they agreed that there was a claim but could no longer help as it was out of their remit - they did however suggest he contact the Financial Ombudsman Service for their advice. On contacting the FOS, they were of the opinion that there was no claim, as he should not have been sold the policy in the first place (sound familiar?), but they agreed to have a look at the paperwork.

Whilst the FOS were looking at the paperwork, my partner wrote to the loan company asking them to fully explain why he was not entitled to this money as he had fully complied with all the necessary conditions, as per his contract, and as such, he considered their refusal to reimburse the premium as a breach of contract on their part and would be taking further action.

Six weeks later he received a letter from the loan company congratulating him on his policy maturing, accompanied by a cheque for nearly £8K – this meant he had received C£12K back for a policy he should not have been sold in the first place - what a result!!!!:T

HappySad

the_farmer wrote: »

This is REAL biggy. Eighteen years ago when I built our new house I had several quotes for installing the new windows, doors and a large Victorian conservatory. This was a large house and the quotes coming back were all around the £30k + mark.

Not every company who had quoted on our windows was an actual manufacturer ... however a local manufacture had quoted a few times for our job so he came to see me to ask if i was interested in doing a deal directly with him and cutting out the middle-man.

We were in no rush for our windows and doors because this was new-build and so he asked us if we could wait until the first week of January after his workforce started back from the Christmas / New year holiday break. According to him this was the time that no one is interested in putting any firm orders in regarding domestic window and door work and this job of ours was sufficiently big to keep all his men in employment for a good three weeks.

If we agreed to this time-scale .... which insidently suited us down to the ground ... then he was willing to do the whole job for cost price as it meant it kept his men in employment over this lean period.

So, after several quotes in the beginning for thirty thousand pounds plus ..... the whole lot (including the large 20' x 16' conservatory) eventually came to .... drum roll please .... eight thousand pounds.

A saving of well over TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND pounds for cutting out the middle man :T Not bad eh.

This is amazing!!!! This is the most I have ever heard anyone gain form using their MSE head and brain. Well done and good on you :0) :T:T:T

Finleys_Dad

About four or five years ago I decided to leave my Broadband provider which at the time was Madasafish so rang up for a MAC code. In the end I did not get it together to change providers and didn't use the code. Meanwhile I got a final bill from Madasafish but my broadband carried on until earlier this year!! I did ring them at the beginning but they didn't seem too bothered! Saved me £100's