Our new Broadband Haggling guide - please share your feedback

rjd185

End of broadband contract, I always check but I didn't realise how much checking is worth doing.

At end of Virgin Media fibre contract and bumped to the 'normal' rate of £58pm. Phoned in and was offered £52. Two weeks later, phoned in again and checked the account offers, contract now renewing for £46. Still too high so I had booked already to transfer to PlusNet, and phoned Virgin Media to start the cancellation. Call routed to their 'Retentions' team - offered £38. Still too high so Rententions Bod #1 redirected me to the cancellations team, which turned out to be Rententions Bod #2, who immediately offered £30pm on the Volt M250 package.

Net result was I had four or five different offers but it was only when I insisted today that I was cancelling, that Virgin Media finally offered me the online, new customer price. It was the fourth reduction, and I'm on a better package than previously for basically the same money.

Virgin do appear to have three levels of 'retention' handling - one for people just looking for a price near contract end, the next for people who say they are cancelling/leaving but can be talked out of it, and the final one for people who've really insisted they are cancelling. Good luck out there!

thriftytracey

BT announced they are waiving their inflation rise - I am wondering if I can negotiate with Plusnet to waive the rise?  I've done the first level of haggling, but not 2. or 3. mainly because there isn't a decent deal out there or the ones that are cheaper have terrible levels of service.

bristolleedsfan

thriftytracey said:

BT announced they are waiving their inflation rise - I am wondering if I can negotiate with Plusnet to waive the rise?  I've done the first level of haggling, but not 2. or 3. mainly because there isn't a decent deal out there or the ones that are cheaper have terrible levels of service.

My eyes are not the best, I cannot see it being said BT are  "waiving their inflation rise"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514

"BT has announced it will introduce that change from summer 2024"

"According to a blog post from BT consumer chief Marc Allera, that means mobile customers will see mid-contract price rises "from £1.50", while broadband customers will face rises of £3"

https://newsroom.bt.com/our-new-pricing-structure-for-the-future/

"Until then, we continue to follow the existing rules, with our annual March 31st price increase of CPI + 3.9% going ahead as per normal"

tghe-retford

bristolleedsfan said:

thriftytracey said:

BT announced they are waiving their inflation rise - I am wondering if I can negotiate with Plusnet to waive the rise?  I've done the first level of haggling, but not 2. or 3. mainly because there isn't a decent deal out there or the ones that are cheaper have terrible levels of service.

My eyes are not the best, I cannot see it being said BT are  "waiving their inflation rise"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514

"BT has announced it will introduce that change from summer 2024"

"According to a blog post from BT consumer chief Marc Allera, that means mobile customers will see mid-contract price rises "from £1.50", while broadband customers will face rises of £3"

https://newsroom.bt.com/our-new-pricing-structure-for-the-future/

"Until then, we continue to follow the existing rules, with our annual March 31st price increase of CPI + 3.9% going ahead as per normal"

So broadband customers face the prospect of instead of a £1-2 rise on a typical two year deal with a lower CPI + 3.9%, they now face a £3 rise next year. Brilliant with a hint of sarcasm. They've managed to twist something that supposed to make something easier and fairer for consumers into another way to hike prices even higher. Thank goodness I switched to an altnet that doesn't do this sort of behaviour during the length of the contract.

dinglebert

Normally I think I can get good deals for broadband, tv etc.  However my contract end with BT is in March and I'm struggling.

My current deal for broadband is for Full Fibre 900 at £73.20.   I do have minutes on top of that but they are being dropped no matter what deal I go to.  I also have 5 mobile sims with BT as for some reason I pay for all the family.  They are all out of contract and I do need to do something with them but as I'm a broadband customer its double data at 40gb.  

I am not convinced I need 900.  My speed to the hub is around 800+ but to wi-fi devices it maxes around 450.  However I am told that if I drup to 500 then I probably would not get the 450 speed. which to me seems they throttle it.

I need to add to the mix that I use the BT discs which of course only work with their router.  I have three of them up and running and without them I do struggle in certain areas of the house.   In particular the conservatory where most of my Sonos equipment is used.

I made my first phone call today to see what I could get.  Online they are offering.   Full Fibre 900 Halo 3+ at £74.20 which will jump in April.  they are also offering TNT sports 24 month contract at £12 a month which does tempt a bit.  Only available if I take the new broadband contract.

On the phone I was offered £81 for 24 months with no increases for two years (clearly already built them in!) for my current package.  No sports deal as he couldn't see it.

I know I can get Sky or Plusnet cheaper but do have concerns around wi-fi signal.  Also not reading great things about Skys ability to provide a good solid signal.  I have no compaints about BT signal over the past three years.

Is there any scope for BT to do a better offer nearer to my March cut-off?

rjd185

rjd185 said:

End of broadband contract, I always check but I didn't realise how much checking is worth doing.

At end of Virgin Media fibre contract and bumped to the 'normal' rate of £58pm. Phoned in and was offered £52. Two weeks later, phoned in again and checked the account offers, contract now renewing for £46. Still too high so I had booked already to transfer to PlusNet, and phoned Virgin Media to start the cancellation. Call routed to their 'Retentions' team - offered £38. Still too high so Rententions Bod #1 redirected me to the cancellations team, which turned out to be Rententions Bod #2, who immediately offered £30pm on the Volt M250 package.

Net result was I had four or five different offers but it was only when I insisted today that I was cancelling, that Virgin Media finally offered me the online, new customer price. It was the fourth reduction, and I'm on a better package than previously for basically the same money.

Virgin do appear to have three levels of 'retention' handling - one for people just looking for a price near contract end, the next for people who say they are cancelling/leaving but can be talked out of it, and the final one for people who've really insisted they are cancelling. Good luck out there!

Extra wrinkle/chuckle - Virgin Media somehow messed up the new order which turned back into a cancellation on their systems. Got a phone call from yet another retentions team on the following day saying they were sorry to hear I was cancelling, and they offered me the same package only this time for £29 per month (18 month contract). Strike another £1 per month off. We had a bit of a laugh about my journey there and I signed up for what was eventually an amazing broadband offer! Moral of this story - retention is absolutely the main focus.

flaneurs_lobster

dinglebert said:

I made my first phone call today to see what I could get.  Online they are offering.   Full Fibre 900 Halo 3+ at £74.20 which will jump in April.  they are also offering TNT sports 24 month contract at £12 a month which does tempt a bit.  Only available if I take the new broadband contract.

FWIW, you may not know but BT (EE) TV deals don't normally include HD/UHD, it's another £6/mth. I pay that on top of £18/mth for TNT Sports. 

Seems BT (EE) have you happy with their (rather good) mesh system. Replacing that with another will be a significant cost.

Don't know what you are paying for 5 mobile plans at BT (EE) but I bet it ain't cheap. Maybe look to make significant savings there to offset the broadband increase?

BeauBlock

Hi Folks.
Followed MSE haggling advice yesterday and today with Virgin Media and got £63 per month off the hugely increased price they wanted to charge me for a renewed contract for BB, phone and excellent TV package.
Happy with that!

Mutton_Geoff

Virgin Media M250 - 18 months on £23.95 planned hike to £64.00 next month. Online chat reduced to £62.00. Cancelled service and twice daily calls started coming in. Still with 3 weeks to go to cut off, they called again. "How much to get you to stay?". "Less than I pay now". No fuss, immediately reduced to £22 for 18 months with RPI+ increase in April 2025. Told them I'd had loads of issues contacting customer service so they also credited my bill with £45, so altogether, M250, no other options, equivalent rate £19.50 over the next 18 months. 

css

People do you have to apply for the virgin media volt double speed separately?
As in if u get 125mb then can u get it to the next speed of 250 or does the team that give you the deal also do double speed?

Currently on 50mb for £34, finished last month now paying £44
Just rsng in and he goes can bring down to £36 for 125 but that is using mum's 02 number to bring the price down even though I'm ac holder 
He also said can't double speed it's normally a price reduction or double not both
What a joke
Ringing them up again to start cancellations