Is Haggling a Myth?

anotheruser

Is the haggling culture a myth?

I read stories of people being able to get over £50, £70 a month off yet that's never been the case with me.
I wonder if the reason is because they have paid a high rate to begin with?

I pay £25 a month for internet, £10 a month for mobile. I've found it really difficult to squeeze any sort of reasonable discount from them because I'm already at the bottom line. There's nothing more they can add without me having to pay even more money in the long run so I tend not to bother any more.

It would be good to hear from others who have paid relatively low rates, whether they've got much off when renewing.

theshoefairy

Is there no way you could shop around for deals and then cancel to see if they offer you a better deal? Who are you with?

anotheruser

Did that with internet but didn't work.

Mobile: Tesco / £10 / 500 mins / 1.25GB internet

I know I can get iD mobile, or Asda cheaper, but read the T&C's shows you that they will put their prices up every July. I've been with Tesco for 5+ years, with no price rises. You can't get my contract anymore, and they would have upgraded me to more minutes but I only need more data.


Internet: Virgin Media / £25.25 / 50MB Fibre

I looked at Sky but they wern't any cheaper.
Last year, I did go through and order BT. However after looking at all the costs, I decided to cancel as it wouldn't have been that much cheaper after paying the upfront costs of this and that. Virgin telephoned me and offered me 6 months of Netflix and about £5 a month off for 12 months but that ended a while back.


But even with car insurance - I managed to haggle less than £20, despite saying I wouldn't renew, and leaving it really late to go through with the renewal.

I just think unless you've been maying £40+ a on a mobile contract, £65+ on internet/tv/home-phone, then you're simply not going to be haggle much lower.

Alice_Walker

With the mobile you're not paying a great deal, but you could get a phone thrown in for free if you're willing to commit to a two year contract. I pay the same but have a Samsung S5 Mini in with the deal, on Talk Mobile. If you don't want the phone you're free to sell it and use that money towards the monthly charge.

Would you like a tv package as well as the BB? You should be able to get that for the same price. Do you have/ need a landline?

Guest101

Sky Paid me £40 to have internet and TV for a year.

tom717

I paid £10pm for 250 minutes and 500mb data (and a phone) with Tesco. When my minimum term was up I wanted a sim-only contract. I 'haggled' and bluffed that I would go to id or talk mobile for £5 but in truth I wouldn't touch either.
At £10pm there isn't much room to haggle but they upped my data to 2gb. At the time all the cheaper deals out there were only on 3g.

Bigphil1474

On Car Insurance, I was paying £250 for the year, got a renewal quote for £450, shopped around and got elsewhere for £230. You're right that the big savings are probably only made where you're paying a lot already, but lots of small savings add up. At the time I did my car insurance, we changed energy company and look to be saving another £10 a month - so looking at £140 saved this year. Can't see you getting BB fibre for less than that - cheapest I could get is £30 a month (unlimited) including land line and anytime calls. Depends what extra's you want though, as I got Youview entertainment package thrown in free with PlusNet, but I wouldn't have paid for it if it wasn't free.

anotheruser

I haven't taken into account any cashback, or this or that because I personally can't stand introductory offers. Introductory offer might be just £5 a month, but if you're stuck in a 12 month contract, and after 6 months it goes to £300 a month, that's not really doable for most people.

Anyway, here's a quick comparison of the three main players for 50MB-100MB fibre, unlimited:

BT: £31.49/month
£49 activation fee
£8 router delivery charge
£100 card

Sky: £32.40/month
Actually only £15 for 12 months
Not as widely available as others
£10 for router delivery

Virgin Media: £32.25/month
£15 activation


Feel free to add others you find to help those wanting to switch.

Futuristic

Not a real comparison, Virgin also might be cheaper with line rental taken even if you don't use it.

BT/Sky only offer up to 36Mb and 76Mb whilst Virgin would be 50 & 100.

teddysmum

If the results of haggling are a myth, then I must be dreaming.

latecomer

I've never been a big spender with Virgin but have always got a good deal at the end of my contract. I currently have

TV M
50Mb BB
Phone XL with multi-talk

£30 per month including line rental.