Martin Lewis fan shares how he saved £780 on bill by following advice
A Martin Lewis fan shared how he managed to save £780 on this broadband bill by haggling.
The most recent episode of the Martin Lewis Money Show was his annual "Bill Buster" special which went over how you could save money on bills such as council tax, water, mobile and broadband. The MoneySavingExpert.com founder told viewers that one way of getting a cheaper bill is through haggling.
Now, Martin explained that it wouldn't work on all bills but you can usually get a better deal on your broadband, mobile, insurance and breakdown cover if you give it a go. The Martin Lewis Money Show shared a success story from Paul who managed to save a whopping £780 by following Martin's advice.
Paul received an email from his broadband company telling him that his 18-month broadband bill would "dramatically increase" going from £56 a month to £71. However, Paul had watched Martin Lewis' "Bill Buster" episode last year and realised this was a bill he could haggle on.
He said: "When I first phoned, they said there was nothing they could do for me, so I asked them to put me through to retention and they then offered me a contract for £30. So in total, I have saved £738 which is a fantastic saving."
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Martin then gave six tips on how to successfully haggle. First, you will need to "benchmark the price" which is where you find out what the cheapest deal is elsewhere as companies will often want you to tell them what that deal is.
Secondly, and Martin says this is very important, but you will need to put on some charm. Martin added: "This is about charm, it's not about aggression. And do you know if you're on the phone and you're smiling, people can hear that in your voice. And it's worth doing even if it's slightly false like this is right now."
Martin says you will then need to provide a reason why you want a lower price such as: "It's my budget and this has gone up too much," or "My partner says I shouldn't be paying for this anymore." He added: "Whatever it is have a reason."
You will then be put through the customer disconnection - however, the MSE founder says this is actually customer retention as they have "the power to keep you" and offer you cheaper deals. Although, when you are haggling you need to remember that you can only do this if you are nearing the end of your contract or you are out of contact.
If the company "call your bluff" and take you to cancel your contract with them, Martin says you do not need to panic. He explained: "Tell them, you do want to cancel yes but you first need to check with your husband, wife, partner, or pet budgie before I do so you can buy yourself some time. If they don't give you the best deal then maybe you should cancel and look to get on the cheapest deal on the market."
Finally, if you don't succeed, Martin says you should not give up hope but you should try again. He added: "Many people in the call centres have quotas on the number of discounts they can give in the day. You may have got someone who has run out of them and maybe if you call back in a couple of days, you might find someone who hasn't used up their quotas yet."
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