If you do one thing today, pick up the phone and call your broadband provider. Our latest investigation has shown it’s definitely worth getting in touch if you want a better deal.
One BT customer saved over £200 a year on her package after just one phone call. And they asked her to call back as soon as possible if she still wasn’t happy. This call was just one of 30 our mystery callers made to some of the UK’s biggest broadband providers.
So what made BT offer a better deal? Well, we made noises about cancelling and waited to see what we’d be offered.
I have to say I was blown away by the success our mystery callers had, with 22 calls resulting in savings or better deals on the spot. They were offered deals including £12 off line rental every month for the next nine months (Sky), a half-price deal if we signed up for another 12-month contract (O2), and a free engineer visit to install the latest router (TalkTalk).
Keeping you tied in
It seems that the big providers in particular are reluctant to let customers go. Now that’s not much of a surprise, but why not use this to our advantage? Especially as the price on many deals can creep up over time if you don’t keep an eye on things, as introductory offers come to an end and line rental charges increase.
If you do want to accept a new deal, be aware that you may be tying yourself in to a new contract again – check before you agree to anything.
In my household I’ve worked out we are paying over £750 a year for our broadband, phone and TV package without doing an awful lot to check we’re on a good deal. It’s not like we’ve got money to burn, even if the bill gets split five ways. And every now and then someone will make a noise about calling them to get the price down, but I’m ashamed to say it’s been at least two years now and we have not got round to it. I think it’s time…
Have you tried to negotiate a better deal with your broadband provider? What’s the best deal you’ve been offered?