Negotiating discounts

Dick Swiveller · Jan 29, 2016

What the most you have negotiated down a big company when it has come to renewal? For the last few years, I have probably been a sucker and had plumbing and drain cover with Homeserve. I know nothing of plumbing and thought it worth the peace of mind (although a quick Google search suggests I am probably a sucker). Got the renewal through today and they wanted £54 a quarter. Sounded a lot, especially as they cancelled the water supply cover (which apparently is snake oil and they have got in trouble for selling it) and like for like, it had gone up £20+ a quarter.

I have only ever called them out once and that was for something very minor as I just felt I should get my money's worth. So I phoned up to cancel and after the usual spiel, was offered 30% off. Still came in at £170 a year odd quid so I continued to cancel. Suddenly it came down to £90 a year or £39 with a £50 excess. So I now have a smaller jar of snake oil for a lot less money and didn't really have to haggle. And I think a £50 excess considering the cost of potential plumbing issues in a 40 year old house is worth £3 a month so I'm happy with my snake oil.

I don't normally have much luck getting Sky or car insurance down much so what is the best deal you have negotiated. And how is it allowed that you get a discount for haggling for exactly the same product? I know shops will haggle a bit but over 50% discount just for threatening to cancel?

bha100 · Jan 29, 2016

Dick Swiveller said:
What the most you have negotiated down a big company when it has come to renewal? For the last few years, I have probably been a sucker and had plumbing and drain cover with Homeserve. I know nothing of plumbing and thought it worth the peace of mind (although a quick Google search suggests I am probably a sucker). Got the renewal through today and they wanted £54 a quarter. Sounded a lot, especially as they cancelled the water supply cover (which apparently is snake oil and they have got in trouble for selling it) and like for like, it had gone up £20+ a quarter.

I have only ever called them out once and that was for something very minor as I just felt I should get my money's worth. So I phoned up to cancel and after the usual spiel, was offered 30% off. Still came in at £170 a year odd quid so I continued to cancel. Suddenly it came down to £90 a year or £39 with a £50 excess. So I now have a smaller jar of snake oil for a lot less money and didn't really have to haggle. And I think a £50 excess considering the cost of potential plumbing issues in a 40 year old house is worth £3 a month so I'm happy with my snake oil.

I don't normally have much luck getting Sky or car insurance down much so what is the best deal you have negotiated. And how is it allowed that you get a discount for haggling for exactly the same product? I know shops will haggle a bit but over 50% discount just for threatening to cancel?

Miximate · Jan 29, 2016

Called SKY earlier this week, courtesy of an idea from Martins Money Tips re Broadband & Phone charges, threatened to leave and was immediately put through to their 'retention' dept. 20 minutes later, I am still with Sky but knocked my bill down by almost 40% per month

Cian · Jan 29, 2016

For the 'cover' in question I'd just cancel the bloody thing. How often have you needed to use it? That kind of ultra specific home insurance and the insurance on Sky boxes are amongst the most pointless out there.

Generally seeming disinterested rather than angry works very well with some firms but there is always the risk they'll take it too seriously. I've to do it with Virgin on Monday as they're putting the price up which has inherently cancelled my contract period and I can change anything I want without penalty. Bye bye TV package unless I get a hefty discount - 50% for 6 months will more than pay for the 8% increase.

The Fifth Column · Jan 29, 2016

Miximate said:
Called SKY earlier this week, courtesy of an idea from Martins Money Tips re Broadband & Phone charges, threatened to leave and was immediately put through to their 'retention' dept. 20 minutes later, I am still with Sky but knocked my bill down by almost 40% per month

Sky are a bit hit and miss, i was with them over 8 years and negotiated some decent discounts in that time, it wasnt every year but enough to keep me with them for that long and take TV, phone and broadband with them. Then last year i ended up in an argument with one of their reps over the line rental/ broadband price scam they all run and they refused to accept i could just get broadband with Virgin without any other service or line rental, you can and they hike the price up but the Sky rep effectively called me a liar. I told them I wanted to cancel and then spent a tortuous ninety (yes 90!) minutes on the phone as they went through a very convoluted process to try and keep my custom, you think it would be simple - I told them I wanted to pay around x amount and you think they would counter with something like y amount but no they felt it necessary to spend that 90 minutes to end up offering 3 different discounts on my 3 services over 3 different time periods it was extremely tiresome and confusing. I pointed out the offer was still £112 more than a comparable Virgin offer and Sky made no attempt to keep me from that point so I switched. Sometimes it works sometimes its best to switch.

seagully · Jan 29, 2016

Managed to get 200 quid knocked off my car insurance renewal quote today. Always makes me wonder how many people just accept the quote and never try to get it reduced.

Dick Swiveller · Jan 30, 2016

Cian said:
For the 'cover' in question I'd just cancel the bloody thing. How often have you needed to use it? That kind of ultra specific home insurance and the insurance on Sky boxes are amongst the most pointless out there.

I think I made that point but isn't that the way insurance works? I've never claimed on my home insurance - doesn't mean it is a bad thing. Plumbing costs can get very big, very quick, so I am happy to pay £3 a month knowing that I am only liable for £50 on claims up to £4000. The only product insurance I ever take out is Richer Sounds 5 year cover for 10% purchase price. Everything else is a rip off. But these are relatively low price items that are not expensive to replace compared to the insurance cost. The fact that they offered me 60% off a like for like product just doesn't seem ethical or like it should be legal.

My deal with Sky ended a little while back so I may well do battle with them again later. But the fact you have to do it at all seems very, very wrong to me. Hopefully BT offering a £125 pre paid Visa card for their fibre package may help in my negotiations with Sky.

Westdene Seagull · Jan 30, 2016

Dick Swiveller said:
I don't normally have much luck getting Sky or car insurance down much so what is the best deal you have negotiated. And how is it allowed that you get a discount for haggling for exactly the same product? I know shops will haggle a bit but over 50% discount just for threatening to cancel?

Car insurance is a doddle to haggle down. Get some online quotes and then phone your current provider. Tell them you've got some better prices elsewhere and want to know what the best price is they can offer ( ignore their renewal price ). They'll ask what's the best price you've been given so far - don't tell them - all they'll do is beat it by a couple of quid. Instead tell them you want the best possible price THEY can offer and that you'll use them if they manage to beat any of the other prices you have. I do this every year and have never failed to get the best price out of my current insurer.

I also haggle in places like Currys etc. Got £100 off buying a matching fridge and freezer combo once by just saying I wanted a discount for buying both at the same time - manager was hesitant so I went to walk out and hey presto the price comes down. The trick to haggling is to always being prepared to walk away.

Last week I went to the local Co-op just before they closed and they had some flowers on sale that they would have had to throw away that night ( still looked perfectly good to me ). Offered £1 instead of the £7 - manager was happy to take the pound.

Dick Swiveller · Jan 30, 2016

Westdene Seagull said:
Car insurance is a doddle to haggle down. Get some online quotes and then phone your current provider. Tell them you've got some better prices elsewhere and want to know what the best price is they can offer ( ignore their renewal price ). They'll ask what's the best price you've been given so far - don't tell them - all they'll do is beat it by a couple of quid. Instead tell them you want the best possible price THEY can offer and that you'll use them if they manage to beat any of the other prices you have. I do this every year and have never failed to get the best price out of my current insurer.

I also haggle in places like Currys etc. Got £100 of buying a matching fridge and freezer combo once by just saying I wanted a discount for buying both at the same time - manager was hesitant so I went to walk out and het presto the price comes down. The trick to haggling is to always being prepared to walk away.

Actually - I'm not sure why I used Car Insurance as an example as I have got it down several times and it is only £200 so isn't going to go much lower. It's more that I hate doing it and recent attempts with Sky seem to only save £10 or so. As they are currently getting £130 a month from me after by reduction ended last month, that isn't a great percentage and I did actually cancel Sports and Films once for a couple of months expecting a massive discount offer.

And before anyone asks - films, sports, HD, multiroom, phone and unlimited fibre.

Edit - just checked and it was £20 off Sky but it was for 12 months with an 18 month fibre contract so I had 6 months of full price with fees applying to cancel.

Cheshire Cat · Jan 30, 2016

£130 per MONTH !!!!

WTF for?

Dick Swiveller · Jan 30, 2016

Cheshire Cat said:
£130 per MONTH !!!!

WTF for?

Ahem. AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS.

Garage_Doors · Jan 30, 2016

I pay £110 for virgin and that for the XL package phone & broadband, no sport or movies.
Guess it because i been with them for so long since goad was a boy when they were NTL.

studio150 · Jan 30, 2016

I look foward to all your success stories in obtaining a discount on your Albion season ticket renewal

Westdene Seagull · Jan 30, 2016

Programme_Seller said:
I pay £110 for virgin and that for the XL package phone & broadband, no sport or movies.
Guess it because i been with them for so long since goad was a boy when they were NTL.

Then you're being overcharged. I pay £80 for XL TV, 100mb internet and unlimited phone with three TIVO boxes - no sports or movies.

Dick Swiveller · Jan 30, 2016

studio150 said:
I look foward to all your success stories in obtaining a discount on your Albion season ticket renewal

I think that was my point. You can't - so why do some companies offer massive discounts just for threatening to leave? And is it ethical/should it be legal?

Westdene Seagull · Jan 30, 2016

Dick Swiveller said:
I think that was my point. You can't - so why do some companies offer massive discounts just for threatening to leave? And is it ethical/should it be legal?

Yes it should be ethical and legal ( well it actually is ). The problem with the British is they are too conservative ( note the small c ), they are too embarrassed to ask for discounts or upgrades. Whenever I book a hotel room I always ask if there's the possibility of a free upgrade - I get one around 50% of the time. Likewise on airlines, dress casual smart, get there early and ask if there are any free upgrades - 20% ish success rate for me.

People just need to learn to ask and push those boundaries a bit.

matski_98 · Jan 30, 2016

I was contracting with Sky in Brentford a couple of years ago and know a bit about how customer retention works. Top tips:

1) The length of time you spent with Sky in the past means bugger all to them, its all about how much you spend with them now. If you only have a basic phone and TV setup then don't expect to get deep discounts.
2) If you are the kind of person who rings up every year and tries haggling you'll notice that the discounts you get become smaller and smaller to the point where if you threaten to leave they'll just let you go. Their ideal customer is someone who has a phone/tv/broadband (with extras) and doesn't phone them up ever.
3) When you call ask to put through to the retentions dept. They work from a discounts matrix where there are 4 tiers of discount depending on what type of customer you are - the more money you currently spend with them the better the deal you'll get. Keep pushing them and most people will get to level 2 easily enough, level 3 takes some serious negotiation, level 4 is almost impossible to get and needs to be signed off by their supervisor.
4) The discounts you get offered are fixed so you won't get a custom deal just for you (although they'll make you feel like you are)
5) The discounts matrix changes monthly so don't expect to get the same deal as your neighbour if you phone up at different times
6) Discount deals are best at a couple of key points in the year. January (when some people try to save a bit of money and will look to cancel things like movie packages etc.) and May/June (when the football season ends and people phone to cancel their sports channels).

Like I said my experience of this was a couple of years ago so they may have changed their approach but I suspect it will still work something like this. Hope that helps!

Dick Swiveller · Jan 30, 2016

matski_98 said:
I was contracting with Sky in Brentford a couple of years ago and know a bit about how customer retention works. Top tips:

1) The length of time you spent with Sky in the past means bugger all to them, its all about how much you spend with them now. If you only have a basic phone and TV setup then don't expect to get deep discounts.
2) If you are the kind of person who rings up every year and tries haggling you'll notice that the discounts you get become smaller and smaller to the point where if you threaten to leave they'll just let you go. Their ideal customer is someone who has a phone/tv/broadband (with extras) and doesn't phone them up ever.
3) When you call ask to put through to the retentions dept. They work from a discounts matrix where there are 4 tiers of discount depending on what type of customer you are - the more money you currently spend with them the better the deal you'll get. Keep pushing them and most people will get to level 2 easily enough, level 3 takes some serious negotiation, level 4 is almost impossible to get and needs to be signed off by their supervisor.
4) The discounts you get offered are fixed so you won't get a custom deal just for you (although they'll make you feel like you are)
5) The discounts matrix changes monthly so don't expect to get the same deal as your neighbour if you phone up at different times
6) Discount deals are best at a couple of key points in the year. January (when some people try to save a bit of money and will look to cancel things like movie packages etc.) and May/June (when the football season ends and people phone to cancel their sports channels).

Like I said my experience of this was a couple of years ago so they may have changed their approach but I suspect it will still work something like this. Hope that helps!

On hold for retentions as we speak so I'll see what I can do!

Curryisgreat · Jan 30, 2016

Dick Swiveller said:
On hold for retentions as we speak so I'll see what I can do!

If you don't get a good enough deal cancel altogether as you have to give a months notice anyway.

I did this back on December 3rd 2015 fully expecting them to give me a couple of begging phone calls as they did the last time I tried this. By New Years Eve they still hadn't been in touch, bar an email giving me a number to call if I changed my mind, so I rang them myself saying that I was having second thoughts. I managed to get the full tv package including movies and sport and HD for half price for a full twelve months (tied in for twelve) so £37 pound something. Also got unlimited broadband free with £17 odd line rental for same 12 month tie in.

spongy · Jan 30, 2016

I was paying Sky £100 per month. I wasn't watching most of it except sports so decided to shop around.

Ended up with BT, youview box, BT sport, HD, landlines with free calls and unlimited Infinity broadband for £40 a month.

Don't miss sky sports anymore as I use KODI for most sporting events nowadays.

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