One Martin Lewis fan has shared how he managed to save £300 a year on one household bill after following a Money Saving Expert (MSE) tip.
The Martin Lewis fan shared his success story with the MSE team, who featured it in this week's newsletter. The money saver, known as Chris, told the MSE team that his monthly mobile bill had gone to £57 a month. In a bid to try and cut his bill, Chris took on Martin's advice and tried to haggle the price down with his provider BT.
And it paid off, as Chris managed to cut his bill down from £57 a month to £37 which gave him a saving of £25 a month. Over the course of the year this would give him a saving of over £300. Chris did note that his plan did have extra call charges, but these were "very small" so were not a major issue.
Chris told the MSE team: "I followed your tips on haggling with BT. Managed to reduce my monthly bill from £57 to £32 (saving £25/mth) plus call charges (which are very small). Thanks for your very useful guidance."
When it comes to haggling a bill, Martin's MSE website does say that some prices are sadly pretty much set in stone, but some household bills such as broadband, mobile, insurance and breakdown cover, allow you to nudge the price. 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.
Martin Lewis’ MSE website shares tip to get free £175 and 7% interest on savings
How to haggle a bill
Firstly, MSE says you 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". You will then be put through to customer disconnection, which MSE says "technically" is customer retention as they have "the power to keep you" and offer you cheaper deals. When doing this, MSE says you should be more "charming" with the customer service worker rather than aggressive.
If the company "call your bluff" and take you to cancel your contract with them, MSE says you do not need to panic. Instead, tell them that you will need to check with someone such as a partner before cancelling and you will call again. Finally, if you don't succeed, MSE says you should not give up hope and should try again.
This is because many people in these call centres have quotas on the number of discounts they can give a day. If you didn't get a discount, you may have got someone who had run out of them. By calling back another day, you might find someone who hasn't used up their quotas yet and you could get your discount.
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